Miscellaneous, again 07-28-18

Not much to say except to bitch about the heat!  KoKo and I go walking between 6:45am and 7am in the morning and in the evening anytime the temp drops below 80F.  Today was cooler, only 88F, and we walked at 79F at 8:15pm.

Here is the little guy near my feet, but not ON them tonight.  The black thing in the lower right is the wheel on my desk chair. 

I read a newsletter from the BBC called Six Things to Read This Week, which has a different view on the world than anything USA newsletter/bulletin that I see.  You might enjoy it, too.  Yesterday they posted this interesting story about solar power in Africa:

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20171009-rural-rwanda-is-home-to-a-pioneering-new-solar-power-idea

If you want to try it out go to:

http://pages.emails.bbc.com/subscribe/?ocid=fut.bbc.email.we.email-signup

The subjects are quite varied and cover many aspects of life, I just skip the ones about rugby and socccer, but you might enjoy those.  

I haven't eaten all my See's candy, but it is temptinng. 

Thank you for the comments from those of you who post anonymously.  I appreciate that you read my blog.  

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Friday Food 07-27-18

Dessert sounds good tonight - or any time!  So, I looked through my picture files and chose these three desserts.  I don't always have dessert when I dine out, but if I do, I usually photograph it.  I've done it since I took a trip to England in 1990 and one of the ladies on the tour took pictures of almost all of her food.  She said she did it so she could remember all the great meals she had.  If I hadn't taken these pictures, I would not have remembered these special desserts.  

A berry tart - delicious.  Book Group dessert at Teresa's  02-19-14 

Restaurant made vanilla ice cream with a chocolate fish and triangle cookie.

The Fish Company in Rossmore, CA    06-28-12

A special occasion dessert at Solare in San Diego  9-26-17

The title was in Italian, but it meant salami with ice cream with the salami part being chocolate with pistachios and nuts that looks like salami. 

And here is a detail.  I don't remember what the little flecks were in the ice cream, but I do remember that is was one of the most delicious desserts I have eaten.  

And YES, I did go to See's and bought a box of 12 of my favorites.  I will stretch them out for the next six days, because I can't just eat one! 

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Miscellaneous 07-26-18

The blog statistics are just weird.  Look at this one from yesterday 07-25-18:

There is no possible way anyone, or several anyone(s), looked at 1293 pages in my blog in one day.  Last week when I wrote about the stats it was Germany with ridiculous reported readers and nobody in Germany looked at even one page yesterday.  It just isn't logical.  I don't know why I even look!

I am fond of poke restaurants and my favorite is in Irvine around the intersection of I-5 and Jamboree Road.  It is called H2O and I sometimes stop on the way home from south county or San Diego to pick up a poke bowl to bring home for dinner.

  

A poke bowl, in case you are not familiar with it, is a bowl of either rice or salad greens topped with a choice of different raw fish and veggies and several different sauces.  I like salmon and scallops with edamame, mango, cucumber, corn and sometimes seaweed salad, topped with their special sauce and masago and sesame seeds.   With the size of the bowl at H2O, I always have some leftover for breakfast or lunch the next day.   Tonight I went to dinner with a friend at The Good Fish in Placentia.  It was good, but I didn't like it as much as H2O, however, it is only about a mile away where as H2O is more like 27 miles away.  So, now I have a place to go that is a little closer and I will go there when I am not driving back from south county or SDiego. 

The groomer was backed up today when I took KoKo for a bath and trim.  So, we rescheduled for tomorrow morning at 9am.   There is a new See's Candy store in the same block.  So, convenient.  Much better than driving over to Fullerton.  I may stop in the morning and pick up something wonderful.  Do I need it?  NO.  Will I eat it?  But yes!  Just a couple bites with a glass of cold milk.  It may revive me from the continuing heat.  Which I am not going to bitch about, but it is going on forever.  

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Wordless Wednesday 07-25-18

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Too hot to even think! 07-24-18

I seem to be suffering in the heat these days, more than ever before.  It was 100F in Placentia, CA, today with humidity in the 70s.  I take KoKo for a walk before 7am and in the evening at 7pm or when the temp drops below 80F, tonight it was still 82F at 9:15pm, but we went for a walk anyway.  Fortunately, there was a breeze so it was okay while we walked, but back home I was sweating big time.  The Disney fireworks start around 9:45pm and KoKo is still frightened by them, so we need to be in the house before they start.  Even he can't hear them with the doors and windows closed. 

I have a friend who is giving up her sewing completely because she and husband are going to move to a retirement facility.  Her daughter called me today and asked if I could help dispose of everything.  I'm going at 8:30am in the morning to see what there is and what I can do with it.  Some will go to the Visions Veranda Sale in August and some to the Surfside QGuild November Fest.  Although where I will put it until then is a mystery yet to be considered. 

The kids in the cul de sac across the street are big on drawing with chalk on the sidewalk.  Of course, since it won't rain until (maybe August) October their efforts will be with us for a while.   This one is somewhat mysterious, I hope it isn't obscene and I don't recognize it!

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Monday Browsing 07-23-18

I haven't done much browsing lately since I have started working on a quilt - the first one in a year and a half.  Oh, I've done some little things but this one is 24" wide x 36" long.  Doesn't compare to the large quilts I have made in my lifetime, but I am having to learn some things all over again.  Sewing skills are like a lot of other skills, use it or lose it! 

Of course, when it is so hot it is hard to keep the perspiration from dripping on everything.  I do have A/C, but subscribe to the Edison program that lets them cycle A/C units when the  power use is getting too high.  They only turn it off (they say) for about 20 minutes, but they can do it several times a day.  I save at least a hundred dollars on my electric bill and help avoid brown or black outs.  All my other power stays on, just the A/C is cycled. 

Here are a few things I have come across online.

Stay cool, stay hydrated, stay in the shade!

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Gloria Hansen quilt from 2003 07-22-18

  Gloria Hansen is a well known photographer, quilter, web designer, and author.   This quilt was in an online auction and I think it is beautiful, despite the pink (which you may know I don't care for), but it is a lovely pink and easy on the eyes.  It is heavily quilt with the leaves quilted into the border.   Quilts using photographs were not all that common at the beginning of the 21st Century, but now there are any number of artists who use this technique.  And, of course, we now have digital printed fabric everywhere, so if you don't do your own photos you can buy yardage with digital images.  

"Pink Flowers II"  Gloria Hansen 2003    16"W x 17"L

Hand painted cotton fabrics, printed image, machine pieced, fused, machine quilted. 

Extending the outlines of the leaves adds depth to the center. 

Nice label with contacts and care instructions. 

Website:  http://www.gloriahansen.com/index.php

Blog:  http://www.gloriahansen.com/weblog/
Photography Blog: www.gloriahansenphotography.com    Fabulous pictures!

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Blogging 07-21-18

I have been blogging since 08-18-07.  Seems like a long time.  Occasionally I look at the statistics that blogger keeps on my blog, but I have never understood them.  Every now and then there will be a spike of astonishing proportions.  Such as 831 page views in one hour!  Not likely.  And currently the greatest audience is in Germany!  Not likely.   The most visited page is the one about Ruth B. McDowell's quilt "A Rash of Flamingoes" on 12-23-13.  That is possible, it is a fabulous piece of art.   My blog doesn't have a wide audience or a frequent one, usually only about 100 people check in each day, and I appreciate every one of them.  Comments are rare, but very appreciated, sometimes one wonders if there is anyone out there listening. 

I read several blogs regularly and others that I catch up on when I have some extra time.

 Kay Sorenson  quiltspluscolor.blogspot.com is a super blogger who keeps up with the statistics and enjoys hundreds of visits each day.  She leads a very interesting and varied life in Wisconsin and Florida. Kay makes spectacular quilts and is a very nice lady.  When I was driving cross country once I took a detour up to Wisconsin, because it was one of only two states I had not visited (Alaska is still missing).  I called her and she took me out to dinner and showed me her studio and some of her great quilts.  It is a precious memory. 

Terry Grant  http://andsewitgoes.blogspot.com/   She has been busy with life and hasn't blogged for a few months, but I know she is okay, just busy.  I had the chance to see her when I drove through Portland, OR, in May on my trip to Washington.  

Melody Johnson  fibermania.blogspot.com  leads an amazing life with more projects than I could handle in a decade.  She is always interesting.  

Martha Ginn  http://marthaginn.blogspot.com/   Is a very productive quiltmaker and shares her talent and ideas on her blog.  She started blogging the same month/year that I did.  

The interest in blogging has diminished, but there are still millions out there that cover, I'm sure, every topic under the sun.  So many blogs, so little time!  

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