songbird's crazy world

 Winter arrived early, we saw actual snow flurries yesterday. The wind was howling!  It’s unusual to see snow around here in November.  We usually don’t see snow until mid December, and we usually don’t get a lot of snow until January and February.  But then again, we had a  real snowfall after Sandy  in early November 2012.  But today we’re expecting a more typical high of 51°. Go figure. I tried a new recipe last night.  Can it really be called a “recipe”, though, when all I did was pour some teriyaki sauce over a salmon fillet and bake it in the oven?  I served it with vegetable fried rice and broccoli spears.  Very simple, but delicious. Gilbert & Sullivan rehearsals have begun.  Drew is in the chorus, he didn’t want to audition for a lead.  I will have to learn the music from The Yeoman of the Guard.  I’ve never seen it. 

So I took a walk yesterday at lunchtime.  Cloudy, foggy day, but still relatively warm at 55°.  Today?  It’s in the 30’s, break out the winter costs.  Seriously, it got very cold very quickly. I am not used to this.  Of all the inflatable turkeys I see around the neighborhood. I think this one is the cutest.  And this is a clever way to recycle. Change is in the air, isn’t it? I solved a “mystery” last night.  All summer long, I’d look out my bedroom window at night and I’d see red lights in the distance, about a mile away.  I’d look through my binoculars, but I could not see what the lights were attached to … too many trees between me and the lights.   But now the trees are bare.  Can you tell what I’m looking at? My iPhone can’t do it justice, but that’s the Levittown water tower. I haven’t been able to see it during the day … yet. Interesting tidbit.  I live on the Levittown/Hicksville border I’m .9 miles from the Levittown tower...

 HOMES.  It’s a mnemonic. Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior. Five lakes along the US-Canadian border, containing 21% of the world’s  surface fresh water. Water flows from Lake Superior through Lake Huron then Lake Erie.  Then over Niagara Falls into Lake Ontario, and then to the ocean vis the St. Lawrence River.  Michigan and Huron are actually a single body of water, connected by the Straits of Mackinac. Fifty years ago, on November 10, 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior, killing the 29 men aboard.  It wasn’t the first shipwreck, nor would it be the last. But we remember it today because of Gordon Lightfoot’s song.  The song, as written, contained a few inaccuracies.  In later years when Lightfoot sang it, he corrected the lyrics to be more factually accurate. And then there’s information he didn’t correct,  50 years later. But you have to admit, the melody is haunting …    And I found a really good cover …...

I walked outside to get the newspapers the other morning and I noticed that the lawn looked a bit …white.  Yes, our first frost.  Guess it’s time to take out the winter coats. Driving home last night was a little bit weird.  Some of our neighbors still have their Halloween decorations up. Some have decorated for Thanksgiving.  And a few have started on Christmas.  It’s like there’s just one big holiday that extends from October through December. Ever hear of FROG jam?  Drew and I and one of our friends went to the  Jericho Cider Mill  the other day, and I was pleased to see they sell all kinds of specialty jams, jellies and preserves, things you won’t find in a supermarket.  FROG jam sounds exotic, but it’s actually just a mixture of figs, raspberries, orange juice and ginger, could be interesting on a charcuterie board.  Something  to add to our Friendsgiving menu. Drew took the snow blower to the repair shop to be serviced.  ...

  That Funny Feeling Welcome to  Saturday: 9 . What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you ato visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme! Saturday 9: That Funny Feeling (1965) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here .   So, before I answer the questions … back in August Drew and I saw a Broadway show, Just in Time.  It’s Bobby Darin’s life story.  My blog post from that night can be found  here . 1) In this song, Bobby Darin admits he cares more for the girl than he should. What's something you have recently overdone (eaten too many potato chips, stayed up too late, etc.)? We went to a new BBQ restaurant, and I really...

So … When Drew and I decided to move in together, each of us had a cat.  Duchess was Drew’s cat and Shadow was mine, We feed each cat separately,  Duchess gets Royal Canin, expensive cat food that’s easy on her delicate digestive system.  Shadow gets Fancy Feast and Meow Mix.  Duchess can’t eat Shadow’s food, it upsets her stomach. We feed them in separate rooms and at different times.  But you know they try to eat each other’s food.  I think it’s a dominance issue, because they’re also chasing each other around the house Duchess is spying on us. Her couch,  I bought this cat tree for Duchess long before Shadow existed.  She gave up using it when Shadow decided to use it, but now Duchess is reclaiming it.

Interesting cloud pattern Fall foliage  #skywatchfriday  

 Yeah, you can tell I’m not feeling well … I was in the supermarket awhile back and spotted some Pyrex dishes that I had to have. They were identical to dishes my mother once had. My mother would serve desserts in these dishes.  I already had dessert dishes but couldn’t resist buying these. And the first time I used then I made vanilla pudding, Why is that significant? 1999, I had such a bad case of pneumonia that my doctor sent me to the hospital.  I was there for several days.  My roommate was a woman in her 80’s.  She had broken her hip and needed surgery, but the doctors couldn’t operate on her right away because she was taking blood thinners.  The doctors had to wait until the drugs were out of her system. So she was scheduled for surgery one day, but the surgery was canceled because her drug levels were still too high.  But no one had ordered food for her, because she was supposed to have surgery.  The nurse brought her a turkey sandwich. ...

 My recent visit to the dentist meant I had to eat a “soft diet” for two days.  It brought back a memory from 1989. I had my wisdom teeth pulled.  Afterwards, Drew drove me home, got me settled into the green recliner — the one that had been my mother’s but she no longer wanted —and made his favorite comfort food for me.  He made pastina. Pastina is a very small pasta, often used in soups.  But Drew prepared the pasta as if it were a cereal.  He cooked it in milk, one cup of Pastina and two cups of milk, cooked until the pasta absorbed all the milk.  Then he added more milk and some butter to the cooked dish.   Soft, bland and comforting. It became one of my go-to comfort foods,   Gluten free pastas don’t act the same way when cooked, I’d have to cook the pasta in water then add milk and butter,  I think.  I’ll have to give it a try,

 This was my morning yesterday Well, not that bad … but I did have the “pleasure” of a dental visit …

 So on Sunday I took another walk through the neighborhood. There’s still plenty of fall foliage around. Some houses were still decorated for Halloween.  A couple were still decorated for Diwali.  But a few of my neighbors have already moved on. And then there was this: Yeah. Interesting neighborhood.

 Had an interesting visitor the other night I’m told possums are good to have around (they eat insects, rodents and even snakes) but can be very nasty if cornered.  Had a nasty encounter with an entitled witch at the supermarket.  If you’re dropping someone off at the entrance to the store,  pull over! Don’t block traffic while your passenger gets out of the car.   But I got my shopping done and also managed to make a donation to the local food pantry.  Too many hungry people on Long Island … My grandmother, of blessed memory, was a widow raiding three young children, collecting welfare and often working under the table to support her family, but who always felt she had to collect good donations “for the poor people”.  Not for herself, but for others.  I donate to food pantries to honor her memory. So many hungry people this year… Anyhow  the supermarket is starting to feature holiday fare — stuffing mix, cranberry sauce, canned pumpkin, grav...

 A free choice week. Welcome back to the 80’s

 Went out to dinner with an old friend the other day.  She and her husband are selling their house here on Long Island and moving to Niagara Falls.  Their son and daughter-in-law live in Buffalo.  So …Halloween. After two days of rain, the day dawned cold and windy. Very windy.  May be that’s why we didn’t get a lot of trick-or-treaters.  Or maybe there were other events the kids enjoyed. I guess we’ll be eating a lot of leftover candy. Jen stopped by for a few minutes, to change out of her work clothes and into clothes she could wear to a haunted house.  She met up with her boyfriend. (They’re going to Boston next weekend to celebrate her birthday.) My favorite YouTuber Mr.Ballen told a really creepy story for Halloween.  Yeah, I’m a real fan of the strange, dark and mysterious. So yesterday I mentioned the Amityville Horror.  What I didn’t mention is that I have a friend who grew up in Amityville.  She knew one of the DeFeos.  And...

The last of Halloween Fall foliage?  Some trees are looking bare.  

  Angie Baby Welcome to  Saturday: 9 . What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme! Saturday 9: Angie Baby (1974) Unfamiliar with this week's featured song? Hear it  here .   1) This week's song is a spooky one about a young man who breaks into the bedroom of a troubled girl named Angie. Their encounter doesn't go well and he's never seen again. Though there's been gossip, no one knows for sure what happened to him. Does your town have any scary legends that have been passed down through the decades? I live on Long Island, home of Gilgo Beach and the Amityville Horror.  And...