songbird's crazy world

 Feline politics.   I tookShadow to Drew’s house Saturday night.  I want Shadow and Duchess to get along.  Sorry, no photos.  When we first arrived Duchess was in the den.  Shadow wandered around the house for a few minutes, then hid under a chair in the living room, but Duchess could see Shadow.  When Drew sat on the couch in the den, Duchess positioned herself between Drew and Shadow, as if to say “this is my person, do not approach.” Shadow spent most of the evening in the living room, but eventually ventured into the den.  Duchess left the den, and Shadow chased after her.  Duchess went back to the den, Shadow followed.  Duchess left the den, Shadow followed … Duchess took a position on the den floor, and Shadow tried to figure out a way to get closer to her, but Duchess kept growling. We will try another summit soon. In the meantime enjoy this video of my silly kitty.  She likes to jump onto the door so she can look out the sky...

It’s estimated that about 30% of the US population is eating a gluten-free diet.  But only 1% of the population has Celiac disease.  Another 1% have gluten sensitivity, which is different from Celiac, with different symptoms.  The others are mostly following Keto or Paleo, two trendy diets. This is not what I meant when I said I wanted to be part of the 1%. I’ve cleaned out my pantry and my freezer, I’ve restocked with gluten-free groceries. Eating in restaurants is more of an issue.  You don’t always know what’s in your food, after all.  Some places have gluten-free or gluten-friendly menus.  Others do not. I am getting into the habit of looking at the menu before we go out. We got take out from the Greek place last week.  I ordered kebabs over rice.  It turned out to be rice pilaf, which is a mixture of rice and orzo pasta.  Next time I’ll order the lemon potatoes instead. This weekend we’re headed to Cheesecake Factory to celebrate a frien...

 Hmmm…what happened to my flowerpot? My poor flowerpot. I heard a crash, and when I walked into the room, the flowerpot was on the floor and Shadow was sitting there with a “who, me?”  look on her face. Apparently the flowerpot got in her way.  It got in her way when she was on the counter, where she is not supposed to be. Alas, poor flowerpot.

 So my favorite retro candy store was featured on ESPN .  Why?  Because Bobb Howard’s is one of the few places you can buy a Reggie bar.  Reggie bars were named in honor of Reggie Jackson, who earned the nickname “Mr. October” when he played for the NY Yankees in 1978.  You’ll recall I bought a Reggie bar when we  visited the store  at the end of February. I was also able to get my favorite hard candy at Bobb Howard’s. I noticed they also have  Those were my grandmother’s favorite.  Today would have been her birthday. We don’t know exactly when my grandmother was born.  She was born in a small town in what was then part of Austria and is now part of Poland.  We think she was born in 1902.  But European Jewish communities at the turn of the century didn’t keep many birth records, and what few records existed were likely destroyed in the Holocaust. It wasn’t until she emigrated to America that my grandmother acquired official doc...

 It’s a “your choice” week. How about some CCR?                  

  Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head 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 to  answer the questions, however, and here is today's questions! Saturday 9: Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here . 1) In this week's song, BJ Thomas sings that he knows it won't be long until he finds happiness. What are you looking forward to today? What's going to make you smile? Something very small, really, but it’s so important to me. I was only recently diagnosed with Celiac disease, and it’s really thrown me for a loop.  I’m trying so hard to focus on wh...

 We had this plaque in our house when I was a child.  We had a black cat named Cinders and a ginger cat named T.J., so we thought the picture on the plaque was absolutely purr-fect.

 

So last night I decided to make meatballs.  Simple recipe — ground beef, gluten-free breadcrumbs, seasonings and an egg. I started with the egg.  Cracked it open and … when I looked into the mixing bowl, there were two yolks. A double yolk.   That’s considered lucky, isn’t it?

 I’m a little bit obsessed right now, I’m still getting used to the diagnosis and the need to avoid wheat and gluten.  But … OMG I found Walker gluten-free shortbread cookies, and they taste just like the wheat-flour based shortbread Walker sells.  I am so happy! If I can find the gluten-free Oreos, that would make my day. The corn-based pasta I made the other day tasted good, but it was a bit heavy.  I’m going to try other types of gluten-free pastas.   I bought gluten-free bread and breadcrumbs, rice flour, tortilla strips instead of croutons for my salad … I’ve rediscovered rice cakes, a naturally gluten-free snack.  I put peanut butter on the chocolate rice cakes. And Honey Nut Cheerios are gluten-free.   But the real finds we’re in the Passover aisle.  I can’t eat matzo or anything made with matzo meal.  But I found flourless brownie mix, gluten-free potato kugel mix, gluten-free gefilte fish, gluten-free “matzo” (can’t really be called ...

 Now that spring is here, I’m counting down to Opening Day of the baseball season. The Mets open on the road, first game is in Miami March 30.  First home game is April 6. (Yes, I know, that’s Passover, but it’s a day game …won’t interfere with the Seder.) But we won’t be hearing  “Narco” at Citi Field this year.  Diaz injured his knee and will be out for the season. Sigh. I’m hoping we will have tickets to at least one game.   We bought tickets to several Ducks games.  We try to see the Ducks play each team in the league at least once.  But that will be impossible this year — the team from Lexington, Kentucky isn’t coming to Long Island at all! And the Ducks won’t be going to Lexington either.  The teams will not meet in 2023 unless they both make the post season … They’re slowly announcing the lineup for the Jones Beach Theater this summer.  So far I’m not impressed.  Waiting on Jimmy Buffett, he hasn’t announced a summer tour yet. ...

    Spring begins today in the Northern Hemisphere and fall in the Southern.  Pick songs about spring (or fall, depending on where you live) or that have Spring (or fall) in the title. Let’s start with the Beatles Here’s a classic from South Pacific    How about a bit of classical music?    Another salute to the sun    And we wrap it up with The Beach Boys 

  Rocky Road to Dublin 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: The Rocky Road to Dublin (2008)   Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here . 1)  This song is about a young man who leaves home to seek his fortune. How old were you when you first moved out on your own? I went away to college at 18, lived in dorms until I graduated from law school at 24, got my first apartment at 25. 2) He leaps onto a ship but the captain makes him sleep in the hold with pigs. Have you ever taken a cruise? (If so, we hope you had better accommodations.) Yes, I...

 We could use some good thoughts for my sisters’ cat Redford.  He’s 15 years old (we think) and hasn’t been feeling well.  Let me tell you about Redford.  He’s an orange cat with a naturally short tail.  Back in 2011, my kids and I were living with my parents and my sisters.  At the time we had two cats. There was the diminutive Daisy. And the rather fluffy Mr. Kitty.    And then one cold, miserable January day, I came home to find an orange cat sitting on our front porch.  A full grown Tom, he’d obviously been someone’s pet, but now found himself abandoned. Of course my sisters decided to feed him. And once you feed a cat…they’re not leaving. My sisters looked at that orange fur and that flat, Manx-like tail, and named him Redford.  Bob Redford, to be precise. The vet said Redford was probably about 3 years old when he found us. So now we were a family with three cats.  And Daisy was clearly the alpha, with both boys under her tiny...

 You know what they say about “March winds”.  They’re not kidding.  We had a real nor’easter around here.  The wind was howling for two days. So I work from home.  Yesterday, shortly after 9 AM … I was signed onto my laptop and engaged in some serious work when the power went out. Turns out a tree fell on a power line. No electricity?  Well, the laptop has a battery. But no electricity means no power to the internet router; oh, ok, I can use my cell phone as a hotspot. But no electricity also means the boiler isn’t working … so no heat. Can’t type if my fingers are turning blue. Packed everything up and headed over to Drew’s house.

 So last weeks theme was a music festival , and I missed out.   So I’ll do it this week … Well, ok … We start with Billy Joel    Next up, is Elton John    Then Elton and Billy will sing together     Then Elton will sing this    That’s the introduction for our next artist    Billy takes the stage for this one    And because this is pure fantasy, Paul is then reunited with his old band mates.

 When I was growing up my mother kept a kosher home.  That meant following certain rules about food.  Certain foods — pork, shellfish — were forbidden.  Other foods were classified as “meat”, “dairy” or “pareve”, meaning neutral.  You can’t mix meat and dairy at the same meal.  Pareve foods can be eaten with either meat or dairy, but …if you cooked carrots and potatoes with the brisket, for example, the vegetables became “meat” and leftovers cannot be served with a dairy meal.  In a kosher home there are two sets of dishes, pots and pans, one set for meat and one for dairy. You cannot use dairy plates to serve meat, or visa versa, lest a plate become contaminated.  During Passover, leavened foods are forbidden.  No bread, no cake, no pasta.  You have to find substitutes, like flourless cake or gluten-free noodles.  And you need two sets of dishes that can only be used during Passover.  You don’t want bread to contaminate Passov...

 OK, I’m in. The challenge is to write a blog post every day in the month of April, excluding Sundays, one post for each letter of the alphabet. I’ve chosen a very simple, easy theme.  I’m going to blog about things that make me happy. Come back on April 1st for my”A” post.

  Pass Me By 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 to  answer the questions, however, and here is today's questions! Saturday 9: Pass Me By (1965) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here .   1) In this song, Peggy Lee tells us she wiggles her toes in the sand. Have you been to the beach yet in 2023? Do you expect to wiggle your toes in the sand when you're on vacation this year? I live ten minutes away from Jones Beach.  Of course I will be there sometime this year.   2) She also sings that contemplating nature can be fascinating. What flora and fauna can you see from your window as you ...