songbird's crazy world

  Thank You 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: Thank You (2000) Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it  here . 1) This week's song begins with Dido complaining about her day, but then she sees a photo of a loved one that reminds her "it's not so bad." What was the most recent photo you took? Shadow loves to sit in unusual places. 2) She admits that between a hangover and her finances, she's got a headache. What's your go-to headache remedy? Advil makes a product that combines acetaminophen ...

 First another shot of the water tower I posted  November 14 . I can’t see the tower from my house, but  I took this shot on my street. Long Island’s water supply is entirely groundwater. Each community has its own water district/water company, and the island —especially Nassau County — is very densely populated. The Hicksville Tower, pictured above, is .6 mile northwest of my house. It is NOT my water tower, My water comes from the Levittown Tower, .9 miles southeast of my house. My guess is that if I climbed onto my roof (not that it’s even a remote possibility) I could probably see both towers. #skywatchfriday

 This popped up in my Timehop memories.  Redford was a good cat. He’d greet me on the driveway at my parents’ house and climb all over my car.  I miss him.   Duchess loves the sun Shadow is just hanging out. Queen of the toaster oven And visitors Like he lives here.

 

 This time of year is filled with memory, with sentimentality, with food … The ham I got for our Friendsgiving is causing minor bouts of anxiety.  I’ve never cooked a whole ham before. But I just had a flashback to 1989 … Drew and I had just moved into a one bedroom apartment in Queens, NY, four blocks from the apartment where my grandmother and my two aunts were living. At that time, family holiday dinners meant my parents, my three sisters, my grandmother and two aunts would gather together, usually at my parents’ Long Island home but occasionally at my grandmother’s house.  My aunts and my mother would share the cooking. But for some reason we all decided that Drew and I would host the first night of Rosh Hashanah that year.  My two youngest sisters were away at college in Florida, but everyone else would be at my apartment.  I wouldn’t have to worry about cooking.  My aunt would prepare all the traditional dishes the night before and bring them to my ho...

 

We went out to dinner Saturday night.  I specifically ordered from the gluten free menu.  Waiter messed up the order, brought me a breaded chicken cutlet instead of grilled chicken, but the manager quickly fixed the mistake.  We still tipped the waiter, but not as generously as we normally do. New Jersey is the diner capital of the world, but Long Island runs a close second.  We went out to breakfast Sunday, to one of our favorites,  Thomas’s Ham & Eggery .  They’ve been in business since 1946. It’s a very small diner, we usually wind up sitting at the counter.   They serve eggs, omelets, frittatas, etc. in a skillet. That’s a Texan scramble and home fries.  The Texan has bacon and ham and sausage and peppers and onions, and cheese on top.  I was able to eat about 1/3 of it, brought the rest home. We take my Prius C, the parking lot is tiny and it’s easier to park my compact than it would be to park Drew’s minivan. Would you believe, ...

 Took a walk through my neighborhood and found myself thinking the lyrics of a song,   All the leaves are brown … and the sky is gray … I’ve been for a walk … You know the song, I posted it last week. So later, in the car, I asked Amazon Music to play California Dreamin’  … and soon the wonderful harmonies of the Mamas and Papas filled the car.      But the thing about Amazon Music …I didn’t specify the artist … so I got every cover version of the song as well … Jose Feliciano had a very interesting version, with lots of Spanish lyrics at the end … Sia’s version was different … I’d never heard of Diana Krall before … she’s a jazz artist.    And finally, The Beach Boys.  They changed a lyric …just one line … and changed the whole meaning of the song.  But I really like their video.    Did you catch the missing lyric? Yeah, The Beach Boys don’t sing If I didn’t tell her, I could leave today … In that one line, the singer explains...

 Cold and blustery Saturday.  I had to wear a heavy jacket, and every time I wanted to take a picture I had to decide if it was worth taking off my glove… I walked south, deeper into Levittown.  This street has houses that were built about 10 years ago.  There are only a handful of houses, my guess is that the land was vacant until these were built. The street is privately owned by their HOA. Yes, there’s a bit of Christmas here. But it’s Thanksgiving elsewhere. Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, all on one house!  But they’re not alone. That mess of orange on the lawn is an inflatable turkey. Not sure why this is on their lawn… Came home and ate a bowl of soup to warm up … Sunday.  Still windy, but the sun was out and it wasn’t as cold.  Walked north into Hicksville. Thanksgiving banner on a house decorated for Christmas. And more signs of Thanksgiving. And Christmas  And somewhat behind the times Interestingly, this guy was next door to a ho...

 So it rained, on and off, for almost three days.  Not enough to end the drought, of course, but it’s a start. And now it’s cold, like “where’s my winter coat?” cold.  Yes, it’s November, cold weather is expected.  You’ll be pleased to know that the ginger cat isn’t afraid of bad weather,  I caught a fleeting glimpse of him on the Ring … Of course, our cats are strictly indoor cats.  Too many bad things can happen if you let your cats wander.  I see far too many posts on Ring and Nextdoor about cats that didn’t come home … But the cats that we had at my parents’ house were allowed to go out … Redford would often greet me on the driveway…Redford and Daisy were great hunters, and would often bring home “presents” they found in the woods.  Redford was known as the scourge of chipmunk-kind .  And Daisy?  If you’re a long time reader of the blog you’ll remember  Daisy the bunny killer , how  it got loose in the house  and I had...

  My Baby Just Cares for Me 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: My Baby Just Cares for Me (2016) Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it  here . 1) Michael Buble sings that his lover doesn't care much about the theater or new clothes. Which have you done more recently -- attended a play or movie or added to your wardrobe? Wicked didn’t officially open until today (Friday) but we got an offer from Fandango to see a special showing earlier in the week.  I’d seen the Broadway show twice and absolutely loved it.  The movie is wonderful. 2) This...

 The battle for the sunny spot Want to see where Shadow wound up?

 Moon set through my window #skywatchfriday

More visitors.  The ginger cat seems to think he owns the place. .  Simple pleasure. Lying in bed, snug under a blanket, listening to the sound of rain beating against the windows, A simple pleasure that’s been denied  for months, until tonight.  We got rain.  Not enough to end the drought.  But enough to keep the brush fires at bay, at least for now. But the rain and the wind …it is fierce tonight. I guess winter is really on the way.

  Yes, a raccoon.  Did you know they’re members of the bear family? I discovered that many years ago, when my mother had to pay someone to remove a deceased raccoon from under the deck of our pool. As long as he’s not messing with my garbage cans, he’s welcome to visit any time. And then there’s my ginger buddy

 Weird night …there’s been a helicopter circling my house again … So the governor has declared that we are officially in a drought.  Oh, fun …We are supposed to get some rain later this week, but not nearly enough.  Can I say that I absolutely hate this?  So annoyed, I went to the supermarket yesterday and bought a couple of bottles of teriyaki sauce.  I was so careful packing up my shopping bags.  Or, at least I thought I was careful.  I apparently cracked one of the bottles when I packed up the car, and it leaked all over the shopping bag.  Ugh. But I picked up the ham for our Friendsgiving.  I’ve never cooked a ham before. Drew prepared a ham once.  So I’m sure we will figure out what to do with this ham.  We get the frozen turkey on Monday.   I’m going to make the mushrooms stuffed with Boursin and I’m going to bake gluten free cornbread—  I use a mix but I “doctor” it by adding honey to the batter.  Still haven’t...

 Ring alerted me to a person in the back yard. There you go, proof that cats are people too. He’s a big boy …

 So, as I mentioned yesterday, I’ve seen the stage production of Wicked  twice.  First time was in 2003, when it was in previews on Broadway, and the second time was in 2014.  I loved the show and I was waiting for the movie … it opens on Friday, but Drew got an offer from Fandango, and we saw a special preview showing last night. This being Long Island, home of the quintessential theater nerds, virtually the entire movie audience was more than familiar with the Broadway production.  Many of the (mostly female) audience were wearing pink and green (the colors featured in the movie) and/or shirts with Wicked graphics.  The two women in the row in front of us were wearing witch’s hats.  And one woman was dressed in her best Glinda cosplay. This being a theater nerd audience, several people actually applauded after the musical numbers. We saw it in IMAX, which makes the special effects really pop. *spoiler alert* *spoiler alert* *spoiler alert* *spoiler a...

 Simple pleasure.  A bowl of strawberries, blueberries and some Reddi Whip. We’re going to the movies tonight.  We usually don’t go out on a weeknight, but we have the opportunity to see Wicked  before its official opening.  Although we did see a big-screen showing of  The Wizard of Oz  on a Wednesday night.  I’ve seen the Broadway musical twice, once when the show was in previews and again in  2014 .  I’m excited to see the movie.  So it’s not even Thanksgiving yet, but we are talking about New Year’s Eve.  We usually celebratewith a small group of friends.  Last year we went to a restaurant that threw a party.  It was not a success evening.  The previous year we had a very lovely evening at Drew’s house   That seems to be the pattern.  So it looks like Drew and I will be hosting again.  We have a very good next door neighbor.  His shrubs overhang our driveway.  He comes over to our side...

 The forecast calls for rain, lots of rain, Wednesday night/Thursday morning. I never thought I’d be hoping for a rainy day! But the drought … Anyone remember when “rain” was the  Music Monday  theme?   A couple of the videos I posted are apparently no longer available, but we can still enjoy the rest.

This week’s theme?  Marie at XmasDolly suggested that we come up with songs about winter, cold weather sports, or snuggling up with friends. It’s just around the corner folks! I’m not particularly fond of winter, so …    But I think we can manage a few happier songs …

 Turkeys abound. This one has two “poults”.   This one is adorable Interesting how that house still has Halloween jack o lanterns on the lawn. This house is ready for Christmas  Clearly a Nightmare Before Christmas fan. This is what I mean by McMansion That house has a vibe so different from the rest of the neighborhood. Birds  Notice the outdoor staircases on these houses. That’s usually a sign of an accessory apartment on the second floor.  In Nassau County, you’re allowed to have an apartment, with proper permits, but permits are usually restricted to an apartment for a family member.   But that doesn’t mean people get the permits.  A lot of people build an apartment and rent it out.  Housing costs on Long Island are ridiculously expensive, there aren’t many apartment buildings, there’s a huge market for these accessory apartments.  (I never asked my landlady if my old apartment was legal…my stairs were indoors…) I’m really enjoying these ...