This and That-ing

 

 

First of all, that is the UK cover for the long-awaited Harry Potter finale, and I will have more to say about it later in this entry. But I wanted the pretty picture on top, so, bite me.

Since I am your self-appointed personal trainer (and if I am truly your personal trainer you are in so much trouble) I have found you something else to do besides ride bikes, if you truly insist that riding bikes is not in your near future (ingrate). It is called the C25K and it is a training program to take you from your couch to running a 5K in easy, healthy steps. I don’t know why, but any program that has “couch” as a starting point cracks me up enough to almost make me willing to give it a try.

I thought it couldn’t be done, but spicetalk has blazed a trail in genetically modified fruit that wins my stamp of approval.

I’m glad another slow foodie has joined the blogosphere. She acts as if she hasn’t really started yet but I swear, anybody who makes their own cheese is a slow foodie already, geez. Now, if she’ll just find a source of local organic produce for me that I can buy by the peck or even bushel without taking out a loan to do so….

I tried the Sojourners Coffee this morning and like it, hey I really like it!

I just listened to In the Woods by Tana French and I think the Publishers Weekly review nailed it nicely: Irish author French expertly walks the line between police procedural and psychological thriller in her debut. The relationship between the two detectives, Rob and Cassie, is one of the most fascinating I’ve read in a long, long time.

I knew this would be so, but I liked reading it anyway when Jean Jacques Taylor said, I like Michael. He’s one of my favorite people because the same Irvin you see on TV is the same Irvin you see when you bump into him on the street. He’s one of the most charismatic people you’ll ever meet. He has made some dumb decisions in his personal life, no doubt, but he’s not a bad person. I have a friend who was on his jury pool and she knew nothing about him at all, but had a lot to say about his grace and charisma. I wish she’d blog about that experience someday, mainly because she cracked me up so much talking about it. Ahem, ahem. I think I shall point her to this entry.

I am going to go see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix today or tonight. I am not sure which. I think I need to make up my mind. But my more pressing Harry-quandary is whether to wait for my UK Edition to arrive before reading, or whether to break down and join the midnight madness at Barnes & Noble and buy the US Edition. The only reason to really do that (besides the fun of midnight madness) is because I don’t trust the world around me not to spoil me if I try and wait for the UK edition. Sigh.

But I know I prefer the UK cover (top) which actually allows Harry to look like he might be 17 to this one, the US:

What do you think?

On the other hand….

So.

Miss Max had the audacity to challenge my selection of destination sites because they didn’t include anything from the Jolly Olde Country*. The nerve!

However, it is also true that I struggled with myself not to include my favorite remnant of an ancient civilization which does just happen to be in, okay bite me, ENGLAND.

I present for your edification and pleasure, Castlerigg Stone Circle.

(Surely you didn’t expect me to recommend those Other Big Rocks? Every tourist who sets foot in England makes it there, and you will likely have to elbow your way betwixt and between them to get your photos. Besides which, I just don’t think they’re as evocative as Castlerigg. Even though our first visit to the Henge was in a gale with it raining sideways — which was really rather cool, and we were the only ones who braved the weather that afternoon. But our first visit to Castlerigg was at sunset when the sky was truly on fire — red, red, red. Gorgeous. And we were the only ones there, as well, and I didn’t want to leave.)

And, speaking of coffee, I’m still struggling with this fair trade organic thing. I just hate having to mail order it, but I have trouble finding one I really enjoy drinking. So far my fave has been Bishop’s Blend — more specifically, their Cafe de la Paz, because I am not that fond of the truly strong coffees so many love, which makes my taste as plebian as those who think Stonehenge is the best rock collection in the UK, but I digress — yet I hate having to order it online. (Even though it has been very fresh when I got it, or I guess so, since the beans are glossy instead of dry-looking which to me makes it look fresh.)

But the stuff I’ve found from time to time at Starbucks or Whole Foods Market doesn’t suit me; in fact, I have to force it down. So this morning I decided to order some more Cafe de la Paz and then discovered a couple of interesting things.

One, even though it seems pricey at $8.95 per 12 oz bag, I notice that it is cheaper than the other Pura Vida coffees on that site. I wonder why, especially since the profits are going to charity. (Or maybe that’s why? Maybe the ERD doesn’t feel the need to jack the price up as high?) Oh wait. Pura Vida is nonprofit, too. So, hmm. I have no idea.

However –

Sojo Blend on the same site is only $9.95 a pound. So I ordered a bag of each and will try to remember to do a taste test at my mom’s when there are plenty of coffee drinkers around.

And if you are wondering what is the big deal about fair trade, here is a bit of an explanation from the Sojo website.

And while I’m on the subject –

Bicycles. Yes, bicycles. We were driving home (sniff, whimper, sniff) from RoMo and listening to Art Bell (shut up) and “In the first hour, researcher Matt Savinar commented on peak oil.”

And every time Savinar mentioned bicycles as an alternative, Art Bell growled, “And don’t say ‘bicycles’ because nobody is gonna do that.” (Because we all know that it’s one thing to ask the American public to believe in space creatures inhabiting earth and an entirely different one to expect them to actually want to do something proactive about the oil crisis. Oh wait. It is. I hate when I confuse myself this way.)

Anyway, back to the point at hand –

Mr. Bell, with all due respect, bite my ass.

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

* By the way, that is my favorite travel guide. The writers are not above using a bit of snark and attitude and because it is thick and text-based (rather than pretty photos) it gives info on villages and sites that never get mentioned in the glossier books. It has been my right hand on every trip we’ve made across the pond, or the Scottish and Welsh equivalents, as needed. Of course this may only be important when you have rented a car and are all about getting off the beaten path. If you’re just staying in London and taking day trips out (yawn) maybe the ordinary travel guides are enough.

Small Packages

I rode my bike to Starbucks (in the rain — never done that before and it was fun) and am now sitting outside finishing off a “for-here” tall organic latte. My original plan was to sit here and write, but the inside was filled with retired guys shooting the bull, and so I’m outside enjoying the cool breeze, light misty rain and traffic noise.

And I was still going to write a scene but I got a phone call telling me I was needed elsewhere, so when I finish this cup I will leave.

But that gives me time to ponder the fact that the best things DO come in small packages.

A tall latte is better than any other size.

There has never been a Coke ™ as good as the 8 oz. bottle.

And there is something particularly delightful about a preschool dance recital when the youngest angel there (all of 3 years old) who is dressed in a bonnet and bloomers and is “Mary” and has a “little lamb” and has just completed dancing on her tippy-toes and pointing her foot and striking a couple of sweet poses –

Decides her lamb is in her way and hauls off and kicks it about three feet so she can finish her dance.

The view from Starbucks:

Have a nice day.

Overheard

Quote of the Day

“I always thought I had a personality, but now I know it was just caffeine.”
overheard, pregnant woman ordering decaff

Household Hints of Dubious Origin

Dubious, because they come from me. And anybody who knows me will tell you that I am not a housekeeper by any definition.

But still, these are helpful hints, so I will share.

1) My grandfather taught me a trick about making up the bed. Tie a knot in the bottom corners of your flat top sheet. Then when you tuck them under, pull them snug. The knot keeps them from coming loose. It will take a VERY restless sleeper to tug them loose in the night, as the weight of the mattress on the knotted corners is pretty secure.

2) I read this once in Hints from Heloise or a fashion magazine or something. Maybe in both those places. Shampoo is much thicker than it needs to be. Since it’s the addition of water that makes the lather, you might notice that the second lathering produces a lot more suds. Well, split a bottle of shampoo between two bottles and add water to fill. Shake/mix thoroughly, and your hair will get cleaner faster and your shampoo will last twice as long.

3) After watching Kim & Ags work their magic with various combinations of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) and vinegar/salt/lemon juice/etc., etc., etc. I was inspired to simply put a pretty bowl of baking soda by my sink.

[Pretend there is a pretty picture of a pretty bowl of baking soda by my pretty white sink here, because it is all pretty but I am not in the mood to document, maybe later.]

Then I put a pretty purple sponge beside it. [Add sponge to picture above.]

I had already cleaned my sink with soda and lemon juice, and with soda and vinegar, and it does cut right through the scum. Since the surface of my sink isn’t as slick as it once was (naughty me, I used Comet on it when the manufacturer advised against it) it does stain more than it would otherwise, so I do give a squirt of Clorox Cleanup when I’m finished and leave it to do its whitening job.

But I put this bowl of soda there because it just seemed like the thing to do, to keep it handy. And when I found a couple of teabags that had been sitting in the sink all day (my husband made tea for breakfast and left the bags in the sink, grr) I decided to dip the wet sponge in soda and rub. And the tea stains disappeared. No bleach, no Comet, no Clorox. When some plates had some dried on stuff, again I rubbed with a damp sponge dipped in soda. Again, it came right off.

Since then I’ve used that sponge and soda for everything, and only resorted to stronger chemicals (perhaps the addition of vinegar) when necessary, and guess what. It hasn’t been necessary. I do put the dishes in the dishwasher to wash, but where I used to use dish soap and scrub off dried on gunk, now it’s soda.

4) Use a sponge. Well, you might say, DUH. But I’ve always used nylon scrubbers or SOS pads, because they seem tougher, and they don’t stink if you leave them in the sink. Occasional dishcloths. But I’ve never kept sponges around. Until recently, and now I realize that they really are superior, because they give better coverage. Live and learn.

5) Referencing #3 above, use soda first. I use baking soda first. Example: We have a glass-topped table in our back yard. (I’m sitting there now with my laptop and coffee.)

[Picture a glass-top on black wrought iron and uncomfortable wrought iron chairs (which would be comfortable if I either had on long pants or if they had cushions) with a cup of free trade organic coffee (Café de la Paz) and a yellow lab and blue healer at my feet, giving me adoring (okay, hungry) looks. Don't expect a picture of this. The freak as soon as they see a camera and dance and hop and jump with their tongues hanging out, the little showoffs, and it's just not becoming.]

Well, because this table is in the open air, it gets rained on and birds poop on it and it ends up with a thick layer of sludge during the winter because I never bother with it. Then one day in the spring I finally think, “I’d like to sit outside,” and have to clean it. This involves, spraying with the hose, squirting with soap, scrubbing with brush, spraying with hose, seeing streaks of sludge still there, repeating process several times and eventually finishing off with Windex and squished up newspapers.

This time I thought, hmmm. I filled a plastic pitcher with warm water and just a few drops of dishwashing soap. I poured it over the glass-top until the entire surface was wet, and then shook a lot of soda around on it. I took out the sponge (see above) and started rubbing. I rubbed thoroughly and then poured clear warm water over it.

NO STREAKS OF SLUDGE.

Is that it? Is it that easy?!?

Okay, so I got the hose and rinsed, and still, it looked clean.

The combination of the sponge, mildly abrasive soda and probably the bit of soap did the trick. I didn’t bother with the Windex or drying off the table because I wasn’t about to sit here. The next morning it was damp so I wiped it and sat down, and it was beautifully clean.

Second example: My kitchen cabinets are 40 years old (wait — almost fifty) and have a lot of grime around the handles and lower corners. I used a sponge and baking soda, and it rubbed off with just a little elbow grease. I’m agog, because in the past I’ve used various cleaners and lots of elbow grease and it’s always a pain and not always successful. Caution: Where I rubbed especially hard, it also took off some of the finish. I don’t care because these cabinets look like hell anyway, and clean with bare finish is better than grimy. But it’s something to be known.

6) I’ll give you one of Kim & Aggie’s (see link above) as a bonus. I’m sure you know to use old toothbrushes to scrub hard-to-reach corners, etc. But did you know to use whitening toothpaste, too? Not gels, but the mildly abrasive toothpaste. It whitens, also cleans faster, and after you rinse, leaves a fresh fragrance behind! (Or, just dip your toothbrush in soda. Ahem.)

Oh yes! Before I forget — when I was at the organic market (Whole Foods, or Whole Paycheck, as it is known around our house) I looked for a jumbo economy size of baking soda and didn’t find it. However, I did find “organic” soda, which said “aluminum free” on the box. I bought it to cook with for the same reason I got rid of our aluminum pots and pans (stainless is my friend). Google aluminum+ Alzheimer’s. You can decide what you think for yourself. I’m not sure, but would rather err on the side of caution since we’ve seen Alzheimer’s in two family members, now.

My pretty bowl is from this collection of Czech pottery, by the way.
I told you it was pretty!

I have quite exhausted myself from writing about household chores and now must rest. In fact, I do believe writing about them has satisfied any need to actually do them.

But feel free to do some yourself. I won’t stand in your way.