Baldur

perhaps -e; that is up for debate

marius

I was vegatarian once, for about two years. It was many years ago. Became one cause of a boyfriend. He went, so did the vegetarianism. But I am always curious how and one becomes anything - so Baldur, why no meat? And how long have you been meatless? And does it smell bad to you? (I recall while not eating meat that the smell of it made me kind of nauseaus, except bacon. Bacon always smelled good.)

marius

Black hollyhocks???

Baldur

It was back somewhere around 1996, at a time when I still believed in physicians that Baldur became a vegetarian.
My doctor was concerned about my health and told me to cut back on my consumption of red meat. That was all it really took.
I stopped eating meat that day.
I had a follow-up appointment 4 weeks later and my blood work was amazingly good.

Baldur was a cook in a nursing facility at the time and had been considering going vegetarian for some time. It was turkey that pushed me over the edge.
Three times a week Baldur roasted 3 or 4 turkeys and dismembered them when they had sufficiently cool.
Turkey grease is evil, one of the worst smells to try to wash off and I felt I could always smell it. I still cringe when I cook it for Robert on Thanksgiving.

What Baldur misses the most is lamb, roasted lamb with garlic, rosemary and olive oil.

Baldur

Black hollyhocks are actually a very deep maroon color; they were a personal favorite of Thomas Jefferson and were planted at Montecello.
You can find photos on Google.

marius

And while you might be replying, or have gone off air, I'm back on flowers.

How did you get interested in them? In a former life I was a naturalist. You know - lead people in the woods and prairie and entertain them with wild stories. That's when I began to learn about plants and fall in love with them. We have about 150 iris, 100 day lilies, many different DYC's (speaking of abbreviations - that is Lady Bird Johnson's abbreviation for "damn yellow composits" which do present difficulties when trying to ID them. ) We also have 'spidey worts' - that's OUR name for them. Virginia creeper, salvia galore, etc. etc. My favorite new pasttime is a cut flower garden. Have two of these gardens and just threw a collection of seeds in so am having to ID them as they bloom. They seem to thrive the more I cut them. This need to have fresh indoor flowers forced me to learn about museum putty - now the cats can not knock over the vases, which is something that used to entertain them wildly.

marius

See - knew it would be interesting to know how Baldur became vegetarian. Does Baldur EVER stray? Eat fish? The only thing I would miss being vegetarian is BLT sandwiches, well, and shrimp. Our first two tomatoes are sitting on the counter and tomorrow, if one more has ripened enough, we are celebrating with the first BLT's of the summer for dinner.

Baldur

I have entertained the thought of getting museum putty for some of my vases. The Roseville and Ephraim Faience pieces especially,
It would be devestating if any of those should shatter.

Baldur

-a +e =devastate

Baldur

My paternal Grandmother had an amazing garden, I believe that gene came from her

marius

If you get museum putty, all I can say is that you can use it over and over forever. I think it is eternal - probably even has a soul come to think of it. We have antiques and the putty has not left a single mark or stain on any of our wood pieces. It has "cured" the cats of knocking over photos in frames, vases, etc.

Baldur

Baldur never muched like fish, or any of the sea bugs (shrimp, lobster, crab). If it was battered and fried it was ok, but often enough Baldur would only eat the batter.
I don't miss bacon, or beef for that matter. Roast pork was good but I don't find myself longing for it.

Baldur loves Tomato sandwiches in the summer, heavens there is nothing better.
Make toast using firm bread, none of that processed stuff.
Spread with Mayo, liberally grind black pepper onto the Mayo
Add several slices of tomato
Eat immediately while leaning over the kitchen sink.
Repeat

Alternately bring everything including the toaster outside, eat the sandwich on the lawn.

Baldur

You could just putty the cats in place.

marius

NOW I am laughing! Thanks! Tomato sands are delicious - and yes, over the sink or at picnic table in the yard. Yes to the fresh ground black pepper. Nothing better indeed. And yes - must be toasted!

And wait till I suggest to spouse that we putty the cats in place. He'll love that idea. )But, My cat just told me he is not amused!)

Baldur

-ed =much

Baldur must get to bed, I should be resting my leg but instead seem to be doing more than ever. Baldur finds himself relishing sleep lately.
Have a marvelous evening.

Baldur out

'All Baldur, All the Time"

marius

Exactly! Sweet dreams!

sheftali52

Sheftali signs on again, ever the eternal night owl. Why is she not surprised that Baldur has read and enjoyed Sarah Susanka books? I own several of her books and consider them great members of my library. Long live the Arts and Crafts movement! Sheftali has been an enthusiastic follower without knowing of Arts and Crafts per se. One of the side benefits of being in the military (now retired) was the opportunity to be in foreign lands and thus collect interesting artifacts. Scattered throughout Sheftali's home are brass and copper objects from Greece and Turkey, old glass bottles from a flea market in Metz, France, crystal goodies from Germany. Many of said artifacts are simply cool (at least to Sheftali), and not expensive. However, two items are dear to Sheftali--the massive oak shrank (wall unit) from Belgium, and the grandfather clock from Germany. I admire the fine craftmanship in both.

Lamb roasted with garlic, rosemary, and olive oil--yes, YES! Sheftali lived in Greece for two years, and each Easter, all the families around us would roast a lamb outside, basting the meat with olive oil and spices. The smell was heavenly and would waft through the air like a fine perfume. We stood on our balcony and enjoyed the aroma.

Baldur's aversion to the smell of turkey grease reminds Sheftali of when she worked in the Dole pineapple cannery in Hawaii. At the end of a shift consisting of hacking imperfections off of cored pineapples, Sheftali stunk (sounds worse than stank) of pineapples so badly that she rarely eats pineapple to this day. And, she only worked in the cannery for two weeks--quit before she thought she'd be fired. Turns out Sheftali was too slow and too clumsy at that time, dropping numerous pineapples on the floor and generally messing up the rhythm of that asembly line operation.

For marius--for the longest time, Sheftali mistakenly thought Virginia creeper was poison ivy. I'd pull the Virginia creeper from our yard with great care, until I figured out that it was not poisonous. Now, I let it grow where it doesn't interfere with other plantings.

sheftali52

craftmanship + s = craftsmanship

marius

Ahhh - radio Baldur saves the day. oops - the night. Could not sleep. (you are spared that story)! : ) Now I have to go to Library and check out SS's books.

What an interesting life - to travel so much! And you worked in the military? Will we find out doing what? Curiosity is peeked or peaked, or something like that. And, love the story about the pineapple cannery. I was also too slow and clumsy at a warehouse job.

The poem about V. creeper - "Leaves of five, let it thrive." When we bought this house, there was an ugly monkey-bar, swingset thing in back yard. Horrid pain to eyes! I asked mr. fix-it spouse to turn it into an arbor. Was kidding. Being somewhat newly-wed did not know his talents. It is now a lovely arbor with benches, pots of flowers, stunning woodwork & grey slate stone patio. (V. creeper screening the sunlight is my contribution.)

marius

Baldur radio - have not read all 1000+ posts, but somewhere there were interviews. Think that was back when people had a fixation about poles, dancing, tongs, etc.

This listener suggests a Sheftali52 interview. (hope that's okay Sheft - all are welcome to decline I think. But you'd have to ask the manager about that.)