Baldur

'Ziegler'' + s = 'Ziegler's'

puzzler

Baldur, Puzzler was disappointed to see that you collect garden gnomes, as in the UK, they are considered to be very tacky. We equate the owners of such things, with being rather eccentric, or to have no taste at all! Admittedly, they are the plastic sort and usually the pride and joy of a very old lady - more Auntie B's sort of thing!

Baldur

I am rather eccentric. They are cast iron and very venerable looking.
It is important in the US to place gnomes in inconspicuous locations.
There is an organization that liberates gnomes from captivity.

http://www.freethegnomes.com/

At Chez Baldur Gnomes are not required to work and are free to leave if they desire. I consider my purchasing of them as an effort to free them from bondage.

If they are abducted by the ProGnome Zealots they will become separated from their families and forced to live by a code of beliefs that they themselves do not espouse.
Garden Gnomes love to work in gardens, being subjugated into a life of idleness goes against their personal ethics.

puzzler

In that case Baldur, I will consider you as very special case and may you fight on!

puzzler

Might I also suggest a course of treatment with Dr. Bear?

polenta

HEBREWS

HE BREWS

LOL!

Dragon

Here's a little ad for Baldurs garden gnomes. It always made me chuckle whenever I saw it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DPrxu-7_Xo

belladonnis

Those were funny marius!

Baldur I like the garden fairies more than the gnomes. For some reason the gnomes kind of scare me!lol I know that is silly but they do! I also have two very cute frogs and a very real looking turtle in my flower beds.

I also had quite a collection of cookwear, but my thing was choppers. Like the little cup size choppers you do by hand. I also had a small eletric chopper that was my fave. But when my house burned they all went and I have yet to replace everything.
I agree with you I dont like the plastic collanders either. I dont like plastic measuring cups also they just stain so easy.

Qsilv

Baldur -
Office Depot has your scrubbies, 4" diam, $6 for a box of 6 (in red, yet, NOT blue!)
Amazon has 'em too but there it's $8+ for 4 (booo hiss)
oooor-r-r-r.... (drumroll.....) right there in R.I., the mother-lode! (scroll all the way down)

http://www.scrubble.com/quality-cleaning-products/hand-scouring-and-grill-cleaning/scrubbers/d efault.html




marius -- just a little fyi -- your silent note is responsible for the mess I just made... most of the tea wiped up easily, and at least there's no milk in the part that landed in the keyboard...

Qsilv

bah... as usual, there's a space in that URL... find it and close it up!
(it varies depending on browser)

Baldur

Dragon, I can't believe she kidnapped the gnomes! What horriblr fate are they in for?
Hopefully she'll just take them deep into the woods and release them.

Belladonnis, Baldur only uses his Braun food processor for mechanical chopping. I've owned it since the early 1980s and it still does the job.
In all the years that it has been here the shredder blades and such have only been used twice. Oh how Baldur hates cleaning those accesories.
If grating is necessary the old fashioned box grater is employed. That never takes more than a quick swish in warm soapy water to clean.

Qsilv, those red scrubbies are exactly what I am looking for. If I cannot locate any cheaply at a dollar store before this package of horrible scrubber pads are used up Baldur will contact them and get a case.

Baldur

horriblr - r + e = horrible
Belladonnis - B + b = belladonnis

Baldur

Dear Auntie B,

A dear old friend of mine passed away several weeks ago after a drawn out battle with cancer. After the crying and mourning had settled down, things began to normalize again. Suddenly his name has been appearing on my computer buddy list again and each time it surfaces it has been causing me emotional turmoil.
His partner has no doubt been using the screen name while closing down accounts and tying up loose ends.
How do I handle this?
Should I send the partner an email and tell him how disconcerting this is?

An anonymous nephew

AuntieB

Gentlest (and obviously dimwitted) Listener.

Don't you think that signing onto to the account and severing piece after piece of his deceased partner's past life isn't a horrible experience for him?
Do not write him at that email account and tell him how uncomfortable this makes you.
All that you need to do is go to your buddylist's control panel and removed the deceased's name from your computer.

You could write the partner in a supportive manner at his own email address or better yet physically send him a letter.
The important thing here is not to turn it into a sob story and force him to dwell on things that he has been agonizing over since the tragic event.
Try inviting him over for dinner, or just visiting some afternoon.
Everyone moves on at their own pace and he has many painful things to confront. Do not make your grief an issue for the widowed, he has more than enough of his own problems at the moment.
Do let me know how it turns out, Auntie B really does care.

Auntie B

AuntieB

On a more positive note Diego prepared the most exquisite omelet today.
It was filled with sharp shedded cheddar and a bit of salsa. To accompany it was homemade bread, toasted and buttered.
Auntie B is facing a difficult time. Diego is going home to Puerto Rico for a vacation in just a few days. He will be gone for 2 weeks.
Trying to find a temporary replacement has proven impossible.
My current plan is to go on a little getaway myself, there are still a few days to arrange something.
As a last resort Auntie B could move into the guest suite at Chez Baldur, though being in the same house with Baldur for that long would be a challenge. It might still be preferable to watching my laundry and dirty dishes pile up.

Dragon

I think the only accessory I ever use on my food processor is the shedder. I agree that it is a pain in the butt to clean but the only thing time I use it is to shred the potatoes for potatoe pancakes and doing that by hand is soooo much more work than cleaning the processor. I used to do it by hand on a handy little device I got at Ikea (oh how I love those clever Swedes). It's a grater that's attached to a little bowl so you can grate flat (helpful for doing potatoes and onions) and everything goes right into the bowl. It also comes with a lid so you can seal everything up if you need to set it aside overnight or something.

Dragon

Baldur you must not miss this pic by Heidi.
http://www.thinkdraw.com/picture.php?pictureId=89038

Baldur

I love Heidi's gnome.

You should have all dropped in for breakfast at Chez Baldur.
Apple pancakes were on the menu.

marius

AuntieB, your advice is uncommonly sage! Am referring to what you told the "gentle (and dimwitted) listener." What a great point you made when you said, "Do not make your grief an issue for the widowed ..."

Here is a story about that, a Missouri Moment, which though difficult ends with such delight.

Marius has a friend "Georgia" who lost her husband in an auto accident. Naturally, it was a very difficult time. A year later several of us were gathered for a dinner. We had finished a fabulous home-cooked meal and retired to the living room with coffee and cognac. People found places to sit and place their drinks and then there was a moment of silence. That can happen even in the most gregarious group and that was the moment when Liz had something pop into her head.

Dear Liz, she had worked side by side with Georgia's husband for thirty years. We all knew that she was fond of the man, but none of us realized how deeply she had grieved his loss. The one thing we did know is that Liz, like all of us, comes with her own set of difficulties: when Liz gets an idea, her mouth opens and strange things come out. But, knowing that did not prepare us for what popped into Liz's head and out of her mouth this time. She said, "By the way, Georgia, you need to change your answering machine. It gives me the creeps every time I have to listen to Tom's voice before I can leave you a message. I'm sure he wouldn't want his voice on there anymore."

The muses must have been present because the next thing I knew, Jane, in her most cheery voice had launched into a charming story. She said, "You all know the Barnes family! Tina's husband has been gone five years but his voice still greets me when I get the answering machine. I enjoy it very much and here's why. Tina had decided she was going to change that answering machine message, but one day when she came home from errands there was a message from one of her kids. The message said, "Oh Mom, I just love calling when you aren't home cause then I get to hear Dad's voice. It's so comforting to still have him be a part of our family in this way. Every time I hear his voice I am reminded of how great he made our family."

We all agreed that was a lovely story but Liz snapped, "Well, that's creepy and if Georgia doesn't change her answering machine I'm gonna quit calling." Not sure who said what after that, but the conversation took a turn as it wisely should in such situations and later that evening we all parted with warmth and smiles.

The next day I got a worried call from Georgia. She was concerned that maybe we were all offended to hear Tom's voice on her answering machine and wanted to know if she should change it. Sigh. marius did her best to point out that Liz was grieving too. She'd worked next to Tom for all those years and she had always had a sort of crush on the guy. That made Georgia laugh and she said, "Yes, she let me know many times that I was not the woman she expected him to end up with."

So, Georgia let Tom's voice 'take messages' for the next three years, Liz refused to call Georgia and resorted to emails, and the day Georgia decided to change that answering machine greeting was truly sweet. It was after she'd been dating Greg for five months. They are getting married this summer.

marius

Meant to say, would have loved to have apple pancakes at Chez Baldur this morning, but that might have interfered with how I awoke.

What woke me this morning was a sign of spring ... the melodies of Mr. Cardinal. He was perched all pretty and red on the cypress tree, singing like he thought he was at Carnagie Hall. First cardinal concert of the year and must say, it put a spring in the step, a smile on the face and curiously, had me wanting spring-ish food for lunch. Now if all that snow and ice would melt ...