Robindcr8l

Now Baldur and Marius, those are the kinds of stories that make this radio station GREAT! Better than Garrison Keillor himself! Free stuff! What a windfall! And that stinky monster! gotta love little boys. What'd your granddtr think of it??

Last week was still cold and dreary in Boise, but towards the weekend spring was starting to look hopeful. Then I had to work Sun, Mon, Tues 12 hour shifts. Sun = sunny and 78. Mon= sunny and 82. Tues (today)= sunny morning in the 60's, then by the time I leave work at 7p it is cold and POURING rain and hail and lightening! High tomorrow= mid-50's and continued rain. Murphy's Law. So now I am off for 5 days and at least the first 3 are predicted cold and rain. Dog poop piling up in the yard, preventing me from cleaning it in the wet. Gotta get it done so Sheftali can come tidy up the yard.

Good old Murphy. He's been my best friend for years, and competes for my attention only with Perry. (you know...Peri-menopause!) LOL Good night!

Dragon

Robin you can send some of that rain up here. We're dying for it. It's been sunny and warm for a couple of weeks now but the wind has been blowing like mad and we havn't had a drop of rain yet this year (the meager amount of precipitation we've gotten so far has all been in snow form). Yesterday not too far from my home there was a grass fire behind the mall and of course the wind whipped it up into something more then it should have been. Fortunatly the fire dept got a handle on it quickly and no one was hurt and I don't believe there was even any property damaged but it could have easily been much worse. It always kind of irks me when I see people flicking their cigarette butts out the window and when it's as dry as it has been here it's just asking for trouble.
On a nicer note I'm finally starting to see hints of green starting on the trees and bushes around here. This is always my favorite thing about spring, when the leaves start popping out and everything has that hazy greeness about it. I'm looking forward to when the grass starts looking truly green and somewhat soft so I can take my kitties out on their harnesses and sit in the back yard with them. They seem to be getting a little antsy too about it, they're certainly enjoying having the windows open again.

sheftali52

Sheftali is happy--she has her new Bogs rain shoes, which she uses to work in the garden. So now she's ready to work on her yard, Robin's yard, and any other yard that beckons. The second row of peas has poked through the soil. Life is good.

Baldur

Happy Earth Day everyone.
Baldur worked in the morning doing yard cleanup for a neighbor.
Just before the thunderstorms began I raced home and planted 8 trees at Boughbreak.
These were Canadian Hemlocks which are rapidly becoming the evergreen of choice here. I like the short needles and tiny little cones.
I love the lack of sticky, messy sap.
What is also interesting is the silver color of the underside of each needle. When the breeze is blowing the tree looks like it is shimmering in the light.

sheftali52

And a happy Earth Day to Baldur. Glad he got to spend time outdoors planting trees and such. And Canadian hemlocks, yet. Cool. Sheftali purchased an odd plant recently called corkscrew rush, or curly wurly. It apparently is a foliage plant that flowers at some point. It looks like a lot of spirally, green corkscrews. I'll pot it soon and put it on my deck.

polenta

yes, happy Earth Day

Dragon

Had to look up the corkscrew rush, what an unusual looking plant. That would make an interesting addition to any deck I think. If Dragon and her sweetie ever manage to get into a house we have to look at that as some interesting foliage. I keep thinking of what kind of things I'd like to grow if I actually had a garden. I'm thinking to start off simple (because I'm a very lazy gardener and an extrodinarily neglective plant mommy) with some Sweet Peas because they don't require much work and they're so pretty and make a yard smell wonderful. I'd also love to try some Hollyhocks and Sunflowers but I have a feeling they require some work to get them to stay straight and pretty. I'd love to grow my own veggies but I think I'll start small and work my way up to that. Of course this is all academic at the moment as I don't think the condo board would appreciate my digging up the lawn to start a garden, but then the only person on the condo board who actually lives in the building is my sweetie so I might just be able to get away with it. hehehe

puzzler

Happy St. George's Day, to all the English listeners!

Dragon

St.George's Day make Dragons nervous.

Dragon

+s = makes

Shanley

it's St. George here too! A happy anniversary to all wearing this name!

Baldur

Baldur just heard a new blonde joke. Normally I just let these die unforwarded, but because this was one I'd never heard before I'm passing it along.
To any blondes among my listening audience Baldur apologizes.
You may substitute some other person in place of the blonde.

A blonde tried to sell her old car. She was having a lot of problems selling it, because the car had almost 230,000 miles on it.
One day, she told her problem to a brunette she worked with at a salon.
The brunette told her, "There is a possibility to make the car easier to sell, but it's not legal."
"That doesn't matter," replied the blonde, "if I only can sell the car."
"Okay," said the brunette. "Here is the address of a friend of mine. He owns a car repair shop. Tell him I sent you and he will 'fix it'. Then it should not be a problem to sell your car anymore."
The following weekend, the blonde made the trip to the mechanic.
About one month after that, the brunette asked the blonde, "Did you sell your car?"
"No," replied the blonde, "Why should I? It only has 50,000 miles on it!" weasel!"

sheftali52

hehehe--enjoyed Baldur's blonde joke, even if I'm not a blonde! Hey Dragon, google an Earth Box, if you haven't heard of them already. It's a neat way to do a container garden, which is great for those with limited time or space. And just a big pot can be a great container garden, even for tomatoes and cucumbers. I've grown compact cucumber plants with good success in the past. I have a flower box that I've planted with chives, cilantro, and basil. It's all fun.

polenta

People, Solosater is back!!!!!

Baldur

Oh my goodnes, I wonder if the blonde joke did it.....
Welcome back Solosater!
Wait 'til I tell Auntie B

Baldur

Yesterday Baldur was at a Steampunk Tea, and thought it a good idea to do some cooking for the event.
I made my pastry wrapped Spanish Olives and also Cucumber Sandwiches.
No tea is complete without these elegant and tradional finger sandwiches. Though the recipe sounds rather unimaginative these morsels are quite delicious. The touch of lemon juice really does make this dish shine

Cucumber Sandwiches

1 large loaf of firm textured white sandwich bread (brand names such as Arnold's or Pepperidge Farm would be examples of this)

8 oz. of butter at room temperature

the juice of 1/2 of a large lemon

2 European cucumbers peeled and sliced very thin (these are the long ones sold shrinkwrapped in plastic, their seeds are always quite small and unobtrusive... one can use regular cucumbers if they are very young, or one may cut them in half the long way and de-seed them before proceeding with the recipe)
*********

Take the soft butter and beat it with the lemon juice until well combined.
Working with a few slices of bread at a time, spread one surface of each slice with the lemon butter.
Place each buttered slice on a tray
Arrange a thin layer of cucumber on top of the butter.
Butter more slices of bread and use these to top off each sandwich, pressing down a bit to make the layers adhere nicely.
Now this next step may not seem important but it actually is.
Take a clean white tea towel and dampen it with water. Wring it out as well as possible and lay it out on top of the sandwiches before continuing. These dry out very quickly and without this step they will be noticeably less fresh by the time it is possible to make the entire batch. From this point on in the preparation strive to keep them under the damp towel until you are ready to wrap them in an airtight fashion.
Continue making more sandwiches in the above manner until you have used up all the bread or have made a sufficient quantity.
Remove each sandwich to a cutting board and using a long serrated knife neatly trim off all trace of the crusts from each side. Cut the sandwiches into dainty shapes and recover them promptly.

Normal

How nice to have the proper approach to cucumber sandwiches, should I ever be moved to create them! Could we please have some clarification on "Steampunk Tea?" Or have I not been paying attention?

Baldur

Baldur frequents another social network site that is based on Steampunk culture. Wikipedia's description of 'Steampunk' is far better than mine so please permit me to include this link here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk

Baldur

The tea itself was held under the auspices of the Empire of the Red Fork.
It was held in the ceremonial hall of a mid 19th Century hotel in Connecticut.
All the guests arrived in garments suitable for the occasion. Baldur wore his Wallace tartan kilt with a black bib-front cavalry style shirt.
Common elements among the other guests were boots, longcoats, and waistcoats for the gentlemen; long skirts, boots and corsets were popular among the ladies.
Several different teas were offered as well as numerous finger foods.
The conversational topics varied wildly. At our table the discussion ranged from gardening and beekeeping to historical re-enactments taking place locally, metalsmithing and the arts.

Dragon

Dragon is fascinated by the whole Steampunk movement and really must look into it more. I trust the advice on sitting gracefully (and modestly!) in kilts came in handy to Baldur. Though I suppose if he were sitting at a table with tablecloth this wouldn't be quite as large a concern as when entertaining at home. Does Robert also enjoy the Steampunk events or does Baldur have to fly solo for these?