Thursday, April 12

Things are getting somewhat back to normal, and we are reclaiming the house after the madcap nine-day visit by Kahlil, in the middle of which was sandwiched Easter, and Phfrit's wrist surgery, getting my taxes done, and a visit by DeeDeeDooDooDiDi, and the work that was done in the kitchen by he and me. We ran out of time so some things did not get done and I will have to finish: Shooting on the base and caulking...hanging the cabinet doors...finish the flooring in the mud room, etc. It was a joy and delight to meet Phfritzie's son, and he is one hell of a talented man.

Tuesday, April 10

Busier than a bee.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Thursday, April 5

Prease to see Brog.

Wednesday, April 4

Spring weather. Drop Dead Gorgeous. Kahlil here. Work begun on kitchen. Need more?
Call me.

Tuesday, April 3

Oops.

I forgot.

Monday, April 2

So my cell phone battery will only last for about one call when fully charged onnacounta I've had this phone for two years and so I go to Radio Shack in Sacramento which is a Verizon affiliate and no, they don't stock my battery but they can order one for $18.00 so I see if I am up for an upgrade and yes, it is time so I look at the new phones that they have and I don't like them and I don't want to order a battery so I then go to the Verizon corporate store in Elk Grove hoping for either a battery or a better selection of phones and lo and behold they have neither and to order a battery from them costs $40.00 so I chuck the whole idea of getting a new phone and I come home and order the battery from Radio Shack for $20.00 and then I go to the Verizon web site and change my number because that has been a long time coming and they would have charged me $15.00 to change it at the store. So....no new phone ( I like the one I have anyway) and hopefully a new battery will come through the mail and I'll be set for another
~ two years. ~

Sat.-Sun. March into April

Yes, the months changed this weekend, and wow did it seem like it! Saturday was stormy and windy and wet and rainy and such and the like whereas Sunday was...not. No, Sunday was mild and warm and dry and not rainy and man was it nice and I got outside and got things done and everything and everything. Do me a favor, will ya? Write the last of this post for me?
~ Thanks. ~

Friday, March 30

Did you want me to say that on this day I built a full-sized replica of the Eifel Tower or that I operated on Schneider and removed his spleen or that I paved a section of Interstate 5 or that I ran for congress and was elected or that I dug up Jimi Hendrix's grave or that I sang a song of sixpence or that I read an entire encyclopedia or that I tunneled to China or that I ate an entire moose or that I visited with Manny Rameirez or that I flew on a jet plane to Kalamazoo, Michigan? Did you? Well, I didn't.

~ So there. ~

Thursday, March 29

Up quite early and upriver for some crack o' Donny and off to Midtown Sacramento to see the wrist specialist and see new Xrays and learn about the forthcoming surgery. There will be a plate with screws installed to keep the ulna in correct alignment....Back at the ranch-o my day was filled with doin's in the shop and Phfrit puttered about in the house. She feels alot better with the new smaller brace. We feasted on Pasta Pomodoro for the supper on this didn't-rain-all-day-until-it-sprinkled-at-night day.
~ Get it? ~

Wednesday, March 28

Spent the entire morning trying to get an appointment for Phfrit at the orthopedist...seems that onnacounta some stoopid HMO stuff the orthopedist cannot make an appointment without a referrel from the primary doctor, who she saw the day before, and was supposed to fax the referrel, but....no. What do you mean, no? The whole morning was full of waiting for people to answer fones and it was rife with frustration. Rife, I tell ya. But it all eventually worked out and we go tomorrow at 8:30 to Midtown Sac for to see the wrist specialist. Other than that, I had a productive afternoon working in my shop, installing some shelves. Then, by the grace of God, a two hour nap. Then I fired up the Webber and grilled some BBQ chicken thighs. Break in the rain
~ this day. ~

Tuesday, March 27

I challenge anyone who says they don't like fish to try a bite of the sturgeon steaks I grilled last night. And I don't mean "grilled" on the BarBQ. No. I mean grilled on the flat, non-stick electric griddle that I have on my counter. What I did, see, is cut two 1" steaks off the gob of meat, just like salmon steaks, and I rubbed them all over with a freshly crushed garlic clove and then I doused them with freshly ground black pepper and sprinkled them with coarse kosher salt. When the griddle was hot I applied some butter to it and placed the steaks on to grill. .....Minutes go by...Then I flipped the steaks over for yet a few more minutes, all the while basting them with minced garlic. Add steamed asperagus and a baked potato and a slice of toasted sourdough french bread and feast.
You. Will. Like.
~ Fish. ~

Monday, March 26

Two vastly different things happened this day. One involved Phfritzie, who bent down to pick up a penny (a penny!) at a check-out stand and somehow lost her ballance and fell over backwards and landed on her wrist which as it turns out is now broken in three places, into the muscle, and may well require surgery. The other thing that happened is that I received a huge gob (8-10 lbs.) of fresh caught sturgeon from some fishermen that I let use my property the other day. It was a wonderful thing. So, you see, the good and the bad....the dark and the light...the up and the down...it all weaves together in this kooky kooky world of ours.
~ Don't it? ~

Sat.-Sun. March 24 & 25

After six months...the return of DeeDeeDooDooDiDi! (Without Ron, who was sorely missed, but that's another story for another day) Di was here to attend the memorial service for Walt Carlos, and Di, Phfritzie and I were there with bells on. It was a cold, cloudy, supposed-to-rain day but spit the skies did not, and the memorial was touching and well put together. Autumn and Swanny were there, as was Barbara and Jo and Boots and David and Rosemary and Walt's sister. Eve was elegant and serene. Sunday's weather was much nicer, Di made Breakfast Pizza # 48 and then headed home. Phfrit and I worked on the house the entire day, then feasted on Chicken Pizziola, ala Bondo. A great
~ weekend. ~

Friday, March 23

Worked all day in the out of doors, I did. It all started with having to make a place in the garage for the boxes that I filled up with books and such yesterday. Move move move, sweep sweep sweep and then I put down a pallet and commenced to begin to load it. Then I had to pay some attention to the area surrounding the outdoor shower, so there was the moving of a steel table, the leveling and plumbing and bracing of the shower stall, then the re-hanging of the door, then the new brick work, then the dressing of the gas house wall. In between all this there was the moving of the boat, the removing of the old patio table and the mowing of lawns. All in all, a busy day here at the
~ rancho.. ~

Thursday, March 22

Weather: Sunny/cloudy/warm/cool.

Property: Gorgeous
Relationship: Wonderful.
Schneider: Keepin' on keepin' on.
Van: Green as ever.
BelAir: Needing the love.

Mailbox: Soon to be upgraded.
Unit C: Soon to be cleaned within an inch of its life.
Unit B: Lookin' good.
North Forty: Freshly mowed.
Underwear Drawer: Very tidy, thank you.

Wednesday, March 21

It is Spring everywhere I look. To the south I see that the pear orchard is blooming nicely...I could almost HEAR the blossoms opening today!...to the west the river is big and muddy, a sure sign that there has been rain falling in the foothills, washing down all that will not stay...to the north my bare-naked half-acre is being mowed (ran out of gas whilst mowing!)...and to the east my garlic and onions are coming along just phfine, thank you....built a planter for the back entryway this warm spring day, and had a visit from Eve and Boots...what else can a fellah say but
~ "ain't life grand?"...~

Tuesday, March 20

Here it is, the First Day of Spring, 2012. And a very spring-like day it was here at the Bondorosa. There was some warm sunshine and there was lots of high clouds that would occasionally obscure said sunshine, making for a not-boring batch of weather. Both Phfrit and I worked out of doors this day....and by the early afternoon when she headed upriver we had a pretty sharp and tidy ring around the house. There was the trimming and the lopping and the raking and the pitchforking and the blowing and the gathering into the wagon and the hauling away and the washing of ceramic pots and the placing of driftwood within and there was, at the end of the day, the mowing of some of the lawns....the rites of
~ Spring! ~

Monday, March 19

Spring Eve. The last day of winter here in the Big Valley and in fact everywhere in the Northern Hemisphere. The last day of winter finds us with a break in the recent rains....a good day to build something! So I goes to Home Depot....I buys two sheets of 3/4" plywood and a new saw blade and some three inch screws and I comes home and I comences to build a platform bed frame. I will not tell you the reasons behind the building of the platform bed...no. So stop asking, m'kay? I have my reasons and they are good and just and will bear scrutiny, if scrutiny were allowed, which it is not in this case, so please just acknowledge that I built a platform bed frame and be done with it. Such browbeating! Stop! I can't stand it!....but just so y'know....it's a swell
~ bed frame! ~

Sat.-Sun. March 17 & 18

So the major storm front has passed but now we have what is called "unsettled" weather which could be, and is, any number of different things. These two days were colder than the previous week, what with there being less cloud cover to trap in the warmth. Ona the other hand, we had some sunshine rays fall actually on our respective skins which hasn't happened in a while. And, on Sunday, at Donny's, there was some hail....Saturday I made the corned beef and cabbage....Sunday I made the corned beef hash and then the Minestrone soup....Home Depot for some things for the house...a walk in the evening in
~ Courtland.... ~

Friday, March 16

The things about today are these things: It is my Ma's 81st birthday, but she's dead. All deaded up. Died at age 63. And so it goes...today the weather was wet. Wet with the rain. All the day, the rain. I did manage to back my van up to the garage and empty it, onnacounta it was full of assorted sundry things, not the least of which was pure unadulterated garbage, so it was time. Phfrit came down this day after being away all week and we feasted on waffles for supper. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm wafles...then we watched a movie called The Perfect Game about the only perfect game pitched in the Little League World Series, and it happened to be by a pitcher from a team from Monterrey, Mexico, the first foreign team to play. Riiiiiiiiiiiillllly good moovie. And then the slumber, oh yes.....
~ the golden slumber. ~