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| A Clever Sheep at Mt Vernon |
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| The old Main Drive at Mt Vernon |
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| Ms. Fox at Mt Vernon |
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| Aladdin the Camel is spending Christmas at Mt Vernon. His keeper, replaced all of the doors in my condo shortly after I bought it. |
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| Stay Away! |
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| Good to see the youngins are playing safe. |
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| A Stream through a nearby park. |
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| Nice Bike Racks at a local park |
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| Behind the Building, updated steps. |
I can remember when $100 was a lot of money. When I was growing up, mom and dad had envelopes for each of the kids to keep their savings in. Despite being the youngest of the four, I was the first one to accumulate $100. Once a tightwad, always a tightwad. My ex and I saw the musical South Pacific, and I acquired a new nickname that night, "Stingy Bastard!"
As much as we all hate the advertising, I have a strange request that will speed up the ads going away.
Please click on the advertising and look at the offerings. You don't have to buy anything, but if you do that might speed things up even more. (The adds pays a tiny amount for every ad placed, quite a bit more for a click, and some of the adds pay a bonus for a purchase.)
Let me explain this strange request. The account account only pays when it has accumulated to a threshold amount, at the current rate I am a couple of months away from reaching the next payout level. The more adds that are clicked on, the more credits to the account. When I reach the next payout level, I will shut off the adds. I am so close, I don't want to walk away from months and months of accumulating credits, but once it reaches the next payout, I can take that final payment and turn off the adds.
Another nail in the coffin for my working career. Letting others earn the profit without going after my tiny share. A little less entrepreneurial spirit of capitalism.
A great relief for all of us at being able to read my content, unencumbered.
2: Do you wear shoes in your home?
3: How often do you replace your shoes?
4: Do you have "hiking" boots?
5: Do you have shoes for special occasions?
My Answers:
1: Describe the shoes you wear most days? I wear running shoes, mostly Asics Cumulus, almost all of the time.
2: Do you wear shoes in your home? No, I prefer to be barefoot at home.
3: How often do you replace your shoes? I wear running shoes because of the way they support and cushion my feet, they need to be replaced a couple of times a year.
4: Do you have "hiking" boots? A couple of pairs, including one nearly waterproof pair.
5: Do you have shoes for special occasions? I have two or three pairs of really nice leather dress shoes that I wear a few times a year, for relatively short times.
Please share your answers in the comments.
I dislike and avoid music that is angry, or vulgar. I also avoid classical Opera, the one's where it sounds like the vocalist is being tortured. Some modern Opera in English and in a register within the spectrum of normal human communication is enjoyable.
Music adds a rhythm to my life. It can make me laugh. It can bring me to tears. It can quiet the noise in my brain.
Music is fabulous.
It seems longer ago than that, but it feels like just yesterday that we took that trip. My resounding memory of Spain, is that by and large the people were happy. Not in a fake, I get paid to smile way, but in a genuine life is good way. There seemed to be a focus on living comfortably, making the most of what is at hand, and taking time to just be you.
The markets were spectacular, and the restaurant food reflected that. Fresh, local, seasonal in a relatively warm and sunny climate results in wonderful food that is savored.
It is nice traveling to places where you don't have to live with the bureaucracy, or politics. It is easy to avoid the politics when your language skills peak at ordering lunch.
My photo archive is approaching 110,000 images. Many of them remind me of places I have been, things I have experienced. Digital memories of a life well lived.
Where to next? San Antonio, Bermuda, the Azores, Carthenia, Barcelona, Rome, Milan, Vienna, and Paris are on the agenda for 2026. More adventures, that I will look back on in three years and wonder how it can be so long, seems like just yesterday.
Where were you three years ago?
Who have I talked with this week? We had a nice long talk with Kent over lunch on Saturday, he is a retired professor, living in New York, he has a lifetime of tales and a dry sense of humor. I talked with my middle brother briefly on Thanksgiving day, he was at Cousin Lysle's house in the midst of a bunch of rocket ranching bikers. It was a loud crowd and his phone was on speaker so we didn't get to talk much. Susan stopped to talk as I was walking back from the gym, they are about 3/4 of the way through a kitchen remodel. Monday evening at the Arts gathering, dozens of people.
What real mail did I send this week? I mailed a birthday card to my middle brother, whose birthday is sometime this week. And I mailed a Christmas card to a blogger who lives in Wales. When I saw the card, it was perfect for him.
What have I been up to in the kitchen? For Thanksgiving I roasted a 12.5 pound turkey (a little over a little under 6 kilos.) I baked bread and made dressing (stuffing cooked outside of the bird.) And green beans. Friday we grazed on left overs. Saturday we went out to lunch. Sunday I made Turkey Vegetable soup. I made french toast for breakfast and a Croque Monsieur for lunch. Steak and Baked Potato.
What is on the easel? I am finishing up a nighttime city landscape, and I have started a new canvas that will be an attempt at self-portraiture.
Who deserves a big THANK YOU this week? Austrian Airways sent me an email with a change of schedule on a reservation for next spring, it was a ten minute change, so I clicked on Yes Thank You. Then later I noticed that the departure airport had changed. Oh my, then I looked at the two airports. The flight had been changed from a regional airport that was 30 miles out of town (with a train connection) to the older city airport, on the edge of the city, a 15 minute subway ride from the city center. The change will save us at least 30 minutes of travel time going to the airport. Yes thank you very much.
What is coming up? Wednesday afternoon we install a new Showcase exhibit, Friday morning we install a new Gallery Show, Saturday afternoon is the opening reception for the new Gallery Art Show.
What reminded me that I live in a world capital? In a quiet moment at the arts festival I was talking with a dear neighbor as we watched and commented on the people in the room. She commented, "it feels like being a spy." I said, "in this town you never know who is or was." Her response was "I wanted to be, but they didn't hire me." Yes it is that kind of a town. I love it here.
Why is Gieves up on the sofa? We are breaking in a new robot vacuum cleaner.
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| Alexandria across the River, we live just to the left of this on top of the next ridge to the south. |
That is a very good question. The handful of posts on Facebook from family and friends would probably only take about 3 minutes a day to see, the rest of it is addiction, based on an algorithm designed to keep you scrolling, the more you scroll the more advertising you see, the more money a man who will never have enough earns. It is a hard addiction to quit, but we can be stronger than the pull.
What could I spend that hour a day, 15 days a year doing?
Blogging, and reading blogs takes about an hour a day. I enjoy it, I get to select what content I see. Posting allows me to exercise my creative abilities.
I walk an hour a day. Walking is physical, and mental time. If I am walking outside, I do it in silence, only following the internal conversation.
I read at least an hour a day. I am on the way to finishing about 80 books this year. Add an hour a day to that, and I would easily go over 100 books a year.
I enjoy painting, and keep promising to sketch. I should claim that nearly an hour a day, and dedicate it to art. An hour a day would make a real difference.
I miss old fashioned cards and letters. I send a few, I should send more, I should use some of that hour a day, to write to people.
I should spend more time listening.
As we get closer to the end of the year, I start to seriously think about what I want to do in the coming year. Realizing that one hour a day, is 15 days a year, leaves me this Monday reexamining what I spend my hour a day on.
What hour a day, could you move from what you are doing, to what you would like to do?
2: Where did you eat your lunch when working?
3: Was there anyone you regularly met for lunch?
4: Are you more likely to go out to breakfast, lunch, or dinner?
5: Is there a restaurant that triggers memories for you?
My Answers:
1: When you are or were working, did you take lunch with you, or go out most of the time? I almost always went out, often picking up lunch to take back to the office.
2: Where did you eat your lunch when working? At my desk, a habit formed in my builder days when I really didn't take a lunch break, I was always available.
3: Was there anyone you regularly met for lunch? Most of the last 15 years I worked, I was friends with an government insider. We would meet for lunch about once a month, and talk about events. He was my mole, I was his outside source.
4: Are you more likely to go out to breakfast, lunch, or dinner? Lunch by far, I love going out to breakfast, but usually only do that when traveling alone.
5: Is there a restaurant that triggers memories for you? East Street Cafe is on the upper level of Union Station in DC, I was surprised to see it was still in business. Oh the conversations that have taken place there.
Please share your answers in the comments.
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| A Shay locomotive, used for logging in the mountains of West Virginia |
When we had the other house, in Lexington, Kentucky we drove through or flew over West Virginia coming and going.
Coal mining, and hardwood timber are traditional industries. Most of the state is too mountainous for modern agriculture. And coal mining is a shadow of what it once was. There is some oil and natural gas production in West Virginia, and strangely as a spin off from that glass production. Natural gas wells that are marginal in commercial production, provide sufficient gas to fuel many glass factories. Blenko in Milton is a favorite stop of ours.
West Virginia is a very pretty place to visit, a very difficult place to earn a living.
When SB moved in, I had a serious paper towel habit (kitchen roll for those on the eastern side of the pond). I went through 2-3 rolls a week. Somehow, and I think he suggested it, but he is not sure he did, I started using washable kitchen towels. And lots of them. These are "bar mops" simple 16 by 16 terrycloth towels, I buy them by the dozen. When I start cooking I grab two or three of them out of the bin, and use them to wipe down things as I work. I then toss them in a bin to be washed, dried and reused. We use about 1 roll of paper towel a month these days. These do a better job, and maybe-just-maybe help to save the planet.
I work clean in the kitchen. I start by making sure the dishwasher is ready to load when I start. Cookware and utensils are rinsed and put in the dishwasher as I am done with them. Work surfaces are wiped down as I go. Items are returned to storage in the refrigerator or pantry as I work. I have never worked in a professional kitchen, but this is how kitchen staff are trained to work. Work clean. It reduces cross contamination and makes clean-up easier.
My mother was afraid of knives, and never owned a proper chef's knife until I left one behind in her kitchen one Thanksgiving when she was in her early 80s. I was cooking dinner, and went out and bought a knife to make it easier for me. Like many my mother cooked with paring knives, little short, often dull. She would hold an onion in her hand and cut it up. As an adult, I read- then later watched videos and learned to use a full size chef's knife. I have four or five of them, and I know how to use them. We try to keep them sharp. A good chef's knife is a universal tool, learning to use one, and being comfortable with it, will transform your cooking in ways that are hard to describe. No one should graduate from high school without demonstrating basic knife skills.
When we sold the other house, we parted with hundreds of books, maybe thousands of books. We had two homes with books in them, and we were moving it all into the smaller of the two. A lot things had to go. I gave away nearly all of my books, but I kept almost all of my cookbooks. I have over 100 of them. If I want or need to research something, odds are the reference work is at hand. Some of them, probably 20% of them, are simply fun reading about food, culture, technique - I enjoy reading them.
We wake up each morning to a fresh day, a new start.
If you are reading this, you can read, you have internet access, and some kind of an electronic device that science fiction 50 years ago.
We miss those who are not here with us today, because they were an important part of our lives. Celebrate that they were a part of your life.
The United States holiday of Thanksgiving has it roots in harvest festivals of the past. Marking the end of the season of hard work, giving thanks for the bounty of the earth, and wishes that the harvest will sustain us until the next season. My ancestors were at the first Thanksgiving festival that English refugees celebrated all those years ago.
I am thankful for:
Reasonably good health,
A comfortable home,
Good food,
Fresh Water,
Friends, family,
For being able to read and learn,
For an education that changed me as a person,
For having been able to help others live a better life,
For my daily walks,
For all of my blog friends,
For enough. I have something Elon Musk has never had, and that is enough. When you find enough, you find inner peace.
Have a Wonderful and Thankful day!
Who have a talked to this week? My sweet bear. The Arts gang. Paul, Giuseppe, Larry, Ruth.
Who have a traded messages with this week? Spo, Sassy, my sister. Kell who is planning a long delayed trip to Florence. The Arts gang.
What have I been up to in the Kitchen? Chilli, Steaks, roast beef, baked bread to make dressing for Thanksgiving.
What is happening in the photo above? The crew is putting a bow on the green package, lifting it in place with electric chain falls from overhead, in the Atrium at the MGM Grand Hotel at National Harbor. There was a crew of 15 people changing out the Atrium display for the winter holidays when I was there the other day.
What made me go Huh this week? While out and about, we decided to have lunch at McDonalds, something we rarely do, and I almost always think this is the last time ever. We waited 25 minutes for our order to be filled. Will I ever again?
What is happening? Our old friend Kent is going to be in town for the holiday, and we are meeting for lunch on Saturday. Next Monday is a big arts party, then on Friday we are installing an art show. The party and the show opening being on the same week is driving me nuts.
Two stops on the subway, I got off at King Street Station and walked across to the Alexandria Railway Station. I bought a ticket on the Virginia Railway Express train into Union Station in Washington DC. This is a commuter train, running on the mainline tracks. A full fare one way ticket was $5. It is only about a ten mile ride.
The quote below was the subject line of a marketing email from the cruise line for next springs grand adventure:
"Save on Wi-Fi so fast, you’ll forget you’re at sea
"
Oh hell NO. The photo above is what you want to be mesmerized by on a cruise. If you are going to spend your days staring at a screen, on your phone, on a tablet, or on a laptop, stay home. On our Atlantic crossing last April, we did have Wi-Fi, it was included as part of a discount package, and honestly it was terrible. It was spotty, working one minute and not the next, it was SLOW, and it had built in preferences, Facebook always loaded, blogger often took five minutes to load. I won't do that again. There will be about ten days next spring when I won't be able to reply to comments. A digital detox - many of us need to do that from time to time (fret not, I will schedule posts so you have something to read each day.) I will get away, by getting away and not dragging my wonderful electronic world along with me every minute.
Last Thursday evening we attended a National Symphony Orchestra performance. There was a couple, about ten rows back from the stage, who spent most of the evening staring at their phones. I guess the Orchestra was just background music for whatever was engaging their minds. Sad really that they found it impossible to escape into the glorious noise for two hours.
I often miss calls to my smartphone. I leave it on the desk or the bedside table when I am in the other room, or I have the ringer turned off. If it is important, leave a message, and I will call you back. Even better send me an email, I will read and respond when I can.
My mood this Monday. Ready for a digital detox.
1: Who are you thankful for having in your life this year?
2: Who have you met this year, that you are thankful for?
3: What have you left behind this year that makes your life better?
4: What have you learned this year, that makes your life better?
5: What adventure from this year, will be thankful memories for years to come?
My Answers:
1: Who are you thankful for having in your life this year? My Sweet Bear, my blog friends and readers, the water aerobics gang, the arts committee, and my sister.
2: Who have you met this year, that you are thankful for? Amy and Linda of the arts committee, they are dears and so helpful.
3: What have you left behind this year that makes your life better? I drastically cut back on Facebook and reading the news, my life is better for this.
4: What have you learned this year, that makes your life better? That most artists worry that their work is not good enough, create anyway. We are our harshest critics.
5: What adventure from this year, will be thankful memories for years to come? Visiting St Andrews in Scotland.
Please share your answers in the comments.
Back in the summer of 2019 I had a board meeting in Seattle, and then rented a car for a week to drive around the the State of Washington. We went north from Seattle, and toured the Boeing Factory, the last 747 freighters were working their way down the line. We went north from there, with a couple of ferry crossings to the waterway that separates the United States from Canada. We took a whale watching boat tour and had incredible pie on a native American reservation. Over a couple of days we worked out way west to the farthest northwest point in the continental United States. Then turned south along the Pacific Coast. Shortly after crossing into Oregon, we turned Northeast, and visited Mt St. Helens. Drove west from there deeper into the mountains and then back to Seattle to return the rental car, spend a night in a Hilton across the street from the airport and fly home.
It was an amazing trip. I would do it again anytime.
Western Washington is rocky, forested, wet and beautiful. The mountains are amazing, and the plains east of there are fertile. Seattle is home to tech giants, and Boeing.
When you have a chance, go and explore this beautiful corner of the country.