The Saturday Morning Post: Take Ten Minutes

Ten minutes, that is all it takes. Find a photo on your phone or computer, go to Chat GPT, or Google, or whatever AI program is running on your phone, your tablet, or your desktop, and ask the AI to create art based on your photo.  The product is not a photograph, it is art created based on a photo with tools that are now readily available.  

Work with it a little bit, the first version of this, added a person just over my right shoulder looking at the viewer.  I didn't like that, so I used the magic eraser function on my phone to take him out - what it did was turn him around facing in the other direction.  

Before we mire ourselves in the debate of "is it art?" We can pause and think of the past. The guys and gals painting on cave walls with the burnt end of stick, very likely raised the same question, when someone tied a tuft of hair on the end of a stick and created the paint brush - is that really cave painting? It is, but it is different, technologies change, the creative process evolves. From oil painting to photography, portraiture changed, but it is still an art. 

I took this ten minute art challenge one evening with a group of friends.  I was surprised by how fast and easy it was. Try it and see if it brings you joy. 

This one is going into a show with the theme of Portraits and Self-Portraits, clearly described as AI created art based on an original photograph. 

Freestyle Friday: Pardon Me, Do you have any Breton Whisky?

A couple of decades ago, we rented a Gite in rural Normandy for a week, and discovered Breton Whisky in the local Carrefour Supermarket.  As I recall, it was inexpensive, something like 15-20 euros a bottle. I am always up for a novelty - so I packed a bottle in my bag for the trip home.  The French generally do things very well, or not at all, and this was no exception. It is very-very good. 

Several times in places that claimed to have an extensive whisky selection I have asked, "do you have any Breton Whisky." The response is almost always a dull stare, only once has the answer been yes. 

It is a single malt, the primary grain is malted barley, very much in the style of what is made in Scotland. Light, flavorful, with a little smoky wood in the background.  The bottle became a treasure, kept in the back of the cabinet.  As the level went down, and I went in search of a restock. Virginia does not offer it - liquor sales in Virginia are run by the state with a large catalog, but few rarities. I found a store in New York city that stocked it. And I have bought a couple of bottles there. The last of those was in the back corner of the cabinet, tasted once in a rare while. 

A couple of years ago we were in Provence, and I looked for it, asked about it, and the answer was "that is from Brittany, not here in the south." An honest answer, but it didn't replace my diminishing supply. 

A YouTube video recently talked about those open bottles, the special one's saved for just the right moment, sitting there oxidizing in the back row. And the YouTube was right, once in the bottle whisky does not get better, and a partially full bottle is slowly oxidizing. Better to enjoy it while it is at it's best. Hence as I write this I am sipping the last of the last bottle from Nestor in New York. 

You can see Washington, DC from the top of the building across the parking lot, and DC has a very liberal liquor sales licensing. As long as the city gets the tax, they don't care how the retailer gets it. (There a several shops that buy and sell unopened rare bottles.) 

A careful Google search revealed a couple of places with it on their websites. The first one listed it and showed it as out of stock- they would special order it and let me know when it came in. The second place, a small shop on P Street near Dupont Circle, showed it in stock. They can't ship to Virginia, but I can pick it up. And I did. They had three varieties, the standard bottling, one aged longer, and one finished in sherry casts. And they had it on the shelf, just below a single malt made in India. Talk about a wide selection of rare and exotics. The aged in sherry casts is wonderful.  

Friday Face Off: 

Nicole at DVArtist, Art, Food, Gardening, regularly features the Friday Face Off, a chance to post a portrait you have been working on. 

Here is my latest. 

The Thursday Ramble: Dumb Luck

AI Generated image from original photo of the Jones Point Lighthouse. The building is one story and the light tower on the top is missing. There are no mountains across the water. 

Two days in a row last week, I solved Wordle in three without resorting to any help or reference works.  Some of that is knowledge, starting with words that contain commonly used letters, knowing what letters are most likely to appear in second or fourth place, knowing what letter combinations are most likely, but most of it is luck. Very bright people that I know, struggled with the same two puzzles. 

At times like this it is easy to react or have people say, "you are on a lucky streak, you should buy lottery tickets this week!" Smile, my rational brain tells me that luck does not run in streaks. The impulse of our random reward brains is to think that because we have received rewards recently, luck is more likely to pay off again. But the reality is that luck is entirely random.  Casinos make their money on people who win a little and keep losing thinking that because they won a little the big jackpot has to be next. The big jackpots are often won on the first spin of the slot machine. Luck is random, and unpredictable. 

The weather forecast across the middle of the United States this past week talked about a large winter storm. Literally the forecasts for our corner of the world ranged from 1 inch to 24 inches of snow. I have been here when we had 24 inches of snow in one week, it takes a while to dig out from. But I have also seen snowmageddon forecast, only to get 2-3 inches. In either case, don't panic.  It is down to the luck of the winds, the drift of the clouds, sooner or later the big snow will hit, sooner or later the snow will entirely miss us. There is no reason to panic. 

My World of Wonders January 28, 2026

Where have I been this week? Aldi for a little shopping, the gym, the pool, the community center for a couple of meetings, and the Dentist. 

Who have I talked with this week?  Jack, Veronica, Shelly, Mary, Giuseppe, Marcel, Zack, Linda, Amy, Warren, my Sweet Bear, and Dr. Z. 

What random thought occurred to me this week? I remember being deeply disappointed as a kid, that comic books were not funny. I expected them to be funny. I only bought one. 

Who did we hear from this week? We received Bob and Kel's holiday letter, mailed before Christmas, most of it arrived in the mail this week, not all of it, but most of it. 

Yes, I know the photo is blurry, the non-blurry one has my actual address on it. 

What change is happening slowly on my blog? The advertising has been turned off, what is appearing now is finishing out contracts that were agreed to before I changed the settings. As those finish the rest of the adds should go away. 

What have I been up to in the kitchen? We had a couple of days of not cooking. Steak and baked potato, bacon and scrambled eggs,  a chicken and rice casserole that was not very good. Beef stew. Pizza rolls - more on those in a couple of weeks, and roast turkey with homemade cornbread dressing. 

Who am I sending healing thoughts to? Larry a neighbor, who has received conflicting test results, and is still in pain. 

Who deserves a slap this week?  One of my credit cards was compromised, the bank denied the charge, sent me a message and is replacing the card. Fraudsters deserve a slap, not a pardon. 

What was the outcome of the storm? We had probably 6 or 7 inches of snow and sleet, frozen precipitation. There is a layer of fluffy snow with a crust of slippery ice on top. The weather is staying well below freezing, with intermittent sunshine. It will take longer than usual to clear or melt because of the temperatures. That is the freezing temperature of water, if it was the freezing temperature of oxygen we would not need to worry about the weather. Fortunately we didn't get freezing rain, an ice storm is probably the worst storm I have ever endured. 

Travel Tuesday: The National Gallery of Art - I Needed That!

A couple of weeks ago, I really needed to be in grand spaces, filled with awe and wonder.

 

Monday Moods: Get Out There

 Get up, Get Out There, and Explore the world around you. 

There are joys and wonders in every corner of this vast world. 

In your neighborhood, or half way around the world, 

See, Hear, Smell, Feel, and Taste the wonders around you. 

This week, try something different, 

Listen to the silence - the birds - the rhythm of the traffic - the sound of a train in the distance. These are the music of the world around us. 

Sing out loud, in a choir, or to the tune in your head, so that others know there are human sounds to be heard. 

Brighten the day of others by your radiance and kindness. 

Bring light into the world by your presence, your words, your action. 

To answer the questions about the weather here:

The Sunday Five: New Year - Brave New World

1: Do you own a typewriter, and if so when was the last time you used it? 

2: Do you have a phone that does not fit in your pocket? 

3: About what year did you start using computers? 

4: What is the earliest computer operating system you remember working with? 

5: What new technology do you think will start to be common in the next decade? 

My Answers: 

1: Do you own a typewriter, and if so when was the last time you used it?  No, the last one went when we sold the other house 7 years ago. 

2: Do you have a phone that does not fit in your pocket? Yes, I have a desk phone next to me as I write this. 

3: About what year did you start using computers? I was an early adopter, probably 1983, A Radio Shack Color Computer II. 

4: What is the earliest computer operating system you remember working with? Basic, I even did some programing. 

5: What new technology do you think will start to be common in the next decade? Electric flight, the pioneers are starting to fly larger and larger craft. 

Please share your answers in the comments.

The Saturday Morning Post: Compost and Creativity

Compost takes time to create, you pile in organic plant materials, control the level of water, let the bugs, and worms feed and garbage breaks down and creates rich and fertile compost. The raw materials of vegetable peels, lawn clippings, prunings, fallen leaves won't work as fertilizer until given time to compost. They have to have time to biologically and magically transform. You can speed the process of composting, but you can't skip it. 

The ideas that we use are artists and creatives also needs time to compost.  The inputs that we feed our creative beast with, morph in our brains into ideas we had no idea existed.  When we try to create based on what we just saw, read, heard, smelled or tasted, we create a copy of what we have experienced. Sometimes a very good copy, but still a duplicate of the works of others. When we give this input time to compost, to break down, and reconfigure in our creative spirits, we create our art, our work, our writing.  

Creating those copies may help us digest what we have experienced, practicing and developing our skills.  The wisdom of age, if there is such a thing, is really the product of long term input, composting in our minds to create our ideas. It takes time for our brains to find the connections between seemingly unrelated input, in the mash of composting we will find it. It takes time to make compost, the compost of creativity needs time. And creativity needs that compost. Keep adding to your compost pile this week. 
 

Foodie Friday: Beef Pie

I had pastry in the refrigerator from the mini quiches I made a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to use up.  I had stew beef, and veggies so the logical choice was a beef pie. 

1 - medium onion chopped

3- stalks of celery chopped

6 - medium mushrooms chopped

1- pound, more or less of cubed beef 

1-2 cups red wine 

1-2 cups beef stock

2-3 medium potatoes peeled and cubed

3 carrots peeled and sliced 

butter

flour

seasonings 

Pastry 

This one take a while, start like three hours before you want to serve. 

Saute the onions, celery, and mushrooms in a little olive oil,  add the beef to lightly brown, salt, pepper and any other seasonings you want to add. Add red wine and stock, cover and put in a 350 (f) oven to braise for about two hours. You want the beef to be fork tender. 

After about two hours: 

Steam the potatoes and carrots until tender. 

Remove the beef, onions, celery and mushrooms from the liquid with a slotted spoon and set aside. Make a roux with butter and flour, add the about 1 to 1.5 cups of the braising liquid to make a very thick sauce. 

Leave the oven hot. 

Combine the beef, onions, mushrooms with the steamed potatoes and carrots, and add the sauce to make a thick mixture, allow to cool partially. I put it in a stainless steel bowl, with a slightly larger stainless steel bowl of ice under it. You want to get this down to about 100 (f) or so, or it may melt the bottom layer of pastry. 

Put in the bottom layer of pastry, fill with the mixture, put on the top pastry, seal the edges, and bake for 45 minutes at 350 (f). 

I baked this in a flat shallow dish, the filling was only 3/4 to 1-inch thick. Slice and serve.

Variations?  Add different veggies; peas, sliced green beans would be good. Add shredded cheese to the filling.  Make it with pork, veal, lamb, or chicken instead of beef. Very hearty food for a cold winter day. 

The Thursday Ramble: Arriving At This Point

As I get older, I think about how I have come to be in the place that I am. Of all of the Ups and Downs my life has taken. Of how far I have come from where I was born. The house I came home to as a baby, is still a mile and half from the nearest paved road - and I am living in a world capital. 

I didn't take a traditional route through education. My parents started "snowbirding" aka going south for the winter months, when I had 5 years of basic education left to complete. I changed schools ten times in those five years.  

College was suggested, but I couldn't decide what I wanted to study and settled that going to college, just to go, would be a waste of time and money until I sorted that out. I started college for 4 or 5 years later; working full time and taking a couple of classes at a time. In a way, I had a major advantage over many of my classmates, because I had worked, filed taxes, bought and sold homes, and traveled. It was easier for me to connect what I was learning, to what I was living. 

My early 30's were a bit of a mid-life crisis. I was unhappy with the work I was doing, and unhappy in a relationship that didn't work. It was time for drastic changes. I busted out of the closet, found my Sweet Bear, moved 800 miles away, and went back to University for an advanced degree. Lots and lots of bold moves, and undoubtedly a few people wondered what I was doing and why.  The year I turned 40 I started an entirely new career, one that carried me forward to retirement. 

Along the way, there were the deaths of grandparents, my one and only Aunt, my parents, and SB's mother. A second marriage. A decision to never hide my personal life from my work life (after being let go from a job after being outed by a friend.) Some periods of prosperity and some periods when I wondered if I would remain solvent. A lot of travel, much of it amazing and life changing, and some of it a lonesome drag that had to be done. 

Every up and down, changed me, rounded off my rough edges, helped me to understand what I wanted in life, and what I didn't want. Helped me to better understand the broader world, including understanding that if I don't understand, it is better to remain silent than speak up and expose my ignorance or prejudice. 

I talked with a friend recently whose oldest child - a young adult - recently came out as transgender. The parents have had different reactions, one has had a hard time accepting, the other is accepting and really deeply concerned that their child finds happiness and acceptance. And the young adult, is struggling a bit. A college student, with slipping grades. Things that worry parents.  With luck the family will navigate these ups and downs, and be shaped by them. The ups and downs of the journey, will lead to the point they are meant to be. 

My World of Wonders: January 21, 2026

Where have I been this week? The National Gallery of Art - I needed a nice wander and to get out of the house. Aldi for a little shopping. The Library for a stack of books that I have read half of already. The pool, the gym, the community center, and an Arts meeting. The Kennedy Center for an NSO performance. The community center to vote in a special election to fill a seat that came open when our state representative was appointed to a state cabinet position by the new Governor. Out for a long walk in a local shopping center (it is cold out, and I wanted to get out of the house.) 

What have I been up to in the kitchen? A quick stuffed pasta, chicken soup with veggies and noodles, Shepherds pie. A pork curry. 

Who have a talked with this week? Saturday morning was an annual open house for all of the programs and communities at the condo. I spent three hours talking with Amy my co-chair, and neighbors from across the community, Dian, Jon, Joan, Rebecca, Kevin, Charlie, and Bonnie (who made me blush.) 

Why did a blush? I was at the community organization expo on Saturday representing the Arts group. She came up to talk, and after a minute said, "oh I know you, I didn't recognize you with your clothes on." I know her from the unofficial Monday and Wednesday water aerobics group, we had always seen one another in the pool.  And then I told a story about an encounter with someone I knew from the gym in Florida, who made the same comment, "I didn't recognize you with your clothes on,"and then he had to spend the next 15 minutes explaining that comment to his wife. He was a Navy officer, build like a brick chicken house. 

How has the weather been? Cold, hovering around or below freezing, rain on and off, a few snow flurries. It is the dead of winter. I bought a pair of fleece lined slippers to keep my toes nice and warm. 

What am I reading? A book on walking as a political statement. It is not what I expected, a little too political for me but I will finish it.  

What made me laugh this week? There was more snow in Florida, than here in the Washington DC area. Snow in Florida just makes me smile. 

Where am I headed? Wednesday I am going into DC for a few hours, the condo is doing maintenance work on the water supply, and the water will be off for several hours.

Will I delete a comment?  Yes, if it links to a commercial page that has nothing to do with the content on my blog. (I did this week.) 

What memory flashback this week?  Sometime in the early 1990's, friends of ours were staying in a condo on Sanibel Island, Florida overlooking the water.  We went down for a couple of nights. We went out to dinner, and I went to go to the bathroom, and there were two serious looking men in dark suits standing in front of the door to the men's room. They stopped me, and muttered something about waiting for a minute. About then the door opened and former President George W. Bush stepped out, they followed him. In shock I think I muttered Good Evening, and then went on about my business. The next day I read in the paper that he was visiting friends on the Island for a few days. Living here in DC, I have been at a lunch with then Vice President Joe Biden, a cocktail party with Hillary Clinton, and a reception hosted by Justice Ginsburg in the Conference Rooms at the Supreme Court. 

Travel Tuesday: Wyoming - Opps in Monochrome

I started taking photographs in black and white, I still have a deep love for monochrome. One click on the selection dial on my cameras and they record in b&w. This is really handy when it is what I think best fits the scene, but once in a while, opps, it gets turned by accident, and the hummingbirds of a lifetime are in monchrome. 

 

Monday Mood: Reminders

The key to your future is on the table, grab it up. 

Don't let fear of something new stand in your way, at one time crawling across the floor was something frighteningly new, you survived that, you will survive this. 

When I left behind my first career, and moved forward into uncertainty, Sweet Bear gave me a card that simply said, "Jump and the Net Will Appear." It was on the wall over my desk at home for years, it reminded me to go boldly into the future. 

Be bold. You are Brave. You are Strong. You can Do This. 

The wrinkles, grey hairs, and scars are the proof a life lived. Be proud of them, be glad that you lived long enough to see them. 

Breathe deeply, inhale the essence of life. 

Thank the world that you have this day.

A great link from Angus in Scotland this week:   https://kevinkelly.substack.com/p/how-will-the-miracle-happen-today 

The Sunday Five: Daily Routine

1: What is your morning routine like? 

2: When do you read and comment on Blogs? 

3: Is there anything you do almost everyday?

4: Do you shop with or without a shopping list? 

5: What should you do, that you don't do? 

My answers:

1: What is your morning routine like? I get up, when I wake up and I am sure I am not going back to sleep, after the toilet, I wash my hands and take my daily pills, pull some clothes on, go to the kitchen and start the coffee and make toast. 

2: When do you read and comment on Blogs? As soon as the toast is ready, I eat breakfast at the desk in my bedroom, and read blogs. 

3: Is there anything you do almost everyday? I walk an hour or more almost every day. 

4: Do you shop with or without a shopping list? Without, there is a running list on the refrigerator door, if it is long I will snap a photo of it with my phone, but most of my shopping is sans list. 

5: What should you do, that you don't do? Vacuum parts of my bedroom floor. 

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning Post: Feed the Beast of Creativity

Back in my running days, my early 30's, I remember the practice of "carb-loading." Eating meals heavy in carbohydrates the day before a big race with the goal of the body storing up extra accessible fuel for the task ahead. This was especially important before long distance runs, and triathlons, races that always exceeded the longest training sessions.  For a half marathon, 13.1 miles, the rule of thumb was that the longest training run should be about 10 miles, and with carb-loading you would finish the race. This was also a period in my life of living on a austere diet, I forced my body into a thin shape that I had outgrown as a child, an unnatural shape for me - so the carb fest of pasta and bread was a real feast, that my body used to create endurance needed to extraordinary (for me) feats. 

Likewise as creatives we can, we need to, feed our creative powers.  We do this by viewing art, hearing music, reading - reading - reading, tasting, smelling, watching movies, going to the theater; taking it all in.  Spend time in museums, galleries, streets and alleys covered in murals and graffiti, listen to familiar music, and new music, read things you love, read things that you hate, cook your favorites, and try new things.  We feed our creative powers by travel, seeing different and new places and things.  As creatives we need to fill our brains, and our bodies with fuel, with creative fodder. Take every opportunity you can to feed the beast of creativity.  

Foodie Friday: Drinkers edition

Those little blue berries are what makes gin taste like gin. Beyond that other herbs are added, taking the flavor in different directions. I sampled one made here in Virginia, out near the Blue Ridge, that tasted like pine trees. I didn't like it. Hendrix in Scotland has a nice balance.  Bluecoat from Pennsylvania is mild and mixable. But all of them start with Juniper as a base.  Without those little blue berries, it is just flavored vodka. Oh, and no tonic for me. Why water down good gin with bitter water? 

The flavor differences in Bourbon come from three things, the mashbill, the barrel, and how it is aged. The mashbill is the mixture of grain used, always at least 51% corn, beyond that wheat, rye, and barley.  My preference is a wheated bourbon - they are milder and sweeter. There are subtle differences, rye gives bourbon the bite. All of the color, and much of the flavor comes from the new charred white oak barrel, with differences in the selection of the wood, and how it is charred. The rest is how it is aged. How long and in what temperature ranges make the biggest differences. Too long, or too hot and the finished product can taste woody. Long and in moderate temperature is where the magic happens. 

 

The Thursday Ramble: Home

Last week Doc Spo posted a 99 Questions to Ask Your Grandparents, about a favorite or memorable home. This got me to thinking about the places I have lived since moving out of my parents home. 

In 1980 I was hired by a home building company in Orlando, I shared an apartment for a couple of years with my brother, and later with the person who would be my first spouse. Those were utilitarian places of no merit other than being closer to work and the tourist zone. 

I built my first home in 1982, a 2 bedroom, 1 bath home,  with a one car garage, it was about 1,000 sq. ft. of living area. For anyone thinking mortgage rates are high today, I was a first time buyer who qualified for a special discount rate of 13.5% (fixed for 15 years.) 

A year or so after I moved into that one, I built another home. A smaller 2 bedroom, 1 bath, a two unit building. I sold half of the building to my middle brother, and I bought the other half. I never lived there. I rented it for a few years, and parted with it when I parted with the first spouse. My brother still lives there. 

After the duplex was finished, interest rates came down a bit, we sold the first house and I built the third house (second one I would live in.) It was larger about 1250 sq. ft., 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a nice kitchen, and a two car garage. It was a modest home, but I customized it heavily, with nicer doors and trim, redesign on the kitchen, larger enclosed patio. I also built in 71 days from the day the building permit was issued, until the power was turned on and we moved in. I lived in that one until I moved out of Florida and sold it. 

When we moved to Kentucky we had a long weekend to go house shopping, by the end of the second day we had a contract on a nearly finished new home. It was about 1750 sq. ft, two large bedrooms, a large office area that could have been enclosed as a 3rd bedroom, 2 full baths, a two car garage. It is the only home I have lived in that had stairs and a fireplace. The living, dining room, entryway and kitchen had 16 foot ceilings. It was very stylish, very pretty. The largest and in many ways the nicest home I have ever lived in. Lexington was an easy place to live, but it lacked museums, gardens, restaurant variety, culture and shopping we both craved. Traffic is terrible because of a poorly designed road network, my 4 mile commute often took 30 minutes or more.    

A couple of years while I was in law school, I rented a tiny efficiency apartment near the University in Louisville. It had been the living room of grand old brick house, plus a bathroom built in under the stairs. The owner lived upstairs. I would drive in on Monday, study, sleep and study until my classes were done for the week, then go back to Lexington.  Eliminating the commute, allowed me to take Saturdays off. 

When I took the job in Washington DC, I rented an apartment in Crystal City (if you have flown into National Airport, this is the area between the airport and the Pentagon. It was a 2 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath apartment probably about 1,000 sq. ft. The kitchen was tiny and dated. The parking garage was a nightmare and I was driving the largest car I ever owned. It was a five minute walk to the Crystal City Metro Station. I knew when I rented it, it was temporary. If the job worked out, I would be looking to buy. It did, and I did, about a year later. If that apartment had been available to buy - I would have bought it. Amazon now has a massive office building across the street from it. 

I moved from there to a 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, condo that is about 1,120 sq. ft., plus a glass enclosed conservatory. For those not familiar, a condo is an apartment or flat that you own, along the right to use common areas such as the pools and gym.  There are a little over 1,000 apartments in four high rise towers in the community. We are a ten minute walk from the Huntington Metro Station. Over the years we have made it our own.  When I moved in I painted and updated all of the electrical fittings and light fixtures. A few years later we put hardwood floors in all but Sweet Bear's bedroom, the kitchen and baths. We had both bathroom replaced with very custom work. I debated long and hard about tearing out the tub and putting in a shower, the experts all tell you not having a tub will hurt on resale, ultimately we decided we were doing this for us, not for resale, and I wanted an age friendly shower.  The last item was the kitchen remodel.  COVID delayed that work for a couple of years, and supply chain delays made it more complicated, but we waited and custom designed what we wanted, the way we wanted it. I enjoy it everyday. 

If I had to pick a favorite of all of these, it would be the condo that we live in. We have remodeled it to our taste and to fit our needs. The location is easy to live in (it would be nice to be in Crystal city, but it would have cost another half-a-million-dollars to be there.) It is Home. 

 

My World of Wonders January 14, 2026

What have I been up to this week? Friday morning we reset the Showcase, and then I had lunch with a friend I had not seen in a couple of years. Saturday was water aerobics and then the opening for the Landscape art show. 

Who have I talked with this week? Beth, Amy, Ruth, Warren, Giuseppe, Larry, Mary, Anna, Susan, Linda, Kevin, Marcel, 

Where have I been this week? Close to home,  a nice walk and lunch at Mason Social in old town north, the treadmill, the pool, lunch at an Indian restaurant in old town, The National Gallery of Art for a long walk, the library, 

What have I been up to in the kitchen this week? Thursday and Friday nothing. Saturday I slow braised (275f for three hours) round steak with onions, mushrooms, and celery in red wine, with carrots and parsnips, and made a nice sauce from the braising liquid. I made a beef pie - featured in a foodie friday in a couple of weeks. 

Who did I reach out to this week? Stephen - the guy who started me blogging - I was thinking of him when I read about the sheep movie coming out in May, he gifted us the book Three Bags Full that the movie is based on. 

What have I been reading? Pappyland, someone recommended it in a comment on Doc Spo's blog, it is well written and having lived in Lexington and gone to law school in Louisville, the places in the book connect in my brain.  And then started "Spice."  

Travel Tuesday: Walt Disney World 2019