What YOU, gentle viewers, have been up to...

I have to give credit to JKirlin for the "gentle viewers" moniker. I probably know very few of you, and for all I know, you could be smearing yourselves with peanut butter while reading this.

A quick perusal at my Sitemeter stats over the last couple of months shows a few interesting trends in the readers who visit the site. First off, thanks for visiting, and re-visiting! Next time you do so, would you mind logging into some server or network in a really obscure place on the map, so my map's red dots can fill in more fully? I need a few hits from Outer Mongolia, or all of Central Asia, for that matter, to help fill in the blanks on my world map hit-shower.

Apparently, a couple of folks are really interested in the following posts, in this order (with links!):

• Various Nepali holy day festivals
• Ankor Wat, Cambodia (and every spelling iteration imaginable)
• The post about my dog potentially having OCD
• Iframe, Morocco - the mountain retreat
• The 2006 Christmas Shot (not the 2o07 version). Sorry all you who thought that this was an actual, drinkable shot recipe
• My front porch railing repair (perhaps because I used the term "This Old House" in the post title? hmmmm)
• Cherry Pie (sorry, a friend made that and I don't have the recipe)
• And finally, one that makes absolutely no sense to me. Now, I can see the others getting lots of hits because of travel, food, or home repair interests...I get that. But this one? I have no idea...Marty & Kendra's son, Gabe....aka, Dolphin Boy

At any rate, thanks for reading!!

I've bagged K2!!!

Well, this was a goal I didn't think I'd accomplish this year. At least not before year-end. But, as luck would have it, circumstances allowed the most perfect window of opportunity. It took some huevos, though, and without my friend Jim to climb lead, I wouldn't have been able to reach a previously unattainable goal.......summiting K2. Especially not on a spontaneous decision made just Christmas morning of this year (aka, yesterday). My minutes of training were about to pay off!

The landscape is so sweeping, I couldn't fit the entire summit scope into one photo and had to do a bit of a collage mash-up:


It was a pretty cold day for climbing.....but I managed to get this shot snapped before the gales blew my tripod over. Jim's summit pose:
While I struggled to shoot photos with some event integrity, Jim opted - during his turn behind the camera, and my turn to summit - to document my clumsy ascent:

oops, never mind the ladder.....or the cornfields, or the barn either, for that matter....
...and a Rocky Balboa-style fist-pump....

Finally, the last summit shot!


Finally, got THAT off my life list, and a couple of years early, to boot. Bring it on, ought-8!!

The 800th Post! or, Christmas Eve 2007

So, another year's Christmas is among us. I've been especially jolly with this one, for some inexplicable reason. I've spent much of the afternoon and the evening baking goodies for friends....what I like to call a mini-epicurean artistic experimentation.

I wanted to try a new twist on my nearly famous low-fat pumpkin pie. It includes layering marshmallow creme on the pie crust before adding the punkin'y goodness, in which I have an admittedly heavy 'spice' leaning. But that's another post. At any rate, when I went grocery shopping (after Tom's pre-New Year's Eve party, probably not the best idea) I couldn't find marshmallow creme. So I got marshmallows instead. And of course, the first pie turned out horribly, horribly wrong.

What is supposed to happen is that the marshmallow creme marbles through the pie filling and in places, bubbles over the top, to add a fake meringue-type covering. What actually happened was kind of that, but not. I carefully layered the small marshmallows on the bottom of the pie crust before adding the filling, taking care to even spritz them with butter and coat them with spices. Then I slowly added the pie filling. Turns out, marshmallows float. So even before going into the oven, it was visual chaos.

To add to that, I used a whole can of fat-free evaporated milk (12 ounces) instead of a true cup (8 ounces). So besides being visually chaotic, it was a runny, soupy mess. I baked it anyway. It's still runny. (But not so much that my cat & dog weren't able to feel as though, briefly, I baked a pie especially for them.)

Which reminds me: Tom & Maria - sorry I wasn't able to come through on that pie I told you I was making for you guys......

So, with the second pie, I adjusted accordingly. I microwaved a bowlful of marshmallows, but must have overdone it - because the result was a yellow-ish series of globs resembling melted plastic, by sight, smell, and consistency. I had to throw away my rubber spatula! So I tried again, half the time, to zap the marshmallows. This time, it resembled marshmallow creme, but that apparently doesn't spread so well on a graham cracker crust. So the underlayer of marshmallow creme ended up being kind of star-shaped, rather than covering the entire base of the pie crust.

Then I got creative, and added marshmallows around the border. Then I thought it might be neat to try to make a Christmas Tree out of marshmallows on the pie. I even cut cold marshmallows with angles for the tree (pre-cooking), but of course, none of that effort remained after cooking. The end result, though, is much better by comparison. I had some left over during my third pie, so made a small snack-size pie for myself. I figured I should at least taste my new recipe iteration before gifting it to others!! (It was an insulin-overloading taste explosion, if I say so myself.)

So here is the first pie: a picked off scabby topped goo:


...and here is its refined version (much better looking!). Now this pie was able to pass the quality test for gift-giving, for looks (meh) if not for taste (spicy!) :


While waiting for my second pie to complete, and before making a batch of Snickerdoodles, I took a walk along South Main, to see the luminaries. These are lit by homeowners all along S. Main on Christmas Eve. The neatest part: whole families were out strolling along the walks, and each one to a person that is encountered offers wishes of "Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!" It's like the happy ending part of some Dickensian tale.

So, with that, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It's a Picture-Perfect White Christmas!!

...That's what I thought when I viewed this photo from a friend, J. Stevens, taken in Colorado earlier this year. Oh, well - a girl can always dream!

YAAAY!!! SNOW!!!

The first real snowfall this year happened for much of the central and eastern states this week, so this corner of NW Ohio was included in that sweeping series of fronts. FINALLY!! There is very little that's more peaceful than spending an afternoon out on foot, in fresh snow. It's got such a wonderful non-smell....smell. The absence of smell. And sounds seem much more hushed. The most wonderful way to spend a Sunday is watching a day's worth of snow falling - slowly at times, furiously and blowing at others. I didn't take as many (good) shots as I thought....but here are a few.

The first was an "ohmygod" moment....of course I imagine the worst in terms of ice dams along the roof/gutter joins, but then, every house had icicle arrays.

a little drift!!
This rosebush is so jammed up on its seasons - poor thing was trying to bloom a late bud - that instead froze solid on the fence. Goody photo op for me, tho!

Have a seat! I love that you can see how wonderfully the snow piled up here. Despite the blowing. This is some great, snowman potential snow. Now, to dust off my old Calvin and Hobbes ideas....
I inherited this birdhouse with the house. It has never had a roof, and as far as I know, it's never had birds, either.
Still the cutest damn gingerbread house on the block!

Crabapples that the birds didn't get to...

Latest photos......

On a recent road trip nearly cross-country, with my new dog Djiini, I learned what the true meaning of luxury is. Lying stretched out in the passenger seat listening to some funky interesting music, dozing, while someone else gets to deal with traffic! That stick-thing with cloth butting the end against the window? My new old scythe. Everyone should have a long, heavy, rusty-bladed farm implement for decor inside a house with an active dog-cat relationship.....

....and that traffic wasn't fun. Or fast. This sign was in place to slow Thanksgiving traffic on interstates, but in this case, it was merely a miserable reminder of how long it would be to drive thru Cincinnati.

Well, the decorations are up, and if I do say so myself, it looks a little ginger-bready this year. But still the best on the block....meager as the decorations are......


Our first real snow of the season was picture perfect - a powdery still 4 inches or so!

My New Kitchen Commode.....

I picked up a commode this weekend, and put it in my kitchen. It's the old style that was basically a cupboard to contain ye olde chamberpot and such. But, I'm going to use it for something it was never intended.......food. Pet food, to be exact.

...playing with the sepia toning feature......

...and not.

My dog's food is stored in a nice, airtight container of thick plastic that my cat can't get to. I store cat food in the fridge crisper drawer, because my cat is an omnivore and can get to it if I place it in any cupboard, using child safety restraints, or even in plastic airtight containers. Unfortunately, I don't buy the volume of cat food that I do dog food, so I don't find it worth the effort to buy a large container like the one I keep the dog food in. Or have that much temptation on hand for Kathman. But - I just know he won't be able to pull open a drawer or turn the handle to unlatch the chamber pot door to get to his food in its airtight container.

So, it's in the Commode with the cat food - and even better that I now have a surface that is not my kitchen table to hold things like mail, keys, the occasional surprise flower bouquet from a friend, etc.

MWA-HA-Ha-ha haaaaaa.......

Fall - and by association, Halloween - are in the air.



Recently we had a wickedly foggy morning - which seemed a great opportunity to snap an image or two of the house in character for its Halloween preparation.


This is one of my favorite trees in town. It's an apple-shaped maple that has been gloriously evolving into its fall hues.


Finally, a parting shot of Djiini - who for some reason gets tired out during walks! What you can't see very well behind her is the end of my pumpkin vine - a surprise from last year's Halloween decoration that was eaten through (and apparently dispersed) by squirrels. It's obviously genetically retarded, because it's been blossoming every day for a week or so. At the end of October. When all the other pumpkins have grown, ripened, and ended up as pie mix or decorations. I figure I'll see what happens with it.

My Dog has OCD....??!!

You can expect to see more dog pics as time goes on, and as Djiini adapts to Kathman(du) and I (and vice-versa). At any rate, I have observed some very interesting behavior in Djiini recently. They always say to be wary of dogs adopted from the SPCA, but I've never paid that much mind - as a kid, most of our dogs found us when they were dropped off at the pound at the end of our dead-end road after hours, and we never had any real problems with those that adopted us. But, as a kid, I wasn't much into observing dog behavior. Not that I'm much into it now, I just seem to notice it more.

Djiini has already proven to be a particularly picky eater. She initially did not like any of the variety of dog food types that I purchased. I asked at the SPCA what she was fed (Science Diet), and she wouldn't touch that here at home. Nor any of the other 9 brands or types of dry food. And I refuse to feed a healthy dog wet food - that's for old, toothless dogs in my opinion (and I've got no appetite to handle or smell it). So, I finally found a mix - and after time, I think she got used to the routine. Of course, I still have to apply a good dousing of that dog food gravy stuff that comes in a kethcup-like squeeze bottle.

Then there's Kathman to consider. He's gained a pound since Djiini's joined us, which doesn't make a lot of sense - you'd think a cat that encourages play with a dog 4 times his size would get plenty of running exercise to keep fit. Not mine. He's getting pudgy, but not lazy (thankfully). The hard part is that he'll eat anything except black olives. Trust me on that - I've tried giving him some really strong human food to see what he wouldn't eat. Jalepenos, onions, broccoli (even I don't eat that), feta cheese, you name it - he'll eat it. Now, I've learned, dog food is not above his palette. So, this requires I feed them at the same time, and that when they're done, I pick up Djiini's bowl from the floor and put it in the top shelf cabinet. I feed her about 12 ounces of dry food (tho the recommended serving size is 8 oz.), because she was a little thin when she came in, and she wasn't eating any of the food varieties. Now, she eats most of her bowl, but always leaves a little covering the bottom. Kathman, on the other hand, gets 1/3 a cup of his indoor cat food twice a day, and licks his bowl clean. He eats like a front-end loader.

So, to Djiini's Obsessive Compulsive behavior - once she landed on a preferred dog food.
OCD Behavior #1: First, she licks the gravy off of all of her dog food nuggets.
Then, she takes a mouthful into the office area, drops all the nuggets, and eats them all except the dark brown ones.


OCD Behavior #2 - But - I noticed during play times and lazy times around the house - she absolutely does not like to walk on the kitchen hardwood floors. The utility room floor laminate is no problem, the ceramic tile in the bathroom is not a problem. But for some reason, she hates to walk - or even stand - on the hardwoods. So, I placed a carpet piece under her food and water bowls. She began eating at her bowl after this, which is good, but then.......

OCD Behavior #3 - she continued to pick out just the dark brown nuggets (liver flavored?) from her food and drop them, one by one, out of her mouth when chewing. The weird part: her placement of these nuggets - the spacial arrangement is almost like that of a series of constellations.

But, this is not a problem, because Kathman, aka "the Cleaner", follows behind and promptly eats up the rejects.

Then this is just an odd photo: She was standing perfectly poised when I tried to take a portrait, but decided that was the perfect time to do a full body shake, which I happened to catch on camera. Kind of funny.

*yawn* A little chaos to keep things interesting

Dolphin Boy Sighting in Mexico!!

This summer, a rare Dolphin Boy (aka Gabriel Synge) sighting was reported from a resort area in Mexico. He was allegedly vacationing with mom and dad (Kendra and Marty), but it appears here more of a family reunion of sorts - just look at how intrigued this real dolphin is to come up and greet the little guy!! And, I think now we know which side of the family Gabe's Dolphin interest comes from. Just look at dad's mouth.....other than this strange contortion, it looks like Marty's transition to human form has served him well, and that the family is enjoying themselves tremendously. Gabe's a lucky guy!...I mean, Dolphin Boy!

VW Phaeton - Shadowplay Commercial

This is one of the most creative VW commercials (but aren't they all?) that I've seen. It was part of one of those 'funny commercial' type programs recently, but I had to find it online and watch it again. It's all shadowplay, and its point is to indicate that the VW Phaeton is hand-built. Incredibly artistic!

Findlay, OH Flooding - The End is Near??

These images are about a week old, but (surprise, surprise!) access was down for a bit, and then I was distracted by some other things for a couple of days.

According to the First Evangelical Lutheran Church (Evangelical Lutherans? Who Knew!?) - Then End was apparently near......this sign was up the day before the Great Flood of August 2007. These photos were taken the day after, Wednesday, August 22, 2007, in Findlay, OH.


This was my backyard on the morning of Tuesday, August 21st, after the night of rain - about 9 inches. I was slightly worried. As you can tell, my neighbor's yard, to the East, is a bit higher and drains into mine. The water came up to my crawl space (a first), but I didn't get too much water in there. I started the day pretty upset at the water in my yard, because the 4 or so previous floods in town, all purported to be worst than the last (and I haven't been here 2 years yet), yeilded more water accumulation in my back yard. I was worried that this would be a growing trend in my yard, and what I could do - besides adding dirt - to amend the problem. The maple tree roots would be so prolific that adding drain lines would be difficult; adding dirt may force water into the crawl space or under the house, so some sort of sighting would be required to ensure it ran to one side of the property and then along the property line to the curb, so not to flood the neighbor's yard, etc etc. Then I heard it was 9 inches or so of rain - so, that made the impact a little softer, I guess. A never-before-amount of rain. And with plants in full glory, roots were able to suck much of that up. In fact by noon, much of the water in my yard had been absorbed.

But, the next day, the rain that fell in surrounding areas drained into our area, flooding our rivers, creeks, and drainages. This is a shot of the Blanchard River at Main street. Note the people driving over the bridge, as the water level of the river - over flood stage - is at the bottom of the bridge:

Finally, our offices were flooded, along with hundreds of homes in the area. The offices are still coming online a week later. Many homes are not. Why homes here are built with basements I'm not sure - only a hundred years ago, this was called the Great Black Swamp, and the water table is relatively high for a midwest/northern region. The few people I knew here with a basement, prior to moving here, said not to buy a home with a basement - they all had horror stories of basements whose sump pumps had failed, whose walls had seeped, where mildew provided a constant presence. So I purchased a home with a crawl space. To me, basement = place where everything goes down in horror movies.

The good news is that while many people were affected, I believe only one fatality occurred, and bulldozers have been making their way through town picking up debris piles on multiple daily runs. The local response and cleanup effort has been commendable. Here, two years after Katrina, I'm quite amazed at the difference. Findlay is up and running - albeit we didn't lose all aspects of infrastructure - some areas of town were not impacted, the mall was operational the day after the flood, we didn't lose power or services, etc. It's not a one-to-one comparison. But seeing New Orleans and many of its neighborhoods in the conditions that they remain in, after Katrina, and the state of cleanup that Findlay is in not quite one week later, provides stark contrast as to the level of involvement and engagement of community and civic leaders. And to be fair, both could be considered to be flavors of the good-old-boy network, to varying degrees. The differences with which both were able to enable response, however, is glaring.

New Djiini Shots

Only from my best side, please........

I'm a Mommy!!

...again...

Below is the newest member of the family. Her SPCA name was "Melody", which is so lame I can't even say it out loud. So, until her new name reveals itself to me, I'm calling her "Doggie". I pick her up on August 22nd.

Update!! Meet Djiini (pronounced Genie).
Djinn is the original spelling for what we know today as Genies, and contrary to western culture, they're not the prototypical good helpers; historically, they have been documented as often tricksters or malevolent spirit beings. They have also been noted as being benevolent to 'true souls' in need of help. Not that I need any help....but when I saw her she reminded me of a dog that "found" a friend and I who wandered off-track in Morocco and walked with us all day until we reached the next town. There is an old proverb in the Sahara......that if one is of good will, and finds themselves lost in a desert, a genii will appear to them in the form of a dog to lead them to safety - hence my new dog's new name, with a modern twist on the traditional spelling: Djiini.

A little more about Doggie: She enjoys long walks, having her hair brushed, and bon-bons. She's part German Shepherd/part Whippet or Greyhound. She is about 4 years old, and knows how to sit, stay, lay down, and is ambidextrous in her handshaking ability. She's also knowledgeable about where to potty (e.g., outside). I asked the SPCA folks if she was cat-friendly, and was in for a shock. The girl I was talking to said she'd check - and then came back with 2 cats! Holy god. Epiphany - it all made sense. In January of 2006, when I went to adopt Kathman(du), no WONDER all the cats there seemed neurotic!!

But, the clinchers, for me, were the existence of a few oddities present in Doggie:

1. First, she has an oddly shaped head. As though the bones that fuse upon the top of the skull did so too rapidly. Doggie is, in fact, an egghead.
2. Second, she seems a little shy (but who wouldn't at the dog pound!), but also very loving. I don't think she has come from an abused home, because she was dropped off by someone who said he'd found her as a stray, but she had a collar, and she cried for that man after he left. This besides being trained, housebroken, and immaculately clean, considering her purported 'stray' status. Apparently, people often do this at the SPCA rather than pay a pet surrender fee that helps the pound's operating costs. One woman at the pound said that the majority of people who bring in animals that way often are bringing in their own pets, for whatever reason, and as a result, full histories don't come with them. For a dog that seemed shy and a bit sad, she showed no hesitation in being very loving to 'strangers'.
3. Next, I don't know what planet this dog came from, but she had no idea what to do with a tennis ball or a chew/pull toy. She barely paid attention to either of them during our "get acquainted" time, and then looked at me as though I were crazy. So she's got character. Or she doesn't like the smell of other dog-spit.
4. And finally, when I was squatted down and eye-to-eye with her, she would sidle up next to my right, lean up against me, and use my right leg as her left front paw-rest. Not in a doggie domination way, like trying to herd me, or in being possessive of me. This behavior didn't strike me, either, as though she were shy or afraid and required physical reassurance. Instead, it was more like, "Hey. How's it going? Cool. Let's do some doggie-watching!. Check her out. Poor pooch. Can you believe they made that Bitch wear a red collar?!?!"

Doggie seemed to be very interested in seeing what kind of adventures she and the two Experiment Kitties could get up to, but the Experiment Kitties were not having any part of it. Since she exhibited curiosity - not agression - I feel OK about introducing her to Kathman. I may end up needing to keep them separated initially and work on training and integrating them together as 'friends'. We'll have to see what kind of hilarity ensues next week.

In the meantime, I've got some Doggie-proofing to begin this weekend.......