Broiled Salmon

Broiled Salmon
Originally uploaded by sisudave.

Just to show it wasn't a fluke, I cooked again tonight. Ate a little later than usual. Just as I was all set to get things going the power went off for an hour. Then I broiled the salmon and as soon as I finished supper and got the dishes washed the power went off for another hour.

We have had 3 days of temperatures over 100 degrees. With our high humidity, the heat index has been up in the 105 range. Maybe 104 tomorrow. It has been so long since it has rained I don't remember what it looks like. If it ever does and I recognize it, I'm going to take a picture of it.

I can't imagine those troops in Iraq with probably 65 lbs of gear in multiple layers trying to survive in the Iraq heat even though they are a lot younger than me. Lets get the hell out of there and bring them home now.

I just put now some lemon pepper with garlic and onion and a little salt on the salmon. Sometimes I drizzle on a little olive oil, but that usually smokes enough to set off the smoke alarm and I didn't want to have to open all the doors and windows tonight. Peel the squash and remove all the seeds and cut the flesh into chunks. The skin and seeds really give a bad texture and I think a kind of bitter taste to the squash. Therefore I only eat my squash. Use a lot of butter(well really smart beat margarine) and salt and pepper.. The rice I use now is Uncle Ben's Ready Rice. Slit the bag and 90 seconds in microwave and perfect everytime and they call that cooking. Plus there are several varieties available, too.

Here's the stuffed peppers I cooked awhile ago.

My Favorite Flower - Sacred Lotus Lily

A Memorable Date For Me

Hibiscus Hibiscus coccineus
Originally uploaded by sisudave.

While we were working at the church today, three pickups arrived laden with potted flowers. One of the parishioners is getting married this weekend and are having reception at the new huge church hall. They also set up these table and chairs and large pot of flowers in the patio (it's a brick maize)in the medieval garden. Pictured through grape arbor - my job today was primarily pruning and tieing up the grape vines.

Today would have been my Mom's Birthday. Also was the date my Pop died. Mom didn't listen to music, I think because she was told she was tone deaf and thus didn't get scholarship to go on and become a teacher which was her desire. Pop liked music and listened to Opera. I don't think many except our immediate family would know that about him. He was also very fond of watching Marguerite Piazza, netting covering her cleavage and all in those days, on the Saturday Night Sid Ceasar/Imogene Cocoa TV Show.

If you didn't see this on the news recently you must watch. This guy and the moment is great.www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7glOGq82xQThis is a video about a young man by the name of Paul Potts, a mobile phone salesman from South Wales, Great Britain - his dream is to spend his life doing what he was born to do.

Hudson - Rust & Crust

Hudson - Rust & Crust
Originally uploaded by sisudave.

There are two Hudsons, both rusted out, parked right adjacent to each other behind fence at auto junk place Rte 25 south side of town. Since vehicles are packed in so tight this is only real shot I could get.
I rememeber when I was a kid and these came out. My friends father who lived in same apt. building as us got one - think it was their first new car. All previous ones Jimmy used in his construction business. I was fascinated as first car I saw where you stepped down to get in the car. He used to sleep it off in the car Sunday mornings after Saturday nights at the Knights of Columbus. Man a couple blocks over from us was the Hudson Dealer. They had 3 cute blonde girls and all us kids played over there. They were one of the first to have a TV and invited all us kids to watch lots of times. I especially remember Ed Sullivan Show, as one of the first ones.

Ou neighbor, Dominick, on the third floor was the first in our apartment to have a TV. No cable in those days so he had big antenna attached to side of wall up at the roof. They were real good about having us kids upo to watch TV,too. Remeber Lil al;ways had treats, like popcorn, also. In those early days they had a lot of big events on the TV and I particularly remember watching The Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus. Even though had seen the real thing in New York , that was still a tremendous treat. In those days people troed to all kinds of things to enhance their picture. I think Dominic put a big magnifier on his. Of course in these days we would say YUK that just distorts the picture and it was already snowy enough. But we all thought it was just a marvelous thing.
My brothers were older than me. They decided they wanted to get us a TV. My father was against it. I don't know why he was funny about things some time when it came to his family. I never did figure him out completely, especially in that regard. he used to work extra besides regiular job to make his "drinking" money. Always turned the regular paycheck over to my Mom from day they were married. he didn't care anything about managing it and always did other things for his own pocket change. only he kept in in his shoe and he would often take his coins out of there just to show us kids how much change he had. I couldn't ever figure out how he could walk around wuith that money in his shoe - he probably didn't and just use a little slight of hand in fromt of us.
Anyway my Mom appointed me to sneak over and see if Pop was watching TV at the Bader's which she suspected. They were the people who owned the bakery across the street where he worked and spent a lot of time with them. I remember they always had a small table in back room of the bakery with a bittle of booze on it. I think that was part of Pop's and the bakers salary. I think she had told him that if she found out that he was watching their TV she would let the boys get us one. I don't remember the outcome, but do know that Gus and Herb went to see Mr Asherman (another Baker) who owned the Apartment building and Mrs. Asherman said "sure the boys can have a TV." Hooray for her. I always thought it funny that after Mr Asherman died, the Mrs eventually married again, to Gus Anderson - not my Pop. but another man with same name.
I remember evry day running out of Washington Sciool and looking for the antenna on top of the roof. Finally it was there and our lives, as with most other Americans coming into the TV age, were to change and never be the same. Our antenna was put up on the chimney o higher than Dominics. That made him mad and all I ever remember about him from then on was complaining that our antenna interferred with his reception.

Weskora Hotel - Ossining, New York

Weskora Hotel - Ossining, New York
Originally uploaded by sisudave.

This is a vintage penny postcard. I received the site in an e-mail from a friend today where I found this:
www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/special/ppcs/ppcs.html
My Hometown, Ossining, New York.
I never saw this hotel, and never saw a picture of it until now. It burned long before my time, but I heard about it. My folks were young married couple living on Broadway(hill to the left where you see other buildings), probably about 1925.. They lived at the bottom of the hill which would have put them right behind the hotel.. It must have been one of the biggest fires in town. My Mom said they were up all night long making coffee and my Pop taking it to the folks battling the fire..
So in my time there was just the old brick parking lot with a diner at the back of the property. The diner couldn't have lasted there long either as was gone by time I was in High School, but was around when I was a kid. A bunch of us kids in the Washington School area hung around in Cardinale's Liquor store. A guy named Tony took care of the place for the Cardinales. Tony was crippled(I think from Polio) so he couldn't go away to the service in WWII like so many of the other young guys. We used to play rummy in the back room. One day he sent us to buy sandwiches at the diner. We had BLT's. It was the first one I ever had. It was Delicious! I can remember running home to tell my Mom about this great sandwich I had. I have had lots since but I always hold the mayo..

They Want Your Pits

They Want Your Pits
Originally uploaded by sisudave.

If you find a pit in your Cherries, OregoN says to send it to them and you'll get a surprise in return. I mailed it in today. I told them it is not really a complaint by me as I don't mind. In fact, I suggested they try marketing cans of unpitted cherries. I'd like to see the cherries not mashed and no problem spitting out the pits. Then you could imagine you were eating fresh ones right off the tree.Probably not a good idea for the tart ones that you make the pies out of though.

Cherries generally don't grow or produce well here so you pretty much just see the ornamental cherry trees. in South Carolina.

Apparently I have the gout and now taking a pill for that, too. Also one for pain if I have another flare-up, but haven't needed. I always understood it was a disease of Royalty (King Henry VIII) so have been eating lots of the Royal Anne's, but also Bing and making pies out of the tart red cherries. Cherries are supposed to be one of the comfort foods for gout so I have been eating plenty. No problem as I love them - just wish they were cheaper.

Last Day of 2006!

It's beginning to look a lot like springtime, everywhere you go.

Pink tulips at Bi-Lo. Nice to see the fresh spring-time blooms, even if just in the grocery store of bulbs forced into early bloom. You realize that spring can't be too far away and only a couple of months of winter to endure. But, at my age I'm not rushing it, and just trying to enjoy the delights that each day can bring.

Neighbors giant pine tree suddenly died last summer. He kept saying he was going to have it removed in the Fall. I kept waiting for it to fall on my house which was just 30 feet from it. Fortunately just a week after winter began, a crew showed up yesterday morning to remove the tree and a couple others.

That was a long way up there. It was dark day and light rain when I went out to take pictures. Rain drops kept falling on lens. It never got any worse and they continued cutting all day.

TIMBER!!!
Originally uploaded by sisudave.

TIMBER!!!
First part of trunk on way down. About three BULKY guys on ground, including neighbor's grandson, steering falling limbs and trunk as they came down to avoid power lines.
I slept a lot easier last night with that tree out of there.











I don't usually involve myself with New Year's resolutions, but one I am going to make and try very hard to keep is top update this blog more regularly. Hope everyone has a safe, happy and prosperous New Year out there, yah hear.

All This Just For a Piece Of Apple Pie

Here's the final product of my trip to the mountains. I like to go up to North Carolina every year to get the apples. There are so many varieties and good prices in the stores nowadays, but I guess just going to the source helps get me in the mood, plus the chance to see some beautiful scenery.

As soon as it comes out of the oven, I sprinkle the top with a mixture of sugar and cinnamon. Another trickin making delicious apple pies from watching and learning from Mom. She used to let me poke the vent holes in the top. Being the kid that I still am, I put my initials , or something special, in the tip crust before baking.

Don't think I would bother making pies which I love so much (eating them not making them). When my Mom was still around and couldn't do it anymore, I made a couple with the crusts from scratch while she directed me. Sure made me appreciative of all the work she went through to please us for so many years. But it was an awful mess with flour everywhere plus I don't have much working area in my little kitchen.
Even comes now with a free spice packet. I didn't use this time as didn't know if I would like as much as my own. I also add a couple tablespoons of flour over the apples and a few pats of butter as Mom did and sometimes a skip the lemon juice. I use three varieities of apples, figuring at least one has to be to my liking. Up north we mostly had McIntosh to use for pies. I've tried them from the grocery stores sometimes, but they don't seem to be as I remember.
The glass jar that I keep filled with sugar and cinnamon mixture to sprinkle on the apple pies is from my childhood days. Amazing how a few things made it through all the moves and still serviceable after all these years.

When I went to Greenville the other day, I didn't know for sure I was going to head up to the mountains, but as my visit to the VA clinic was brief, just to check on a date, I proceeded up US 25 and sure was nice to cross the border into North Carolina again. When I first came here, everytime I went out for a ride and crossed the border into North Carolina, I had a sense of being back home in New York. Guess in those days I was more homesick then now, but the terrain there is so much more reminiscent of home then here in the Piedmont area, which I have also come to appreciate as my adopted home.


On route 25, as you enter North Carolina, you are greeted this time of year by a large planting of Winged Euonymus alata, Winged Euonymus shrubs in the medium along the highway, which are clothed in their brilliant scarlett fall leaves.The Name derives from the corky ridges that appear along the stems of this plant. I saw a lot of this shrub in this part of North Carolina, even seems to be one of the favorites planted at residential properties. I stopped in Hendersonville for my favorite pizza buffet at Mr. Gatti's and then just a short trip to Edneyville on Route 64 to the apple warehouse.


Jimmy Nix and Son's Apples
There are lots of places just along this route and in the environs of Edneyville selling apples and many a lot fancier, but I always seem to buy all or most from this place. Guess because they are friendly, offer a good price and all apples always fresh that I keep coming back. This year they were $6 for 1/2 apeck and $9 for a bushel. I got 3 half a pecks, but guess I should have got a bushel and a peck. It was cold, windy and sunny up there today. Think temps were in the 40s. At first it was just Jimmy Nix, now it is Jimmy Nix and Sons. I was told he was still getting along, but with all kinds if ailments. I remember as long as I have been going there he always had bad back problems.
Bought 3 varieties,. Now I'll have to get busy making some pies.Always bought some natural cider here, too, but because of the stomach problems I had I'm being extra careful for awhile.

P.S. The stomach seems to be all better. The Dr. has ruled for now that my problem was probably from parasites from contaminated muscadine grapes the I overlaoded on from the grape arbor at the Medieval Garden. Even though the tests were inconclusive from quick recovery when I started the anti-biotics and the circumstances that seemed to initiate the problem seemed the most likely conclusion.

After my purchases there was still time before setting off for home so visited about my favorite Main Street around anywhere in Hendersonville, North Carolina by heading back West on Route 64. You can see all the bears that are on Main Street besides the one here and see a photo tour on my picture site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sisudave/

For bearing with me through this blog, I offer you here a special treat - a stress reliever sent to me via internet by my friend, Paul. Hope you enjoy it as much as I have. It really works. After clocking on the site, just run your cursor over the piccture. You don't have to click on anything.

http://www.nobodyhere.com/toren.hier

I made the big loop around the twisting, winding mountain roads soaking up the beautiful fall colors on my trek home. Sure glad I went that day as was planning to go todfay and it is prett wet and soggy out there today, not letting up at all. We surely need the rain in these parts.

Here is a sampling of what I saw:

We'll I think I got my money's worth on this trip. Now if the pie tastes as good as it looks coming out of the oven, I think I'm all set for a relaxing weekend of watching sports on TV and puttonmg a few more calories into my diet.

Since it is so close to the holiday and in case I don't get back on here again before that, Happy Halloween y'all. Take Care Until Next Time and Have a Happy, Dave