Fleurs et bougies...

...powerful...

(YouTube Views 109,513)

11-13-15

I've always had Paris in my heart, but today, my heart is in Paris.

C 

To honour and remember...

(I had posted this before, but can't find the original video now.)

Beef with zing...

On Sunday night, I decided to make beef stew. I googled recipes and watched several videos, mostly various versions of beef bourgignon. I figured I would start it late so that it could cook on low in the crockpot overnight. I already had onion and carrots chopped up, so it should have been fine. Well.... I found myself browning beef in batches at 1am. I also found that the red wine that I chose, although having been perched at an angle for many years, had a dead, dry cork, which broke apart when I was opening the bottle. Glad that there was a big enough chunk of cork left in so that I could have another go at it, and that it came out fairly clean. I poured a bit into a small wine glass to have a boo, and it was a beautiful deep garnet red. I did not particularly care for the taste, but then, I'm not much of a wine drinker, unless it is on the sweeter side. I ended up not following any recipe in particular, so I had no idea how this would turn out. When I was done, and after cleaning up most of the aftermath, I showered and went to bed, but found that I couldn't sleep. The last time I looked at the clock was 4:33. Crazy.

When I did a taste test Monday morning, it was ... not bad... There was a very unique flavour to it however, that I couldn't place. I hadn't used much salt, had only put in a touch of sage, a little more pepper, but mostly thyme. Today when I heated some up to have with mashed potatoes, the flavour burst out with a zesty zing of some sort. It may well be the best beef stew I've had. I'm guessing the wine had a little something to do with it.
 

That stupid face...

 

Speaking of stupid faces, if anyone happened to visit the blog on Halloween, for just the one day, I had posted my portrait from last year.

Happy Halloween...

Sadness for a smile...

A few weeks ago a boy I went to school with since kindergarten passed away. We were not close friends, but when you grow up in a small town, there are certain things that just are the way they are. A few days later, his father followed him. I have had a song in my head for about a week now and have found myself quietly singing it. Today it almost knocked me sideways when I received word that a boy from high school died yesterday. One thing I remember clearly is his smile.  

 

Music for housecleaning by...

Hadn't been listening to music that much, even though I had loaded five CDs a few weeks ago. So today, with the intent of doing some housecleaning, which is a very rare thing indeed, I turned the player on. A few tracks in... perfect. 

I couldn't remember the name of the song, so I had to take a look. I knew I'd heard a different version somewhere before.

Things keep coming up...

that get me in the feels...

Inspirational...

From the heart...

It is odd...

... the things that pop into my head...

 

How neat

is this?

Fall

 

Crisp, sunny days of blue skies, brisk walks with sweaters, jeans and boots, chilly nights with wool socks, hot cocoa and toasted marshmallows... 

Left of Centre

Had some lyrics pop in my head today so had to go searching. I didn't realize it was from that long ago. Found this song first, but this is the one I was thinking of.

 

 

Funny that I always considered myself to be...

Spudnik...

... a big boy toy...

 

So  once again FB yields inspiration. This time... spuds... I call them potatoes. Dad would call them spuds.

I had seen this brilliance... and then next up for my viewing pleasure was ... Spudnik... streamlining the art of the potato harvest... What do I like more... potatoes or efficiency? Um...

 

Well, it's a beautiful thing to behold regardless...

Do you

remember? That day?

"It was like death...

... but in a good way."

(Read more here.)

Hopefully things hold up...

Further to the last batch of movies I watched, I have been awaiting the chance to see a few new ones that came out this year, a sequel, a prequel and a remix. I have a feeling that my tv, a state of the art 20 inch Sony Wega I've had for probably about 16 years, might be nearing its demise and may not be around much longer. It has had a good life, moving with me to my new home 13 years ago, and outliving two VCRs and coming close to two home theatre systems. My current DVD player, about 8 years old now, can still play CDs, but now struggles, and more often than not, fails to read DVDs, even following a cleaning. I have, as of late, been watching old VHS tapes (Nothing to Lose, IQ, While You Were Sleeping, You've Got Mail, Fools Rush In, Sleepless in Seattle, Rush Hour, Three to Tango, Joe vs the Volcano), to tide me over, and the latest DVD, the aforementioned remix, I had to play on my laptop instead of the tv. The only thing is that you just don't get the same effect from laptop speakers, especially for a movie of that high octane level. I was just thinking though, that I've had my laptop since Christmas of 2009, so it is getting up there too. All I can do is cross my fingers and hope that things hold up. Ain't that the truth.

Movie magic...

(Views 243,892)

To cursive or not to cursive...

To have a talent and passion for a craft, as well as the dedication, drive and work ethic with which to follow it through to its glorious conclusion, or perhaps, put simply, to find one's calling. For some, like myself, it is but a non-existent dream. For others, like this young man, it is reality with a bold flourish. May he continue to inspire others with his beautiful work.

“By doing the different tactile movements of forming the individual letters, and linking those letters one to another, and then putting those words into a context of a sentence, you are actually engraining the information in your brain.”  Jake Weidmann

And then watching it again, I came across this...

 

 

"It is not technology that is the direct enemy of the pen... it is our dependency on technology... And the greater we grow our dependency on technology, what we may soon find is that we have created the most technologically advanced way of creating illiteracy." Jake Weidmann

I may have touched on a similar subject a few years ago.