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It's time for Fiesta - let's party!

Altaira Superuser Oct 11, 4:14pm Views: 2047 It's time for Fiesta - let's party! Welcome to this week's Fiesta Friday celebration! This week was pretty much a wash for moi, as I'm still fighting RSV. Pretty much the same symptoms, but this week added a new one: I lost my voice and haven't been able to speak in more than a whisper all week. It's a real hanger-on-er. I've been trying to accomplish some tasks that I can do sitting and resting on the couch (which is quite a few, thankfully), but have had to postpone any calls, lol. Luckily, B.G. is almost 100% over it, so there's hope! Our sun has been providing us with more solar activity this week, with northern lights visible in parts of Colorado I hear. Have any of you seen them this week (or southern lights)? What else have you been up to, and what fun plans do you have for the weekend? Do let us know. And, of course, order up your favorite drinkie and don't miss Bilbo's special eggs benedict, and omelet/waffle station at the buffet! *puts quarters on juke box* play us a good weekend song, and have an amazing wonderful weekend! (This post was edited by Altaira on Oct 11, 4:16pm)

Annael Immortal Oct 11, 4:42pm Views: 2013 Northern lights! I can't believe after a lifetime of never seeing them, they've been apparent here THREE times in the last year! I was, luckily, out for dinner at friends who live out of town, away from lights, and we got some great pictures. (But didn't see the comet, which we also looked for . . . will do that again tonight.) I managed to tweak my piriformis muscle last week walking a VERY fast five-mile walk with friends - it started speaking to me with about a mile to go, but it was a trail with no option to bail early. I notice it particularly going up stairs, which it does not want to do. Fortunately I had an acupuncture appointment yesterday and got needled right where it could do the most good. But I'm able to go to my fitness classes. Yesterday I took a balance class that was about "strengthening" the vestibular system, and we played catch for most of the class, which was amazingly fun. Can't remember the last time I played a game of catch! This weekend looks to be the last of our Indian summer. We will hit 70 on Sunday - and then on Monday, the autumn rains set it. My cat will get one more weekend of lying in the sun in his catio before I take it down for the winter. I'll try to do one outdoor activity, but (hopefully) the book that I've been shepherding through the writing/editing process will come back from the authors with all final revisions approved, and I'll spend most of the weekend getting it cleaned up and coded for the - they still call them typesetters, even if it's all digital. That's due Monday. Thursday I'm headed into the big city with friends to hit the Japanese Gardens at the University of Washington Arboretum, and have lunch at a nearby cafe. Other than that my week looks to be low-key. Eggs benedict? Now, is the hollandaise PROPER hollandaise, made with plenty of lemon? My mom was the queen of hollandaise. She would have been 105 yesterday (not that she would have wanted that), so she's been on my mind. I am a dreamer of words, of written words. -- Gaston Bachelard * * * * * * * * * * NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967

Altaira Superuser Oct 11, 5:06pm Views: 1997 Excellent! So happy you got to see them - again! Playing catch? Next you'll be telling us about a great coloring book you found. Seriously, it does sound like a fun way to exercise. And I admit, when I was preparing to hunker down for a few days during hurricane Alicia when I lived in Houston, one of the 'survival' items I bought was a coloring book and some crayons. Glad to hear your muscle is better so it won't prevent you from doing all the things you have planned for the week. Maybe it's a blessing that it won't be a terribly physically demanding one. Have a great weekend!

cats16 Half-elven Oct 11, 5:33pm Views: 1984 That's rough! I hope it's only a few days of voicelessness, then back to normal sooner than later. Hope you're still able to enjoy the weekend! Ooh, I will have a plate of waffles, please! The heat is going to ease up this weekend, so we'll get a closer taste of fall weather (for us) for the next few days, at the least. It's good timing, as I have new hiking boots arriving today and intend to be outdoors this weekend to start breaking them in before our trip. That is, assuming they fit. Work's a drag (as per usual), so I'm trying to be heads down for a few more hours and hope the time has flown by faster than expected. Tonight the Dodgers will play in a do-or-die elimination game, so fingers crossed they have a good night! Sunday night we're going to see the Clue movie in a theater, which will be really fun as I've never seen it with a big group of people before. I will never tire of Tim Curry's performance in that movie. Wishing everyone a happy weekend, and sending thoughts to any 'sibs affected by the hurricanes in the Southern U.S.! Join us every weekend in the Hobbit movie forum for this week's CHOW (Chapter of the Week) discussion!

Timbo_mbadil Rivendell Oct 11, 6:25pm Views: 1965 Get well soon! And *do* take rest (argh, I wish I had the quote from the top of my head, Legolas to Aragorn, at Helm's Deep – but that's more than 20 years ago…) Northern Lights – living in the middle of Berlin, I didn't see them, but apparently on the outskirts you could. Darn! I’ve lost my mood ring, and I really don’t know how to feel about this. -- "Tracy" Jordan, some episode from "30Rock"

dernwyn Forum Admin / Moderator Oct 11, 6:41pm Views: 1963 Did you say "waffles"? I'll take a big one, please, with butter and maple syrup, and cantaloupe slices on the side, thank you! It's an annoyance, losing one's voice, although in a way, it's nice to have a break from having to talk, as long as those around you can read your "sign language". Fortunately you've got B.G. to help! But what a pain that the RSV is holding on, I hope it eases up soon! The aurora was visible in this area last night, but I'd gone to bed early and found out this morning. Skies are supposed to be clear again tonight, and we have a pot-luck to go to, the town historical society holds them at the "yacht club"* on the bay. Afterwards we should all head outside to look northward! Here's an old favorite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NEkJhBHh54 *The clubhouse launch is for sailboats, powerboats, and paddle-boards - water's not deep enough here for actual yachts! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I desired dragons with a profound desire"

dernwyn Forum Admin / Moderator Oct 11, 7:07pm Views: 1957 Ouch! What a pain in the rear - literally! Glad you were able to get it taken care of not long after. And playing catch to strengthen balance - that makes sense, as you've got to co-ordinate your motion with the ball's! Charlie must so appreciate all the sun he's been able to enjoy in his catio, but he must be sensing that the cooler weather is coming, time for indoors sunbeams. Human typesetters always fascinated me, how they could set a paragraph so rapidly, reading backwards with accuracy. Enjoy the Gardens (and lunch)! How much Cayenne would your Mom include in her Hollandaise - and what all did she serve it over? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I desired dragons with a profound desire"

dernwyn Forum Admin / Moderator Oct 11, 7:11pm Views: 1956 Best of luck, Dodgers! Fortunately it looks like they're playing on their home field! Yep, get those hiking boots broken in (they do fit, don't they?), I hope they're comfy for hours and hours of NZ walking! That's the original Clue movie you'll be seeing? Have fun! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I desired dragons with a profound desire"

dernwyn Forum Admin / Moderator Oct 11, 7:13pm Views: 1960 Is there any way you could take a trip outside of the city tonight, if the sky is clear? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I desired dragons with a profound desire"

Altaira Superuser Oct 11, 9:15pm Views: 1950 New hiking boots! It's always fun to get things like that, especially when they're leading up to something even better and more fun. It sounds like you're being very organized getting ready for the trip. It's too bad things at work are still yucky but, as usual, you have lot of other fun things to do and plans to make it hopefully distracts from the yuckyness. Go Dodgers! I hope they win tonight! Have a great time with all your weekend plans.

Altaira Superuser Oct 11, 9:22pm Views: 1951 Thanks! At least I'm sleeping more than 30 mins at a time now (not being woken up by coughing). Wow, that's great that the northern lights were visible in the Berlin area. Then again, now that I googled it, you're quite a bit further north than I am (52 degrees N for Berlin vs. 39 or so for Denver). But yes, the lights don't help. I doubt I could see them from my house and I live in the suburbs. But, the sun activity is supposed to last well into 2025, so hopefully you'll get a chance to see them. Have a great weekend!

Altaira Superuser Oct 11, 9:33pm Views: 1950 Ooo, great! Your pot luck sounds like the perfect opportunity to have a look north! I can whisper, but if I want to talk to B.G. from across the room and his back is turned I have to go over and tap him on the shoulder before I do, lol. Excellent song! I hope you weekend is fab!

Annael Immortal Oct 11, 10:35pm Views: 1945 no cayenne! just butter, lemon juice, & egg yolks. She was a New Englander & had no concept of spicy food, at least when I was growing up. In college I learned to love Mexican food & would make it when at home, and the family embraced it. Culminating in Mom making a casserole once that called for Anaheim peppers, but she didn't realize she'd bought jalapenos instead - we called it Mom's Surprise! Casserole from then on (and had it repeatedly, but with far fewer jalapenos in it.) I will say she was a better cook by far than Dad's mom, who in true Bostonian fashion boiled everything to death. Mom was raised wealthy, they lost it all in the Depression, but she never learned to cook until she got married. So she picked up a cookbook by one Julia Child, and that's how she learned. I am a dreamer of words, of written words. -- Gaston Bachelard * * * * * * * * * * NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967

dernwyn Forum Admin / Moderator Oct 12, 12:55am Views: 1935 A "purist"! Cayenne in Hollandaise does seem a bit odd, but then my dad would put a drop or two of Tabasco in scrambled eggs for a slight "kick", and he was from the Midwest. Where they also boiled everything to death. Fortunately my Mom took to steaming veggies. That's something good about not learning to cook until necessary: your mom ended up learning from one of the best chefs. Although I can understand how she could have easily mistaken jalapeno peppers for Anaheims... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I desired dragons with a profound desire"

Kimi Forum Admin / Moderator Oct 12, 1:39am Views: 1931 An unwelcome guest! Your RSV, I mean - it's certainly lingering. I hope it doesn't hang around much longer. Very good news that B.G.'s almost over it. It's windy today, and keeps feeling like rain without actually managing more than a drop or two. Very cloudy, so no chance of seeing the aurora even if we weren't too far north. I'm seeing some amazing pictures from down Dunedin way - some day! Mr Kimi has a project of making my workspace pleasanter, and hopefully more productive. I got a new keyboard recently, which is welcome since I'd worn the letters off the most-used keys. You can get replacement stick-on labels, and I'd worn through those as well. We don't exactly replace our hardware very often. Now he's talked me into a new screen, which is enormous! And actually very good. I'm not at all good with change, but I'm enjoying this already. It's made me realise how much I was peering to see the old one, with its lower resolution. Now I'm getting a new, much faster disc. There'll be no stopping me! Weekend cooking adventures include pear paste and lemon-dill sauerkraut (two separate dishes, I hasten to add). Dinner will be turmeric chicken, and for dessert pear crumble, using some honey pears from our orchard - small and sweet and delicious. Wishing everyone a pleasant weekend. The Passing of Mistress Rose My historical novels Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there? - A Room With a View

Starling Half-elven Oct 12, 2:08am Views: 1923 Whispering is not allowed! It puts strain on your vocal chords and slows healing. You must take a vow of silence. I have had this drummed into me by Speech and Language therapists I have worked with over the years. I hope the RSV can be evicted soon. It's a horrid bug. X

Kimi Forum Admin / Moderator Oct 12, 3:31am Views: 1910 Wonderful! I so hope I can get to see them one day, but I'm very glad to you have - three times! Mr Kimi makes an excellent hollandaise, too, with generous amounts of lemon. The thought is making my mouth water. The Passing of Mistress Rose My historical novels Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there? - A Room With a View

Kimi Forum Admin / Moderator Oct 12, 3:33am Views: 1910 Very sensible to be breaking in those boots well in time! It's next month now, isn't it? The time will fly. Have a great weekend, cats! Sounds like you'll need it after your work week. The Passing of Mistress Rose My historical novels Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there? - A Room With a View

Kimi Forum Admin / Moderator Oct 12, 3:35am Views: 1914 Planning a trip to the outskirts might be worthwhile! The lights sound amazing. There are various aurora forecasts that could lessen the risk of a wasted journey. The Passing of Mistress Rose My historical novels Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there? - A Room With a View (This post was edited by Kimi on Oct 12, 8:50pm)

dernwyn Forum Admin / Moderator Oct 12, 12:40pm Views: 1856 Upgrading the tech is a very good thing to do! The letters wear off of even the sturdiest keyboards when they're well-used. But a new, larger screen - that is a necessity! Especially as we get older and even a slight increase in font resolution is most helpful. And a new hard drive? Excellent! And make sure you're doing double back-ups! Honey pear paste? I'm imagining that on some fresh-from-the-oven scones! Oh, this reminds me - gotta pop by the farm stand today for a couple bags of apples to make apple crisp! What kinds of apples do you have in your orchard? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I desired dragons with a profound desire"

Greenwood Hobbit Valinor Oct 12, 5:00pm Views: 1797 Late to the party this week... I hope those of you who are not feeling 100% perk up very soon! I'm creaky today, hands arms and shoulders especially, after using my old, heavy drill to put up a trellis panel on a rendered wall - not a big job, but needs a masonry bit and hammer action. My grip is not what it was! Still, the job's done. Two more things to do, but I can't do those on my own so they'll have to wait until I have help. I did actually see some Northern Lights on Thursday night; not like the glorious technicolour displays so often seen in heavily manipulated long-exposure photos, but with the naked eye I was able to see a flush of red spreading up the sky with the merest hint of green in its wake. The pattern was confirmed by photos others had taken. The solar maximum may yet offer more chances - I'm greedy, I want more now! Last night I went to the photographic society meeting; the speaker was a woman whose speciality was sewing on photos - very unusual and time-consuming! She punches the holes first with a needle fixed in a cork, then sews, to avoid tearing the paper. I could sense the traditionalists flinching as she showed off her work. If the link works, you can see some of the things she does. If it doesn't (what is it with me and links?!) here it is. https://lizjeary.co.uk/#Portfolio1 I found some of it ugly, but there were some beautiful pieces as well. Enjoy the changing season; the autumn leaves are flying today, in a squally wind. It's home-made soup weather... Cheers, folks! (This post was edited by dernwyn on Oct 12, 6:18pm)

dernwyn Forum Admin / Moderator Oct 12, 6:26pm Views: 1783 LOL, I can understand the need to see more auroras! Those lights can be mesmerizing. I went outside here last night to look for them, but it had clouded over a bit - will keep trying! That's tough stuff to drill into for the trellis, but it will stay up well! What plant will it be hosting? Made the photos link clickable. Um, yes, some of that looks like Dr. Frankenstein has been having a go at it. Leaves turning orange and gold, the breeze picking them up and tossing them around, doesn't it feel like one should put on a backpack and follow a path? Then home to hot soup and fresh bread! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I desired dragons with a profound desire"

Kimi Forum Admin / Moderator Oct 12, 9:01pm Views: 1764 We're assiduous about backups, including off-site storage. Decades of work in IT helped drum that in, along with the odd disc crash over the years. For the pear paste I used some of the "ordinary" pears, with added spices. The honey pears are more flavoursome, and Mr Kimi made a delicious crumble with them. The paste is nice with cheese and crackers (in this case, my homemade walnut ones). Alas, I've lost the names of most of our apple trees! Most have been in there for decades now, and I wasn't as careful as I should've been about how I recorded the plantings. We did have a lovely Lobo, a real Snow White apple, which mysteriously died literally overnight. There's an unnamed cooking apple, a local variety called Surprise (nice and crisp, and very disease resistant), and several others that fruit at different times during the season, which is good. I'd've liked to grow more heritage varieties, but our warm, humid climate limits what's worth trying. The Passing of Mistress Rose My historical novels Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there? - A Room With a View

Greenwood Hobbit Valinor Oct 13, 10:41am Views: 1605 Haha, funnily enough I won't be growing plants up it; the wall is in near-permanent shade and it is placed to set off the plants in pots on the shelf and break up the plain expanse of wall, really. It comes into its own at Christmas when I festoon it with fairy lights!

Timbo_mbadil Rivendell Oct 13, 3:37pm Views: 1538 Sudden sleepiness hit me sorry:-) Nah, that would have taken 2hrs one way – it might have been worth it, though… I’ve lost my mood ring, and I really don’t know how to feel about this. -- "Tracy" Jordan, some episode from "30Rock"

grammaboodawg Immortal Oct 14, 3:43pm Views: 1507 I finally have sat down for more than 15 mins! And I'm leaving in 20 to get my Covid/Flu shot then taking family to appts. But I've been going through Fiesta withdrawal after missing the last 2!! I'm so sorry both you and B.G. have been sick *hugs*. I'm glad B.G. is feeling better, but now we've got to get you back online (medically speaking ;) SOUP! ZICAM/ZINC! FLUIDS! SLEEP! There... I've done my gramma noise :) I finally got to see my Balti peeps after a 2-year delay. Thankfully all is well with them. G'son is teaching 9th graders this year and also classes in Creative Writing (his passion). I guess the 9th graders are more of a challenge in behaviour than the 11th graders he had last January-June (his first term teaching there). He's got a wonderful instinct and talent for connecting with his students; but he's really tired. Daughter and Hubby are still awesome to behold in their wonderful friendship. It's so fortunate that they truly "like" each other! :) Although, they both are working long, hard hours. So the promise of that calming down in the near future can't come too soon! Hobbity SUV was such a hero of this Quest! At 14+ yo and over 140,000 miles, you'd have thought it was a new Mustang easily covering the 1,400 miles without a burp :D The only burp was by me when I forgot my wallet and driver's license. *shudder* Thankfully I stash extra $ and charge card in one of Hobbity's hidey-holes, so I was covered. But Ohio and Pennsylvania are notorious for being sticklers to out-of-town license plates (mine reads hobbity ;) Daughter and I spent a day at the Green Mount Cemetery in downtown Baltimore where John Wilkes Booth is buried and that house some stunning statues throughout. The weather was perfect and the peaceful beauty in this large space surrounded by row houses and high rises was an interesting juxtaposition. I must dash! I hope everyone has a great week and that you feel better asap, Altaira :D We have been there and back again. TIME Google Calendar

dernwyn Forum Admin / Moderator Oct 14, 9:50pm Views: 1463 Here she comes! There she goes! So good to know that you made it to Balti okay (Hobbity has been a stalwart steed - just the kind Aragorn and friends need when they go riding "in the van"! ). And that the "kids" are all busy, but well! Some folks are freaked out by cemeteries, but they can be fascinating places to browse around. Safe travels home! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I desired dragons with a profound desire"