Month: June 2019

Unexpected Treat

Our daughter. Ashley, has been visiting us at Doright Manor since last Wednesday. She was supposed to fly home today, but the flight she was on was overbooked. Delta airlines offered $1,000 to anyone volunteering to be rebooked on the same flight tomorrow. Her response?

So, we have our favorite daughter for another night! I’m excited because I get to introduce her to my Meetup group at dinner tonight. Studly Doright is happy because he got to introduce her to his work buddies this afternoon. Ashley is happy because she gets another day of rest and relaxation. It’s a win win win situation.

Peace, people!

Photos from Girls’ Day at Universal Studios

On Wednesday evening my daughter, Ashley, who’s visiting from Illinois, and I decided we’d drive to Orlando. Studly Doright had suggested we go to one of the theme parks, offering to give us his hotel points if we wanted to spend the night. We were as giddy as little kids, and promptly made plans to visit Universal Studios.

We drove over on Thursday and went to Universal City Walk for an early dinner and a movie (Aladdin!) after checking into the Doubletree hotel. We didn’t stay out too late, though, because we planned to be at the park when it opened on Friday morning.

We arrived at Universal by eight a.m., along with those who had early admission because they were staying on property. To our surprise and delight we were waved through by one of the workers and were allowed to board the Escape from Gringott’s ride in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter along with the early admission crowd.

We rode every ride we wanted to, and one of those twice, never waiting in line for a ride more than 20 minutes, thanks to good timing and express line tickets. It was a magical day.

Above, we posed outside of Hogwarts.

Those critters above are from the Men in Black ride.

Ashley, below, wore her protective goggles with style and grace.

Below, the dragon surprised Ashley by beaching flames into the sky. It was intense.

We had fun in Toon Town:

After we posed for the two photos above we rode a couple of rides that left us soaking wet. My only regret for the whole day is that I didn’t think to take photos of us looking like a couple of drowned rats. After we left the park we had to stop at a turnpike oasis and change clothes. My tennis shoes are still wet 24 hours after the adventure.

We’re back at Doright Manor now, recuperating from the trip. Exhausted, yet happy.

Peace, people!

Snapshot #240

This one’s called, “Hogwarts Heaven.”

My daughter (left) and I took a spur of the moment trip to Orlando and Universal Studios. Great day! I’ll post more tomorrow.

Peace, people!

Oh, Happy Day

My daughter arrived in Tallahassee to hang out with us for a few days. Why? Just because she could.

Two days later…

There’s my baby girl! She and I really have no plans. We’re just going to enjoy each other’s company and see if we can manage to stay out of trouble. There are no guarantees on the second part of that sentence.

Peace, people!

Food of Dreams

Is there a particular food you are so fond of that you dream about it? You know I wouldn’t ask such a question if I didn’t intend to tell you about my dream food, right? I’d make you guess, but I doubt anyone except my friend Lila would even come close, and she only reads my blog sporadically.

How about a multiple choice quiz?

a) grilled shrimp

b) sushi

c) pepperoni pizza with onions and pineapples

d) gazpacho

Okay, if you chose a, b, or c, you’re not far off, I’m fond of them all, but d) gazpacho is my ultimate craving. I can taste it even as I type.

The first time I had this cold tomato soup I was in a high school home economics class. As I recall a local farmer had donated a whole bunch of tomatoes to our class, and our instructor, Mrs. Craig, decided to introduce us to a dish most of us had never heard of. I remember wrinkling my nose at the prospect of a cold soup, but then being quite taken by the combination of tastes. Still, I didn’t try gazpacho again until I was in my forties, and that’s when I became slightly addicted to it.

I’ve never actually made gazpacho. Studly Doright refuses to try it, and I don’t want to be wasteful. Plus, I eat too many tomatoes too often, I break out in a rash. Last night, though, Studly was out of town, and I decided to make myself gazpacho juice using our favorite new toy–a masticating juicer.

My juice was awesome. I need to fine tune the recipe a bit to make it taste more like the soup I crave, but I’m already close to having it perfect.

Here’s a recipe for gazpacho, although, it can be made with different ingredients, and below that, one for the juice I made.

Gazpacho Recipe from Barefoot Contessa website

———————————////——————————–

Gazpacho Juice

Ingredients 
  • 4 pieces plum tomatoes
  • 1 piece red bell pepper
  • 1 piece lime
  • 1 piece large cucumber
  • 1/4 piece small red onion
  • 2 cups parsley leaves
Directions
  1. Wash all produce well
  2. Stem and roughly chop parsley
  3. Peel cucumber and lime
  4. Juice in a juicer
  5. Pour over ice and enjoy!

Yummy stuff.

Peace, and good eating, people!

Like Old Times

I went for a swim last night. It was my first real swim in over three years, and I relished every stroke.

Studly Doright and I had a pool once, back when we lived in Melbourne, Florida. Our backyard there was perfect for a small in-ground pool, and I swam almost every day all year round. When we moved to Illinois we didn’t even consider adding a pool to our property, but I’d hoped we’d have one if we ever returned to the Sunshine State.

We’ve been in the Tallahassee area for more than five years now, and I’ve given up on having a pool of my own. The backyard here at Doright Manor isn’t conducive to a pool–the ground slopes down to the lake and the expense to shore it up in addition to that of building a lanai around it, wouldn’t be practical at this stage in our lives. Studly would like to retire at some point, and I can’t say I blame him. Still, I miss swimming.

Tallahassee has some fine city parks with pools, though, and last night I decided to join one of the water aerobics classes at the park nearest my home. Slipping into the water felt like coming home, and I patiently went through the exercises as our instructor led the way. Then, glory of glories, she had us swim a couple of laps. I was afraid I wouldn’t remember how, or wouldn’t be able to make one lap, let alone two.

But I was good. Smooth and easy like I’d never stopped swimming. I fantasized that the young lifeguard on duty might stop me as I left the pool and compliment me on my form. Perhaps, I thought, he might ask if I’d ever competed in high school or even college. I’d have blushed and told him no, then thanked him for the compliment. For the record, he didn’t single me out for special recognition. I’ll just have to work harder next time.

Tomorrow my muscles will likely be a little sore, but I’ll relish the pain. I can’t wait for the next time.

Peace, people!

Snuggling with the Standoffish Cat

This one, my Patches, doesn’t think I know she’s nestled next to my leg. If she knew I was aware of her presence, she’d meow as if she’d been mortally wounded while simultaneously leaping from the bed onto the floor and racing from the room.

Which is exactly what happened immediately after I snapped this picture. At least I have visual proof now that Patches sometimes needs to be snuggled, in spite of what she tells her friends.

(Cartoon by Scott Metzger.)

Snapshot #239

I was searching google for natural anti-inflammatory herbs. Missed the “t” key and got into new and unexpected territory….

Let’s call this one, “Making Light of the Hole Situation,” or “Bleach Body.”

Back to my search.

Peace, people.

Empty Promises

Clouds gathered today

Promised rain, then they scattered

Vandals on the lam

Gardeners’ hopes dashed

As wisteria wilted

And daisies declined

No apology

From the clearing azure sky

Only empty vows

(All photos found on Pinterest.)

Equality Rant

The graphic above prompted me to go on a rant on Facebook yesterday. First, because I agree wholeheartedly with the author, but mostly because I’m sick and damned tired of the inequalities present in this country.

How will we ever measure the loss of the intellectual contributions of women and people of color over the course of history? Has anyone ever made an attempt to calculate the costs of misogyny, racism, and xenophobia?

The patriarchy, in all its glory, has not only managed to restrict the rights of those who are non-white and non-male, but in the process of doing so, managed to literally rob society of the potential residing in countless members of their non-privileged counterparts.

Certainly there have been outliers who’ve transcended race and gender to succeed in this predominantly white male-dominated society, but just imagine what we could be as a nation if everyone was valued. Just maybe we should begin looking at this issue from an economic position rather than a humanitarian one. After all, money is pretty much all some people care about.