Stargazer

Scenes from Sunday (and Saturday)

As of a few hours ago, this glorious weather is gone; we now have a wind and rain storm coming through. I'm extremely happy that I have a new gas insert and will be especially delighted when they install the stone that will replace the contractor grade off-white tile and hearth. Although I'm trying to do a few improvements in the house, have I mentioned for the 100th time how much I would appreciate getting my kitchen ceiling and master bathroom back? Sometimes it feels like it will never happen. 

Younger Daughter had her car washed, put her Washington plates on the back and found a perfect place for the decal I bought for her. "Hike more, worry less." Now we need to figure out how to install the front plate, as required by Washington State Law. Velcro? Zip ties? Wire? There are no screw holes on the front, so we would have to make them; neither one of us is comfortable with that! John came over for spaghetti dinner and even he debated about the best course of action after watching several Youtube videos. Although I wanted to go for a walk in the lovely weather, we ended up researching license plates, then going through his car, packed full of "finds" from an estate sale. It's frankly disappointing to see him accumulate more and more stuff, much of it junk in my humble opinion. Old cooking magazines? A huge Websters Dictionary? A bunch of American flags painted on wood? I rolled my eyes over some of it and gave Younger Daughter side long meaningful looks about other items, but generally kept my mouth shut. It's not going into my garage, I don't have to unload it, list it or sell it, and I haven't paid a penny for anything. John seems to enjoy the hunt and the challenge, even though I don't understand why--or how in the WORLD he'll ever get rid of the multitude of items in his garage, now essentially a storage shed. 

In happier news, I received this package in the mail and couldn't wait to open it!

A friend paints gorgeous mandalas and sells them in her Etsy shop; when I saw this one, I knew I had to have this as a remembrance of the many special celebrations of Mardi Gras in my French classroom. Isn't she gifted? Thanks so much, Liora!

Carol and Mari both love to drink running water out of the kitchen sink. It's not ideal but we can't keep them out of there since they're excellent jumpers. 

Younger Daughter wanted to bake a pumpkin roll, so she went looking for cinnamon; she found THREE of them, including this one. :) How old does something have to be to qualify as "vintage?" This week will be stressful busy, including an echocardiogram and pacemaker replacement for Mom, a therapy appointment for Younger Daughter and a granddaughter babysitting gig with John where I will help him deal with his 3 1/2-year-old Older Granddaughter's potty training (literal and figurative) mess. In the middle of the week Younger Daughter will turn 32. Where has the time gone?

I Can See Clearly Now

Although it's still the thick of winter and the weather has been cold (Washingtonian translation 20s-40s), the sky has been visible...and blue! One day I looked out at the sun and forgot to check the temperature; I quickly returned home from my walk to add a couple layers. Back east, Older Daughter and family are facing snow with a low of 4 degrees and a high of 19. No, thanks! A few days ago Grandson was at daycare when a "dig dig" drove past. Four little boys, bundled up in their winter gear, rushed to the chain link fence to point and babble. The excavator driver spotted them, turned around and came back, honking. ALL day my sweetheart talked about it, "Dig dig, honk!" I wish I could post the daycare worker's clip here but there are privacy issues with the other children in the video. You'll have to take my word for it that it was absolutely adorable! 

I took this picture while stopped at a red light on my way to pick up my groceries. Although one of the world's most dangerous volcanoes, Mt. Rainier is also stunning on a clear day. I've read somewhere that she's the first most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous U.S. and third in the country. (Alaska's Denali is first) As a stratovolcano, if/when she blows, it'll create a lahar which will wipe out most of the communities nestled close to her, including mine. However, I live on a hill and not in the valley which provides some protection. But I sure hope she stays sleeping for a long, long time. 

The two cats living here right now don't get along, so we have to trade them in and out of rooms. (a pain in the you-know-where) Mari scratches on her door and Carol tears up the carpet. It's a no-win situation. :( Although Younger Daughter will eventually move back to her apartment part-time or full-time, we've established some evening routines: Jeopardy, then the Great British Baking Show. I try to keep relatively quiet during her work hours and give her (and myself) some space. It's hard! This morning I laughed at this photo of Ziggy admiring his doppelgänger on Sesame Street. It's not quite accurate since Ziggy has green eyes, but eerily exact besides that. I'm staying away from the news as much as possible, due to what it does to my blood pressure. However, this ironic story caught my eye. The Darwin Award goes to yet another anti-Covid vaxxer dead from the virus at 51. Perhaps he was smart, but what an idiot in every other way that counts. Sigh. 

Vengeance

Revenge is a dish best served cold, as the saying goes. I still had all the ingredients to make French Silk Pie, and thought "why not?" I was disappointed in the overly creamy version I made prior to this, mostly due to its foamy mouth feel. So, I used a different recipe and voilà!

This pie calls for raw eggs and requires a TON of beating; that gives it the texture of a mousse rather than chocolatey fluff.

I was worried that the sugar would still be grainy but this was a very silky batter.

Now that I'm out of Oreos and semi-sweet baking chocolate, I'll need to move on to different desserts! :)

The finished product looks identical, yet Younger Daughter and I agreed that we preferred this latest effort. It's still not exactly how I remember it, so I'm wondering if it was even French Silk Pie that I ate those decades ago. Perhaps my memory is a little foggy?

Hello, my lovely! Since I do have a highly caloric dessert in the house, I forced myself out on a chilly walk; it was near sunset and the mountain was spectacular. I paused in my perambulation to snap this shot. No filter whatsoever although I did crop it. 

A Facebook friend noted that I was glowing from the sun... or is it because of the cold? :) As an update to my restoration/repair debacle, I talked for a long time to my insurance adjuster this morning; he was appalled at the e-mail I received from the project manager since it contained several inaccuracies and outright lies. After that conversation, I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and left specific and negative reviews on the company's Facebook page, as well as Yelp and Google. I wrote to the King County Master Builders Association although I've heard nothing back from them yet. And I contacted my lawyer who has a partner who specializes in these kinds of issues. Will I still have to pay the $1,000 (20%) penalty? It's possible I will, but I'll go down fighting. As I've aged, I've become much more like my outspoken and dominant mother and less like my self-effacing dad. In spite of the fact that I'm never impolite and refuse to name call, swear or scream (even when I feel like it!), I evince more of a chilling, measured and action-oriented anger. No one messes with Margaret. 

 

Hullabaloo

In trying to find a word to adequately describe my day, this crazy expression seemed to fit. 

Monday's fog turned into this later yesterday. The weather was chilly yet sunny. I'm obviously walking off some tension. 

This is sadly true for today. Still extremely cold...but with no redeeming features.

I am grateful for my new (longer) poufy coat. It isn't as warm as the bright yellow jacket though. 

This is my grimace because I should have worn gloves!

The inside of my coat looks like aluminum foil. :)

Someone, or several someones, removed two of the storm drain covers along my route. Why would anyone do that? It's so dangerous to cars, runners and walkers, especially in the dusk or dark. 

Mari is working hard to get her treat that John put on top of the scratching post! I doubt that she's more frustrated than I am though. I've had to "live and learn" today. The smooth-talking restoration company about which my insurance agent had qualms has shown their true colors. After taking my tile then not getting back to me on a replacement (as promised), and after putting a $3,000 charge on the bid to repair a floor that was just fine, I was still willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. But today they informed me that they would need 100% of the money UP FRONT before ordering any material or sending any workers. When I questioned that, I was told that it's the way insurance jobs work (they don't); I immediately called the adjuster who was also flabbergasted that they would expect more than half the payment before even beginning the work. However, I signed a contract and evidently in the small print was the proviso that I would owe 20% of the bid if I backed out. (over $1,000) WHICH I'M GOING TO DO. Isn't that a lot of money to throw down a hole? Well, yes. What this company doesn't realize is that I just inherited $1.1 million dollars and can easily refuse to do business with untrustworthy contractors. I will also write some extremely nasty reviews of their company everywhere! In the meantime, I will have no master bathroom and an open concept kitchen ceiling for substantially longer. Sigh. Perhaps hullabaloo isn't the right word after all. Sh*t storm may be more accurate. 

 

 

Foggy

Weather-wise we've gone from the Atmospheric River to Snowmaggedon, back to the torrential rain and now some depressing fog. It feels like it closes in the sky and makes me feel claustrophobic. Younger Daughter and I are muddling along, trying to respect each other's boundaries while keeping our cats from killing each other. That will undoubtedly result in more damage to the carpet in one room and to the door in the other. :( Carol is a friendly girl who is used to living with her brother and another kitty whereas Mari is absolutely convinced that any cat in her house or yard must be eliminated!

Carol has beautiful coloring, doesn't she? Like most of us she's learned that the path of life can hold surprises and changes. We're going in one direction and suddenly we branch off onto detours where the "scenery" is completely different. Our roads aren't linear; they're full of curves and what we think is our reality can blow apart in an instant. Younger Daughter does have a therapy appointment today; I hope it goes OK and that she'll want to continue. I don't hold out much hope of that though. As I discovered, counseling that doesn't make you uncomfortable and a bit threatened isn't doing any good. I don't know that she's ready or willing to deal with those feelings. 

In spite of the grayness, I got out for a walk in my putrid bright jacket. It's healthy for me to keep to some of my normal routine. 

Even though I'm not really going places, it's helpful to have these free tests around. I'm expecting a couple more since the federal and state government are sending them. I jumped on the websites as soon as they were available! However, did you realize that they do have expiration dates? I'll need to get Covid before June 22. 2022. 

I remind myself that when there are clouds in the sky and in our lives there can also be the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets. I can't really tell which one this is; can you? However, YD tells me that it's a sunrise since Mt. Rainier is in the background. :)

 

Home, Not Always Sweet, Home

Without going into too much detail, Younger Daughter and her cat have moved back with me for an indefinite amount of time. She's made some terrible decisions and needs to get back on her feet, although I think she would benefit from professional help to do so. Her words to me were: Mom, thank you for not abandoning me. However, the two cats don't get along at all and keeping them apart is complicated, YD resists the idea of therapy and her presence does put somewhat of a damper on my already limited social life. Once a mom, you're always one until the day you die, as my mom is fond of saying. 

The cold foggy weather matches my mood which is also gray and kind of down. I did walk over 10,000 steps today though, amazingly. 

Carol the Cat didn't know what she was getting into when she hopped into this bag to come over here. Don't worry, we did transfer her to her actual carrier! :) She is now ensconced in the bonus room with a litter box and food, totally intimidated by the extremely territorial and vicious Mari. 

My little sweetheart got his "ears lowered" as the saying goes. His mom gave him this adorable haircut, under much protest from him. He looks SO much like his dad in this picture, doesn't he? I miss him a lot and can't wait to see him again...sometime in the near future, I hope. 
 

The Reality

“Disappointment is really just a term for our refusal to look on the bright side.”
― Richelle E. Goodrich

Sometimes that bright side is elusive or doesn't come along until years later. Other times, the disappointment is fleeting enough that you can laugh about it afterward. I juggled two issues yesterday: the small one (pie baking) elicited some tears of frustration but the big one will be on-going for a while. I'll just say that Younger Daughter is making poor decisions and leave it at that. I was hoping she would move forward easily from her break up, but that isn't her way. Sigh.

After much agonizing, I chose Sally's Baking Addiction's recipe for French silk pie (not French by the way) because the eggs would be brought up to 160 degrees instead of being raw. During this process I discovered that I had not one but THREE cooking thermometers!

I had to be careful creaming the butter because Mari was lurking around, waiting for me to turn my back so she could lick it. 

I was most worried about heating the eggs up (which was easy) and the possibility of making scrambled eggs; however, the folding in of the whipped cream was the most challenging part. I'm not a good folder!

The texture looked weird but that's because it wasn't cooled.

Here are my efforts to jazz up my dessert! I was so looking forward to having a slice during Jeopardy last night, but what a disappointment. It turned out that the versions of French silk pie with whipped cream inside and on the pie are like mousse--not very chocolatey and too frothy. The kind that Older Daughter made many years before (with raw eggs and no whipped cream inside) was amazing; this was just a run of the mill cream pie. I'm sure that most people would love this dessert. Sadly, I'm not one of them. So, a day wasted, many dishes dirtied, and several lessons learned. 

A long walk and 14,000 steps did relieve a little of the larger stress, although not enough. Right now the bright side of that mess situation isn't shining at all. 

Crises du Jour

I'll start with a minor quandary, French Silk Pie. Older Daughter bought all the ingredients to make one then ran out of time to do so. I'm not much (or any) of a pie maker, but yesterday I barreled ahead with a rolling pin and 25 Oreo cookies to make a crust. My shoulders are sore this morning; if I cooked more I would definitely buy a food processor. By the way, do you have any idea how many recipes exist for French Silk Pie? There are the raw eggs versions and the cooked to 160 degrees versions. Some call for 2 ounces of chocolate, others four. At first I thought that a few recipes didn't have whipped cream in the pie itself, but now I notice that most do. Can there be a bad French Silk Pie? 

Mari appreciated the remnants of the melted butter.

The fireplace is evened up and I can breathe a sigh of relief. Younger Daughter sat in front of it and admired it when she came by for dinner and a cry fest. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), her boyfriend unexpectedly broke up with her this week. She's at the age where she's considering the possibility that she'll never get married or have children, although she's not even sure that she wants to be a mother. There were definitely problems in this relationship, but I worry about how she'll handle being alone. I know from personal experience that it's good for us in the long term; it's also terribly hard to look at it that way from an emotional standpoint, especially when it's fresh and painful. On another note, she's booked a climbing trip to Chamonix in August. She'll have to train for that which may keep her busy and out of trouble. Maybe. 

Older Daughter drove thirty miles in the bitter cold to get a flu shot, then had to inflate her tires due to the temperature. After doing that, her car wouldn't start, leaving her stranded at a Rite Aid. They kindly let her come inside to charge her phone; a nice guy tried to jump the car (didn't work) and the tow truck driver was extremely nice, although the "ride" was expensive. It wasn't the way she intended to spend her entire evening, especially hearing her little boy calling for her over the phone while she was talking to her husband, "Mama, Mama!"

This charming guy is saying so many words these days. His latest one is "pineapple." I'll finish off with some good news; my mom's heart has evidently gone out of Afib. The fluid has cleared off, and her breathing is fine, thus I reluctantly returned her car. She couldn't wait to drive to Fred Meyer (local store) to look at their frozen foods and candy! She's also going up and down the stairs in her house and looks like she's lost 30 pounds. However, I did tell her very firmly that if she catches Omicron in her travels around town, she won't be having the pacemaker surgery. And the way our hospitals are right now, it may be tricky to reschedule it. Or impossible. 

Can you see it?

It's rather difficult to spot in photos, but the problem with this new fireplace isn't that the metal was left off. As the salesman informed me about my 25-year-old version, "Oh, your insert is SO 1990s with the brass and the louvers." Well, it was installed in 1996 after all. This more modern style has clean lines and actual brick inside it. I had other options but I went with the traditional. In this close up, can you tell that the cover (face?) is higher on the right side? I noticed it when I felt a weird sense that something was a bit off without knowing exactly what. Then I compared the tile coverage on each side. The company responded immediately to my email last night (they were closed) and wanted to come today, but Mom had an appointment. So, they'll try to adjust it tomorrow. Fingers crossed that they can! Now that I've seen it, I can never unsee it. 

This newer unit is extremely powerful so I turn it off periodically. Mari dislikes that and takes revenge by commandeering the recliner! If you are noticing her colored nails, those are claw protectors. A few readers have wondered why I use nail polish on my cat's claws. The answer: I don't--do people think I'm THAT crazy? Wait, don't answer that...

One of my neighbors thought I would be interested in admiring his new $100,000 car. Can you spot what it is? It looks nothing like the old versions and is actually quite stylish. However, I happen to believe that it's totally wasteful and idiotic to spend that much on a car. Of course I didn't say that to him. ;) 

It's a gaudy vibrant color, isn't it? The engine is in the back and it has a fancy computer that took him four hours to figure out. No, thanks! Incidentally, this guy's garage is cleaner and neater than my house. 

In other neighbor news, these youngsters are often playing on their dad's truck with no adults around. I nearly had a heart attack seeing that little girl up there. Should I have told them to get down? I wanted to but didn't since the parents don't seem to mind. Apparently, they aren't worriers like yours truly.

My feelings lately vary between this statement, combined with...

It's already been a hard start to this year. I'm hoping it gets better or that my attitude does. Que será, será, eh?

 

  

 

Forgotten

In an unusual move for him, John forgot that he was supposed to come over to my house after babysitting his granddaughters. I think it was driven out of his mind by his (literally) crappy day. Unfairly in my opinion, he was expected to adhere to his daughter's 3 Day Potty Training method for her 3 1/2-year-old, a sort of Boot Camp scenario. It's not working so far (4 days later) although the parents have caught her a few times and put her on the potty after the fact. They are trained, but she is not. Unfortunately, John isn't as aware of Granddaughter's signals, especially when he's also dealing with a six month old. Thus, he had to clean up after a multitude of messy accidents. Unlike Older Daughter and me, John's daughter uses disposable diapers (we do cloth); consequently, they aren't accustomed to getting so up close and personal with bodily functions. Lest you think I'm judging, both my girls potty trained at 3 1/2, but without any real pressure from me. I would never have considered an intense method like this three day fiasco. 

This is how I spent most of my day with workmen in the house; they arrived at the door in masks too and we all kept our distance. 

Here's the before...

then the during--which included a bit too much bending over exposure at times!

 Mari enjoyed exploring the equipment and boxes whenever the guys took a break. :)

After many problems fitting it to my small firebox, including some colorful language, the technicians got my new gas fireplace up and running. However, I was so busy fretting about how to use the remote control that I forgot to check out the actual insert. Do you notice anything? Anyway, I hope they'll come back and deal with the issue. I absolutely hate how distractable I am at times!

Guess who loves having her fireplace back? :) I also remembered today that the insurance guy and restoration company hadn't contacted me for a LONG time. The adjuster didn't receive the emails that the project manager sent him (he claims) although his email address is listed. The project manager hasn't responded to me at all yet. Due to our nasty weather, there are no other contractors in the pipeline at the moment according to the insurance man; they're all completely booked. I've already looked at this mess for several months and it appears that it'll be substantially longer before I can get any repairs. I'd also forgotten that Younger Daughter is still having relationship and other problems and was reminded of that tonight. Perhaps forgetfulness isn't such a bad thing?