Wednesday, 6 March 2024

Wednesday Witterings . . .

 



 March is such an exciting month. Wild winds winnowing the fields of the traces of Winter, with the brown, good, wet earth showing. The sky takes on a beautiful washed blue color. There is a smell of Spring in the air.  Little green sprouts are beginning to show their heads in gardens . . .  with the promise of daffodils and tulips to come.  Crocus  . . . hyacinth. We have it all to look forward to.


We have had some beautiful days this past week, warm and sunny.  I even spent most of one day with my windows open to let in the freshness. In my childhood, carpets would be hanging on the line waiting to have the winter's dust and dirt beaten out of them.  Everything would have been given a turn on the line for a good Spring airing. Blankets, pillows, curtains, sofa covers . . .  all being painted with the fresh air of spring.  It was clear that most were done with Winter and wanted to invite Spring into the very cracks of their furniture.


I don't think that much of that goes on these days. People are now so laid back. Gone are the days when we brought every spoon back into a shine and the smell of furniture polish penetrated every wooden surface.


There is not much in my house that is made from real wood, worth the merit of a good polish. Its all that press wood laminate. Its pretty near impossible to buy real wood these days and when you do find it, you can scarce afford it.


 

We have several rainfall warnings in effect at the moment. It was raining quite hard when I got up this morning. I wonder what the river looks like now.  I will see it a bit later on when I pop over to my sister's.  Gus is coming for a visit today.  (That's the new kitten they are getting.)  She doesn't know the girl she is getting the kitten from. The lady goes to my church, so my sister kind of wants me to be there when she comes. I totally understand that!  It is so exciting to be able to meet Gus as well. He is such a little cutie. I hope the other cats get along well with him, and he them. 


Then there will be dad's cat moving in at the end of the month.  I hope she transitions well also.  It will be all hisses and fur flying at first I am sure, but it should all settle down and be well eventually.  Change is never easy.


 

My son won't be coming over now until Easter.  I am a bit disappointed, but totally understand.  If I had not been ill earlier this week they probably would have been here and been getting ready to go home now, but me being sick kind of squashed that. These things happen and are so unpredictable. It was pure co-incidence that it coincided with my daughter's visit, and had absolutely nothing to do with her. She had not been ill, neither had her friends. I probably picked up the bug in the grocery store. It's hard to say for sure.  Anyways, I am feeling much better now. I still have some indigestion, which gets worse as the day goes on. I am being very careful what I eat.  When I go out to supper with my father and Hazel later today I will have to choose something very benign to have on my plate. Nothing deep fried for sure. I will probably have the grilled haddock and mashed potatoes with vegetables. There is not much about that that could cause upset.


I popped into the grocery store on my way back from the Doctors yesterday morning to get some fresh raspberries. They didn't have any. I got strawberries instead. Not ideal, but they were not too bad a cost. I also wanted a salad, but again, they had none of those. I picked up a slice of Red Velvet Cake as a treat.  It was not very costly.  I ate it at lunch.  I had never had Red Velvet anything before.  I have to say I don't get all of the hoopla about Red Velvet Cake? It was in no ways remarkable.  The icing was too sweet and I had to scrape it off. I just didn't get what makes it such an exciting cake to so many people.



 




Mr. Milk Moustache mid-grooming.  I took this so share with Eileen. I thought she would really enjoy the way he was sitting. He is such a character.  And so big.  I need to make an appointment with the Vet for both of them to have check ups. I am not sure he will fit in my carrier now.  I will need my sister to come with me and have two separate carriers to accommodate both of them. Best to get it all over with at the same time.



I will probably get told that he is overweight. I know he is.  He is a little glutton.  I feed them both at the same time. I have to feed Cinnamon on the countertop because if they are both on the floor, he stops eating his, takes over hers  (and she lets him) and then proceeds to gobble them both down.   If I feed her on the countertop, she at least gets most of it eaten.  She is not an over-eater.  They both do like their treats however.


I thought about getting one of those cat wheels for exercise, but they are awfully large for my small space and there is no guarantee that they would use it. He is such a chicken that I think he would be afraid of it to be honest. I think that I would just be throwing good money down the drain.


You  know what I wish. I wish someone would make a scratching post that was quite like the trunk of a small tree.  I think they would both enjoy that.


 

My vacuum cleaner is not working like it should. I have noticed the last few times that it runs out of charge about 10 minutes into the cleaning.  Yesterday I barely got the kitchen floor vacuumed and you know that is not a very large space.  Not ideal in the least.  I think I will need to get a new one. With two cats and such a small space, a good vacuum cleaner is necessary. Of course the Warrantee is up on it, which is what always happens. I swear they build it into these things that they are going to give up the ghost just this side of the Warrantee date. I have had it not much less than three years.  And the Warrantee  ended at 2 years.  It is a Dyson stick animal vacuum cleaner. They are usually very reliable.


And with that I will leave you with a thought for the day, as time is  marching on and I will soon be having to meet Cindy for our morning cycling. I like to be washed and dressed for that!


A thought to carry with you  . . . 


° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~\。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ | 田田 |門 ★
*The greatness of a community is
most accurately measured by
the compassionate actions of
its members.° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
~Coretta Scott King° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ 



In The English Kitchen today  . . .  Homemade Grapenuts Cereal.  This was really delicious.  So tasty that I am putting it into regular rotation.  An excellent breakfast choice. Nutty. Wholesome. Simple to make.


I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday. May the sun shine for you and may you feel blessed and happy the whole day through!  Don't forget!


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And I do too!     
   




14 comments:

  1. On Amazon they sell batteries for the Dyson. There are around $50.00 which is cheaper than a new vacuum. You can also get batteries directly from Dyson but they are more expensive.

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  2. We had rain overnight, and it is a dull day today. Enjoying these milder days, with windows open, no heat on, and the sounds of spring. I still have a plug in vacuum cleaner, need to get it out soon and do a good cleaning. Enjoy dinner out with your dad and friend.

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  3. Dear Marie, I wonder if you got a touch of food poisoning somewhere. I remember years ago when you wrote of eating chicken parm, wasn't it? It made you very ill, if I am remembering correctly. Have you ever kept a food diary of what you eat, and how it makes you feel?

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  4. I'm with you on why such a fuss is made over red velvet cake. I'd rather have a nice vanilla or chocolate cake or even an angel food cake. Enjoy your dinner out. Glad you're feeling better. Have fun meeting wee Gus. Love and hugs, Elaine (in Toronto).

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  5. Hello. We have a Dyson stick vacuum cleaner also, my husband ordered a new longer life battery on line and replaced it. Maybe you could investigate that option. They are a good product so if you can keep it ticking along a bit longer it might be worthwhile.

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  6. FYI my Dyson stick vacuum is absolutely rubbish. It picks up flour and sugar off the kitchen floor but nothing bigger. I have no pets or little kids in the house so it’s not exactly overworked, and the battery doesn’t hold its charge.

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  7. As they say in these parts, "I hears ya"...finding a truly good vacuum for a reasonable price would be a miracle. I have 2 of the stick kind as we have no carpets except to use getting out of tub and those go in the washing machine every so often. NEITHER of mine work well. I kept the first one as the hand held parts work some better than the newer one. Sigh...my neighbor has one of those automatic kinds that run around the floor on their own and really likes theirs. Might need to consider that next... For sure most of what we have to purchase is junk. Not like products were in the days when we were kids, for sure!!
    Hugs, Elizabeth

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  8. I have a recipe if I can find it with the Red Velvet Cake ingredients. It does not include red food coloring. This recipe uses baking soda and something else to create a true red cake batter. If I find it, I will post it here under comments.

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  9. Red Velvet Cake Without Food Coloring
    2 cups self-rising flour
    1-1/2 cups light brown sugar
    3/4 cup butter
    2 large eggs
    1/3 cup cocoa, ordinary kind
    3/4 cup buttermilk
    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    3 Tablespoons boiling water
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    Beat light brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add eggs and continue to beat until thoroughly mixed, about 3 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract. Beat in the self-rising flour just until it's barely mixed in. The batter will look clumpy. Now whisk together the buttermilk, cocoa, and baking soda. Add to the flour mixture all at once, and beat until well mixed, about two minutes. Scrape bowl down. Add two tablespoons boiling water to the batter and give it a final beating, about one minute. Dispense evenly between two 9" round cake pans, which have been well greased and dusted with cocoa. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Allow to cool 10 minutes in the pans. Turn out onto rack to finish cooling.
    This is my original recipe. A white frosting is good with this, and I like to use the flour/milk roux base to make a frosting called Ermine Frosting. This won't be a bright red cake batter; rather, it is a somewhat reddish cake layer.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Red Velvet Cake Without Food Coloring
    1-1/2 cups light brown sugar
    3/4 cup butter
    2 large eggs
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    2 cups self-rising flour
    1/3 cup cocoa, ordinary kind
    3/4 cup buttermilk
    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    3 Tablespoons boiling water
    Beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, and beat 2 minutes. Add vanilla extract. Scrape bowl down and add the self-rising flour. Beat flour in just until combined; the batter will be clumpy. Whisk together the buttermilk, cocoa, and baking soda. Add to the flour mixture all at once, and beat for 2 minutes, scraping bowl down once. Add 2 Tablespoons boiling water to the batter, and beat for 1 minute. Distribute batter into two nine-inch cake pans, which have been well greased and dusted with cocoa, or self-rising flour. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Test with toothpick inserted near the center of cake to be sure it's done. Cool 10 minutes in the pans, then turn out onto cake rack to finsih cooling. A flour/milk roux used to make a frosting called Ermine Frosting is good to use with this cake.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Welcome to Gus!…you write beautifully…have fun with your Dad and Hazel… rain here today…spent time with my sister, always the best day…I need a new electric vacuum also….would love to find a good one…my daughter gave me an ‘new’ old fashioned push one … the old Fuller Brush Co. one….it works great!…continue to feel good….xo, V.

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  12. OOps! I posted two almost identical "Red Velvet Cake Without Food Coloring" recipes above. I didn't think my first original one posted to the comments, so I typed up the second one and sent it. I streamlined the second typing a little bit, and added using self-rising flour to dust the cake pan.

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  13. Gee whiz! I see also that I say "3 tablespoons of boiling water added to the cake batter" in both recipes. It is 2 tablespoons of boiling water, as per the recipe ingredients. It must be my age!

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  14. Well, ok, one more time! I really can't type, it seems. Once and final -- it is "add 2 Tablespoons boiling water to the batter". I have 3 Tablespoons listed in the ingredients. It should be 2 Tablespoons.

    ReplyDelete

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