Stormy Weather Inside and Out - It'll Be a Hectic Weekend

It's been raining like crazy - at least Friday was a lot of rain with more than 2 inches in the morning, and another 2 inches or more after sundown. It'll be a mudfest for Renaissance Festival, but tomorrow is the final day of this year's Renaissance Festival, and it's a MUST ATTEND for us so that we can get our discounted price on tickets for next year. Himself says he doesn't care about going next year, but I do, and I am insisting. I know if we didn't have tickets to Fest and go to other things, he'd be even MORE housebound. He's turning into his Mother in that respect, and that's NOT a very good thing at all. 

I keep waiting for DH to decide to fence in everything and 
set guards in the corner towers *sigh*. His mother was 
housebound by choice, and later by necessity, and he's 
turning into his mother in many respects. He doesn't enjoy 
going anywhere because he can't hear, but he also won't 
explore the many options for outside the ear hearing aids 
that exist these days. He's vain - he doesn't want to appear 
needy in any way. *sigh* It's a battle I can't win. 

So, we'll be there, we'll stay for a couple of hours, and then we'll go back home again. He'll miss the beginning of Sunday's Ryder Cup broadcast, and he'll just have to deal. Life is rough. Maybe the USA can pull something out of the mess they've made in Europe so far, but I'm not holding out a lot of hope. Ryder Cup is golf done differently, it's fun, and it's challenging, and it's kinda weird. I don't really understand it all that well, but DH goes ga-ga over it. *sigh* 

The Ryder Cup golf tournament only happens 
every four years, and it is rather fun. It's not your 
standard 72-hole tournament. It's a challenge 
unlike any other with a lot of strange challenges 
for the golfers. It's actually a hoot sometimes, but 
I can't miss the final day of Ren Fest either, so 
he'll have to join the Ryder Cup late. I'm not 
allowed to purchase his season ticket, or I'd tell 
him to stay home. 

Yesterday I did get a lot done, and I'm pretty happy about that. I made a batch of Ogre Juice, of course, and also cubed up some fresh pears and baked them with apple-pie spice for a very tasty treat. So easy and so good. I motivated and beat out the two carpets I have inside my doorways - one leading to the garage, the other at the front door. I also swept and washed the entire kitchen/breakfast floor and the slate stonework of the entryway. It looks wonderful now, and I had a good feeling of accomplishment. 

Usually when I bake pears, I just cut them in half 
and stuff the pit area with spices and nuts. Yesterday 
I decided to cube the pears and then mix them with 
the spices. They turned out lovely and very tasty, so 
I'll probably use both methods while pears are 
available. 

I returned my new watch to Amazon late yesterday afternoon. I finally had a chance to sit down with the directions, and realized it was exactly the same as the watch I had bought in February, just a different brand name. What a bunch of BS! I didn't want another watch that would last for less than a year and was impossible to set the time on. I packed it up and returned it to Kohl's for shipment back to Amazon, then searched the internet for a watch that was closer (and distinctly different) to what I wanted. It cost me more, but I think I'll be happier. 

I ended up ordering a watch similar to this one. I've 
had a watch like this in the past and really liked 
it. I won't be able to tell if I like it or not until I 
actually have it, but it works for swimming, and 
that's my main criteria. Hopefully the time setting 
on this one won't be beyond my capabilities. 

I'm watching my garden move into Autumn and closer to the end of harvest season. My jalapeno peppers are pushing out new ones and they're turning beautifully red. My Tabasco peppers are also flourishing, and I even have some new banana peppers that will be able to be pickled for DH, so I'm declaring the peppers a total WIN for this year's garden and am already looking forward to next year's plants. I also got just the right amount of tomatoes from my tomato plants this year, and the couple of weeks I was overloaded dried beautifully in the dehydrator. I'll be adding those to sauces for that fresh tomato flavor. 

This is DH's new garden feature that he's been working on. It's 
a low-wall area which will get more sun, so he'll be able to 
plant different things. I know he'd like to cap it cleanly, but 
to do that he'd have to cut a bunch of stones to fit, and his 
blade isn't up to that. He'll probably leave it like this over the 
winter, and consider capping it in the spring. 

So, I'm off and running. This weekend will be hectic at best, and I'll start it out running between the rain storms (which have been heavy and quite hard over the past 12 hours). I hope you have a lovely weekend and I'll be back on Monday. Slava Ukraini. 

Sunday Was a Wonderful Day - Relaxed and Enjoyable

We had a semi-relaxing Sunday, mostly watching the final day of The Masters golf tournament. There was some exceptional golf played, and they finally had decent weather for that final day, which made the rain and cold of the previous days merely a bad memory. 

There was quite a bit of this during The Masters this 
year. The weather was NOT kind. Normally they'll 
play through rain, but these were thunderstorms with 
high winds and actually caused some serious damage 
on the golf course. 

I was quite impressed with the Amateur winner - although he fell off his pace, he did quite well throughout all four rounds. I think we'll be seeing more of him in future. 

There was at least one tree, perhaps more, that fell across 
the golf course during the storm. The landscaping crews 
immediately set to work cutting up and removing the tree and 
fixing the course. It looked pristine again the next morning. 

Of course, part of the beauty of The Masters is seeing green grass and blooming flowers in April. When I look out of my windows, all I can see is white - although, to be honest, we did get a nice thaw this past week, and I have some large patches of actual grass in my front yard around the maple tree. Spring is coming and I can hardly wait! 

The Masters for me is always the beginning of Spring. 
DH bought a lovely roast, and we had an excellent 
dinner while watching the end of the final round. It was 
a rather perfect Sunday. 

I needed to use my personal debit card for a transaction the other day, and realized that I can't find it. I searched through a variety of places, but no luck. I vaguely remember using it within the past two weeks when I needed to buy coins from the Credit Union, but I hadn't wanted to carry the full packet I have the card in, so I had removed it from there and had it solo. I know I had it back home, and saw it on the table when I was leaving for work. I pushed it under something so it would be out of sight, and I guess I did a REALLY good job of that, because I can't find it at all now. I'll have to arrange for a new card, but I can't do that until Friday. Meanwhile, I'll have to use my regular debit card for the purchase I want to make, and transfer the funds over from my personal account to cover the purchase. Another step, but not the end of the universe. Frustrating, though. 

ARGH is all I can say about misplacing my 
debit card. It's no big deal to get a replacement, but 
it's very unlike me to lose anything financial. 

On that note, I'm running late. I've got to get going. Have an excellent Monday and Slava Ukraini. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Happy Friday - BattleBots and the US Masters, Fish and Flowers

Happy Friday to all of you. It's a "day off" for me and I've already been busy planning out my day and printing out the paperwork I'll need. I'll get my grocery shopping done, then settle down and get some work done on my next Etsy group. I also need to proofread my 8mm crystal cubes one last time and set those to "active" on my Etsy pages. 

I love Tuna - I love fish in general, but Salmon and Tuna 
are my favorites. My co-op had some lovely Tuna when 
I was shopping there on Wednesday, so I picked up a 
beautiful steak for my dinner tonight. I have the perfect 
marinade recipe for it, and it'll broil up quickly. 

I have a fabulous tuna steak to cook for my dinner tonight, and an excellent marinade for it, so I'll put that together and bag it to soak in that deliciousness for a few hours. Yummy! I generally do fish on Fridays during Lent because DH prefers it (and I have no problem with that - I adore fish). He's a Catholic who never goes to church, but he keeps Lenten food guidelines. I'm a Jew who never goes to synagogue, but I acknowledge the various holidays (Passover is Easter weekend this year - that doesn't always happen). I don't actually keep them, but I at least acknowledge them. When push comes to shove, I'm quite happily pagan. 

I don't really follow any particular spiritual pathway, but 
I'm most certainly not a follower in the more traditional 
religious ways. I'm pagan only because there really isn't 
a good term for what I believe. But I don't really celebrate
the pagan holidays any more than the Christian or 
Jewish ones. I just feel that sometimes there is a 
larger something. But I'm not going to place it in a 
category or assign it a name. It's enough to 
acknowledge it. 

Tomorrow is the deadline for the latest group of stories to be posted to LJ Idol. I turned mine in days ago, and many of you have had the opportunity to read my dragon fairy tale. I've gotten a lot of very positive comments, and thank all of you for the good feelings and strokes. I even acquired a couple of new LJ friends through it, so this story was a total win. The voting will take place after submissions are ended, and then we'll get our next prompt. I suspect it will be released around the 18th of the month, give or take a couple of days. I can hardly wait - I'm having a lot of fun writing to prompts again. It's always been the best part of writing - catching that theme or moving events within a tale so that they all fall into line with the requirement of a specific word or idea. 

I love watching "BattleBots". Yesterday. starting at 
11:00 am, they went through the entire field of 
32 semi-final matches leading up to the final eight 
last night. I had it on the TV at work for most of 
the day (the TV is in the back room, I don't watch 
it, I listen to it). After 2:00 pm I switched over to 
golf because ... The Masters! Couldn't miss that. 

The finals of this season's "BattleBots" was last night. DH was so furious at the decision in the semi-final match, freeing "Witch Doctor" from entrapment under a piece of stage equipment, that he left the room and refused to watch the final match between "Witch Doctor" and "Tantrum". I, however, watched it all. I wasn't 100% in favor of the semi-final decision that "Witch Doctor" won their match, but the final bout between the two robots was awesome. "Tantrum" absolutely dominated the bout and totally earned the "Giant Nut" (think hexagonal nut such as would go over a screw, not nut such as would fall from a tree). It was great to have an audience again, after last year's restricted competition during Covid, and the show is back to being the awesome and fun show it can be. Call me happy, in general. I'm already looking forward to next season. 

I love watching The Masters golf tournament every year. I 
associate it with Spring, and there are many years when 
looking at the greens of Augusta are a reminder that Spring 
is coming when I'm looking out of my own windows and 
only seeing the snow of winter. Fortunately, it seems like 
we're having an early Spring ourselves this year, and even 
though our grass isn't green, it's also not white - LOL. 
We're far away from having flowers, though, and Augusta 
has wonderful hollyhocks and other flowers to delight me. 

So, on that rather silly note, I'm out of here. I have a lot to do today, and I want to get my Shire Conqueror module loaded so that I am walking from the Shire to Bree ASAP. I'm still walking the Great Wall in China, but Conqueror allows you to work on more than one quest at a time (except the LOTR quests have to be done in order). I hope all of you have a wonderful Friday and I'll be back tomorrow. Peace! 

Rocks, the Ryder Cup and Glimmers of Autumn - A Perfect Sunday

Yesterday started out crisp - sweatshirt and light jacket crisp for me with my felted gloves for extra warmth, a light leather coat for DH who has a cooler internal temperature comfort level than I do. We headed over to the State Fairgrounds to the new location of the Minnesota Mineral Club's annual rock sale and show. This has been a favorite show of ours for decades, and we sorely missed it last year when everything was shelved for a year of recovery. But, although it's in a new location and some of the outdoor vendors didn't opt to exhibit this year, the general consensus was that the change in location has been positive, the sales and attendance is good, and people are also enjoying the Mini-Donuts and the Taco food trucks that parked in the lot behind the exhibition hall. If we had left a bit later, DH would probably have purchased a taco - they were declared a tasty success by vendors I spoke to. 

I'm starting out with photos from some of the outdoor 
vendors. Here you can see pieces of slabbed rock in 
identified bins, under water. Water is essential to really 
see what the grain of the rocks look like, so most vendors 
will either have them underwater like here, or provide 
lots of spray bottles hanging around their rocks. 

There are some vendors who exhibit cut stones, although 
I'm more likely to buy my faceted gemstones at a different
show. But I don't really need any more stone - slab, 
slice or faceted. I have a BUNCH of it. But I love stone, 
and just can't resist a good rock show. 

We started with the outside dealers - we always hit them first because they usually have the larger selections of raw stone, and because they're a lot of fun to chat with. This year most of them had more polished and finished stone, so DH was disappointed, but I found a lovely slice of Scenic Jasper for $5, and a really nice slice of Plume Agate for $8. I sometimes prefer slices instead of cutting my own - it allows me to dive into something without having to wait a few hours for the slab saw to do its' work. 

There were quite a few vendors exhibiting finished work using 
stone. Here we've got rock skulls, wands, bracelets, and 
various statuary. Nobody had what I really wanted, so I'll 
have to make it myself. Not too hard, but I don't have all of 
the materials. I'm not in a rush, though. 

After the outside (which DH deemed disappointing because most items were finished or polished), we headed indoors. In years past there had been a small entrance fee of $2, but this year they requested donations of $1 each, although admission was actually no charge. We donated, of course. There was a LOT more space for the vendors than their old location had available, and lots of room for the informational exhibits and demonstrations too. We wandered up and down the aisles, losing each other sometimes, then finding each other again. We finally ended up in the northwestern corner where one of the raw rock guys had set up. DH was in heaven, and I indulged as well. 

This kind of display is DH's idea of heaven, and I succumbed 
as well. Bins and bins of raw stone, the prices calculated by 
the weight of the stone. Some can be quite pricey - Larimar, 
Turquoise, Blue Lace Agate - those were quite a lot more 
expensive than the more standard Jaspers and Agates. Still, 
these were all fairly priced, and there was a lot of variety.
We spent serious time and bought a nice selection. 

I'm not sure if DH broke down and bought some Tiger Eye 
or not. I know he was looking at some and had some 
weighed out for himself. I like Tiger Eye, but I have plenty 
of it, so I didn't indulge in this one. 

By the end of a lot of picking and choosing, I had two pieces - a nice piece of Fluorite with great color in enough of a band that I think I can play with the saw and get some interesting slices to polish, and a chunk of Fossil Coral which, (I was assured by their stone guy), would have the hexagonal coral shapes throughout the piece. It might be really fun when cut, shaped and polished, so I took a chance. My two pieces were less than $25, and the rest of the money was all spent on a pile of stone that DH had chosen. He'll bring bags home from the shop today and we'll label them and get them put into our storage bins until we can work on them when we've got new oil for the slab saw. 

I did indulge in a nice piece of Fluorite. It had 
wonderful color change, and I'm hoping it'll survive 
cutting and polishing and become something beautiful. 

I also indulged in some Fossil Coral from Morocco. I have 
hopes for this stone, although I don't really know what it's 
going to look like after it's cleaned up and polished. It could 
be quite interesting. 

I've peppered this post with photos, but they're not that much to look at (admittedly). I did treat myself to an "Inspiration" piece - a finished piece of stone set into an intarsia stone framework. I learned how to do intarsia several years ago - I'm thinking 2014, 2015, or 2016. I took a three day class in intarsia for jewelry at Bead & Button, and ended up buying my 6-wheel stone grinding lapidary set from the teacher who was selling all three of the machines we were using in the class, at a really good price. I had driven to the show that year, so put the wheels into the back of my car (I think it might have been my PT Cruiser at that time) and took it home with me. I love my polishing/grinding wheels, they work really well, and I loved learning the technique. Now I want to use that technique to make some pieces that have been perched in my mind. Time to play with my notebook and get designing. It might be awesome, or awful, and there are many directions I can go with it, but that's the fun of it all. 

We're getting the beginning of Autumn coming in now. The 
willow is past it's bright green Spring and it's more mellow 
mid-green Summer, and now has hints of olive coming through.
Against the amazing blue sky with those light, 
sculpted clouds - it was one more reminder of why I love 
living up here so much. I might hate the winters, but 
the other three seasons more than make up for it. 

We returned home and watched the rest of the Ryder Cup (yippee for the USA - a pretty awesome three days of amazing golf). As I was driving to Chipotle to get dinner, I saw the big willow across the main street from me hitting sunlight just perfectly to show the beginning of fall against an amazing blue sky. So I end my photos (and long narrative) with a quick shot of this wonderful tree - one of my favorites in the neighborhood. Have an excellent Monday, be kind and please stay safe. I'll be back tomorrow. 

I'm Feeling Better and a Closer Look at the Ryder Cup

I saw my Dermatologist on Tuesday, and I'm already looking much less like a parboiled fish and much more like a human being. I diligently apply a thin coating of the greasy gunk to myself three times a day, and I take the mega-antibiotic every morning while eating my morning fruit. It seems to be working. I'm at least feeling much better about being out in public, and I'm not scratching and feeling like bugs are crawling under my skin (dermatitis conditions are very uncomfortable). 

I suspect I'll have something similar to this panel 
when I get my allergy tests in mid-October. I know 
they'll use my back, and I expect some of the tests 
will be positive, so I'll have skin reactions in some of 
the locations, but not most. I'm just really curious - 
it's been so long since I've been tested and 
allergies can change over a lifetime. 

I've started to once again understand how panicked my parents much have been when I was suffering from similar issues as a child. They had me in for skin tests and allergy tests very early on, and I had to use specific skin creams, take oral medications (and some injections - probably a source of my hatred of needles to this day), and use prescription soap (!) into my teenage years. They also had a full allergy screen done on me - extremely annoying and uncomfortable, sometimes painful. And yet, here I am, going through the same darned procedures almost 60 years later. 

I don't see the allergist for any testing until mid-October, but I am going to have an allergy screen done because I know allergies can change and I haven't actually examined what I'm allergic to since I was a child. Maybe it's time for an update - LOL. 

The Ryder Cup is always entertaining. I'll have it on the 
back room television at the shop, but I'm not going to 
be avidly watching it throughout the weekend. DH, on 
the other hand, will have it on the TV over his desk in 
the computer room and will be casting his eyes on 
it often. Today is the opening day of the three-day 
competition. 

I have to work today, while DH takes the day and watches the Ryder Cup. The Ryder Cup is team play in an individual sport, so it's a bit bizarre. There is a team captain for each of the two teams - America and European. There are 28 overall matches, each match worth one point, and they are played in three different forms of competition - fourball, foursome and singles competitions. Teams are 12 competitors, and feature a captain and vice-captains. Sometimes players will have to play both morning and afternoon rounds, sometimes they'll play just one. The players are determined by the captain. 

Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka have been butting 
heads on the PGA tour a lot this year, and their rankings 
are quite similar. Is it truly a rivalry, or is it just a 
publicity build-up? Hard to say, but they're both very 
talented golfers and have been in tight competition on 
the same courses throughout the past few years. So ... 
maybe it's real, or maybe not. It makes for good press. 

What will make things very interesting this year are the mega-issues between two of the US players - Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka. There's been a lot of trash talk on the golf courses lately between these two, and here they are, both playing on the same team, and ranked almost identically. 

The Ryder Cup is being held in the USA this time, at 
Whistling Straits Golf Course, Wisconsin. Apparently 
it's as close to a true Scottish course as you can get without 
actually going to Scotland. It's set against Lake 
Michigan, and almost every hole has a clear line of 
sight to the lake. There are over 1000 (yes, that' not 
a type) bunkers, so if a shot goes off-line, it's probably 
in one of them. It's a stairstepped golf course, with 
a truly wicked 18th hole. This should be fun! 

I could go into a lot more detail, but I fully realize that golf isn't at the top of the list for a lot of my readers, so I'll just give you a link. If you're interested in knowing more about the Ryder Cup, who's on the teams for the USA and Europe, and how each phase of the competition is played and scored, here's a link for you. Enjoy! ( https://www.sportingnews.com/us/golf/news/ryder-cup-scoring-rules-explained/1au9r4kppf1mb1fr09hx6jw08l ). I'm just going to try to understand the basics and hope that Hubby has a wonderful time watching the matches today. 

Have an excellent Friday, be kind to others, scratch a pet and treat them well, and I'll be back tomorrow. 

The Ryder Cup Starts Friday and A Great Time-Saving Recipe For All of You

I had a rather busy first day of Autumn, starting out with a lot of computer work, moving in laundry - an all-day project, grocery shopping (two stores, two trips) and some housecleaning, and more computer work. Between everything else, I got kitchen work done, dinner managed, the house cleaned (somewhat) and things wrapped up for the rest of the week, and read a bit because a day doesn't go by without a few chapters of whatever book I'm reading under my belt. 

I wasn't aware that the Ryder Cup had been around since 
the late 1920's. It is played every two years, and alternates 
between Europe and the US. This time it's in my neighboring 
state of Wisconsin (so you may see some of the trees starting 
to turn colors in the background). It's a team competition 
in a sports that is singularly individual competition at all other 
times. It's a bit confusing, but DH loves it. 

DH asked me to work for him on Friday. He wants to see the first day of the Ryder Cup, his favorite golf tournament. The Ryder Cup has always confused me a bit - it's not like the usual golf tournament I'm used to seeing, but he loves it - that whole team competition thing enthralls him. So, since he asked nicely, I agreed, and I'll be working for the next three days. That meant I needed to do what I had planned for Friday's tasks yesterday, which was part of my "rather busy day". LOL 

I'm very grateful that my doctor declared my skin issues 
to NOT be any food allergy. I still want to find out 
what things I'm allergic to now, just to be on the safe 
side, but I don't have to toss tomatoes out of my diet. 
I'm thrilled - my life without salsa or ripe tomatoes 
on my salads would be poorer. 

The Prednisone and prescription gunk for my skin are starting to work. I'm on Day 3 of 10, so there's still quite a long way to go, but I'm hopeful that this will, indeed, get my crazy skin back under control. I have my appointment with the allergy department on the 13th for my skin tests, and I'm curious about what I might be allergic to - whether things have changed since I was a child, or if I'm still sensitive to the same triggers. I am relieved, however, that the skin issues I'm dealing with are not food related. I don't have to watch tomatoes with the same baleful eye any more. 

I was desperate - I didn't want to throw away 
a perfectly good squash, but I'll have no oven 
until December. I found the perfect recipe on 
"CookTheStory" via a search on Google, 
tried it in the afternoon, and had a perfectly 
cooked squash from my microwave in less 
than 15 minutes! It takes me longer than 
that, with an interruption to turn the pieces 
over, in the regular oven. I'll be using the 
microwave for my squash from now on! 

OH!!! Something to share with all of you. I had purchased a Butternut squash shortly before my oven died. I normally roast my squash, and I love having it on my evening salads or with dinner. It sat around for a few weeks, but I was resigned to tossing it into the trash yesterday until I thought "Maybe there's another way to cook this, so that I won't have to waste it." I turned to my trusty ever-present seer named Google and asked about ways to cook Butternut squash and it had a lovely microwave solution that takes four minutes per pound in the microwave. The secret is to punch through the skin deeply with a paring knife, making lots of cuts up and down the entire squash. This allows the steam build-up to escape. I punched a lot of slits up and down on all sides, put it on a microwave-safe plate and set my timer for 14 minutes. I pulled it out at about 12 minutes done because it was actually dripping juices, and set it aside to cool. When it was cooler, I grabbed my trusty Y-slicer, sliced off the rind from most of the body, then cut it into cubes. It was PERFECT! Easy, peasy. My favorite way to cook. I'll be doing my squash this way in future. 

This tree is from last year's photos of my 
neighborhood. Taken on October 7th. I have 
this kind of beauty to look forward to over 
the next few weeks. It's what makes winter 
tolerable for me. I love living up here because 
it's a beautiful state, but winter isn't my 
favorite time of year. Fortunately it's 
heralded by the stunning beauty of Autumn. 

On that very domestic note, I'm out of here for the day. While driving around yesterday, I noticed the trees are turning into their beautiful colors - we're so fortunate up here in the Midwest US - we get glorious colors for our trees. The height of our colors is usually October 11th, and I'm hoping to get a bit of time between now and then to take some photos to share with all of you. It's the colors that make the greys of winter bearable to me. Winter is bracketed by the reds and oranges of Autumn and the brilliant yellow-greens of Spring. I can't go far without color - I could never have made it in a land of ice and snow, I would have gone crazy. Have a wonderful day and I'll be back tomorrow. 

Time Trial and Champe-Elysees for the Weekend, WilderBody for Next Week

Today is a short, intense time trial for Le Tour de France, and tomorrow is the final stage - the ride into Paris and sprint race around the Champs-Elysees. Yesterday the breakaway managed to keep away from the pack for the entire run, and the peloton seemed uninterested in going after the chase. As a result, nothing really changed in the standings, and Mark Cavendish remains tied with Eddie Merckx. 

Mark Cavendish and Eddie Merckx had a chance to have 
a short conversation before the race began yesterday. They 
also spoke after the race had ended, while Mark stood on the 
rampway of the team trailer. 

I hope you had a chance to see the wonderful meetings between Cav and Eddie Merckx both before and after the race. They spent a nice amount of time together and hugged. Both men were gracious and complimentary toward the other, all in all, a nice "Kodak" moment for everyone. 

There's something nice about two men getting along and 
being comfortable enough to give each other a hug and 
wish for a good stage. Eddie has a ton of TdF records, 
giving one over, or just tying with that "upstart", Mark 
Cavendish, really isn't a problem. 

It's going to be a hot and sticky weekend, and I really didn't feel like firing up the outside grill or heating up the kitchen, so I'm making sweet and sour meatballs in the slow cooker for Sunday's dinner. I changed the recipe a little bit - honey instead of sugar, ground up pork rinds instead of bread crumbs - but it's a pretty basic recipe with most ingredients not being a problem for my nutrition program. I'm hoping they turn out tasty and I'm willing to take a chance. 

I have an orange pepper instead of a red one, but 
with that exception, I think this recipe will work 
out just fine. I made the pork rinds into crumbs 
in the food processor yesterday, so I'm ready 
to start mixing and shaping the ground beef first
thing Sunday morning. Le Tour. It should be a
nice Sunday morning. 

Monday starts the first day of a new 6-week pilot program called WilderBody. WilderBody is an unknown - I was one of many people invited to be in the first test group. It's a concept by Eric Edmeades, the person who invented the WildFit program many years ago. Those of us who have graduated from WildFit and joined Living WildFit, were invited to join WilderBody and the first 500 people were accepted at no charge (a $399 savings). I'm totally stoked. I think this will be a wonderful addition to the program and for the health of all of us. Free was just another serious plus for me. So that starts on Monday and I have my second tattoo session on Wednesday. It's going to be a very busy week. I think I need a relaxing weekend. 

The competition will ramp up now that the bottom 
half of the competitors have been eliminated. Now 
we'll get to see some really good golf. 

Oh - and don't forget, there's some great golf this weekend too with "The Open" playing on at Royal St George's in Southeastern England. The course is gnarly - they haven't mowed their rough for more than two years, so balls in the rough are a serious problem. The cut yesterday was at one over par, so it will be a tight competition for the next two days. 

Have a great weekend and enjoy yourselves. I hope for good weather and a relaxing two days for all of you. I'll be back on Monday. 

Only Three Days Left in Le Tour So It's a Good Time to Clean Up

Today, Stage 19 of Le Tour de France, is one of the last two opportunities for Mark Cavendish to win a stage and overtake Eddie Merckx's record. Eddie will still hold many other records in Le Tour - he was a much more rounded rider than Cavendish is - but Cav can surpass him in sprinting. It's been a real joy to see Cav back on the course again. Cycling tends to be a sport for the young and usually riders will peak and then retire in their 30's. Cav is now 36 years old and probably thinking of retiring again. I don't think he enjoyed his two years off, though, so he might push retirement off for a bit longer. Perhaps he'll become another Alejandro Valverde and ride into his 40's. 

Today is a long stage, but not much for topography. There 
are certainly ups and downs, but the big peaks are now 
behind us and ahead of us shines the beacon of Paris. 
The boys only need to survive another three days to 
wrap up this year's Tour de France. 

Today's stage is perfect for the sprinters, We're back on the flats, heading towards tomorrow's second Individual Time Trial. In the standings, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates/UAE) is firmly in the Yellow Jersey and barring catastrophe, he'll be at the top of the podium in Paris. Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quick-Step/BEL) wears the Green Jersey and might cement that farther today and Sunday. The Polka Dot jersey for King of the Mountains is actually also Tadej Pogacar's, but in the standings you can only have one placement, so Wouter Poels (Bahrain Victorious/BRN) gets the Polka Dot designation. 

There are four unique jerseys worn by the leaders in 
Le Tour de France. From L-R, White for best young 
rider under age 26 on January 1st in the year 
following the race. Yellow, the current General 
Classification leader computed by time. This is 
a race decided by seconds of time. The Green is 
for the top Sprinter as determined by various 
points awarded throughout each stage and who 
passes through those areas first. It also is computed 
by the time of each rider as they pass the finish line. 
The Polka Dot goes to the King of the Mountains. 
It's computed similarly to the Green, but on the 
slopes of the Alps and the Pyrenees (with small 
points on smaller hills before the big ones). 

The White Jersey for "Best Young Rider" actually also goes to Tadej Pogacar, but he can't wear three jerseys, so Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma/NED) gets to wear the White in the peloton. Finally, the team in front currently is Bahrain Victorious/Bahrain, and for most aggressive rider, David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ/FRA) has the designation. So these are the top placements as we move into Stage 19. Will they be the same tonight? Only time, distance and muscles will tell. 

Let's take a look at the full route map once again. That 
long straight line from the South heading North is 
what we're riding today. There's a little hook at the 
top of it where the time trial will be held tomorrow. 
Then the riders head to airplanes and are flown to 
the outskirts of Paris for their finishing day's 
race around the "Champ" on Sunday. 

I'm tackling my space today. I can't stand the fact that I have so much on the floor and not in the drawers and cupboards where they need to go. I also need to do grocery shopping and make another batch of Alkagizers to carry me into next week. I'll have to carefully figure out my schedule since Wednesday, my usual day for shopping, etc., will be taken up by my next tattoo session. 

I truly hate housecleaning, but putting things away really 
isn't housecleaning, it's just putting things away. I need to 
clean out drawers, put things into them that I actually 
want to keep, and toss things I don't want/need any more. 
I want things neat and clean, and I'm not really happy 
with my room right now at all. 

So, as we head into the final three days of Le Tour, and also the final three days of The Open Golf Tournament (what used to be called the British Open), I'll be working with the TV on in the background. I'm determined to make some progress on cleaning today - it's getting out of control. Have a wonderful and fabulous Friday and I'll be back tomorrow for the Individual Time Trials and a look ahead at Paris. 

Jumping Down The Rabbit Hole - Mixed Up Days in a Foggy Brain

I was totally off my game yesterday. Even though I knew it was Friday - at least I knew it when I was home early that morning, by the time I got to the shop and made my slow way across our icy parking lot, my mind had time traveled and I suddenly thought it was Saturday. I saw the construction workers across the street, digging out the new basement of the burned out pharmacy (their rebuilding has finally started), and thought, "They must be trying to get as much done before the winter closes in." I was trying to justify their working on a "Saturday". 

Yesterday I experienced a temporal shift. It was just 
weird! I think I'm back on track today, but goodness! 

I glanced at the TV at the shop which I usually turn on for the financial news first thing in the morning and remembered - "Oh, it's Saturday. No markets today." So I left it off until golf later in the day. Mid-morning, I glanced toward the windows when I heard a lot of noise and saw the UPS truck. I remarked to Chickie "What's going on?" while thinking to myself that it must be a special shipment of something to merit a Saturday delivery. When she said it was stuff for the T-shirt printing place two doors down from us, I was a bit bewildered. They wouldn't usually merit a Saturday delivery. 

At least I'm pretty confident today - it's Saturday! I'm 
quite pleased about that - Saturday is an awesome day 
of the week. Chickie and I have a lot of work to do, 
so we won't be bored, and we usually get fun 
customers through the door on Saturdays. 

It took me until after noon before I finally got it through my head that it was Friday, not Saturday. Which was a bit disappointing, because I had to work until 6:00 pm instead of heading home at 5:00 pm which is my Saturday closing time. My brain was just messed up. 

It may not be Springtime at Augusta National, and 
the crowds may not be allowed to participate, but 
The Masters is going on now instead and it's a 
total joy to see that incredible golf course. I don't 
get the green grass after months of snowfall, but 
it's one of the most stunning golf courses in the 
nation, and it's always a joy to look at Augusta. 

Have you ever had an episode like that? One where you would swear on a stack of Bibles (or other tome of importance to you) that it was X when it really was Y? Although I got a lot of work done yesterday, I was never able to fully engage with the day. I'm hoping that today's Saturday won't be a "Groundhog Day" of a rabbit hole for me. I'd like to end today looking forward to my Sunday with my hubby. On that note, I'm out of here. Have an excellent day and weekend, and I'll be back on Monday. As always, be kind, stay safe and please, wear your mask. 

Two More Days of Extreme Peaks - It's Going To Be A Great Weekend

Happy weekend in the Pyrenees. Since I don't post on Sundays, you get both of the upcoming days in the mountains of Southeastern France in today's post. Lots to look at, lots to discuss. I'm starting with yesterday's Individual Time Trial from Pau to Pau because it was absolutely amazing! As needed, Geraint Thomas rode like possessed by a demon and crushed the times before him, pulling into the lead with a single rider remaining - Julian Alaphillipe, still wearing the Yellow Jersey.

Julian Alaphillipe rode like a man possessed, and turned in an
amazing time trial, moving ahead of 2nd place Geraint Thomas
by 1 min 26 sec at the end of the day. That's a lot of time to
make up in the next week of riding. If Alaphillipe can keep
his focus and his body can take the punishment, he may be wearing
Yellow in Paris next Sunday. 

It's well known that the Yellow Jersey confers special powers onto he who wears it, and those powers were evident as Alaphillipe rode like the Devil himself, pulling ahead of Thomas by a total of 14 seconds and winning the Stage. This puts Alaphillipe ahead of Thomas by 1 minute, 26 seconds, and that may prove to be an insurmountable gap. The French may have a fellow countryman on the top step of the podium in Paris, we may be watching a truly historic Tour that will be remembered and analyzed for years to come. 

Today we climb, and then climb one of the most beloved and
storied peaks on Le Tour - the Tourmalet. Just look at the
profile for today's stage. OUCH! It's killer, and it's gong to
be such fun! 

That said, let's move on to today - mountains, mountains and a finish on the Tourmalet. True joy and happiness for this Tour fangirl. Here's the official blurb for today's stage.

It’s the third stage finish atop the gruelling Tourmalet, the most visited climb of the Tour de France. The winner up there, at the altitude of 2115 metres, will succeed to Jean-Pierre Danguillaume in 1974 and Andy Schleck in 2010. This is the first big battle of the Pyrenees following the confirmation of Julian Alaphilippe as the race leader after his amazing victory against the clock in Pau. Three riders who lost a significant amount of time in the crosswinds on stage 11 rode a very strong time trial: Rigoberto Uran (4th), Richie Porte (5th) and Thibaut Pinot (7th). They’re hungry for more and the high mountains are their favourite terrain. Three Colombians are in the top 10 overall: Egan Bernal who is now clearly the second option of Team Ineos as he’s 1’26’’ behind Geraint Thomas, Uran and Nairo Quintana. They’re expected to fire up the first hilltop finish of the 106th Tour de France.

As we enter today, the big question (besides times and chances to win/place/even get over the mountains to come) is what the heck is up with Dennis Rohan? He, quite literally, gave up his ride on Thursday, coming to a halt at the feeding station on Stage 12 and refusing to participate in Le Tour any further. The gossip has it that an argument with his team management had him quit and "walk" off the job, but nobody seems able to get confirmation or details. It's the big mystery of this year's Tour. 

Sunday's peaks aren't quite as high, but it's still a very impressive
route laid out for the boys to suffer through and over. Legs of iron, that's
what these riders have to have. The really BIG mountains come
next week - the Alps are still to come and the race will come to an
amazing climax on Thursday, Friday and Saturday next week. 

So today we end on Tourmalet, and tomorrow, well, tomorrow is much longer, 185 km, ending at Prat d'Albis. The rest day on Monday will be very well deserved. One disappointment from yesterday's time trial was the crash and withdrawal of Wout Van Aert (Team Jumbo-Visma) who had shown such promise in the Tour to this point. His foot caught one of the side barriers and he went down hard. I'm going to be remembering his name, though. He might well be on the Podium one of these days - a young rider with great promise. 

So that's a lot packed into today's post, and I didn't even mention "The Open", where Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and most disappointing of all, Rory McIlroy didn't make the cut, so won't be playing over the next two days. McIlroy came close - so close - after a disastrous first day, but it was not to be. On that note, I'm wrapping this very long post up and calling it a day. Time to head out to the gym and try to increase my fast-walking pace. Have a wonderful weekend and I'll be back on Monday for analysis and commentary on the final Rest Day of this year's Tour.