Steve was in Kona yesterday. The A/C was getting fixed on the truck and he took the opportunity to visit with friends.
In the morning they went shopping, and for the afternoon they had a steak grill with all the fixings. There is no steak in the world as tasty as the one JC pulls off his grill.
Good friends do not let their friends go hungry.. so they sent some home for me.

(I'd have taken pix, but as soon as it came it the house, the care packages were no longer available for a photo op....   (Burp!)  )

See what I mean about good friends?

Steve brought home a 'jump up' for Daisy..

Our bed is high.. one of those run and leap opportunities.. so it is a bit too high for Daisy.

She gives it the old college try, and makes it most of the time, but it is a scramble. We have taken to putting the hassock next to the bed. It is another bit too bulky to rassel with every day, but we do.

Steve came in the door and called her... I have no idea why he called because she flat out runs to the door every time either of us return home.
She does her kissie face dance as her Welcome Home greeting . She followed Steve into the bedroom and watched as he planted the cube in the space where the hassock was.

She was watching all this and then got anxious that we were moving 'her' hassock away.
       

Steve told her to get 'up up!' Instead of going up onto the cube, she ran across the room to the hassock and jumped up.. ( her vote). 

We decided to set her on her new 'Cubie' .made a big fuss and told her it was Daisy's cubie . She decided she liked it and started using it more often as she got familiar with the smaller landing pad.

This morning as I was making the bed, I see she has the 'spa ball' in her mouth and she is sitting on the cube watching me.
                  
By the time I got the camera, the ball was on the bed.. ready for me to fill with treats... and play.

Daisy's 'Spa Ball' came to her as the result of her Spa Day at PetCo.. she can play with it as is or stuffed with treats' Either way she loves it.
We have a name for each toy... and she will go get that exact toy.. and 'spa ball' differenciates this ball from 'fuzzy ball' and 'tennis ball' and....
 
    Already she loves her 'cubie' but does not like for me to store her toys inside. 
         

That's alright, I can use the storage part for yarns and she can continue keeping all her toys at the 'ready'.

                           Why are these rugs always in a tangle?
                               .............  because they are toys...
     
   Sister wants this rug ..like this!
    

    Did you notice this pillow? It is really an very old hand embroidered pillow case.
    Too pretty just park in the linen closet.
   

    All ya'll,  have a lovely day!

     I usually have shutters but this time I wanted wood valances for my bedroom...

... and while we are waiting for our grass to grow....  finally, the valance project turn is here.

It has been a project in itself, gathering all the materials... First, I decided voile.. light and airy pinch pleated drapes. then, I decided to purchase.. which was a mistake 101... the headers are paper, and for such a light fabric.. sewn by two year olds in a place that probably has no idea how drapes should be made.

Further, even if they did not, where was the quality control from a no longer favored / trusted American company...

I decided to keep them for now. I will make my own at a later date... hopefully they will not disintegrate in a few months. ...and then I'll send these to my friend who has a sewing shop for 'show and tell'.
That should get him lots more business!
( He is already busy.. maybe I was the only one who did not know).

I decided to line them so I would not have to see the A/C in the window. After I made the panels, I had to run a row of stitches across the bottom of the pleats because they had serged/cut.. just to have something to sew to and not unravel the voile or the paper    Sigh! ... 48 inch panels?60 inch? some were....

We did what we could to just keep the project moving forward. Everything that could give us a headache did. Every headache was another trip into Kona (90 miles round trip) and always, another redesign...because of lack of support product, rings (hundreds of them) and the Island merchants only shelf 20 or so... but offer lots of plastic varieties and no one has rods in120 inch length.

It got so bad even Steve laughed when I said we should just nail the crappy drapes onto the wall and keep the lights off.

Paint would not flow on the valances.. it looked like it had jungle rot... even with new paint. Nothing to do but sand back to wood and start again.
 
Today was V-day. We put up the first of three valances.
It does look good. The valances are solid and I am thrilled with them.
It is said there is usually so much angst that couples often get divorced after building a new home or going through  major renovations. Yes, we had our angst.. but not like these valances.

      Installing the brackets...
     

         and then there was the big Heave Ho..........
       
.       ..Over all that and the big one is up..

      
           I like it....    It sure made that wall.
           
 

          Number one is up and two to go.. YES!

 .. dancing.... dancing... d.....

 I went into town three times to get a card for a friend that is getting married.

I started early enough... a month in advance..
The first time I forgot...
....the second time I spent hours reading and could not find on with the 'right' words.
On he third attempt and a half hour later, I found the THE ONE!
It was so elegant, white lace, and silver and gold embossed....and it said my feelings. I grabbed it and ran for the cash register.

This morning, with 8 hours until the wedding, I set down to sign the card in my fanciest legible handwriting.
I had Steve sign it and finally.. it was ready for the envelope.
No envelope!
I grabbed the bag and still no envelope.
In my entire collection of envelopes there was not one that would  fit or be fitting the occasion.

Nothing to do now but make one.

           ....with her favorite flower and her favorite color.

                     I even fancied up the envelope
       
                           

What is it about a diet that reminds you of FOOD! 
Yesterday, I made a quick pass at CostCo where the crab meat jumped out.. I rushed through the shopping, but, at the last moment I turned that basket around.
In went the crab meat, the mushrooms and the asparagas ...It is all healty.. Right?

and then the house was a bit chillly.. so a hot oven and good smells are the order of the day

Stuffed Mushroom Caps

I can almost hear the cries. .
It's easy!
There is no mystery to making these ... You know it's simple or I would not be making them.

Get the most fresh and largest white mushrooms... Usually at Costco
and I also get my crab meats there, my celery and

BRUSH ( or wipe off with a dry paper towel ) off the mushrooms.
Break off the cut off the stems and cut a thin ring off the bottom of the mushroom cap to open a bowl  for the crab mixture

Set the tops into a shallow baking dish

Reserve and chop up the mushroom pieces into smallish bits and put into another bowl.
...to these bits, add onion ( red or Maui ),
A celery stalk celery chopped into 1/4 inch bits
A pinch of red pepper flakes, sea salt, course ground pepper and a1/4 C shredded Parmesan type cheese. Easy on the salt because the crab meat is salty, of  course.
2 C fresh crab meat..
1 heaping T of capers
1 1/2 C Best Foods mayo.
Mix together lightly with a fork

Dredge the caps through melted butter and the rest of the butter goes in the pan and over the filled caps.
There is nothing as decadent as good as good on butter (steroids) .
    

This dish or a tray is usually crammed full. This time the only party is the two of us, so I did honor my diet.. sorta.
( given a moment to think, I can almost rationalize anything food)
 

Bake at 350 F until for about 25/30 minutes.. or until heated through and most of the tops are browning.

   
The only secret here, if there is any, is that the served mushroom is still al dente and the ingredients have not had the life or flavors baked out.

I wish I could reach out and give you each one of them... and my house smells sooooooooo good!

Makes about 30 stuffed mushroom, even when I stack the filling very high. Even then there is more filling left over.. I can make more....
Usually I have more than enough filling so I will just put that in a small baking dish and use it on crackers.. if it isn't eaten up before the crackers get out of the package.

Sometimes, I will just refrigerate the filling and do more mushrooms in the next few days.

The asparagas? Well ... sauteed with the mushrooms and butter.. Sea salt and course ground pepper to taste...Is that enough words to call it a recipe?

Any left over get into the avacado and romaine salad the next day with rum soaked and grilled fresh pineapple slices...
 

Frea
 
Con, because there is just the two of us, I make a meal of these things.
It's all healthy... aka  'So much for that diet'...        

Daisy had her first SPA today.

Daisy before...

She was pampered from the minute she got there. Treats... massages, special shampoo, rinses and a spiffy hair cut.. her ears were made neat and clean, her pads were trimmed and a sharp cut around the footie.
All the topped off a pretty girlie bow..
She was fragranced and poofed to the hilt.

While she does love it AFTER her baths at home, she still gives me air kisses instead of real kisses for days.
 
Spa DAY FOR DAISY was as much for me as it was for her.

Daisy has never been away from home with out us, but I was the apprehensive one.
I have been been the one that has been doing all the batheing and grooming her.
I figured it was time to see how 'correct' I was doing the hair cutting and while she has had socialization, most of it was at home. It is good for her to get her out and learn to socialize with others and find her own way.

When we returned for her, Steve looked at me and said " well, one thing is good"
What's that?
Dalynn does not have any bandages...  (Dalynne is the groomer for our PetCo on the Big Island).

We had a few minutes to look around the store.. just in case there was something new.. there was.. a new kind of a ball.

This was such a treat! .. for both of us...No angst, no stress and no waterlogged kitchen.

Steve and I went to lunch and picked up a very happy dog.

....HEY.... hold on a minute. I'm not tied down yet! and watch that other car!

 
Same time next month, Dalynne... and thanks! .

 Yes, I admit I have subscribed to the kick and shove method of office organization.
    

Even so, there comes a time when not even one more sheet of paper can go in there!

Several months ago, well after the files in my desk rose higher and higher.. Even after the two new book cases were crammed full. Files have migrated to other rooms and spaces... and I was strangling for space.

I was thinking to make it all as painless as possible. My solution was clean up at least one file a week.
That was working very well until a very important document went MIA.

PANIC!  has filled my days. I have not yet found the documents, but after some 10each heavy duty 35 gallon contractors have been filled, one shredder dies and the replacement cross cutter design is making obnoxious noises and doing time outs when it gets hot. GRrrrrrrr!
It took an entire week to get one drawer of files sorted through and the rest to the my composter and dump via way of the shredder.
    

I do NOT shred everything... just things with my name on it or personal information.

One lesson learned was to not take the shredded materials out to the garage uncovered because wind gusts will instantly blow in and make life interesting.  It happened once before, with pink shipping worms.

Even though I quickly threw my body over the top of the container ...a third of the shreddies whirled up and out through any small opening.
Now I move the shreddies to the contractor bag inside the office with the door shut.
  
With two more file drawers, there will probably be more little events to keep life interesting.
I am hopeful to find more than one or two file folders are already sorted for the keepers and the no longer pertinent records are long gone. 

I shredded even as I watched TV , mesmerized by theTsunami surges in and out of Hilo bay. KGMB television pictures. They were with us though out the entire crisis. ... a friend indeed!

                                  Look at all this space!

 It has been a peaceful year since the 'Not everything has to be read' program. (Mail gets sorted at the trash cans.. before getting inside.) and the companion theme 'not everything has to be saved'
It's only a matter of cleaning up the residual.  No wonder people move every 5 years.

I am sanctioning a remote hide out.

Yes, I think all good remotes go to heaven.... some will just fade into some oblivion when we 'hide' and only a small number will ever return, whether we move or not.
There will be a great number that go to the oblivion place when we use the 'professional' packers to assist us on our relocation moves.
I have made many 'local' moves, more of the not local moves, moves that criss cross the US of A and even the USA Island states.   
I have yet to witness a single remote get packed with it's corresponding unit unless I did it myself.

How hard is it to remove the batteries, slip the remote into a baggie and tape it to the unit?

be they man or woman, I have always been of the belief that professional packers hate remotes. It could be prejudice, but I think not. it happens to often to not be a universally 'given'.

In some meager offering to the professional home site packers, I will say my best china and crystal has arrived without so much as a crack but the stove and 'fridge is another story.

It is somewhere in the repacking of the shipping container that Great Aunt Dot's pure silver coffee and tea service and tray, family heirlooms, will disappear.
Could it be that after you carefully packed the heirlooms yourself, you used a non-company packing box?
It is like the red flag that says "It's over here"~!

I have since learned to take the good heirlooms as carry on and take the chances of being victimized by our own TSA terrorists.  
I no longer move appliances and TV's.

... but, I digress.. this is about remotes.

Here are the absolutely needed remotes, the TV, the music DVD player/storage, the cable company, the new
blu-ray speaker assemblage , the blu-ray video/media player. The total is now at 5.

There is the 2 universal TV remotes that we purchased when others were in their 'lost' home.. and the total grows to 7
There is one in here for the receiver/amplifier, another for the equalizer... total is now stands at 9
....and there is another three of undetermined heritage. I am not tossing them because in two days, I will find the owner unit. The number of remotes in the family room rounds out at a health sounding dozen (12) .
 

To that, add the two (2) TV remotes in the bedrooms, one with the added DVD and VCR remotes (2), the one (1) in the garage. Now the count is seventeen. . 

Then there are the two (2) computer/PC monitors in the office and up the total to a whopping 19 hand held remotes.
Then there is the two ( 2) garage door pocket remotes and the emergency secret remote one (1), the remote  for the garage next door. 
Then there is the great room overhead light (1) remotes, two (2') for the fans, one for the window air conditioner and then there is the MAMOO remote for the outside security that has 4 station buttons that can doubled by pressing another button... making that eight remote light stations .

           
    There are names for guys like this, but this is a family show.

That is a grand total of thirty three (33) remotes. I stop there!  We have way more remotes than I would have ever guessed.

I shall not address the simple little 'timers' at this time.

Each have made my life much easier and therefore indispensable. That said, I hope all good remotes and timers go to heaven.   

It has been different, this day..

Each day, in the morning, I try to carve out an hour to/for myself. Usually I will just sit, do puzzles or knit and have my coffee and get myself ready/rallied for the day's needs. 

This morning, I added ' watch a movie' . 

It was one of the movies I had wanted to see but missed.... 'Rumor has it...' with Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Costner, Shirley MacLaine and Mark Ruffalo.  It is/was one of those movies that was so entertaining I spent no time on the knitting ... and the bottom line is I'm glad I spent the time.

We purchased it on a DVD. I had a little start up trouble. Where I used to just throw the disc in to the open drawer and and it was Go! .

However, "His Honor', ( otherwise know as Steve) has replaced our older system with a new one. That would   immediately translate to  '4 remotes instead of just two'....  just to watch a movie.

( Please understand that there are MANY more remotes.. for the other media toys,
the fans, the garage doors, overhead lights and some security lighting, the ...list is endless)

Not to be thwarted, I still had manageable options...the bedroom TV's or the computer.

There I was... Kleenex, coffee, knitting and the dog under my arm watching my movie at O'Dark Hundred. 

Steve wandered in.
It must have been some sight because he immediately took it upon himself to push all the appropriate buttons on the appropriate remotes, get me and the dog much more comfy on the sofa in front of his larger screen.

I did note the 'smug on the mug', but he kept it subtle and I went back to watching the movie. 

I made the best Rice Pudding ever. I have been 'cooking' for a long, especially Steve's favorites.

We both have a new fave with this one!

In a fairly large heavy pot..with a glass ( see through) cover.
2 Cups medium grade grain rice..
4 Cups water and a pinch of salt or whatever the recipe for cooked rice is on the bag.
 
Cook in the open pot until it starts to boil, then cover and turn down to a good simmer for about 15 minutes or until the water is absorbed.

When done, do the usual fork and fluff.

While it is still hot....
To this add 2 - 1/2 Cups half and half
2- 1/2 Cups whole milk
2/3 Cups white sugar 
2 tsp vanilla
plus  tsp orange blossom water ... or maybe 1/2 tsp orange flavoring....or your favorite.

Stir and bring to boil, turn down a bit and stir constantly. You will see it thicken over time.
      

You can use brown sugar, ( packed) if you are adding cinnamon.
I mix the cinnamon with a bit of white sugar so that it incorporates better into the milk/cream as opposed to just floating on top. 

My TV friend showed me this new trick...

It is really done when the spoon stands up pretty well. It will move because all the action seems to be under the surface layer. But, trust me, it is creamy done.

Credit for this recipe has to be given to America's Test Kitchen as seen on PBS Saturday afternoons
I am not sure it is verbatum, because I have incorporated their effort and made my own good pudding into something fabulous! Thank You America's Test Kitchen!!!!

This is too funny.....

The photo is grainy because I had to lighten it to make any sense.
It was still O:Dark hundred when I was finally ready with the food for my critters pets.
Mix this, heat that...Grab the camera!

Daisy has now decided to go outside, via her doggie door, and wait with Sister for their food. Very surprising because Daisy gets fed first and in the kitchen.

The relationship between these two is so amazing.
They play all day and they play 'too rough'.

Sister has claws and Daisy has terrier between her ears. Sister is longer and taller, where Daisy compensates with weight... While picky, she loves food. 
I used to worry about Sister, but she can well handle Daisy's aggressive play.

Sister started out sneak playing with Daisy's toys.

The morning here begins well before dawn each day, on the lanai, with Sister thumping, bumping and jumping, running around with toys.
Sister watched for the longest time as Daisy would play. Daisy would offer her a toy and then try to join in.
That progressed to grabbing the toy from Daisy. Taunting her, Daisy would get 'reeled' in and BAM! get the paw/claw if she did not dodge quickly enough.

Daisy knows exactly what Sister is doing in the morning and probably can imagine which toy. She sits at the edge of the bed, focused on the ruckus and listening intently.
When she can stand it no longer, she runs back to me, gives me a swipe of a kiss and then the full on run and the  great leap off the bed and out the 'doogie door' to join Sister.

My bed is one of those extra tall things and Daisy has those short Yorkie legs. Even in the fog of waking up, I'd cringe for fear of her breaking one of those little legs. I have since moved the foot stool from in front of the chair  until I can get something smaller. .. but it works well when she is not in such a rush, but still, it's the great leap.

Daisy, like Holly, loves to run and chase. What could be more perfect than chasing her favorite kitty all day.

Sister has gotten over her fear of Dat Bugga. He has taught Sister to hunt..  She still watches intently at some distance behind him. Stalking comes pretty natural as does pounce. I see her jumping at flies, gecko's and birds.
When Aaron was here, she was hunting on her own.. with some success.

This latest thing the two girls is share is about waiting for their breakfast. I think it is amazing. 

I know it is only a matter of time before Sister learns 'doggie door'. Then we're in for it!