First Chapbook Published

My first chapbook of poetry is hot off the press. I confess, when I held the first copy in my hands I had goose bumps. This is so exciting.

The photos above show (on the left) the sketch I gave to Leanne Peters. Leanne is a highly talented/gifted graphics artist. She took that sketch and produced a cover way beyond my imagination. Leanne also did my business cards which everyone loves.

I hope the poetry inside the book does the cover justice.

Raccoon Damage...Again

Make sure you click on each photo to enlarge. The damage deserves a close-up look.

Top photo shows the feeder as I saw it this morning. At least the feeder was still hanging on the line.

The middle photo shows the mechanism that closes the "gate" over the seed tray. That stops the squirrels from getting all the seeds. However, look closely at the piece that projects from the bar. It belongs in the hole you see above it. I could not put that "stick out thing" into the hole without a screwdriver to pry it into place.

Bottom photo...look at the metal plate at the left rear. See how it's bent out? It's not supposed to do that. It's supposed to be flat against the feeder...that's part of the hanger.

Now what? Right now I can't get a new feeder, so I will take this one in at night and store it in the garage. Every morning I will put it back on the line. Hopefully, after a few days the raccoons will have forgotten all about it and I can hang it out over night again. Also, I will stop throwing out crusts of bread for the birds and squirrels.

Shepherds Pie w/Roasted Veggies

Photo: Mashed potatoes really aren’t photogenic, but I want you t see the size of the dishes. Each dish is 2 cups.

I told you I was going to try this and I did. I made it today and I must say it was good. The ground meat could use more seasoning (maybe Mrs. Dash’s Italian Seasoning), but all in all, I was happy with my experiment.

Here’s the recipe

New Shepherds Pie Using Leftover Roasted Vegetables
½ lb. ground meat
diced onions to taste
left over roasted vegetables
1 large potato

In a frying pan, sauté onions then add ground meat and continue cooking until meat is thoroughly cooked.

In the mean time, peel and cook the potato. When cooked, add pat of butter, a little milk, and whip with electric mixer.

After cutting the leftover vegetables into even smaller pieces, heat in the microwave oven.

Once everything is cooked/warmed begin layering into individual serving dishes. Dishes shown above hold two cups each.

Layer the ground meat on the bottom; next the veggies; top with mashed potato. The veggies will have liquid at the bottom of the dish so divide that, too, between the two dishes.

Can be reheated in microwave if serving immediately.
or
Refrigerate for a future meal and heat in microwave before serving.

Serves 2 hearty appetites. For me, I will get three meals out of the two dishes.

Roasted Veggies Follow-up

When we last visited the roasted veggies, I was planning to use them in my scrambled eggs this morning (Saturday). SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!

I took an amount of leftover roasted vegetables and added them to 2 eggs, beaten with a fork. You could do this as an omelet, also. The flavor was incredible.

What next?
I’m getting reckless now. My menu for Monday is Shepherds Pie. I make my S.P. with hamburg cooked with onions on the bottom of a casserole, topped with either peas or corn or half & half peas and corn. Top all that with garlic mashed potatoes. If there are young kids in the house keep out enough peas and/or corn to make a smiley face on top of the mashed potatoes.

My next bright idea is to use the left over roasted veggies as the vegetable layer. I will chop them smaller, especially the asparagus. This will have to be heated in the microwave so it will be hot when layered.

How will that taste? I’ll let you know. I have a feeling I’m on to something.

Me.

The non-cook.

Damned Raccoons!

Photo: The bird feeder put back together. See the long metal plate on the side toward the rear? There is one on each side and the little critter(s) got one or both of them off last night in order to drop the feeder. Half the seeds are on the ground at the base of the tree. Notice the metal rod...bent!

The Dream
Last night I dreamed of a raccoon. It was running down the side of the house I lived in as a kid. Then the raccoon became a strange looking coyote (white in color with big pointy ears that were fringed in goldish color fur) that I beat to death with a white curtain rod. And the coyote didn’t struggle while I did it. It was tested for rabies and was not diseased. That was all in my dream!

Bizarre, right? When I got up a little after 6 a.m. and looked out the window into the back yard, I saw the bird feeder on the ground and seed spilled in a nice pile behind the opened top. Upon closer inspection the hanger gizmo was still hanging on the line. The mechanism that held the hanger to the feeder had been forced off. Now that had to take some intelligent know-how and strength. Was it one or two working in tandem? I wish I had taken a picture of the “hanger” before I put it back together.

Just to be cautious, I used gloves to handle the downed feeder. It had bits of grey fur around the lid latch (which had been mangled) and the perch, which is a metal rod wrapped in plastic, was bent. Not too many weeks ago the rod was broken and hanging on one side. There was evidence of its having been chewed.

I’m glad I don’t go out in my back yard at night. No way do I want to meet up with a raccoon or family of raccoons who can do this much damage.

Do you remember last year I took pictures of raccoon footprints on storm door windows leading out to the back deck? On the left click on 2008, then April. Find "Sports and Wildlife" which should be April 9th when you open it up. There are the footprints.

Back to my dream
Had I heard these critters in my sleep, which triggered the dream? I must have sensed their presence somehow. I have no idea what the compliant coyote is all about. There is no evidence of a coyote carcass in my yard, never mind one I beat to death. And I wouldn’t do that anyway.

I must consult my Medicine Cards.

More (and more) Veggies

What is so funny about my talking about recipes lately is that I’m actually using them and reporting on how I liked the result. A couple weeks ago I did the roasted veggies and said that next time I would use a different variety of vegetables.

Yesterday I took :
2 small summer squash
2 small zucchini
1 orange bell pepper
1 bunch asparagus (snapped at it’s “tender point”)
1 8 oz package baby bella mushrooms

2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
Chop and/or slice everything but the asparagus and combine all of that (almost filled a 1 gal. plastic bag to store in fridge until I was ready to roast them) with a couple teaspoons minced garlic and ¼ cup melted butter in a large glass baking dish, and roast in 450° oven. (See April 11, A Taste of Veggies) I checked the vegetables (taste test) after 15 minutes and gave everything a good tossing to mingle the juices, garic and veggies. Back in the oven for 7 more minutes. Then I shut the oven off and let the veggies use up the rest of the heat.

In the meantime I whipped one cooked, medium red potato (with skin on), and fried half a chicken breast in butter and olive oil.

The result is I ate pretty darned good. The combination of vegetables was much better than the first time. I think I have nailed it.

The veggies do well in the refrigerator for follow up meals. On Saturday and Sunday, I plan to chop some of the left overs and add to scrambled eggs.

Next?
In this morning’s paper, there was a recipe for a broccoli-cheese casserole (side dish). I will try it and I will report the results.

Mother's Day and...

Photo: Kathy and Lou gave me the roses. Jess gave me the potted plant in the middle, which is actually 4 plants in the one pot. The aloe on the right was very tiny last year when Jess gave it to me for Mother’s Day. Look at it now. Kathy and Lou gave my mother a small arrangement of flowers, which we left at the nursing home. Jess game my mother a larger potted plant (on the right), which has to be hung outside. The best I can do is take a picture and bring it to my mother so she can look at it. Jess had no idea of the lack of space available in the room.

Sunday was a very windy, bright sun-shiny day. And, of course, it was also Mother’s Day.

Kathy and Lou, Jessica and her friend Matt, and I met at the nursing home to visit my mother. We took her out into the larger “visiting room” near the entrance where we could all sit around a table and talk and laugh and watch the two fish tanks. I think we did more laughing than anything else. My mother had no idea what we were all laughing at because she couldn’t hear what was being said.

From the nursing home we (everyone but my mother…she’s not strong enough yet to make field trips) went to a restaurant in Manchester…Boston's Gourmet Pizza Restaurant & Sports Bar. We were able to order individual pizzas, which was great since we had a wide variety of tastes. An individual pizza would probably have been big enough, but we were encouraged to order the small size each. I took most of it home and that’s lunch yesterday and today. Certainly not wasted.

As we left the nursing home, I looked in my rearview mirror and had to laugh. We were a Caravan of Hondas. I led the parade in my Fit Sport; then Kathy and Lou in the S2000; followed by Matt and Jess in Matt’s Ridgeline. Talk about impressive!

My new book
I took everything to Blue Wave Printing & Display in Vernon to get a quote for printing the cover. I also asked them to quote on putting the first 50 copies together (staple cover to the sets I have already assembled) plus trimming. If that is reasonable, I will ask them to do, from scratch, the next 50 copies. Stay tuned. I should get an email from them some time this morning with the quote.

Catching Up

Photo 

Look at that side table/chest! I have been looking for something to go at the side of my computer table to store paper and other stuff. I spent lots of time hunting for something, but never found exactly what I was looking for. Wednesday I went to Bob's Discount Furniture hoping to get a memory foam mattress from the section of the store called The Pit (this is where all the not-so-perfect furniture goes at ridiculous mark-downs). 

I never got to look at the mattresses, because anything out of The Pit cannot be delivered. You haul it yourself. That's not going to happen.

I was actually walking out of the store when I decided to go back and look for my elusive side table. This beauty was sitting there at 60% discount. NOT ONE THING WRONG WITH IT. I asked the salesman about that. He said it's possible the piece was dropped and that's enough to send it to The Pit. Sold. It went from The Pit right into the back of my Fit. It was a little heavy, but I managed to get it into the house.

My bike ride

Earlier this week, Tuesday I believe, all conditions were perfect: no wind to speak of, cool temps, and tires blown up to rock hard. Went 13+ miles and it was all good. I stopped at the nursing home to visit my mom which was a good rest along the way. All in all, an excellent ride. Next time I get out there, I'll go a little farther. By the end of May I should be doing some of my longer rides.

Poetry

Went to Asnuntuck College in Enfield last night for their annual Poetry Festival. I hadn't been there before and it's quite impressive. Got the urge to take classes. The poets were college students who had submitted their work in a contest. If I remember correctly, only three of the poets were Asnuntuck students.

I met Chris Tarr who owns the bookstore in Broad Brook. He was one of the poetry students of Edwina Trentham at Asnuntuck. It was a pleasure to hear Chris read his poem, Words, from this year's 10th Anniversary poetry journal, "Freshwater." There was also an open mic...of course I read. Show me a microphone and I'll read you a poem. JJJ

Morning walk

I'm waiting for this morning's rain to stop so I can go for my morning walk. I make it sound like I do this all the time...not. And that's the problem. The scale is no longer my friend and I have to get tough on myself. I full of excuses and because of that I'm becoming full of myself and the scale is telling me how full of myself I am. That has to stop right now! Every day I have to force myself to either walk or ride or work out. No excuses. Sounds good doesn't it. Let's see if I really do it.

More Food Talk

I find this rather amusing…that lately I have been talking about food. Not just food, but food that I have prepared. First we had the roasted veggies, then it was Quinoa, and today it will be Sandwich in a Bowl.

That’s right, Sandwich in a Bowl
Combine, in a bowl, anything you would put in a sandwich
meat (shredded)
onion (chopped)
tomato (chopped) and maybe
diced cucumber.

Then get creative…add
sliced olives (whatever kind you like),
sliced radishes (or chopped)
lettuce (if you like it, put it in…shredded)
what else would you like to add?

Take whatever amount of mayo to suit your taste and combine it with a little juice from the olives to make your own dressing. You can also use pickle juice. You can use prepared dressing, too, but I’m doing this on the cheap.

What? No bread? That’s right, No bread. Check the bread you would normally use and see how many calories you are eliminating.

Starting tonight, I will be having my sandwich in a bowl for supper. It will be delicious, nutritious and fewer calories than if I had a traditional sandwich.

Instant Salad Dressing
You have the salad all made and find you are out of dressing. Just combine mayo with pickle or olive juice, shake (or stir) and pour. Depending on the juice you use, the taste of your salad dressing will change. Gives you lots of different tastes!

My friends and family will no doubt think I have asked someone else to write today’s posting. Not true. I really can cook when I want/have to. ☺☺☺

Good Weekend

Photo: The Main Street Creamery & Café in Old Wethersfield.

Even though I have been retired since May 1st, 2001, I can’t get beyond the work week/weekend schedule. That may be in part because some of my playmates are still working and are available only on weekends.

Saturday
I hung out around the house getting computer stuff done. In the afternoon, I went walking around Old Wethersfield with my friend Jon. Both of us love that part of town from the really old section down by the Cove on up to where the more modern homes start to infiltrate. Some of the side streets are interesting, too. As long as we were in Wethersfield, we had to stop at the Main Street Creamery and Café for ice cream. The best!

Sunday
Bonnie and I were supposed to ride the Windsor Locks Canal, but the weather looked so “iffy” Bonnie decided to stay home with poetry and tea. Thinking that was a pretty good idea, I changed out of my bike riding clothes and decided to stay in also.

Then I started getting mad at myself. I know I need to get out and exercise more. I have been very lazy this winter and spring and the scale is beginning to show it. I really need to start pushing myself. So I pushed. I changed back into bike riding clothes, racked the bike and took off for the Vernon Rail Trail. Once I was making the motions of physical activity, I started feeling better about myself.

The trail
From the Church St. parking lot in Vernon, one turns to the right (I think that’s east), down a short but steep hill with wash-out ruts and areas of deep sand, cross Phoenix St. and grind up another hill. This second hill used to be rutted with lots of washouts and deep sandy areas making it treacherous in both directions. Yesterday, to my delight, I found the hill has been paved! What an improvement. At the top of the hill things level off, more or less, and continues toward Bolton Notch on hard packed dirt/stone dust which is great.

Somewhere around 2.5 and 3 miles there is a section where the surface gets rutted and washed out with the accompanying deep sandy spots. Once beyond this brief section the trail gets good again.

About 1/10 mi before Bolton Notch, there is a section of very chunky trap rock along side of Railroad Brook. I always walk my bike over this section because I don’t want to puncture a tire. So far I have ridden almost 5 miles.

I could have gone on to Andover, but that would have been another 7 plus miles and that would become a 25-mile round trip bike ride. Twenty-five miles isn’t bad, but the upgrades of this trail make it a good workout. This early in my riding season not a good idea.

Oh, did I mention that the trail is a 1.5-2% up grade from Vernon to Bolton Notch? From the Notch to Andover it’s the same grading, but it’s down. The trip back is reversed of course and by the time I get back to the Notch I’m darn glad to be going down again!

The only thing that marred my ride was the deep hoof prints of two horses up ahead. Hoof marks on a dirt trail can make for a rough bike ride. I caught up with them at Bolton Notch. They kept going toward Andover and I headed back to Vernon.

Breakfasts
Every weekday I have hot Quinoa (keen-wa) for breakfast. Quinoa, by itself, is very bland and tasteless. I add any fruit (except banana), a dash of cinnamon, a drop or two of vanilla if I think of it and sweeten with honey. Add a little soy milk and I’m set until lunch time.

On the weekends, however, it’s reward time. This is when I have 2 small sausage patties, a small red potato diced and fried in olive oil and an egg.

This past weekend I had some fresh asparagus set aside from earlier in the week. One of the stores had it for $1.28 a pound and I couldn’t pass that up. I saved out 3 tender tips for each weekend breakfast.

I chopped some onion and 3 tips of asparagus and sautéed lightly. Then I added one egg, beaten with a little water and salt and pepper, and scrambled the whole delectable concoction. I hope you can smell and taste how good that was.

Weekend over
Another weekend in the books. Today is laundry day and my whites are in the dryer as we speak. Our weather this week will not be conducive to hanging clothes on the line…except Wednesday, maybe. I’m planning to wash my darks on Wednesday so I can hang them out. The sheets will be done on Friday or the next good drying day after that.

In the meantime, I have 50 copies of my chap book assembled. I expect to have the final on the cover sometime this week. The cover will be printed at Staples. Once that’s done, I will staple cover to assembled pages, and they will be ready for show and sell. How exciting is that?!