Dear Joan,

www.joanarmatrading.com

I am so glad you have finally released a new album, but do you think in all your traipsing around the left coast, you could perhaps make an appearance in my area code. I am willing to travel one area code away, but do not have the strength to go further afield.

Yes, I promise not to sway and sing along to Willow. Okay, maybe not.

smooches,

nm

feeling all nasturiumy

Nasturium
Originally uploaded by flora and flying

Not really, but I am tired and feeling a bit overwhelmed. C. pointed out today that ernest gets more traffic on his blog than I do. I am not offended in the least.

Check out my orange collection on my flickr For those who know me and TH, you can see who influences this part of our garden.

later taters,

nm

vive la france

This just made me sooo happy.

Imagine thinking you were going to Boise and to see that you are going to Paris instead. Ooh la la!

Check out Pat's pictures from the Inagural Flight from CDG-SEA!

I wish I could have been there.

I'm just waiting for Alaska to release me some award seats (yes, I am a cheap bastard).

nm

up close and personal

Alstair stellar grey, originally uploaded by flora and flying.

I'm beat, there is no way to put it.

I was planning on working from home today, but that didn't happen and if I'm lucky and efficient, I can do it tomorrow.

I need some thinking time and it isn't happening at work.

TH is in California until tomorrow or Thursday or Friday. Who knows.

Next week is a bust with San Diego and Anchorage, I have four projects at 75% and I need to get them done and out the door.

I also need another two hours of daylight to garden, get the dog walked and me out in the vitamin D.

Hopefully, this weekend will do it for me.

nm

home improvement 101

We are painting the main floor bathroom. Don't even ask why, I think it all started because I saw mold on the ceiling. If I had just tsped that mold, I would be sitting reading a trashy novel instead of being covered in bluebonnet pain.

Ernest has paint on his ears.

We are a family who did not really do DIY. My father is an excellent general contractor did an amazing job putting together all the contractors when they built their house. He knows who to get to do what job, but I never grew up doing much around the house. I gardened and did so with my father all the time.

TH grew up helping her father build bookshelves, painting and replacing windows she broke playing baseball.

I'm not going to say I love it, but I am glad I know how to do some of it now.

nm taking a break from satin, low voc blue bonnet love.

on a more positive note

It appears as if our dastardly next door absentee landlord decided to pull the house of the market four days after putting it on the market. I guess they got a wild hair that they could sell the house and then buy a condo in hawaii with the money.

Maybe someone discussed with them with huge tax bite of capital gains if they plow that money right back into something (oh wait, there is that condo)...

Anyways, happy here. Our neighbor is not moving and peace has settled over the neighborhood.

Mony, your comments and suggestions are most helpful because we know we're facing something like that eventually.

Other than that, I have found a one level house that may work for my parents. Its reasonably (NOT) priced in the flossy neighborhood about five minutes from me (think large lots, million dollar views and four million dollar houses), five minutes from my work and five minutes from the store.

Me thinks it'll go over the asking price by 150K easy, so I hope it works out.

More later, I'm taking up valuable couch space and the dog needs it.

nm

I have nothing of substance to say, that is positive.

House next to us sold. Storage boxes are in place. TH and I are expecting the worse and hoping that it will be better. We're realizing that the never used driveway to the north of us will soon become a battle/construction zone and there will be a fence between us and our new neighbors.

That is of course, the worse case.

Something like this piece of crap that is currently behind and kitty corner to us.
Slated to go on the market for only $1.1 million! Just! The house next to it is no winner, but still.

So, we think of our contigencies, contact surveyors and pray that it doesn't get demolished.

Other than that, Ernest and I are painting the main floor bathroom. He has been very participatory. He escorted me to the hardware store to buy paint and tonight helped prime the woodwork.

Tomorrow, he gets to paint! I hope he likes bluebonnet for his ears.

I'm in the process of trying to find the least painful way to get my parents from Santorini to London and guess what, there is no way unless you want to fly Thomas Cook Airlines, so we'll all plod to Athens together and see what they can do for six or seven hours before they head back to London.

This travel thing, more than one person, is quite confusing. TH and I have it down to an art.

More on that later.

Toodles.

nm

little mr. sunshine

Our neighbor who is selling his house to the south of us reported today that he believes the house next to us will be a tear down and they'll be putting up a little megamansion. I should say, it was said with a bit of glee.

Thanks dickhead for making my evening.

nm

the best part of the weekend

got everything planted~

on the lighter side...email travel plans

Sounds divine doesn't it? I am cleaning out my work email to bring it down to a managable level of chaos.

I found this email I replied to TH. Life before Ernest is what it could be entitled.

leave here on FRIDAY
arrive in London on SATURDAY
spend the morning scrumming for cheese (remember one thing, its a
saturday before christmas and all the
'chesters are in London for a dirty/shopping weekend), buy books (maybe
find some small place to do this)
take afternoon train to Paris arrive Paris around 7 pm
spend the night in Paris, scrub up , have a delightful dinner, eat ice
cream, watch the world go by, have reserved a room at the Madeleine
using 15K pts for Saturday night.

Depart Paris on Dimanche matin after eating our share of croissants, get
to St. Malo, putter around, pick up car, wander somewhere we have not
been and hope that the day trippers from London have departed. Maybe go
to the aquarium (lorenzo wants to go). (sunday all day somewhere)

Drive to Cancale or stay in St. Malo (sunday night).

Spend at least one night at Les Maisons de bricourt. eat fish, if we are
super duper lucky, the weather will hold and we can go tide pooling.
(monday and monday night)

sleep.

Take train to paris on Tuesday, walk around, eat some more, replenish
macarons and cheese supplies, spend the night at jardins de l'odeon.
sleep in, get on the RER at St. Michel and go to airport on Wednesday.


I can't believe I once had the energy to do this.

for sale by owner

Our neighbors, two houses to the south are now moving as well. I can't fault them, he got a great job way up North and East.

I will miss their kids.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/rfs/339011846.html

Anyone want to buy it and move to my hood? Ernest promises to let you pet him.

picking your battles

The house next to us is on the market. Its not winner, but at 500K without any work being done on it and for sale by owner, it makes you wonder. Is this going to be a tear down or a flip/resell. It has been a rental for the last twelve years and the owners have not been our favorite people on the planet for various and sundry reasons.

Let's hope for flip/resell for our sakes.

There are neighbors around us who still refer to the house as Grandma Koontz's house, her rose bush is still out front. I have been pruning it when the house occupants can't be bothered.

Does it make me sad that this house is a commodity?

Yes.

Does it make me sad that our neighborhood is changing?

Yes.

Does it make me angry that a house that has fine lines may be torn down to put in a house that will change our street?

Yes.

Does it bother me that I don't even flinch when I hear that a rental in my neighborhood is going for 700K and some moron will buy it?
A little bit, I no longer have sticker shock, that is for sure.

Where do all these people who sell their houses for 700K move to? Certainly not anywhere else in the city.

Does it make me sad to see our street make up change?

Not really, we have some pretty cool people, I just hope they can afford to stay here. I like having families around, I like to talk to my neighbors. I actually like my neighbors. I hope that who ever buys the green house with the old apple tree in the back yard with several cat graves and the final resting place of Henny Penny will appreciate it for what it was, Mrs. Koontz's house.

Just trying to be optimistic folks.

because i don't have anything deep and meaningful to say

Futabulous.

having a shirley valentine moment

All this and no miles!


I am going to Greece for my cousin's big fat Iranian/Greek/German wedding and trying to coordinate with my parents who are too tired to deal with thinking about another trip, my cousin and his lovely wife who are flying in from San Francisco and my brother, who is a whirling dervish of activity that is hard to pin down. The wedding is on a Saturday, but the partay starts in Athens a week earlier and wends its way to Thessalonki. Partay all the way baby. Unfortunately for me, I have a half in Philly and I'm not missing that or Morimotos for the world, right the Js?

I can't find an award seat that doesn't have me routed from sea-ord-lhr-ath-skg-ath-lhr-yyc-sea! Remember, I have status that opens seats for me when there are none and even I'm getting slim pickings. I don't even want to know how much that would cost me in cold hard cash. I have one ticket on american, but my dream would be to board in SEA wake up in LHR, take a nice shower in the lounge and then go off to Greece, but that ain't happening. I am trying all sorts of machinations on this one, all I know is I'm spending three days in Thessaloniki, two days in Athens, two days somewhere else (Rhodes?) and then heading home via London (ugh) unless something else pans out.

Or, maybe Paris, you never know.

I love my cousin, I love all my cousins, I just wish you could be teleported places.

new rules

Rainy day, West Seattle, May 2007.

Today, I did good things. I walked beat the bridge and had a great time with J doing it. I made manicotti, cookie dough, cooked up someother stuff,ran a bunch of errands and wasted hours on flickr. Seriously, seriously, seriously. I am so pissed.

So, new rules are no computer time other than 15 minutes on weekends.

Granted it sucked today weather wise, but still.

There is dog that was bored, a house that could use some sweeping and a couple of closets that could be cleaned while TH is bobbing around the ocean.

Dog is pissed because I forgot to pick up margarita mix for him today.

oops.

Oh, new photos from new camera on flickr. Yes, I bought the Canon SD800IS and based on what I've seen other people do and what I did today, it may work.

nm

unoscotto - biscotti that doesn't kill you

TH requested one thing for her cruise, a breakfast biscotti that I first made in 1994 from Martha Stewart living. I managed to get rid of all my magazines and thanks to the internets I was able to find the recipe again.

Its a cornmeal biscotti, great for eating on the go. I remember making this recipe a lot in the 90's (dating myself) and varying the dried fruit and nut mix. This time, TH requested hazelnuts and dried cherries, though I am partial to cranberries. I remember gesticulating with my biscotti in my hand on the way to work and Jacques who was visiting us lurching over the seat and taking away my biscotti. It was basset approved.

This recipe is my kind of biscotti, easy to make and without butter so it is lacks the crumb that some really like in a biscotti, but I dislike. TH also loves it baked once, not twice, which gives biscotti its name - twice baked.

Tonight, I took them out of the oven, she came over and pronounced them done. I cut them with a bread knife and by tomorrow they will be air dried enough to pack in her bag and go off to the far west - nearly the east if you are being technical.

Without further ado, the recipe.

Yield: 7 Dozen

1 ½	cup	All-purpose flour
1 ½	cup	Yellow cornmeal
¾	cup	Light-brown sugar
1 ½	tablespoon	Finely grated lemon zest
2	teaspoon	Baking powder
½	teaspoon	Salt
2	large	Eggs, lightly beaten
1	teaspoon	Vanilla extract
¼	pounds	Whole shelled hazelnuts (about 3/4 C)
½	cup	Golden raisins or any dried fruit

½

cup water

1. Heat oven to 325'. Lightly oil and flour a large baking sheet or line it with parchment paper. 2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder, and salt until well blended. 3. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/2 C water, the eggs, and the vanilla and stir into the flour mixture; the dough will be sticky. Stir in hazelnuts and raisins. 4. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions. On a heavily floured work surface, shape each portion into a log about 13 inches long by 2 inches wide. Place the logs 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until logs are firm and golden brown on the bottom, about 45 minutes. Remove logs from the baking sheet and cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. 5. With a clean serrated knife, cut each log into 1/2-inch-thick diagonal slices. Place the slices in a single layer on a clean baking sheet (you'll probably need to use 2 baking sheets). Bake until tops of biscotti are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Turn biscotti over and bake until golden brown and very dry, about 15 minutes more. Cool the biscotti completely on a wire rack before serving. Store in an air- tight container.

Source: Martha Stewart Living/October/94

Adapted from: www.astray.com

random scribblings of a tuesday in seattle

Hmm, what is new?

I went to Boston, drove to New Hampshire, went to Maine and then to New Hampshire for dinner last Friday. I would not recommend it for the faint of heart, it sucked the life blood out of me and no amount of dunkin donuts iced coffee (milk, no sugar) revived me.

I have been really really tired. My doctor and I are trying all sorts of new and exciting things, so we'll see.

TH is leaving town for Alaska! That means that E and I can eat popcorn for dinner and jalepenos for breakfast and listen to NPR all the time, well, mostly while deconstructing closets. We hope she has smooth sailing and seas. Just talking about it over dinner made me queasy. I spent a lot of time doing the same things she is about to do and I can't imagine ever doing it again. Then again, microscope work in 10' seas is always exciting.

It was hot here today. TH and I were going to Pair for dinner, but then she decided that eating outside was desirable to much adored mushroom bisque and small plates. There are very few restaurants in Seattle that are not located downtown or in a mall that have outdoor dining. Ciao Bella, located in the 98105, has a great patio (albeit on a busy street) and great vitello al limone so that worked for me. It was good, the best part was listening to the owner and his friends talking about Lazio football. TH decided that it felt truly like eating in Rome and that made her happy.

Ernest the puppy stayed home all day. He was super brave for a young basset and now is exhausted. Staying up all day to protect your home against maruding cats is hard work!

Other than that, nothing much, the published one is back in MKE, the parentals were last heard from on a train from Teheran to Mashad sharing a compartment with two meterologists. Imagine that, if only they could convey the information that their beloved daughter could talk storm surge with them...

I hope they are having a good time.

NM and her cousin emailed each other today making arrangements for our big fat greek wedding reunion. We both booked into the same hotel in Athens, isn't that wild? I tell you, great minds think alike. Now, I must perform the impossible and find a BA ticket to get me there and back with a stop over in CDG to pick up chocolate.

So, that is my wrap up. Nothing too exciting to report.

How is it going in your world?

nm

really i must be going.

Heeeeeeeeeellllllllllllloooooooooo out there

Father sun, the greenhouse, Seattle, WA May 2007.

Is it something I said, or didn't?

Things here are fine. We're just wrapping up another exciting work week here. Papers are almost done and on Thursday night we're on our way to Boston and not such beautiful New Hampshire to deal with a family issue.

My family is fine, thankyouverymuch. My father met another 15 relatives yesterday and my brother has met close to 60 M&Js he had never met. Pretty cool huh?

I will just be happy when by brother texts me from Paris telling me he's okay.

I've been busy taking all sorts of pictures, you should check out my Flickr photostream and using my rss feed to see my new pics as I load them. Some are silly, some are really bad (those are the ones taken with my phone) and some are down right awesome. I'm contemplating buying a new point and shoot because TH will take the D50 to Alaska with her and goddamnit, I take pictures every freaking day.

Check out my contacts too, they take great pictures.

Well the dog is snoring, I'm ready to read something that doesn't pertain to hazard planning and scientific python and hopefully one of you will comment before too long.

smooches,

nm

the miracle of the mommy network

Where the mommy mafia met, from the Iranian.com.

Today my Khaleh Mehri called me to thank me for the email I sent this morning to her son updating her on what my family was up to and where they were in their journey. I know that by sending out an email to a core bunch of my mom's friends, their kids and my family, the news will get disseminated far and wide and fast!

The mommy network is an amazing thing. I know I have written about it before. These are a group of amazing women who went to nursing school together in the 50's and still remain amazingly close friends, well, maybe more like sisters. I cannot begin to explain their bond. They laugh together, they cry together and they mourn together.

They are also amazing in their ability to run to eachother in the time of need or find the resources through their networks to make sure things are done correctly. I cannot tell you how much we benefited from K.Mehri when TH's dad needed help and we were 700 miles away.

I love them all.

nm