Square-Peg Reflections

Laugh Progression

I wanted to put up-to-date photos in various places online, so Slightly-British Daughter was taking photos the other day.

She took some shots - trying to figure out lighting and ?. She said that I looked somber (picture to the left). I said I wasn't somber.

She took more shots, grumbled a bit because - she said - every time she thought she had a good shot I would talk - and ruin the picture.
                                                                                                     

I wanted to know how my talking would ruin the picture. She told me - no, no, no - she showed me how the camera was catching my movement and exaggerating it, so that I looked (to quote SBD) "like the Grinch" (way big, ear-to-ear mouth). And No! I am not showing you those pictures!!

Then she started to giggle because I rested my elbow on my knee and my head on my hand, and SBD thought I looked like The  Thinker...

I was still talking too much when she mentioned that it would make things a LOT easier for her if I just went behind the damn Forsythia...

Finally we had to give up - I was laughing so hard that tears were running down my face - and I could not stop!

Sometimes life is (and the people in your life are) just THAT good!!

That Aforementioned Bread

You know, the bread I mentioned a couple posts ago. Well, it's back on my mind because I really, really want some more (which means I'll need to gnaw off another piece of dough and toss it in the dutch oven).

That's a picture of the finished loaf above - which was SO good (as I neglected to mention in the previous post). Man-child, who is vegan, was able to eat it, too! And loved it!!

The night we were tag-team baking I'd had too much caffeine and also was a bit wired because of the heater repair dude (not because of him - but because of having no hot water and the soot and smoke and the "ohshit, now what?" kind of thing), so - even though connection is IT for me - my reason for living -

and even though listening skills are pretty imperative if you want to connect - because, well, because communication is KEY to connection -

I wasn't using good communication skills - I wasn't! I was hyper and jumpy and flying around (not literally, but wow - that would be cool!) and not listening with patience.

Slightly-Brit tried to tell me about the new book the authors of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day are working on. She started to tell me, but I kept interrupting. She was headed up the stairs, I was sitting on (or maybe levitating slightly above) the sofa.

She started: "They have..."

and didn't even get the end of "have" out before I finished her sentence: "...a recipe for rolls?"

Slightly-Brit: "No, they have..."

jump - there I was again "...the oven stone?"

(these were things I read about on their blog)

Slightly-Brit: "No! They have..." (this time she paused after the "have" - for good reason. I cut in again. And again.)

She was pretty far up the steps by this time - and I could just barely see her face - she was smirking - I asked: "What?!?"

She said: "Would you like to keep guessing -- and I'll wait till you guess the right thing -- then I'll say 'beeeeeeeeeeeeep'?" The "beeeeeeeeeeep" was delivered in a lovely, high--pitched squeal!

We both laughed, then I finally shut up and let her tell me they were working on a new book. Ought to be good! Going baking now...

Pessimist? or Optimist?

I've noticed immediate and fundamentally opposing reactions when stimuli is presented to Pessimists and Optimists.

For example: today, driving down River Road and through scenic used-to-be-farm-based-and there-are-still-some-around Bucks County, enjoying the extreme summer weather (in the middle of Spring, but that's another story - probably one called Let's See What Global Warming Has In Store For Us Now)...

I see a sign - I chuckle and say: "Ohman (hey, it's Sunday - and I'm editing the pirate version!) that is just why I wish I had my camera in my purse all the time."

Resident Pessimist: "Huh?"

Me: "Didn't you see that sign? It said 'Horse Boarding' - that makes me think of snow boarding. What a goofy sign." (again - pirate editing - re: it's Sunday).

Resident Pessimist: "I saw it, it made me think of water boarding!"

Baking Bread

The other night Slightly-British Daughter and I made (to quote the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day): "a lightning-fast batch of moist no-knead dough". And - can you believe it? - it was lightning-fast and easy (the whole process!!).

The book said it would be easy. But you never expect the instructions to say: "This one'll take years off your life!" - and, not surprisingly, they never do say that kind of thing.

This one went well even with all the angst surrounding the coveted heater-repairman visit! That's saying something.

We've had the book for awhile, but we were timid. Who wants to look for trouble when there's always crazy-making stuff like oil burners shooting soot that pop up unexpectedly? Maybe the fear is what caused us to do tag-team baking...

Usually we have our own specialties - and pretty much keep out of each other's way in the kitchen. It's not a big kitchen and we spend a lot of time together already - so we give each other a wide berth cooking-wise.

Actually, I kind of fell off the berth - I've avoided the kitchen for a few years since forever for awhile and have only recently started to play there again. This time SBD studied the instructions, gave me a video to watch (which you can see here - shows how incredible easy this stuff is) and mixed the first batch.

Then she handed the process off to me (after making sure I'd watched the video). I was to cut off the first blop and stick it in a dutch oven to rest (of course that's not how they did it in the video - this is Square-Peg Reflections - and anyway we weren't going to order an oven stone until we knew this was going to work for us - heck, we're in the middle of decluttering! Don't need something to keep the unused yogurt maker company!).

So, I used one of our terribly dull knives and whacked at the bloppy stuff - "cutting" (using that term very loosely) off a hunk of ? blop ? and began to shape the loaf. All along SBD was giving me instructions (ones that went counter to the video she had me watch!!) like she was a master surgeon overseeing a rookie (with me arguing: "Nuh-uh, that's not what they did on the damn video!" and "Then why did you have me watch the fricking video?" As you can see - brilliance and reason sometimes rest on me like a cloak).

Finally - laughing all the way, because we did have fun - the blop was tossed into the dutch oven and got baked and I'm pretty sure we're going to be baking all kinds of bread! Although we might give up the tag-team thing.

Here's the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day site - where they offer all kinds of ideas (a great companion to the book!!!) - if you're even slightly timid about baking bread - or looking for a quicker, easier (no kneading!) way to make great bread - check this baby out!

I think I'm going to get myself a chef's hat - SBD got Manchild one when he was little (she was such an incredible big sister/second - and sometimes first - mama to him -- and he was so proud to do big boy stuff in the kitchen, which I would never have had the patience for) - and she got one for Little Princess a few years ago - it's my turn. And you may have to call me Chef Square-Peg Karen...

(Photo is of the bread before baking)

Old Bear

I didn't post yesterday, I was too stressed. And it's only gotten worse!!

The "problem" is not really that big of a deal - it's a broken oil burner. Not like it's the middle of winter or anything - now that would be a problem.

We had that problem many, many years ago - and had to have the heater replaced (but not before I'd amassed blankets, pillows and my two girls - Manchild had not even been thought of yet - huddled us together and prepared to freeze to death on the living room floor - really!).

I guess you could say, when I tell you how I'm freaking out this time, that I'm doing better.

But not so much - sigh. I'm hyper and short tempered...Imagine an old, lame bear with a toothache, who wound up getting into someone's caffeine stash and you might come close to my mood/behavior. Except I'm not that old (right!?!), I'm not covered in fur and my teeth are fine. Well, I did kinda/sorta have more coffee than I should have. Ok, the point is - in general I'm like the old, lame, toothachey, excessively caffeinated bear.

Which is not pretty! But word has it that the burner fixer dude, who has proved himself a magician through the years, is on his way (our oil burner controls our hot water for heating and our regular hot water) - so it may be time for rejoicing (and a long stress-relieving soak) soon!

We Have a Winner!

I'm trying to sound like a baseball announcer, because I was just down watching a Phillie's game - but, of course, even though I can hear the fake baseball announcer voice in my head - it's doubtful that YOU can (but you can pretend with me, ok?).

So - our winner is:

Number 16 (I'm yelling now - in my baseball announcer voice! And cheering!!). That's YOU - SunnyGal!! Yea SunnyGal!! (Please contact me, SG. I've got your TypePad profile info, but that doesn't include your email - and I'm going to need to email you to get your snail mail address - wouldn't it be cool if I could just shoosh the journal over to you thru the internet?!?)

You know, since I wound up making a couple-few comments in response to the comments you guys made - I was worried about picking a number and having it be MY response. But Slightly-Brit figured it out (duh - I was in a true quandry) - she said: "So, you'd just do it again." - lol - There's always gotta be one of those folks in every family (the sensible ones!) - Good thing!

Ok, congrats ms SunnyGal! And thanks everyone for playing!!

Ohhhhh, before I forget - can you see the new favicon? The little teeny tiny square SP that shows up at the top of your browser when you come over here to visit (and also shows up next to the Square-Peg Reflections name if you've saved us as a Favorite)?? Cool, huh?

What's In A Name, Part II

In a place far, far away...Oh spit, got into story telling mode - and that's not what I meant to say...Here we go: In a post awhile back (called "What's in a Name")  I wrote about odd monikers for establishments in my area.

Recently we headed out to a concert and spied a couple interesting business signs nowhere near our locale - so perhaps it' s not only towns in my area where names are applied - oh, let's say idiotically...

As usual Slightly-Brit was the first to notice Lance's Deli. Sure, it's almost definitely owned by someone named Lance, but come on! Blech - when you hear the word "lance" - the word "boil" is just the next thing to come to mind. And neither of those words should be called to mind when you're contemplating a stop at the deli.

Just a couple blocks down from that establishment we passed Grandma's Grotto - and maybe - if we'd come across Grandma's 5 or 10 miles down the road (instead of so close to the Lance experience) it wouldn't have hit us so strangely. But the fact was - we had just been surprised by Lance - therefore Grandma's Grotto seemed wrong somehow. Nobody even wanted to know what Grandma was selling!

We laughed hard - and heavy-footed it out of that town. It's always wise to travel with a full tank of gas - who'd want to refuel at some dumbass place with a name like: The Inbred Brothers' Hot Dogs and Gas?

2nd Book Giveaway

You know that writing is good for you, right? I mean, really good for you. Like: it-can-save-your-life good for you!

Maybe not the kind Little Princess and I are doing in the photo above (as you can imagine, that picture definitely has a story!) - but writing absolutely can be good for you. It can help you clarify your dreams, figure out what's going on internally, map your future, give flight to your hopes, hold your less-than-lovely thoughts safely - oh, writing can rock your world...

In the hopes of inspiring YOU to write I'm giving away a copy of Jen Lee's journal: don't write. (subtitled: a reluctant journal). You can see the cover on her site.

I recently ordered two copies of the journal - one was for Slightly-Brit and the other was for this giveaway. As it turns out the journals are now sold out! I'm hoping Jen Lee stocks some more soon, because these are awesome.

The journal starts out with a heart grabbing poem, which you can read here. I love this poem! Please go read it!! I wish I'd thought (think ahead? who, me??) to ask, when I ordered the journals, if it'd be ok to quote a stanza from the poem - it's SO good!

The journal has other quotes and photos scattered throughout and it is just waiting for you to start putting your heart into - it's so much safer/smarter than writing on the wall!

All you need to do is comment on this post - I'll pick a commenter (randomly) on Tuesday, and then I'll let you know who gets the journal. ; )

We Are SO In Trouble Now!

Ohmyword! LOOK what I (not really, but enough to annoy people) learned how to do!!

I'll be back later to tell you about our second book giveaway! Just HAD to share this...I feel like a kid who's just learned to walk - hence the title: We are SO in trouble now!

Gratitude and Giveaway - Oh Joy, Alliteration!

Today was a treat. Slightly-Brit, Manchild and I headed up to Doylestown and walked around enjoying the gorgeous weather in our favorite town.

When we got back I was tired and curled up for a nice nap. I didn't set the alarm - I've been letting my body be my guide for waking when I don't have to get up for any reason.

The gorgeous sunlight streaming through my window woke me - ahhh, I love the sun! But my first thought was - "Ughhhhh!" because I thought it was Saturday and I'd slept through the whole rest of Friday - and it seemed like late Saturday at that! The sun isn't that bright in my room in the early a.m.

But I was wrong, it was still Friday - and I felt like I'd been gifted with a day! Weird, but cool! It was so nice to have more day left.

That'd be a nice feeling to have every morning: Oh joy, I have another day! But - um - I don't have that feeling every morning - didn't have it this morning (pre-trip) - when I was scrambling to get ready, cursing like a sailor and whining like a 2 year-old about almost everything. Just saying.

And on a completely unrelated note - tomorrow I will post about our second book giveaway! This one's a gorgeous journal.