Friday, December 31, 2010

Sabres, Starbucks and Sucky art


Today SSon and I went to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo to see a special exhibit celebrating 40 years of the Buffalo Sabres Hockey Team.



It was mostly large photos from the beginning of the team to current players. He loved it. They had one room called 360 (meaning degrees). They had placed small cameras on the player's helmets to record the action on the ice during a game. They then showed these -multiple at times-videos on a very large screen with full audio. Holy earmuffs batman, it was loud and the players moved so fast, it was like a carnival ride. I kinda side-stepped out, and proud I was that I did not barf!
Here he is watching it.
The gallery got a lot of bad press in the past few years when people like me did not approve of the direction that they are taking the museum-modern art (note lack of capital in art-you can tell I think it is mis-categorized) was being more spotlighted, with masters put into cold storage-or heaven forbid-sold!.

They have a very large open stairwell there, and in the past few months, they "installed" a work that entailed scribbles in circles done by many people according to a master plan by the artist-in a variety of densities, so some areas were dark and some showed the wall through. Are you kidding me?
Here is the start of the stairwell, and then a close-up so you can get a good view and make up your own mind.



Out front of the gallery, they also have a cheese curl looking thing-about 4' tall by 10' long. Yep, right in front of the art gallery-just to give you a little taste (pun intended) of what awaits you inside.
The only big variety of what I call classical ART was for sale in the form of note cards in the gift shop-how sad.

I know, I know, everyone has their own taste in Art, but this is my blog, so you get to hear my opinion-right or wrong.
When we were done there, we drove through Delaware Park, some lovely statues are placed there-including a replica of the famous statue of David-here is a photo of another replica of that statue-I took this picture in Florence, Italy, where there are many versions of "David" Statues.



We next stopped at Starbucks. I knew there would be a long line at the Delta Sonic car wash, but wanted to go anyway, so this bribe was just to keep SS from getting antsy. A little bit of a peppermint mocha coffee goes a long way for appeasing him. Here he is in his new Sabres hat.



When we got home, he did a little shoveling to clean-up the driveway (probably caffeine fueled), and then RODE HIS BIKE!.

Yep, it was 51 degrees,
and how often can he ride his bike on New Years Eve in Western New York?
Later, we went out for supper. We are so wild with our NY's Eve Soiree, I had salad and mac'n cheese, SHusband had soup and half of my salad and a big glob of my mac and cheese and SS had a fish fry. We do not take him often for a fish fry, not even every month-that meal has the lovely name of "Heart Attack on a plate", and for good reason, probably the most unhealthy meal in WNY.
Tonight, for some reason, I thought I wanted to wash my kitchen floor, so I did-I had changed the sheets and cleaned the bathroom today-I must have a "Clean-start" for the New Year mindset?

My mentor said recently that 2010 was shi**y. I agree, and I hope we all have a Blessed, healthy 2011. I am going to really try.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Family Travels

We have had very mild weather here for about a week. No appreciable snow, temps in mid to high 20's-we will take it! Makes traveling better.
Yesterday, we (SHusband, SSon and I) visited SSister#1, SB-I-L#1. What a nice fun time. Her SDaughter and two of her SGrandkids were there and so were my SDaughter and SGrandson. When the boys get together, they talk game-techno talk together, and her SGD stayed upstairs with us. She is 10 and so funny, I am sure she gets it from her Mom. SD got to visit with her cousin, and that is always nice. Great visit for all of us, we loaded up the car with cookies to go home, took SGS with us, and I managed to back out of their driveway without running over their reflector stake-this time.

Last night was just a quiet night with SGS, he playing with his bakugan, and fell asleep in minutes.

Today, SS, SGS and I went to see
"Gulliver's Travels" at the movies. SH stayed home for some R&R.
I am amazed at the cost of a matinee ticket $7.00! When I see a family of 6 walking in, with popcorn in each of their hands. that comes to over $50.-for a 90 minute movie. Wow, that hurts.


Before the movie, we had gone to get SGS's glasses adjusted, SS got a Starbucks, and both guys had haircuts, I was worried that my quest for efficiency would be uncomfortable for them with itchy hair on their neck during the show-but they both were fine-they must have done a good job with that piece of stuff they put around your neck to trap the hair from going down their necks. I have had the misfortune of taking them places before when that was not the case, and jeez, they had ants in their pants the whole time until they got a shower to get the dreaded itch-maker hair OFF!

After a great time with Mr. Gulliver (which by the way was set in modern times, and enjoyable for all the inside jokes that the adults would appreciate and the great song "WAR, what is it good for!" from 1970 at the end, by Edwin Starr) we went for something to eat.

In memory of Matka, we went to Pizza Hut for Lupper (lunch and supper or would it be Sunch?). Last year for Christmas, she gave her grandchildren a Pizza Hut Gift card for Christmas, so they could take her beloved great-grandkids there. So, starting this year, this is my new tradition to remind me of her generosity and love for her family.

Tomorrow we will have Christmas Breakfast with SH's SSister, SB-I-L and our two SCousins. SS is already asking if we can stop for coffee on the way-no he is not addicted, just a slight problem. I gave him the look, and he laughed.

I made some granola bars for tomorrow, and the smell is wonderful-honey is the base for the bar, and when it is heated it just slides through the house, it even overpowers the smell of Fancy Fest which I just gave to Boo Boo Marie-she gets only 1/2 tsp per day per Vet's orders.

I hope you are able to visit those you love, even if it is on the phone, via e-mail or on FaceBook!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Puffy Eggnog Pancake

Puffy what?

Well, Do you know that I love to read recipes? I read cookbooks like a novel sometimes-no intent on making all the recipes, just find the ingredient mixtures interesting.

In the paper this week was an article about brunch recipes, and I saw this one:

Tonight, because we only have EGGNOG in the 'fridge during the Christmas Season-I made this for supper. In my mind, EGGNOG is (say it with me: three words) DIS-GUS-TING. SSon loves it. And I know, it is against some peoples religion and or political affiliation to eat breakfast food at supper-but not us!

The recipe turned out really well, and I only changed it a smidge-I sprinkled cinnamon on it before baking, and as soon as I sprinkled, I realized that it should have been nutmeg-isn't that what they put in EGGNOG when they drink it? Too late.

It turned out very nice-puffed as advertised. See:
Blurriness caused by me being in such a garl-darned hurry to take a picture before it collapsed!

I served it with fresh pineapple that I just cut and sliced bananas (we call them baanoonskees-I know weird is our strong suit). SS also had some yogurt for supper, I think that on the side with the fruit piled on top would have been nice on each plate also-next time.

SHusband and SS loved them, the sure sign is when the empty pan is scraped with a spoon and a spatula for every last crumb.

I myself, do not like eggs, when I made the recipe-I put all the other stuff in the blender first to hide the eggs as they slithered down into the blender. And I do this while I unfocus my eyes, you know, slightly crossing them so that they do not see sharply.

I was OK with eating this too-even though it has a strong egg taste-UNTIL. Well, until we were playing our usual game of "name 5 ingredients that I used in this dish". The guys seen to enjoy this game, and I get some very creative answers. There were only 5 ingredients if you don't count my "gilding-the-lily" cinnamon. And when I started to think about all those eggs while I was chewing a piece, I did a little gagging thing, and that was it-could not swallow. The thrill is gone for this dish for me, but I know it will be enjoyed by others whenever I make it. I think you could use some regular milk and vanilla flavoring if you don't have eggnog, and I think you could also use that slimey egg substitute stuff also. I would spray the pan the next time though, stuck a bit I thought.

So, there it is, a new recipe from the paper to me to you. Hope you like it.

And "me for my part"*, if the guys like it, it will be made.

*a phrase that my Grandma V. would use to express her opinion on something, SSister#1 reminded us of that this year, and Matka would laugh when SS#1 said it. Matka loved to laugh, and that is one of my special memories of her today.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE

Agent:

SHusband

Assignment, should you decide to accept it:

Read "Popular Astronomy" by Simon Newcomb, published 1877 while nestling SCat on chest.

Results: Assignment Completed

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

REALLY?

Today, I was driving down Transit Road, which is a major north-south road in Western New York. Every few feet there is another store driveway and another stop and start driving experience. As traffic stopped, I stopped, and happened to look over to my left-a woman in her late seventies-or looking like she was-all made up, nice hairdo, nice vehicle, clearly mouthed the words " F--- You" at me, and slammed her hands down on her steering wheel. She then zoomed-off in her car. Apparently, she wanted to turn into the driveway that I happened to be blocking the front half of. When I go to this store, I never try to get in via that driveway-oncoming traffic is just too fierce. I choose to instead make a left turn with the arrow on the block previous and go in the back entrance. There is usually not a place to stop on this road that is not partially in a driveway. If I would have seen her, and that she was waiting to turn in, I would have as usual, if able, left her room to turn, but that is not the case always.
I am not a shrinking violet, I have been known to be very worldly/wordy, and familiar with swear words in a couple of languages, using them sometimes at traffic, not at people. But REALLY, I would not have done that, and I was surprised that she did. I took it as personal attack, and really, newly more thin-skinned as I am now, I was upset by it. All I could think of is my gosh, she is so full of rage, and at her age, shouldn't she have sorted out which are the right times to vomit out things like that? I know I have, and I am probably 10 years younger. And then I thought what it must be like to live with someone like that, and what a risk she plays with working herself up to that level at a missed driving desire. I wondered what is going on in her life that she was so on the edge of her emotions, manifesting itself in inappropriate behavior. I actually said a prayer for her because the last thing that should happen is for her to have a stroke over something so inconsequential. Life is short.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

Even the birdies are celebrating:



SGrandson is coming over this weekend!!!!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Christmas Spirit

SSon and his SFather (wearing Santa hats in the back row) delivering gifts to patients at the VA Medical Center in Buffalo. They are members of the Buffalo Bills Booster Club.

Monday, December 13, 2010

The kindness of strangers...

Last night, I was driving SSon home from the WINNING Buffalo Bills football game, in the dark, traveling on one of the side roads in my small town. A driver coming towards me was flashing his bright headlights, and since I just turned mine off, I assumed that was the reason he was "flashing". Then I saw him repeat the flash, and the reason was:
art: WINTER VISITORS by D.R. Laird

As this painting shows, deer travel in herds, see one, most times more will follow, and this could have been painted right in my town-the deer love living here side-by-side with us.

A herd of about 6 deer crossed the road just in front of me. Apparently he could see them, and wanted me to be sure to see them. I slowed down, let them go on their way, and all was well-for man and beast, because of the kindness of strangers. I flashed him back after they crossed safely as a way to say thank you. Has a stranger showed you kindness today?

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Comfort from Matka

So, I know I am not the only one in the world to lose their mother. I get it. But, you may not know that Matka raised us alone-all 5 kids. We lost any parent we had all at once and she was good enough all by herself. This is so affecting the five of us.
I am such a strong person, why can't I get through this? Last night was a great night for SSon, I drove him to his annual work Christmas Party in downtown Buffalo. We got to see some pretty lights downtown, he was super-hyped about the party, he looked really handsome.



When I went to pick him up, I was upset to see some group home support staff chatting to each other with those that they were responsible for just tagging along behind them-fending for themselves-these are people with a variety of handicaps, along with their mental challenges. Some had poor choices of clothing on for the weather, some were just trying their best to keep up with those in front, and since some have agility issues, they were stumbling a bit-unseen by those who were there to take care of them, not being cared for. There were a few groups where the staff were engaging with their charges, that made me feel better. There were some private drivers like me picking up their family or friends. All I could think of is that when it is time for my guy to go to a group home, when it is better because of my age that he get settled into the next phase of his life, I was wondering how I could protect him from being one of those left to flounder. The answer is I can't. As much research as I know I will do, staffing in every workplace includes the great and the not so great. I know that a group home is the only answer for him. He has a loving sister, but he belongs in a situation with others his own age and abilities. I must accept this reality.

Then my guy comes out the door-smiling bright enough to melt the snow. He had a wonderful time, a little Christmas stuffed animal gift in his pocket to show me. A belly full of pizza, and a long list of the songs that were played-and not played. He went on to mention the two times when he didn't attend his work dance in about 20 years-one when he twisted his ankle and was on crutches and last year when a storm came through making travel there impossible. He has a great memory.

I dropped him off at his father and stepmothers home-he has tickets to a hockey game in Buffalo that they will be driving him to and back tonight, and also a football ticket on Sunday with his father-so he will be gone and well cared for this weekend-we all, including the cat will miss him!


So, now you know where I am mentally, driving home at 10pm, worried about SSon's future, tired from a long day, missing my SHusband whom I only saw a few hours that day, and missing Matka. I am playing Josh Groban's "Awake", my go-to CD in the car when talk radio has no allure for me. You know what is next. The tears start and really get out of control. So I tell Matka that she really needs to help me get through this Christmas season. And within SECONDS the next song that Josh sings is called Lullaby, and the first few verses are "Hush now baby, don't you cry. Rest your wings my butterfly. Peace will come to you in time.... Although I must leave my child.............".



Thank you Matka, from all us 5 kids.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

I need to........

I need to..................get a grip.

I am not sleeping................ I am crying.

I am happy one minute........................and overwhelmingly sad the next.

I am trying my best to get through the holidays................. without looking like a cry baby.

I am trying my best to remember all the good stuff about Matka........... I can not see past the heartbreak of missing her.

It is not working.

If this is handling grief...................... I fail.

Here she is doing what she loved best-visiting a sweet baby, a great-grandson. This little guy is 7 years old now. Lucky him to have had her in his life.

Cute Card

This is a card that our SFriend sent-a little smile just looking at them.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Heart Ornament for the Heart

Thank you SFriend for being so thoughtful.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Good news~!

Yes, that is anti-bacterial soap they are soaking in, and I did the case also.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Hello Winter

Winter dropped by this morning, and it looks like for an extended stay. I needed to drive to downtown Buffalo this morning to pick up SSon and our poinsettia order. His Workshop sells them as a fundraiser, and since he can not bring a large box on the van, we always pick them and him up. As the weather started to get very nasty this morning, I called and arranged to pick them up two hours earlier than scheduled. It really was one of those white-knuckle drives, very slow, and limited visibility. Once I got to Transit Road, about a 15 minute drive usually, but today it was about 35 minutes, the snow turned to sleet, the streets were only wet, not snow covered. By the time I drove to SS's work, it was a little drizzle. His caseworker must have thought I was acting like chicken little when I said I wanted to come pick him up early due to bad weather. I am always thinking "what do people think of me?". That is a sign of my insecurities I guess.
This is driving home around noon. It is beautiful. I was going about 15mph with my 4 wheel drive on. We saw two cars in the same ditches that I was hoping not to end up in.
SS took this picture above.

This is our beautiful Plum Bush with decorations by God.



A view of our burning bush, and a nice snow hat on one of our rocks.



SS carrying in a box of poinsettias. He is wearing a Buffalo Sabres jacket that SBrother #2 just gave him. He really loves it.



Instead of our usual lunch date when we bring home the poinsettias and finish delivering them (not to my Matka this year...........), we stopped for takeout at Tim Horton's. Of course, by the time we got home, the hot coffee wasn't.
So please enjoy the beauty of the snow, from your window if possible. If you are driving, as I say to my kids, "There is only one of you, please be careful."

Monday, November 29, 2010

Dominoes, the sport of Cats

My SFamily loves to play Dominoes. It all started when SHusband's family introduced it to me, and I spread it like a disease to my family. Before you knew it, we were all buying double nine or double twelve sets. These are not like the black wooden/white dot sets that we played as a child-these are white hard plastic with Colored Dots! SO, even if you can not see the dots well enough to count, you can play quickly-unless of course you are color blind-then it is slow going while the counting for each bone is made.
SBrother#1 and his wife taught her family, and when they go to Florida in the winter with her parents-they have tournaments!
SSister#1 and her husband are great players, they kinda come on slow and steady, and wham, one of them is out!
I miss playing with SHusband's family, not everyone can still play that used to, so we tend not to play anymore.
Bones are what we were told the tiles are now called, and the pile where you pick from is the bone yard. We have combined multiple sets when there are a lot of players, we have had "strategizing" (A word my SBrother#2 first used), and some players are so quick that you know they have been planning their next 5 moves. SCousin is I think one of the best players-she has incredible multi-tasking skills. We were at her house, she and her husband had at least 10 people, including kids over, she was being a great hostess, jumping up and down to take care of everyone, and she won every game!!! How does she do that? She is the cousin that plays trivia on the same website as me everyday, and we are always a few points apart-it is so funny to see how the day's scores go.
Here is the link to that game
You will need to pick a user ID (mine is sally, hers is cheesecat), and a password to sign in to play. A new tournament starts on the first of each month. The topics change daily, but you will always get killer topics like "baseball" or "religion-more difficult". These are such obscure questions, and in every religious denomination-they are what I call a groaner-you just guess and move on!
When Matka's last husband had Alzheimer's , he still managed to beat us a few times in Dominoes. It was really sweet that he could still do that and enjoy himself.
I played kids dominoes with my SKids-matching animals on the tiles, and then again with our SGrandson when he was a tike. But this weekend, he came over for a night, and I decided that he was old enough to hold his own, so we played a
game-which because we have a double nine set, has 10 hands to it. It was so much fun. He did well for being a newbie. SH won. The next day, SH and I played again, SH won-by one facacadah point. Tonight we played again, SH won. But, it was a good time.

One problem though, her name is Boo Boo Marie, and she wanted some attention.


Right down in the middle of the game, on the bones. She was squirted with water so many times to get her off the table tonight-she won't need a bath for some time-she just kept coming back to sit in and on the bones. What attraction could they possibly have for a cat? Well, they are cold, and colorful, but really? Oh gee, it just occurred to me that we should have washed them with a little disinfectant before we put them away after she sat on them. Hey, if you are playing dominoes at my house, I don't suggest you suck on the bones while you are thinking of your next move-I'm just saying.......................................

Northern Lights

These are some beautiful pictures of The Northern Lights which SFriend sent to me via e-mail. I saved all the photos as I usually do, but when I tried to open them only one (the header picture) opened. What? How could that be I wondered. So I tried 6 different photo programs which are offered for opening photos, and finally Quick Books Picture Viewer worked-the only one that could open the photo. But, there was a catch-you could "See" the photo but not "save it". Well, that's no help, how can I share these on my blog like that?? So, using a method I have tried before, I got out my handy cell phone , and using the camera, I took a picture of my screen:

Then I e-mailed them to myself, then I saved them in my picture file. Next I used my old faithful program called PhotoSuite III Executable to rotate, and crop so only the photo remained.

And the results are here:









I should never complain about cold again! That is minus around 38 degrees!





































Lots of steps, but you are worth it SReader.
SHusband just walked by and seeing the above picture said:
"Particles from the sun that enter the upper atmosphere get energized by the magnetic field at the poles, and they ionize and begin to glow. Light from the sun becomes refracted by the water particles in the atmosphere, producing the rainbow effect. He said that the last picture should not be in the grouping called Northern Lights because it was taken during the daytime, Northern Lights happen only at night."
But, I like it, so it stays!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Don't empty the Thanksgiving garbage yet!

So listen, first lesson for Thanksgiving, don't empty the garbage yet, BECAUSE, first you need to count your good silverware before you put it away. SBrother-in-Law#1 taught me that, and he said our SAunt taught him that, so pass it on, it could mean not losing a few nice pieces from your set into the garbage when the plates are scrapped.


Now look at this

Isn't it adorable? A neighbor of SSister#1 had a newborn daughter and they traced her feet for the body of the turkey and her hands for the feathers. How adorable is that?


Well, maybe even more adorable is this:



Slightly larger version, which was made last night by my SS#1 for me-yes, with her hands and foot traced. We laughed so hard-it is a good thing that I saw it before we ate.
Speaking of eating, This was the table before we began: Soup by SDaughter's SBoyfriend-squash soup-to die for or as SS#1 says dee-lish-es., then we had the usual, turkey, po'tates, gravey, dressing (if it is not stuffed in the bird's coolou to cook it is dressing I was told), green bean casserole,squash/yam/apples casserole, jello because last year Matka made jello, rolls, olives (any of your little ones put one on each finger like our kids did when they were little, and then eat them?), pickles, stuffed celery-also not cooked in the turkey coolou, but still called stuffed because of the cream cheese, cranberry relish (not gel smooth stuff-but I must admit that I like that just as much as I like my cooked whole berry). Then we put off dessert as long as SHusband allowed, we had: Key Lime Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Dipmade by SGrandson with graham cracker sticks, Frozen Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie, French Apple Pie, Chocolate Cream Pie.
We also had this at dessert time:

Chocolate flavored wine!
The verdict is still out, some said it wasn't as bad as other chocolate wines, some said it was OK, we did mix with sprite, and it cut the strong flavor a bit. I do not drink, but had a sip-well 2 actually, and it was good-had an after-taste that gave you a chocolate taste.

We sat under our new chandelier,

Isn't it pretty? It is very heavy, and I had a rheostat-oops, that's my science
background sneaking out, I mean a light dimmer, and it is really nice for not eating in glaring light, but just soft light. It was a bit pricey, but now was the time to buy it.

And in the corner, for a small price, smidge of a price really, is this new floor lamp. I needed more light at my computer-the student desk lamp that you see in the right corner of the picture was just not enough light anymore.
And the nice thing about it is, it cost $29.99 at Wal-Mart! Metal stand, but even though it doesn't look it-the globe is plastic!! Whoda thought I would like a lamp with a plastic globe-but I do, I do.

When we were done eating, many people-BUT me did the dishes-thank you to all: SSon's Step Mom, that is too long, we refer to each other as sisters-in-law, so
let's make it that, much shorter, unless of course you count the long explanation here!!, SS#1, SDaughter and her SBoF (new term, I could not use BFF, it sounds corny, but SBoF is boyfriend-feel free to use it and give it a viral spread!)

We got to sit and enjoy each other's company, and ding-dong-couldn't imagine who was at the door and it is my SNiece-daughter of SS#1.She was in the area (she lives almost an hour away), but was at the cemetery, and her GPS told her how close we live, so she popped in. I am so happy, I love her dearly, and we just never see each other-I was a working Mom too, so I know just how that time thing works.
Speaking of Matka, I hate that I can only speak of her and not to her, yesterday was extremely difficult, we would talk and she would ask what I was making now for the meal today, etc., And she was the first person that I knew who answered her telephone "Happy Thanksgiving" before she said hello. She did it for all the holidays-she was fun. I will never be the same again since she died, but I will never be who I am without her in my life-so there are many things to be thankful for. I spoke to all my sibs and my SAunt today, I had my loved ones around me, and we made it through. Thank you God for all my family, friends and memories.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Scew the pope!

The pope (no caps on purpose, that would be the sign of a proper noun-and in my book he is not proper at all), leader and auricle of my religion, Roman Catholic has given permission for males using male prostitutes to use a condom to avoid spreading aids! Well, isn't that nice of him, and the reason he said it is OK is because there is no procreation involved. However, if a male is using a female prostitute or even heaven forbid having sex with his wife, condoms are not allowed! Tell that to all the wives in Africa who are dying of aids that they caught from their husbands, tell that to all the parents in Africa who watch their sons and daughters die because of the spread of aids. I know, the pope did not give them aids, BUT, his voice is powerful, especially in a country where Catholicism is growing (unlike here in the USA), and a statement of "permission" from him would have gone a long way to those that listen to him.
As a leader of his flock the pope should show love to all of his members equally, making a statement like this and ignoring the women of the world who are also dying of aids is not loving and not wanted. Your days of spokesperson for me are over pope. Screw you, and oh, if you are using a male prostitute, feel free to use a condom to protect yourself!

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Jesus is watching you!

We have a weekend/visiting priest at our church, Father Gabe who works a joke into his homily during Mass, the following is tonight's:

A burglar broke into a home and was stealing items in the dark, and he heard someone say "Jesus is watching you!". He stopped, didn't see anyone moving, so he started his thievery again, and again he heard "Jesus is watching you!". He turned on his flashlight and saw a parrot who said "Jesus is watching you!". He asked the parrot what his name was and the parrot said "Moses". "Moses, what crazy guy named you that ?" the thief said.
The parrot said, "The same crazy guy that named that Bulldog in the corner Jesus".

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Who in the world is reading this blog?

Who in the world is reading this blog?


Well, here is the answer:
This is a picture of the stats page, showing visits to my page in the last month. The darker the green, the more "hits" to the page.

Interesting mix eh? Welcome all. I wish you peace.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Pucker and Puke


lemon image from Wikipedia

I love lemon: lemon smells, lemon color, lemon furniture polish, lemon pudding, lemon cake, lemon flavoring in anything. Matka used to make SHusband lemon meringue pies (since you need to use separated eggs in the pie and the meringue I do not make this pie, that's another post), and his SSister frequently makes SH lemon custard pie-"one of the best pies" according to SH. I really like when you get a lemon slice in your cold water, or they serve you a lemon slice with your tea. It is always a "small pleasure". Lemon makes you pucker-who hasn't seen a picture of a baby with their so sharp/hardly been used taste buds sucking a lemon?
Today the thought of a lemon slice makes me want to puke!! Why you ask? You do ask right? Well, a column in my local paper called the People's Pharmacy, by Joe and Teresa Graedon started off with a Q&A about the disgusting germ content of the seemingly benign lemon slice. Their column can either be taken as purveyors of the truth to protect your health or as alarmist.
But, I never miss their column, and have on occasion heard their radio show when trolling thru the dial.
Apparently, according to the article, a casual study was done by Microbiologist Annie LeGrange Loving which had her swab 76 lemon slices at 21 different restaurants, then cultured the swabs to see what grew. Her findings are what makes me want to puke! Two-thirds of the lemon slices had bacteria on either the flesh or the rind side!! And the authors of this column add lemon fuel to the fire by stating that tests from various restaurants found FECAL bacteria! Are you kidding me, fecal as in poop???
I shared this article with SH when he got up today and he said what are we gong to do? Walk around covered in latex, or be like famous germophobic Howard Hughes or even purchase stock in the disposable glove companies?
I argue that knowledge is wisdom, or is it wisdom is knowledge? Now that I know about this possibility, I can not ignore it. I will never be able to have another slice of lemon in a restaurant again, all I will see when I look at it will be germs!
E-coli/fecal bacteria picture from Wikipedia
I know, I know, If I knew what went on in restaurants I would never eat out again, I also know that is true in every industry that collects, prepares and sells us food products, but I have to start with what I know, lemon wedges are not safe, and anyone with a compromised immune system like me, like SH, need to be alert and aware.
I wonder if there is anything bad about Tim Hortons coffee, or does the heat kill off all the germs.......................yeah, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!