[NOTE]: I have first been steaming the green beans from 7 to 10 minutes, and then putting them in the wok in a little Toasted Sesame Oil. The idea is to tenderize the beans before you actually crisp them up on the outside.
As they fry, I add some soy sauce, garlic powder, and white sesame seeds. I might add a little ground ginger also. Just thought, I have’t tried red pepper flakes yet. Maybe lemon juice and zest? And, a little sweetener.
I had some of these with a sirloin hamburger, and also had Asian Steamed Cabbage (just add the flavorings for Asian Cucumber Salad, except for the vinegar, although…). Would go well with rotisserie chicken, or a pork chop. *I might add them as a side to my stir fry, but I usually have way too much stir fry and don’t need anything else. [end NOTE]
I recently bought some green beans at Food Lion and a couple of days later I looked and about a third of the beans had some kind of whitish moldy growth on them. Threw them out. But a day or so ago, I saw some good looking green beans at the IGA and bought them. They appeared to be cheaper than the fancily packaged versions, and all looked good.
I was browsing the Web and happened to see this photo of a soup. I immediately said to myself, “That’s lentils.” And after I clicked on the image I was taken to a page with the title, “Red Lentil Soup Recipe with Vegetables.”
How many times have I made a lentil soup/stew that looked like this? A bunch, and, the lentils, almost always cook down to this “baby shit” color. My simple recipe is to use Andouille Sausage, mixed lentils (red, green, black), carrots, onions, hot pepper flakes (or fresh hot peppers) and some type of greens (Dandelion, Parsley, Chard) and chicken broth. A basic recipe that works. I love the earthy flavor of the lentils. I like the spiciness of the Andouille and other sausages, like Polska Kielbasa or even Hot Italian Sausage do not quite rise to the level.
I like a few tomatoes, just a few with my LentilsMore of a Vegetable Soup, with LentilsI think this is Polska Kielbasa, with Potatoes, Carrots & Lentils.Red “Ruby” ChardChicken Broth on Special at WalmartNot Lentils, Baby Puke Split & Lady PeasDelicious & Deliciously HotDelicious & Deliciously HotAwful Color, But So Delicious!
*I made this, in the early morning, and ate two helpings. It is vegetarian. It looks really good. Nothing to write home about. I did try it with the Spicy Chili Crisp and it did taste much better, but It wouldn’t be worth the trouble, or the extra cost of the ingredients, each time. Of note, it didn’t increase my blood sugar, or not that much. Yesterday’s “resting” was 104 (which is low for me), and this morning it was 125 (still good for me), and my weight had gone up to 251.2 (after about seven days below 250).
I heard one of the characters say this line in “The Jetty” movie, with Jenna Coleman, a British film. It’s one of those “British detective” stories. *And, I just realized, “why am I not watching the end of this movie,” because the episode just ended, so this must be a series and not a movie.
They are in a hospital hallway, or near a waiting room, and there is a woman coughing and the young woman’s partner says the following to her, “It’s not the coughing. It’s the coffin they carry you off in.” A neat little turn of the phrase.
I’m not really paying much attention to this movie. It is like all the hundreds of British detective movies and TV shows I have watched over the years. I wonder if it might not be closer to a thousand shows because I have watched most of the “Midsomer Murders” (136 episodes), all of “Inspector Morse,” “Inspector Lewis,” and “Endeavour,” (which was Inspector Morse’s first name, hated by him). And how about “Shetland,” “Broadchurch,” “Prime Suspect,” “Father Brown,” and all of those versions of “Agatha Christie” stories? “Poirot,” (70 episodes with David Suchet) “Miss Marple,” “Luther,” “The Tunnel,” and “Foyle’s War.” How many episodes & movies, and how many different actors have played Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson? And there have been few, if any, actors playing Sherlock Holmes that I haven’t liked. Which probably says I like the characters of Holmes & Watson, more than the actors. I do recall not liking a Romanian version of Holmes. It may have not been a Romanian actor, but it was some like country. I even liked “Enola Holmes,” although it was probably the young actress, Millie Bobby Brown that I enjoyed more than the character. Do “The Falcon” and “The Saint” qualify?
I like British humor and the way Brits tell their stories. But, after enjoying many years of Midsomer Murders, I no longer want to revisit any of those episodes. I wish there were more Agatha Christie stories, because the few that are rehashed I know well, very well. I love “Ten Little Indians,” or is that “And Then There Were None?” I even re-formatted the entire script of “Ten Little Indians” that I found online. Whether she intended for her story to be acted out on stage, in a movie, or were TV shows even a possibility when she first wrote this (and no they weren’t), she wrote the dialogue of this story as if.
I actually liked the last version of this story that I saw with an ensemble cast, although I am partial to the 1940s B&W version. Why did I like this version? Because Vera Claythorne had committed the vile act of intentionally encouraging the little boy she had care of, to swim to his death, because she was in love with his older cousin (father/cousin/father/cousin)? And with this vile act, she did deserve her own death, no matter how good the sex might be with Philip Lombard.
I recall the first version that I saw where all of the Indians, but one, were actually killed off or died, was a surprise. I seem to recall that ALL died in her original story, but later, depending upon whether the young lovers trusted each other, one or two might survive. Then I guess the story title should have also been changed to “Ten Little Indians Died, All But One.”
I do like “The Lady Vanishes.” What? The bad guys were trying to keep her quiet, or possibly even kill her, to keep her from offering witness to the killing of someone by a Royal (from a country other than England).
Would “North by Northwest” qualify? Or how about, “Frenzy?” Yeah, I think they might. And the image almost comes back to me of the crazed serial killer (did they even use that term when this movie first came out) had to track down the woman’s body riding in the back of a lorry, and pry his “stick pin” from her dead, nude body. And who was that actress? Anna Massey, (daughter of the actor, Raymond Massey) who was actually married to Jeremy Brett, for a time (Anna, not Raymond). Brett played Sherlock Holmes in 41 episodes during the 1980s and 90s. About twenty years earlier, a much younger Brett (dubbed) sang, “On the Street Where You Live,” to Eliza Doolittle in “My Fair Lady.”
Several years ago, I was binge watching the Sherlock Holmes episodes with Jeremy Brett, and at some point I recognized that the actor must actually be sick, in real life. So, I googled about the actor, and yes he was both mentally & physically ill especially in the last 10 years of his life. He died of a heart condition, but also suffered from bi-polar disorder.
Years ago when I was heavy into my family’s genealogical research, I came to recognize a special type of tombstone, or rather tombstones that were made of a special material, zinc. I viewed an online presentation that said zinc monuments started a bout 1870 and dwindled in popularity in the early 1900s. I’ve seen online postings that seem to suggest that headstones made of zinc are fragile, but I haven’t seen evidence of this. What I have seen is that zinc headstones have extra sharp detail. At first I thought these gravestones were poured concrete, but found that it was zinc. I’m not sure of the process, but it does appear to have been a poured process. *The molten zinc was poured into molds (wax/sand) and therefore are hollow. The above stone appears to have a front and a back that was either glued together or put in a mold and the seam between the two halves (front & back) is obvious. If you are walking about an old cemetery, the color of the zinc headstones is readily apparent. They are a lighter gray color than marble gray stones.
Zoom in and note the crispness of the embossed lettering & icons, and that there are also debossed items all on the same face.
The Ellis, McIntyre and Morse grave markers are in Mount Lebanon Chapel Cemetery next to Airlie Gardens, Wilmington, North Carolina.
I don’t actually know where this posting is going, but I just read in an earlier post that I wanted to write an article under the title, “Bob’s Your Uncle.” So, here goes…
The phrase, “Bob’s your Uncle,” means you have an “inside connection” that is going to give you an advantage in some endeavor. I haven’t googled for the meaning and origin of this phrase lately, but seem to attribute the phrase to the English. I also have a mental image of the speaker touching their nose with their Index finger as they are saying, “Bob’s your Uncle.” I also think of this touching of the nose as meaning “we understand each other” about the meaning of something.
So, if someone was suggesting that I go somewhere for a job interview, and they said to me, “Bob’s your Uncle,” I would take that to mean that perhaps the job interviewer, or the employer that makes the hiring decisions liked me, or maybe was related to me, and that unless I was really stupid during the interview, I should easily get the job being offered. So, “Bob’s your Uncle,” might also mean, “a sure thing.”
Morton Family Cemetery @ Queens Creek Elementary School
Now, I did have an Uncle Bob, but I don’t think he gave me any advantages in anything I did. Robert Preston Morton was just a bit older than my momma, (Vivian Inez “Mick/ey” Morton Gibson) who was the youngest child of Lawrence & Thalia Morton. She was born on February 22, 1915 and died on December 16th of 1980. Uncle Bob died 10 years after my mom (1990) and is buried beside her in the Morton Family Cemetery which is located on the Queens Creek Elementary School property. The current Swansboro High School and the Queens Creek Elementary School are both located on the old Morton family farm, which mom’s parents wanted her to have, and she willed it to me at her death.
I am watching the first episode (“Mountain Fortress”) of the TV show “Cheyenne,” (1955) with Clint Walker (Cheyenne Bodie) and L.Q. Jones as his sidekick. A US Calvary patrol is coming up the gulch, and then I realized that the young lieutenant is James Garner. Now there’s two handsome men, Clint Walker and James Garner, both in their virile youth. *I just googled and see that James Garner appeared on several episodes of “Cheyenne.”
L. Q. Jones is one of those iconic cowboys that appeared in many Westerns (movies & TV shows). He had a distinctive look and voice (as most of the actors of the time did).
Ann Robinson is playing “the damsel in distress” in this episode, who is the Lieutenant’s love interest. Although this show is in Black & White, she has a distinctive face (dimpled chin) & red hair, that I remember from “The War of the Worlds” where she played Gene Barry‘s love interest as they were being attacked by Martians. The actress had a cameo appearance in the remake of “The War of the Worlds” 2005.
I run through periods where I like to watch Westerns, both movies and TV series. A few years ago I watched a bunch of episodes of “Laramie” with Robert Fuller and John Smith. In the episode, “Run of the Hunted,” I first recognized Charles Bronson, and then R. G. Armstrong and finally Richard Kiel. But even with this impressive cast, the real surprise was the house they were using for an insane asylum. The building was the set that was used as the Bate’s home in the movie “Psycho.” This set is located on Laramie Street, in Universal City.
Not too long ago, I realized how short Charles Bronson (5’9″) was. He was walking next to some other actor, and the way they filmed the two highlighted that Bronson was several inches shorter. I guess he was like Tom Cruise (5’7″). Now 5’7″ is a girly size, but you wouldn’t know it from all the action movies Cruise has been in.
R. G. Armstrong has a distinctive face and voice and I think I recall that he attended Carolina (UNC-Chapel Hill) along with Andy Griffith about 1945.
Cheyenne – Now, the bunch of good guys are being chased by a larger group of blood thirsty Indians, and I’m half expecting to recognize one of the Indians as maybe Chuck Connors. Somewhere in my mind I’ve seen Connors playing an Indian, and biding his time before becoming “The Rifleman.” But here come the Calvary to the rescue. Oh, good Cheyenne, L.Q., Ann and James all survive and wave goodbye to each other at the end.
Oh, and that’s Chuck Connors as Geronimo (1962).
I’m not through writing this posting and now see Rod Taylor in the third episode of Cheyenne. Rod Taylor was one of my favorite actors appearing in “The Time Machine” and “The Birds.”
I had not gone into this location of the Apple Crate Naturals store in Fayetteville before today. I looked around, and bought three items: Kamut berries (like a large grained brown rice), a bottle of Fenugreek and a bottle of white sesame seeds.
I came home and fixed a small amount of Kamut Berries. I just put them in a pot and added some homemade chicken broth and water and got them to simmer for a while. I did later add some butter. Not sure how long you have to cook them, but they became chewy and I mixed in some of my black eyed peas and that turned out pretty good. Different because of the chewiness (rubbery in good way), but the flavors worked well together.
I’m re-watching the movie, “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children,” and there was just a moment in the cave where one of the characters explains to the other about the phone he is carrying in his pocket. She is from a time where there were no cell phones, and probably few “land lines” either. Still, their interchange made me reach over and take my cell phone. I want to write about the several changes from when I was a boy until now. Things like telephones, televisions, computers, etc. I will be leaving a much different world than the one I entered a little more than 71 years ago.
Personal Computer
THEN –
Smith-Corona Portable Typewriter
When I started college at UNC-Chapel Hill (“Carolina”) in 1972 there were no “personal” computers. I had a portable typewriter. I think it was a Smith-Corona, in a carrying case, with a handle. I would type up my papers on this typewriter. I think I used correction tape for mistakes.
I knew how to type because my mother who had been a “Clerk Typist” with the Civil Service, mostly aboard the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base (and some at the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia), made sure that I took typing, both in high school (at Swansboro) and at least one summer at a local business school in Portsmouth, where she was working at the time. I got up close to 60 words per minute without mistakes. I don’t recall if I was the only boy taking typing in high school, but there were fewer of us (males) in the class. And years later, when I poked my head in my old classroom, it was amazing how small the room seemed, to have probably had about 30 typewriters and that many students, with a teacher. **Later knowing how to type would be a useful skill when personal computers started to become part of our society.
Texas Instruments Calculator
The other piece of technology that I had was a brand new Texas Instruments “hand held” calculator. I do recall that it cost $99 and it was the beige color, as shown here. It would do the four basic functions, but I don’t recall if it even had the (%) percent capability. I don’t think it did. You could spell things by typing numbers and then turning the calculator upside down. I think “77345” spelled “SHELL.” You’ve got to understand that the numbers were shown in a simplified format, of horizontals & verticals, not like those shown above in a stylized format.
Bowmar Calculator
I had this calculator stolen by some slick Chapel Hill operators. They wanted to “party” back at our dorm room, and offered to buy the case of beer for me & my roommate. I didn’t go back to the room with them, but the next day, the only thing I had left was the charging cord for the calculator. LGN was the mullato that took it. Rather than admit my stupidity to my mother, as she would have to “foot the bill” for another one, I combined the order of a cheaper Bowmar calculator, in with Christmas presents, and got the money from her. I told her about it later.
NOW –
I am typing this blog posting on my Samsung Chromebook, and it just automatically corrected my mis-typed word “tpying.” I’m using the Chromebook because about a week ago I accidentally spilled some liquid into my Windows Laptop. The laptop was beside my easy chair, and the liquid just splashed out, and over into the computer. A freak occurrence, but it killed it immediately. I had bought the Chromebook as a backup Web connection so that if something did ever happen to my Windows machine, I would be able to order a new one on Amazon. I haven’t done that yet, but I’m still able to do almost all the things on the Chromebook that were being done from my Windows laptop.
[ADDENDUM 03/01/25]: I actually did not think I would ever be doing this again. I am editing this posting on my HP Windows Laptop. The one that died about five weeks ago, when I accidentally spilled my drink into it. Recall that the laptop didn’t work immediately after the spill. And, I tried it the next morning, and I think I even waited a few days, and it still did not work. That is when I “wrote that machine off,” never expecting it to live again. I didn’t throw it away, and I didn’t buy a new Windows system, but kept working from my Chromebook. I had left the HP laptop unplugged all this time. So, today I took the dead laptop and plugged it back into it’s power supply, and momentarily I realized that the opening Windows background (I believe it is the covered bridge across the river in Firenza.) was showing flawlessly on the screen. Sure enough I was able to enter my login pin and the Windows laptop was working once again. I’ve since updated the McAfee virus software and even played a game or two on it.
I guess the spill was still liquid when I first tried turning on the HP laptop and was shorting out the system so that it wouldn’t start. By giving it some time to thoroughly dry out, it was able to restart successfully. [end]
THEN –
The personal computer has grown by leaps & bounds, since it first started being used by the public in the early 1980s. The early computer monitors were monochrome (one color), not color, and either green or yellow letters/numbers were shown on a dark background. I recall using a computer in 1984 that had a 10 MB Winchester hard drive. The hard drive was separate from the computer and was about the same size. Now you can get a “thumb drive” that is more than 1 TB.
Below are two screen captures from one of my YouTube videos that I took in 1984 when I was working & living at S.I.F.A.T. between Lineville & Wedowee, Alabama. The videos were originally recorded with a VHS camera and years later I converted the VHS tape to digital and then uploaded the digital files to YouTube. First of my YouTube S.I.F.A.T. videos.
Momochrome Green Monitor
In 1975/6 I took my first computer course, and learned how to program in “Basic” and in “Fortran 4.” Fortran has since gone through many iterations, but still exists. IF, THEN and FOR, NEXT statements were at the heart of Basic programming. IF this happens, THEN do this. Do this function FOR however long, and repeat the function when each NEXT appears. ECHO sent the results to the teletype or the computer monitor.
One time, I played a joke on a fellow student, who was from Columbia, South America. I think he was from a wealthy family, his dad being a diplomat or some such. The student missed an early class where we had learned the basic skill of ECHOing a statement out to the printer. So, I created a very simple program and all it did was ECHO the following statement: “Hello Patricio!” His name was Patricio. Well when he came to me to see what he had missed in class, I led him to the teletype and said put in the program name. When he pressed the Enter Key, the program ran and typed “Hello Patricio!” That was all it did, but you should have seen the look of wonder that came across his face when he thought that the computer actually knew his name. I couldn’t help from laughing, and then had to reveal my prank to him.
NOW –
Unless you have need of a more powerful, quicker system, such as for gaming or creating graphics or videos, a laptop is fine for most people. I am a PC person and although I’ve used Apple computers & Ipads in the past, it never “caught on” for me.
Cell Phone
THEN –
A rotary telephone.
I just realized that we didn’t have a telephone in our home when I lived in the “old home place” on the corner of Hwy. 24 and Queens Creek Road. There was a telephone booth across the street at the far corner of the country store. This would change when my mother and I moved up to Hubert to live with her sister, Carrie Kellum, whom we called “Sis” or “Aunt Sis.” The move would have occurred when I was in either 7th or 8th Grade.
Aunt Sis had a telephone, and it was a “party” or shared land line. I’m not sure how it worked specifically, but more than one household shared the same phone line. This meant that only one “party” could use their phone at a time, and it was possible to pick up your phone and hear another household having a conversation. *I do recall doing this at least once.
When mom and I lived together in Jacksonville, North Carolina (at 204 Johnson Blvd.) we had one phone, and it was on the wall in our kitchen. Mom died in December of 1980.
When I hurt my leg, playing tennis, I still only had the phone on the kitchen wall, so I had to hop from the bathroom, after showering, to call my friend.
NOW –
Samsung Galaxy S23+ in carrying case.
I didn’t get a cellphone when they first came out, and they were pretty well established before I got my first, which I don’t recall what it was. But now I have a nice Samsung Galaxy S23+ from which I constantly monitor my world and make informed plans because the Internet is available except in extremely isolated parts of the world. At least my world. I was able to pull up a streaming webcam view of me when I was down on the Washington, North Carolina waterfront a few days ago. There was about a 30 seconds delay in the video, but it was live. Before going down to Washington, I checked to see if the Library Book Sale was still a go, and I checked if Down on Main Street Restaurant would be open.
Step-Stool-Carrying Case
Several months ago I was walking out of Publix and saw a woman carrying a green step stool, made of heavy duty plastic, with a handle. I stopped and asked her about it. It was both a step stool, and a carrying case for her tools. “Step stool” meant you could both use it as a step, or stand on it to reach items above you, or you could sit on it to do work while sitting. But as a carrying case you could put cleaning supplies & cloths, or carpentry tools like screwdrivers and wrenches in it. She told me how much she had paid for it and that it had lasted about 10 years and she was completely happy with it. She provided me with an intimate product endorsement, on the spot. I thanked her and walked to my car.
Sitting in the driver’s seat, I pulled up a step-stool-carrying case like the one she had, on the Amazon web site, and ordered it. I think it was about $56. I ordered this item, almost immediately, while sitting in my car, from the Internet on my phone. I didn’t have to drive home first. I didn’t have to get a Sears catalog and order it and have it delivered to my home a week to 10 days later. I probably had the step stool within three days. And, it is a wonderful unit. I’ve put things, like tools, in it. I’ve sat on it while cleaning the floor boards, and I’ve stood on it while changing a light bulb.
I created a simple Google Spreadsheet to use when I go shopping for groceries. This exists “in the Cloud,” so anywhere I have Internet access, I’ve got access to this spreadsheet. I’ve created broad categories such as: BREAD, MEAT, SPICES, VEGETABLES, & KITCHEN and then can place items like “Asparagus,” “Broccoli,” “Cabbage,” “Onion,” etc. beneath the correct category. I check the items I need to buy either on my Windows Laptop, or Chromebook or even from from Android phone, and then un-check them as I buy them at the various groceries I visit each day. Grocery shopping when I was growing up was either every two weeks, or maybe once a week on Saturdays. Now, I might visit 2 or 3 groceries a day buying those special items from each chain: Wegman’s White American Cheese, Publix Sourdough English Muffins, and/or Greek Gods Yogurt from Harris Teeter.
Cable TV
THEN –
I’ve told the story about how I would get up early (6am) on Saturday mornings to watch “Sunrise Theater” on WRAL TV5. Sunrise Theater included two horror/sci-fi movies, back to back, each Saturday morning. You’ve got to recall that there was no “all on – 24/7” TV. All channels would go off at 12 midnight, and only show a “test pattern” with a high pitched tone until 6 am the next morning.
We had four TV stations, but could not get a good signal from WNCT TV9 (CBS) out of Greenville, NC. There was WWAY TV3 (ABC) and WECT TV6 (NBC) in Wilmington, WNBE (later changed to WCTI TV12 – ABC) in New Bern, and WITN TV7 (NBC) out of Washington, North Carolina.
The last TV show I might watch on Friday night was “Championship Wrestling from Florida” with Gordon Solie, the host. As his sign off he would say, “This is Gordon Solie saying ‘So long from the Sunshine State.'” I recall “Argentine Apollo” who was a wrestler, dressed in tight white shorts and who did various acrobatic flips, even from the top of the ring ropes down onto his opponents.
Because we couldn’t get the CBS station, I missed out on shows like “Gunsmoke” and “The Howdy Doody Show.,” after school. But, there were plenty of other ABC & NBC television shows, and cartoons on Saturday mornings “Jonny Quest,” and weekdays “Yogi Bear,” “The Jetsons,” “The Flintstones,” and “Huckleberry Hound.” Was “Captain Kangaroo” on weekday mornings? I didn’t grow up on “Sesame Street,” but was aware of it later. Sports shows on Saturdays like ABC’s “Wide World of Sports,” “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom,” and on Sunday nights, “The Wonderful World of Disney” movie. I saw all of these TV shows in Black & White. It may have been as late as 1970 before I got a color TV. I do recall the Zenith portable TV (b&w) that had a carrying handle on top, but was still a heavy unit. I liked the Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents (which I may not have seen as a boy) but also liked “Get Smart” and “Combat.” As a teen I would have watched “American Bandstand” with Dick Clark, and also “Soul Train” with Don Cornelius. All were adding to the mix.
NOW –
“Hello Patricio!” I think that a few years ago I actually recalled his name, Patricio Morillo, and found that he had gone into banking. And just now, I see his face online and a “Happy Retirement” sign next to it. Patricio’s LinkedIn Page.
I now talk to my TV via my Fire Stick and say, “Alexa, what time is it” or “Alexa, turn on the TV” and she responds (it’s a female voice I hear) with the current time, or “Okay,” and turns the TV on, or pauses the program or various other commands. And sometimes, but not every time, she will actually thank me, for my courteous “Thank you,” with a “You’re welcome, Bill, have a nice day.” Yeah, I could see becoming attached to an interactive computer interface. AI responses are becoming much more organic, and to have a computer generated human-like face on my personal “AI” would be great. I could see spending hours in deep conversations with my AI exploring the World and my environment with his/her assistance.
I drove down to Washington, North Carolina on Friday, January 24, 2025 for two reasons. I wanted to go to the Friends of Brown Library Book Sale which was held in the Washington Convention Center, and I wanted to have lunch at Down on Main Street Restaurant. I especially wanted to have their Shrimp Burger (fried shrimp & slaw on a Kaiser Roll) and some fried okra. I’ve had this lunch twice before and it was very good both times. This time I told them I wanted the sandwich on Sourdough. The Sourdough bread was delicious, but next time I will go back to the Kaiser Roll.
I’ll try and list all the books I bought yesterday at the book sale. $2 for hard backs, 50 cents for paperbacks.
Ultimate Spy (DK Books – Hardcover)
World War 2: History’s Greatest Conflict in Pictures (LIFE Hardcover – October 31, 2001)
Ramses the Great: The Pharaoh and His Time ( Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte, NC – Hardcover – 1987)
The Russian Century (Brian Moynahan)
Kings & Queens (The Pitkin History of Britain)
The Circle of Life Wildlife on the African Savannah (Hardcover)
The Great Book of World War II Airplanes (Crescent Books – Hardcover – pp. 622)
I Can Draw (Longhurst – Hardcover)
Techniques of the Great Masters of Art ( Hardback)
Dali (Taschen – Hardback)
Son of Heaven Imperial Arts of China (Son of Heaven Press – Paperback)
Siena City of Art (Paperback)
All About Techniques in Pastel (Barron’s – Hardcover)
Cities of Art Florence (Nesti – Paperback)
Flowers in Watercolor (Jean Martin – Hardcover)
The Complete Book of Drawing Techinques A Professional Guide for the Artist (Stanyer – Hardcover)
Creating Textures in Pen & Ink with Watercolor( Claudia Nice)
Manga for the Beginner (Christopher Hart – Paperback)
How to Draw and Paint Dragons (Kidd – Paperback)
National Museum of American Art (Paperback)
How to Draw Steampunk (Rod Espinosa – Paperback)
Suggestions to make the Book Sale more user friendly:
.
.I’m not sure how sturdy this kind of wagon might be, even though I have one. But, something like this could be used to haul heavy bags of books out to the car. I have actually used mine (exactly like this one) once, to haul a bunch of books out to my car. I filled it up and rolled it out with no problem. But having bags to sit in the cart would be more efficient.
Could the Friends sell book monogrammed carriers at the Book Sale? Or, would a grocery chain offer to sell their reusable grocery bags (large & sturdy enough to carry books) at the Sale?
Maybe use high school students to carry purchased books out to the car for those that need assistance. If the students are needed on a school day, maybe suggest this as a community service project. I think something like this is required of all students now to complete their high school diploma. I just checked, and “Yes, it is a requirement for high school graduation” in North Carolina.
KITCHENDAO Citrus Lemon Peeler Zester Tool with Specially Designed Channel Knife to Save Effort, Ultra Sharp Lemon Rind Twist Peeler Tool Bar Bartender Lime Lemon Stripper for Cocktails Kitchen (Amazon.com link) It costs about $10.
I bought this kitchen tool in order to cut orange rind in strips to add to my homemade Dolce “K” Sweet Olive Mix. This was my attempt to recreate the Whole Foods version. And, it worked! I actually think that my version has more flavor, although I don’t know the actual ratios of the various ingredients so I can’t absolutely recreate the same mix each time… yet. Note the Orange rind shown in the mix here.
The peeler portion of this tool does a great job of cutting long narrow strips of rind, but there is still a good amount of pith on each strip. *I just tried the zester part of this tool and it does a better job of cutting just the rind and very little pith. So, I have rethought the mix process and decided to use zest and not the wide rinds cut into half inch lengths. And, the zester worked quickly for the whole orange.
This morning I had decided to fix fried apples & bacon for breakfast, and to make some Bigelow “Constant Comment” tea. Constant Comment has citrus highlights and in the past I have added dried orange slices to it for more orange flavor. I added some of the orange zest to the hot tea. But, I also added some of the orange zest to the frying apples. I think the zest made the tea and the apples more distinctive.
As a precautionary tale, you will need to freeze (or at least put in the fridge) the rind because left out, they will start to mold.
The zested orange rind looks good in the Dolce “K” Sweet Olive Mix. I also think the liquid in this becomes less pungent over time. I made a new batch of liquid and put the olives in it.
A few months ago I was in the CVS on Law Road looking to pick up a prescription. I glanced over to my right and down and saw a box of single serving bags of the Well Market Popcorn (White Cheddar flavor). They were giving away free sample as they were changing their popcorn vendor. I took one of the bags and when I got back to my car I opened it and tried the popcorn. It was very good popcorn. It was so good that I determined to seek out this popcorn in CVS in the future.
I don’t recall how long after I had first tried the popcorn that I was standing in front of the CVS shelves on which they had the Well Market Popcorn for sale. I think they had a discount on the large “family” sized bags so I bought one. This too was delicious popcorn.
I had my annual eye exam and found that the clinic actually had two locations separated by a small parking area. I had always gone to the location further away from Cape Fear Valley Hospital. Not this time. It was an overcast morning, but it wasn’t raining when I went in. However, by the time that my exam was over it had started to rain fairly regularly. I think I asked a technician if there was a “loaner” umbrella I could use. I knew I had an umbrella in my car which was parked near the other location’s entrance. I figured I could walk to my car, exchange umbrellas and then leave the loaner with the front desk at the separate location. But the technician said she would walk with me. She got an umbrella for herself and handed me one too. We walked across the small parking lot to my car and I handed the loaner umbrella to her thanking her.
Her name was Stephanie, but I didn’t recall that from the first meeting. I decided to leave a present of Well Market Popcorn for her and stopped a few days later at the CVS next to Cape Fear Valley Hospital and bought a bag. I think I also had a small bag of Peppermint Bark that I also gave her.
I had my annual, in hospital visit, for my pacemaker a few days ago. They check my pacemaker four times a year, and do three of those checkups remotely. The checkup this time probably didn’t last more than 10 minutes.
The male nurse/technician told me that when they replace my pacemaker battery that they replace the whole unit because it is wrapped in titanium. Oh, Joy!
This photo is of the top parking level at Cape Fear Valley Hospital.
.jpg)
,aspect=ignore)
Bill Gibson, II 