Middle aged musings from farm & hearth
I loved this movie from start to finish… what an excellent vehicle for Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. John Krasinski was adorable in the role of soon-to-be son-in-law too…. Hillarious, honest, just the best movie I’ve seen in years. And oooh, to live in that house…
It takes just three letters to form one of the most significant words in life. I’ve owned that name proudly for 21 years. It’s a badge of honor, a demanding job title, a responsibility beyond any other, a source of great joy with a potential for great sorrow. I had no idea what it would mean before that very first moment when the nurses handed my tiny little baby girl over and we walked out the door of Yale New Haven Hospital into “real life”. I remember thinking… you mean, I’m responsible for the safety and well-being of this tiny little person,…. all by myself? …..with no one to check to see if I’m doing it right??. And don’t look at Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Handsome over there because he will pass out if he comes within three yards of a dirty diaper. Have you ever seen those fainting goats? I’m not kidding.
There’s nothing I’de rather be doing, mothering these two. I consider myself lucky every day. I’de say they’re turning out pretty good …so I must be doing something right after all.
As for my mother, there were surely times during my teen years that she questioned her sanity and mine, but I can say now that she is a best friend and one of my most ardent supporters. What would I do without her? I don’t want to know any time soon. Thanks, Mom 🙂
Packing today… throwing out, putting aside for goodwill, procrastinating, prioritizing and generally making a bigger mess. Also, noticing the little things that I will miss about THIS not so old house…
The birds love this place. Each spring there are atleast two or three nests in various spots..the front door wreath, the flood lights, under the overhangs… even the bluebirds seek shelter there in the bitter cold months. I hear that’s rare.
Anyone have an extra they aren’t losing using? Because we need a good one… to finish the hedges around the foundation. We got a good start today…. and admittedly we’re a little overly ambitious with the new plantings and might need to go rob a bank get a second job to finish what we started.
Oh, I know it’s trivial compared to the world’s troubles…compared to some of OURS for that matter. But… we came to a crossroads today at This Old House. Followers of my old blog might remember the war discussion Mike and I had over his desire for something to be painted crime-scene-dried-blood-red heritage red somewhere in the house. Somewhere big. It’s apparently THAT kind of need. And I love the color, I do! As accents, not the entire horizon.
So.. I walked into the kitchen as the men stood round staring at the mantle with the various shades of RED..and I was to choose which RED I liked. Here’s how it goes.
Me: Red again? The whole fireplace?
Him: And the trim.
Me: The trim where?
Him: Around the whole room…and the cabinets.
Me: The Cabinets????….
Him: So where do you want me to stop (pointing DOWN THE HALL AND INTO THE MUDROOM)….
Me: DOWN THE HALL AND INTO THE MUDROOM? RED???????
Him: Yes… I can’t just stop HERE (pointing to the end of the kitchen)
Me: Oh yes you can. You’ll stop here. (pointing to trimwork at end of kitchen) And the cabinets? Red? REALLY?
Him: I SUPPOSE YOU HAVE A BETTER IDEA? Trust me, I know what I’m doing.
I’m gonna have to give in and let him have his way with heritage red somewhere… but please..
not here..
in my kitchen.
Trust me….
Mike graded the backyard and made an area for a brick patio…
This is the trim color I prefer…. Not that there’s anything wrong with red…
Jeff working on the cabinetry…which did not come fully compliant with the old beams of the old house.
I’ve come to know a lovely lady who is also a transplant from New York. We are both passionate about a town property of historical significance that will become a hub for historical, agricultural, recreational and educational activity and Michelle has put many many hours into the project in various ways. It’s an exciting time to be involved in the development of such a place. She is knowledgeable in all things horticultural and has graciously put together a selection of vintage fragrant peonies for my new gardens at This Old House. They include the Mrs. Jules Elie, Mrs. Euclid Snow, Mrs. FDR and Nancy Nicholls variety.
Thank you, Michelle –
It’s the subject of many urban legends, the object of many grade-schoolers’ double dares: do hot dogs contain pig snouts and chicken feathers, or are they really made from high-quality meat?
The debate certainly hasn’t put a damper on Americans’ enthusiasm for the food. The U.S. population consumes about 20 billion hot dogs a year, according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council. That works out to about 70 hot dogs per person, per year. And, an estimated 95 percent of U.S. homes serve hot dogs at one meal or another.Wondering how many hotdogs are sold each year? In 2005, retail stores sold 764 million packages of hot dogs (not including Wal-Mart), which adds up to more than $1.5 billion in retail sales.
In 2006, Americans ate enough hot dogs at major league ballparks to stretch from RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. to AT&T Park in San Francisco. New Yorkers eat more hot dogs than any other city population (even Chicago, also known for its hot dogs). Travelers at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport eat six times more hot dogs than travelers at Los Angeles International Airport and LaGuardia Airport combined.
Hot dog season — during which Americans eat 7 billion hot dogs — stretches from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Americans eat 150 million hot dogs on the fourth of July, alone.
On to the million-dollar question: what are hot dogs made of? According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council:
“All hot dogs are cured and cooked sausages that consist of mainly pork, beef, chicken and turkey or a combination of meat and poultry. Meats used in hot dogs come from the muscle of the animal and looks much like what you buy in the grocer’s case. Other ingredients include water, curing agents and spices, such as garlic, salt, sugar, ground mustard, nutmeg, coriander and white pepper.”
However, there are a couple of caveats. “Variety meats,” which include things like liver, kidneys and hearts, may be used in processed meats like hot dogs, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture requires that they be disclosed on the ingredient label as “with variety meats” or “with meat by-products.”
Further, watch out for statements like “made with mechanically separated meats (MSM).” Mechanically separated meat is “a paste-like and batter-like meat product produced by forcing bones, with attached edible meat, under high pressure through a sieve or similar device to separate the bone from the edible meat tissue,” according to the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).
Although the FSIS maintains that MSM are safe to eat, mechanically separated beef is no longer allowed in hot dogs or other processed meats (as of 2004) because of fears of mad cow disease. Hot dogs can contain no more than 20 percent mechanically separated pork, and any amount of mechanically separated chicken or turkey.
So if you’re looking for the purest franks, pick those that are labeled “all beef,” “all pork,” or “all chicken, turkey, etc.” Franks labeled in this way must be made with meat from a single species and do not include byproducts (but check the label anyway, just to be sure. Turkey and chicken franks, for instance, can include turkey or chicken meat and turkey or chicken skin and fat in proportion to a turkey or chicken carcass).
If you love hot dogs and are looking for a healthier alternative, opt for nitrate-free, organic varieties (available in health food stores and increasingly in regular supermarkets) that contain all meat, no byproducts and no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives.What a pain in the a**. And how gross! But I love them. So now and then I’ll probably still grab an all beef- meat/by/product sodium nitrite- MSG-nitrosamine enriched dog with saurkraut and mustard .
How do you like your hot dog?
Nothing yet… BUT.. the kitchen has arrived! The main cabinets are a distressed vintage white and the island is a distressed black. Granite, lighting and appliances arriving soon. Mike and Jeff discuss the logistics…
Ben turned One Year Old yesterday! Because I stupidly, rashly, deleted my original blog, you don’t have the old archives and Ben’s year-long ginormous growth history. So I’ll recap here… and let me tell you, Great Danes are an awesome family dog, love love love this guy. Easiest dog I ever had to housetrain. You just have to wrap your mind around the idea of having a small horse in the house. Mike’s mind is not completely warped wrapped yet. He hasn’t made peace with the idea of the folding chairs as toss-around dog toys either. We’re working on it, right Ben?
Lately every time I pull up to the house I find myself smiling. After many years of admiring the place, five years of trying to acquire it, and then finally the past year and a half of work to bring it around to it’s glory days, we will live there in just a few months. There is a serenity in those fields, I’ve always felt it…even as a passerby many years ago. Little did I know that I would one day call it “home”.
Raised panels going up in the office…
Giant flat rocks serve as stepping stones in the courtyard out to the main brick patio. I’m trying to come up with a perennial plant layout along and inbetween these stones that will have something blooming at all times….any suggestions? The courtyard will have shade much of the morning but sun for the rest of the day.
Pete put alot of time into cleaning up the backyard today. The excavator is parked on the area we plan to make a raised bed vegetable garden. Great location, lots of sun, and not too far from the kitchen.
