It's That Time of Year Again

This years celebration of Day of the Dead is installed. I've found a way to incorporate my wreath of skeletons with marigolds this year. A good time will be had by all.

Dessert Island

Old kitchen table "before". The rugs are covering a space where a peninsula countertop was installed back in 1969 - the last time this kitchen was remodeled. It was removed shortly after we moved into the house.

No, it isn't a typo. It is just that I ran amok in a consignment furniture store last week. I went shopping for a friend who just bought her first house. She needs some real, quality furniture for it so I hit all the consigned furniture stores in the greater Denver area. I struck gold with the 6th store after only finding upholstered furniture of cast off (as in they scrounged it in an alley) quality in the first 5 stores.

Not this place. They have an outstanding variety of excellent quality and a great selection, too. So while browsing for my friend I found a kitchen island. Not just any island, mind you. No, it is made by Stickley of solid cherry with a granite top. Stickley furniture is some of the finest made in the US. The retail price was right around $4,000 new. I bought it for $1,000. While I'm not a fan of granite countertops in the kitchen I do think that this house needs finishes that match the level of quality of the homes surrounding ours. Most of them have granite counter tops everywhere.

The top 2 photos show "before". Above is one photo "after". The old, English oak table ca. 1920 has been banished to the basement for now as we use the new island. The movers had a time getting it into the kitchen, but they finally did it. It does make the rest of the kitchen look pretty tired, but, in time we will get to that. Oh, and I painted the kitchen cabinets black recently. I like the black cabinets with the granite, called Uba Tuba. Sort of black with green and brown in it.

Morals without Religion?

It is an old debate, but a short article by a biologist (read more about him here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frans-de-waal) really goes straight to the chase for me. It is one of the arguments favored by the fundies in their hysteria over evolution vs creation myth.

One of his points is made this way: Perhaps it is just me, but I'd be wary of anyone whose belief system is the only thing standing between them and repulsive behavior. Why not assume that our humanity, including the self-control needed for a livable society, is built into us?

I can answer that, actually. Fundies can't buy that because it leads to the dreaded school of humanism. The sheeple need to believe in their inevitable lack of accountability for anything - their thoughts or their actions - that they are only accountable to their higher power who will accept responsibility for them in exchange for blind, mindless belief in their own particular mythology.

Hedon, over at Highway Hags blogged about this, but I can't find the post and can't quote her. I think she referred to this particular point on the fundies hit list of arguments against atheism. But one commenter on his post at HP did acknowledge that any charitable organization that receives a contribution from an atheist at least knows that it is given without regard to any future payback. Good point I think and it illustrates at least some examples of charitable behavior not motivated by either guilt or fear.

One last thought of mine: Wasn't that whack job that kidnapped Jaycee Dugard a big time believer in the great invisible sky daddy? Why yes, yes he was. His xian beliefs don't appear to have mitigated his own unconscionable behavior one single bit. Gee, in his case it appears that his uber xian beliefs might have actually contributed (you know those voices are pretty powerful) to his kidnapping, raping and torturing. But it is all described in the bible and perfected during the Inquisition by the xians.

And our own former president, the Shrub, talked with the invisible sky daddy personally. Just before he approved the memo for "enhanced interrogation techniques" to be used at Abu Garib prision. But hey, he is a self proclaimed xian so nothing wrong with torturing lies out of terrified people is there?

Communism US Style

From HP this morning:

The concept of communism is rightly reviled in this country for the simple reason that it is blind to human nature, allowing a small group of individuals near-total control, while sticking everyone else with the same crappy systems -- and the bill. America spent countless lives and half a century fighting against this system of government. So why are we standing for it now? Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dylan-ratigan/the-cost-of-corporate-com_b_312516.html

Dylan Ratigan is becoming one of my favorite bloggers at HP. Couple that with my viewing Michael Moore's "Capitalism" on Friday and I'm keeping warm without turning up the heat.

And the photo of Animal Farm by George Orwell is here because his statement that "all the animals are equal; but some are more equal than others" has stayed with me since I read the book for the first time in grade school. At that time I saw it as a condemnation of the dreaded communism; I do still.

Fried Everything Featuring...Fried Butter!

After yesterday's discovery of the Fried Food Capital of Texas I just had to find the recipe for fried butter. Yep, that's right folks. The same man that brought you fried PBJ sandwiches, fried Coke et al now brings fried butter.

To wit: So here’s what Gonzales does: He takes 100 percent pure butter, whips it until it is light and fluffy, freezes it, then surrounds it with dough. The butter-laden dough balls are then dropped into the deep fryer.

Some of the other dishes available at the Texas State Fair this year include:

Green Goblins: Cherry peppers stuffed with spicy shredded chicken and guacamole, battered, deep-fried and topped with queso.
Twisted Yam on a Stick: A spiral-cut sweet potato, fried on a skewer, then rolled in butter and dusted with cinnamon and sugar.
Fernie’s Deep Fried Peaches & Cream: Served with a side of vanilla buttercream icing for dipping.
Texas Fried Pecan Pie: A mini-pecan pie battered, deep fried and served with caramel sauce, whipping cream and chopped candied pecans.
Country Fried Pork Chips: Battered, thin-sliced pork loin deep fried and served with sides of ketchup or cream gravy.
Sweet Jalapeno Corn Dog Shrimp: Shrimp on a stick, coated with a sweet and spicy cornmeal batter, deep fried and served with a spicy glaze.
Fried Peanut Butter Cup Macaroon: A peanut butter cup wrapped inside a coconut macaroon, fried and then dusted with powdered sugar.

So hang onto your arteries and go get you some fried fat. I am with Stace, however, and really believe in fried food. But I think this stuff crosses some kind of line, possibly one drawn in ghee.

And another thing (am I beginning to sound like Andy Rooney?)...do any of you remember the first time you saw 1/2 and 1/2 in the grocery store that was fat free? I must have stood in front of the case for 10 minutes trying to figure out what it could be until I reached in and took one out to read the label. There were the usual suspects: HFCS, carageenan, etc.

Ah HAH!

In a post below I decried the practice of throwing chili rellenos in a deep fryer. I suspected that this unfortunate idea originated in Texas and just now I found proof. Witness this sign from the Texas state fair:

Enough said.

Changes

We are getting some things done around the ranch this summer. The photo at the top is what it looks like today. The changes are described below. The tornado actually helped because the insurance company paid for some repairs. I'm finally posting some photos of the progress - old photos would be helpful, I know, but I can't locate them right now. (You can click on the picture to enlarge - hard to see at this scale)

I have a new version of Photoshop Elements; it doesn't make me very happy because with every version they change everything around. Old dog, new tricks, yadda yadda. I'll get there, but it looks like it will be a process.

Anyway, here is a photo from earlier this spring. We had just removed the planter in front of the big window. The thing was sinking like a torpedoed sub. We salvaged the sandstone cap on it. Those pieces are randomly placed on top of the upper retaining wall over the largest gaps in the open masonry joints on top of that wall.

This photo was taken just after the tornado this summer - that is what all the shredded greenery is that is plastered to the big green pot, the window and the brick. Nice, eh? The Cuisinart effect on landscaping. Everything shredded, sliced and diced.
In late July, after the storm I finally bit the bullet and ordered a new mailbox to replace the existing one. I started calling it the "Leaning Tower of Mailbox" because it tilted radically forward. Hard to see from this angle but it was pretty extreme. Another one of its attractive features was the shrunken headed coach lamp perched on the top. It was falling apart and did not invite one to change the light bulb when it burned out. We dug up the old post and concrete and moved the thing slightly to the left (front elevation) so it didn't crowd the sidewalk. We then removed the funky iron railings with their corny scrolls and rusted pickets. They added nothing to the look of the front elevation and were so rusted that their function as railings was doubtful at best.

Then we made a trip to the stone yard. We bought several hundred dollars of 12"x24" sandstone to cap the lower wall for its full length. I used two 2' square pieces on the corners of the steps (thankfully the new location of the mailbox and removing the railings allow for that). Last Saturday a mason (thank you Joe!) and artist came and laid the sandstone cap on the lower wall. His work is perfectly executed. Each piece is in line with the next and he placed each stone where it would look best. There are dendrite fossils in many of the pieces so we located most of those near the steps and mailbox. Fabulous. And now maybe the wall won't fall over for awhile. Too bad this didn't get done 40 years ago - but it wasn't anyone's priority. The top wall is next when we have the money.

And another thing:

One thing that is making its way to the top of my hit list is that counter flashing on the chimney and the three mis-matched metal hats on top of the chimney flues. They have got to go. Soon.