October 23, 2016

The Hard Work of Dying

My father's terminal illness diagnosis came early June, about 3 weeks after he presented with a broken collar bone--the result of his simply rolling over in bed.  My stepmom was visiting her daughter in Illinois.  My father was not alarmed; he called me to tell me he was driving himself to...

August 22, 2016

Fun with Friends

My other friend, Leisa, who I have known since junior high school and who spells her name just like me invited our group down to her family's river place on the Rappahanock.  It was a short drive (under an hour) from my house, and it was a welcome distraction from regular 'stuff'.  The weather...

August 19, 2016

Walking the Walk

I have recently encountered several instances within the course of the last three months of people purporting to believe in one thing, but acting out in a much different way.  It was a reminder of just how hard it is to walk the walk v. talk the talk. Ultimately we see the world through the imperfect...

August 5, 2016

Canning

I normally just stick to relish for canning.  In fact, I don't recall ever making any jam or jelly.  I'm enamored with hot peppers in some sort of sweet medium.  I elected to try my hand at making a peach and hot pepper jelly. I regret that I'm such a skeptic/cynic when it comes to OPR...

July 29, 2016

Thug Nation

A presidential candidate wants to "punch" speakers of an opposing convention because they say things that he doesn't like.  He belittles others through derisive name calling--to include gender, ethnicity and physical characteristics--things that one is born with and have no control over. ...

July 27, 2016

July 25, 2016

Relish Time

Nah...that's not an admonishment to relish time, but rather to herald in the beginning of hot pepper relish time! My relish is generally chef's pick of the garden.  That means I go out and pick...

July 15, 2016

Incredulity

in·cre·du·li·ty ˌinkrəˈd(y)o͞olədē/ noun noun: incredulity the state of being unwilling or unable to believe something. Incredulity and incredulity are two words that one likely needs to be acquainted with in this political cycle.  When emotional v. rational become the adjectives for describing...

July 14, 2016

Appliance Repair | Part 2

Part 1 of this post is here.  After installing the thermostat, cleaning the lines (more on that), the dryer (due to MASSIVE blowback), it was clear, after running a load of clothes, that there were still problems. I actually thought the line was clear because (confession time), I ran a leaf blower...

July 11, 2016

Appliance Repair | UGH!

It was appliance repair time in Leisa-land.  The dryer failed.  I looked up the schematic and bought 3 things that I thought would be the problem--most importantly the dryer element (which has failed in the past, and I gave it a 95% probability of being right).  I didn't want Mark to...

July 6, 2016

My Friend, John's Passing

I learned that my friend, John, passed away on July 3.  He was 62.  I knew that he had been battling oral cancer, and because part of his tongue was removed, talking to him on the phone was not an option.  His last email to me some months ago was cryptic, and I got the sense that his...

June 27, 2016

Transitioning

Over the past 6 weeks our family has been moving through a time of diagnosing for my father who presented one morning with a broken left clavicle.  My father called me.  My stepmom was away visiting one of her daughters.  His call was matter of fact.  "I broke my collar bone, and...

June 13, 2016

Backsplash | Or....amateur calculations on tile needs

My backsplash is in, and it looks terrific.  I have lots of linear feet of kitchen countertops--not that my kitchen is all that big, but when I designed it 30+ years ago, I wanted a kitchen that opened up into our great room--I was ahead of the times, then with a great room and an open kitchen. As...

June 6, 2016

June 6, 2016

Home Stuff--Upholstered bench

We have been in our home for 31 years this year.  Over that time, I have accumulated projects, and I'm starting to pick at them one by one.  Over this weekend, I upholstered a bench seat in...

June 2, 2016

June 1, 2016

May 30, 2016

May 13, 2016

May 12, 2016

May 7, 2016

Tree Frog

Tree Frog, Virginia Pulled off the grill cover and found two tree frogs.  Oh, how I love them so.  One was quite a bit larger than the other and was clearly asleep.  The little guy,...

May 5, 2016

May 4, 2016

Sourdough Waffles

I've found several recipes for sourdough waffles in my quest to have a way to use up unused sourdough starter.  I made a couple of modifications to this recipe from Serious Eats (http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/01/bread-baking-sourdough-waffles-recipe.html#) to come up with my preferred...

April 22, 2016

April 20, 2016

Rant

I try to keep my ranting to a minimum, but I've reached my threshhold for tolerance for the following: Having to listen to a 30 sec ad to watch a 1:30 video clip on major websites.  At the very...

April 7, 2016

April 5, 2016

Life and Death in Spring

Both of my children were born in April.  April 1 for my youngest and April 27 for my oldest.  Being pregnant as a busy professional meant a forced slow down.  Too early to smell the roses, but certainly a time to watch the bursting forth of life into the world:  daffodils and crocus...