MOON OVER OUR PELICAN & HEALDSBURG

There was red sky this morning when I took Dino out for his early morning relief session and to retrieve the Press Democrat from the front driveway. It was cool but not as cold as previous mornings this week. I always remember my Mother's comment about "red-sky" so I'll be looking out for some sort of weather . . .

Not only did we have the red sky thing there also was a full moon out this week. The other morning as I ventured out (with Dino) the moon was full over the top of our weather-vane in back which of course is westward facing. I did not have to see the full moon to know though that it was there this week . . . I heard many tales from my wife about "things" going on in the workplace to know that . . . it's fun to say that even though I have been retired now for many years (13) I definitely recall the phenomenon.

IN THE KITCHEN


I took advantage of the still on again off again cooler weather to engage in one of my favorite things -- makin' chili. Actually I took advantage of the sale on red peppers at Safeway when Dino and I were browsing the store last week. I make chili about every four to five weeks -- and usually enough so that I have a ready supply for lunch almost every day. Gail has decided to not eat very much of the chili so that I have "more to last" for just me. There may be other reasons I suspect.

Chili making is like therapy for me and it usually takes about 2--3 hours to get it all into the pot AND it is never exactly the same each time depending on some minor available ingredients e.g. multiple types of meat . . . but I successfully completed the initial work and then slow cooked the pot throughout the day.

The above are some of the ingredients that I use -- I am sure I didn't photo everything, but basically I start with char-broiling the peppers (red or not) and then slow-cook three to four kinds of meat in various forms (ground versus pieces) and then utilize several other things like tomato paste, tomato pieces, several onions, several cloves of garlic and of course bean matter -- some whole and some of the re-fried type. Then multiple spices are added (married) to the mixtures and ultimately I combine the two -- the skillet and the pot into the very large pot and stir and taste throughout the day.

Dino watched almost every step underfoot in hopes that something would fall his way -- it didn't happen. The only thing close to falling his way was me -- as he is in the midst of a small work area. I would like to share all this with him but given his dietary issues it would not be a good thing . . .

I have chili now frozen and ready to be nuked as needed for my luncheon pleasure . . .

FROM THE TREE -- FAMILY, THAT IS

We are in the second week of March already and there are numerous birthdays for this month -- some 192 of them that I know of because there are still many folks that I have not tied a birth date to as yet. But there was only one "born on this date" :

If you check out the above you'll see that one of our McBride cousins from Pennsylvania is celebrating today as her birthday. Coming up in the next week -- Monday -- there are 11 tree dwellers whose birthday it is on March 12 -- including my Grandson, Caleb.

When you go into the website (www.danhiles.com) you can navigate around to see the relationships of the other 10 folks -- some are closer-related than others . . .


PROJECTS AROUND OUR HOUSE

We have a lot of things going on right now and I've picked three to highlight today. My days have been filled with answering questions and making decisions all week having to do with these  projects. Unrelated directly to the projects are things like keeping Dino on his feeding schedule, med-schedule and relieving schedule without interfering with the numerous folks working on the projects.

Above are the three projects that took up most of the week and most of my "overlooking"   . . . there was another project that was also going on -- having to do with the pool that I haven't highlighted. Anyway if you click on the above, the left side shows roughly the "before" pic of the project and of course the "after" pic is on the right.  They are not totally completed as yet -- but getting there. And in each case above the projects are "lookin' good", such quality work!

Next week -- the finishing touches on two of the projects and then the painting of the completed wood work . . . the pruning of the trees (not all shown) is complete, just awaiting the budding out to come.

While all this activity was going on, Dino was really an excellent pup. Several times throughout the week the "visiting" kitty showed up and we had to balance that too in the mix. The two of them are relaxed around each other -- the visiting kitty really just comes for some treats and then heads-on-out, I'm sure for another "stop" on her daily routine.

There is more to the story  of the "visiting" kitty, but that is for another time . . .


LOOKING AROUND THE WEB


I almost always try to look around for websites that can be fun and helpful to both genealogical efforts and "just for the fun of it" . . . here are three sites that could apply to both categories. The first one has to do with writing -- and it is always in the back of my head that it would be "fun" to write and actually not only have reader feedback but maybe even some remuneration . . . so check out "hubpages", the web address is on the pic.

The second site has to do with another favorite topic of mine and that relates to photography and displaying some of the family history type photos e.g. in a unique way. The site is www.mixbook.com and has many opportunities to make and send photo books  -- I especially like their quote -- "learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow". I enjoyed the site and I tell myself that I might even utilize some of what they offer.

And lastly, growing up one of my Mother's favorite shows was Lawrence Welk. I think it was just my younger brother and I left at home when it was the Saturday night tradition to watch this show. While I enjoyed many aspects of the music -- e.g. Pete Fountain, for one -- I looked eagerly for reasons to stay focused -- one of those reasons was "the Lennon Sisters" and now because I was visiting a genealogical site, www.rootsweb.org, I find that Kathy Lennon is interested and working on her family history -- you just never know what you'll find . . .

1940 CENSUS & INDEXING


As we all know it is now only twenty some days til the release of the long-awaited 1940 Census. And as I shared last week there is the need  (once it is released) to help out to index the names of the more than 132 million folks. I started indexing for familysearch.org this last week by working on other projects that they have the need to be indexed as well. This helps the genealogical world and it helps me get back into indexing once again.

The above is an example of the kinds of things that I was indexing. The work is very nicely presented and the help if needed is really great. The software is so easy to use and it is rewarding to work for an hour or so and then repeat again as time permits. So when April 2 arrives, then we can start indexing the actual census and that will really be rewarding -- and who knows, maybe I'll get to index some relatives . . .


So that was a glimpse of our week -- Gail is in the throes of "March" which in her profession is an "in-between" time -- in between hectic and more hectic . . .

Tonight of course we will enjoy "burgers and sweet-potato fries" and if we get nervous and/or sleepy we'll change our clocks one hour ahead even before the 2 am suggested time . . .

Have a good week, see you in a few.