Our Late Valentines Escape...Tina's Birthday...and The Week's Update

 

Since Valentine's Day brought with it subfreezing temperatures and a lot of snow...we recalculated!

This week saw highs of 40's and 50's and sunshine. 

Much nicer!

We plundered Avon...enjoyed our favorite Inn nearby...did not encounter the police like last time (which was considered a win by us) and enjoyed Olive Garden

Tour of Italy

(Fettuccine Alfredo, meat lasagna and Parmesan chicken) along with bread sticks and a ginormous salad...and

Tiramisu

in bed.

Carry Out is Awesome.

(and extremely casual)

We may have to continue it long after Covid.

Just Sayin'

Morning Coffee together at Our Table at The Breakfast Company.

(...and chocolate...lots and lots of chocolate...)

Already planning Our Spring Getaway for March!

I had an amazing time, Guy!

The Covid News?

All Good!

Seeing substantial drops in both new infections and overall deaths...worldwide.

John, Loretta, Brenda now all have both doses of the vaccine with little to no side effects.

Since the age group has dropped I am now scheduled, and fully registered, for my first dose of the Pfizer.

And they are starting to report that the vaccination has a positive side effect of helping those who have been suffering from Covid long term effects...which is wonderful.

We celebrated Tina's 32nd Birthday yesterday with Chinese and Chocolate Cupcakes!

 

Chris is nearly done with classes and ready to start his career...and Tina soon to begin her training as a paramedic!

Both of them seriously discussing home-buying and a child in the future.

James and Jasmine and Hannah dropping in last week to say HI!

 Lennon has most everything down to a dull roar now...still a few things to go...getting out a bit more and wanting to reshuffle his schedule to get away from nights. He received another raise and paid off his car...and will be in good shape financially to take over the house.

"I've crunched the numbers, Mom...I can do this..."

 I had to smile when I saw they were releasing the Tom and Jerry Movie...remembering all those years ago when the boys would sit...cereal bowls in hand...on Saturday Mornings watching the cat chase the mouse on television.

"James and I are meeting up to watch it together!!!"

Chris said.

The news from Mars has been really neat, too!

Wheeeee!!!

Sending back selfies like a teenage girl on Instagram.

I can't wait to see images from the helicopter drone. 

In the art world a Van Gogh has emerged from an estate

and is for sale at Soethby's.

And Louis Vuitton has previewed his Spring Collection...and possibly lost his damned mind.

 This was the first of the line I saw...I actually liked it a little.

Then there were more...

Until I had a 

"The bastard is just mocking us...seeing how far he can take it..."

Moment.

Apparently, you just take every Beanie Baby you ever owned, and stitch them to drab oversized clothing and suddenly you are en vogue.

Hey, wait a minute...

Didn't FLEA (Red Hot Chili Peppers) already do this look in the nineties???

It has sooooooooooooooooooooooo been done.

No book this week.

The Movie of the Week:

 Perfectly cast and a flashback of sorts for me

(...who lived through and remember the events of the Black Panther Movement...the Rainbow Coalition...and the subsequent use of informants to infiltrate...)

A 2+ hour glimpse at what it was all really about.

A bit depressing when you reflect that it is now 2021 and we are still fighting a lot of the same battles, and events like George Floyd (and others) are STILL occurring.

sigh

My hope is that the inequality and racism will end in my lifetime.

That I will live to see it.

I thought we were sorting this in the late 1970's and 1980's.

I was wrong.

Wishing everyone a peaceful quiet weekend.

I'm off for a deep bubble bath...to remove the winter decor...get ready to scrub the carpets tomorrow with Amber...and roasting BBQ'ed pork ribs for tonight!

"Ah ha, You CAN'T see me..."

                                           Gadget

 

Virtual Africa: Zimbabwe

 

Formerly Rhodesia, Zimbabwe (pronounced zim-baab-wei)  is a landlocked country in the Northwest corner of South Africa.

It is home to nearly 14 million people.

Ran by Robert Mugabe from 1980 until 2017 when Mugabe was arrested and a coup de estat removed the dictator and the first election was held in over 35 years.  Desmond Tutu once referred to Mugabe as "...the archetype African dictator..."

Former President Robert Mugabe

The country's name means "Houses of Stone."

It occupies 150,872 square miles, and its cities are densely populated.

Most of Zimbabwe is on an elevated plateau...the highlands. 

One of its major attractions is Victoria Falls...which we will explore later.

 The climate here is topical with a rainy and dry season. Only parts of the very upper plateau ever get frost. 

Today, the weather is 74 and rainy.

Zimbabwe is composed mainly of grassy savannas, bush and woodlands.

Bantu make up 99% of the population and the Bantu language of Shona is the primary language here. Also English.

Hit hardest by the HIV/AIDS pandemic...at one time the average life expectancy here was 44 for men and 43 for women.  Today this has increased to 50-60 for either gender.

Places to see in Zimbabwe

https://youtu.be/EUM8TEEBcyY

Harare, Zimbabwe

https://youtu.be/2n6T9dSOAn8

Overview of Traveling in Zimbabwe

https://youtu.be/iP1RNJVcNIU

 

 

Next time, we will check out Victoria Falls and Park!

 

 

A Week of Hibernation

 

And WHAT a week!

It started on Sunday...and it snowed...and snowed...and then it snowed some more...

With it the temperatures dropped...and dropped...from low teens to single digits...then into negatives.

It wasn't just us...even in the deep South it was frozen...with alligator snouts protruding from the ice to stay alive.

Although they cannot hibernate...they can reduce their metabolism to a bare minimum and know to keep their snouts above the surface when it freezes so they can breathe. This is called snorkeling.  The tip of their snout is made of cartilage and remains unharmed.

Stocked up on Friday of last week...and baked and roasted and stayed inside all week. Who knew how well spicy brown mustard went with venison, anyway??? They say up in the 40's next week. I will venture out, then!

Texas has been hammered by the ice and freezing cold.  In part, because of their off the grid approach to electricity. Playing Devil's Advocate...having their own independent grid has worked well for them for 20 years. And no...it wasn't the Green Deal (...which hasn't even been implemented yet...) like Abbot falsely claimed...or windmills...but that this was unprecedented cold, snow and ice in their area.  Simply put...their grid just wasn't built for weather like this...

Apparently, neither was this guy. 

Ted Cruz.

Who immediately left with his wife and daughters to CANCUN when the power in their home went out...with everybody else's.

 And I get it.  Freezing cold...burst pipes...icicles hanging...frozen water in toilets and bathtubs...

I get it. 

But you are a Texas Senator.

And your constituents are freezing...some of them to death...literally.

The hew and cry was so loud, so fast, that he left the family to their Cancun Ritz-Carlton vacation and hopped standby the very next morning at 6:30 AM.

Here is where it gets a bit dodgy.

Instead of just manning up to it

"I fucked up."

He tried to lie his way out...it was all his daughters idea...they wanted to vacation with friends...I was only trying to be a good dad...flying them down and then coming right back...

Even though his wife had flown down as well.

Then someone from United called BS...because his original ticket back was for Saturday.

Then his wife's emails surfaced from days before where she had invited others to join them in Cancun because

"...the power is out and the house is FREEZING."

He finally admitted he had lied.

sigh

By today a bar in DC was serving these

 That didn't take long...

And The Resistance is strategizing for 2022.

So there is that.

Personally, I am still basking in the glow of having a warm, wonderful, compassionate, competent, intelligent President for the first time in 4 years, okay???

But yes, in 2022 I will help vote Todd Young out.

The big news this week was that Perseverance made it to Mars.

I watched the landing in real time on the NASA channel...holding my breath along with those in the control room...

 Until the Rover settled into the rusty red soil...

Their joy was contagious.

And one of the first photos sent back...

Okay..maybe it's a little shopped...

I am excited. Perseverance came equipped with a helicopter drone of its own to get more/better photographs this time.

Can't wait to see the images that come back.

Coronavirus news is slowly improving. 

Worldwide, the daily cases dropped from over a half million per day to about 300,000

In the US, we have dropped from 300,000 new infections each day to just over 100,000.

 

 Progress.

The death rate for those infected remains constant at 3 out of 100.

 Sightly concerning is that the California variant and the UK mutation have seemed to combine.

They are still researching what this might/might not affect.

The vaccination process is rolling out more smoothly now and many have already received at least one (often both) of their jabs.

Still waiting for our age limit to drop from 65 to 60.

Soon.

Oh, and this guy died this week-

Rush Limbaugh

and the world became a little less hate-filled and angry. 

Good riddance to bad rubbish. 

Seriously.

Got to see (in pictures) Kaylee and Hannah this week...so grown up now.

 and Kaylee, and her girlfriend Hailey

 (they are absolutely smitten)

Ahhh...young love!

Excited, because Koko, a Twitter artist friend of mine, is working on a commissioned piece similar to this one for me...

Only in shades of blue, aqua and turquoise. 

Can't wait!

Angie has now beaten Covid...and got a bunch of this snow in Tennessee as well.

Brenda and I are envying Diane who is calling back from Orlando

"It is 85 today!"

click

 

And for those of us who fight dark under-eye circles every day, and should have bought stock in concealer long ago...

Apparently, now we are en vogue.

...laughing...

(sorry, still not giving up my cover stick)

 

Now to begin my Cinderella Day with a good bubble bath and shampoo- before the business of dishes and laundry and dusting and scrubbing!

 

Enjoy Your Weekend! 

Oh well...

Virtual Africa: Namibia

 

 

The contrast between real life and our virtual adventure couldn't be greater today.

Outside it is well below freezing (in Indiana) and I have knife-sharp edged dunes , too.  Mine are from the overnight snowfall and blasting winds that raged for hours.

In Namibia...however...it is sunny and 84 degrees right now. 

The Atlantic Ocean is gently lapping at the base of the gigantic sandy dunes. Our virtual destination.

Namibia (pronounced Nuh-mi-bee-uh) is actually The Republic of Namibia and gained independence in 1990.  The Zambezi River separates Namibia from it's neighboring country of Zimbabwe (which we will eventually check out). 

It is considered the driest country in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Most of its people are Bantu.

 

Most common language here is Bantu, Afrikaans, English and German (...this land was settled by colonial Germans)

It is named after the Namib Desert.

Which stretches 1300 miles to the Ocean.

Existing for 55 million years, it is one of the oldest deserts on Earth.

The Namib

https://youtu.be/iMCY9WMnzaw

 

Despite it's bleak surface of the moon bareness...there are pockets of green found 'throughout and many animals and plants have adapted to the harsh conditions here. 

There are even desert elephants here!

They have larger feet and can live for days on the moisture they get from the vegetation they find.  Their herds tend to be very small, maybe an adaptation to limited resources. 

The sandy dunes rise atone point to 7,000 feet and join the Kalahari Desert covering 350,000 square miles.

That is a lot of sand.

Once the bottom of a great sea....the Kalahari is known as The Fossil Desert.

Even fossilized whale bones have been found is this arid wasteland!

Tour Namibia from the River basin to the ocean.

https://youtu.be/zKsrKqGyeY0

Namibia by Train

https://youtu.be/_83lbhE8PAY

 

I hope you have enjoyed today's virtual adventure!

 

Valentine's Day...Snow is Coming...and More

 

Outside it is way below freezing...but inside it is snug and warm and 70 with hot cocoa to sip.

I'm hibernating for a while.

My sister, Tina, says they have everything in, and that there is already 7" on the ground at her house.

We may have to postpone Lisa's birthday/Sister's Day until the first weekend of March.

John and I were going to have our Valentine's Escape next week...but have pushed it out until the following week instead because of the upcoming cold and snow. But we have been plotting and planning on the phone.

And...I have hit that yearly

"I could live on a beach"

part of winter...lol.

I'm done with it...

                    Come on Spring!!!

Everyone, who knows me, knows that politics is my Meth, and like every other political junkie out there...I have spent inordinate amounts of time on the Senate trial this week...to the exclusion of housekeeping...healthy eating...hygiene...

Yes...it is a sickness.

And Kevin McCarthy did not help the cause last night with his bombshell announcement...lol!

So now there will be witnesses called.

(or not....they have reached an agreement to just enter the new evidence by affidavit...and still end this today...) 

Thank GOD.

But, I am not engaging further...it will play out like it plays out. As I said previously, I will wait for the AP (Associated Press) call...and get back to enjoying the new Biden/Harris Presidency. 

Such a breath of fresh air.

 

So different from the last four years!

Laid a venison tenderloin out to roast tomorrow with sweet potatoes, salad and a pan of dark chocolate brownies to bake. Some real food after a week of piecing. Grabbing anything that can be consumed while the Senate is on break.

It's an addiction..damn it.

Did manage to try something completely new this week-

The newly touted Digornio's Croissant Pizza.

Croissant crust topped with red sauce and the meats and cheese of your choice.

I like Croissants.

I like Pizza.

Together...yeah...not so much.

As it was baking it smelled wonderful...buttery...like fresh croissants.

After it was done and cooling a bit it looked amazing.

The first bite was odd..all of the layers were very crispy and there was an audible crunch.

The flavor was all wrong...not quite a croissant...not quite a pizza...just wrong.

Not inedible...just not as enjoyable as I had envisioned.

The buttery flavor was a definite drawback.

This crust would have worked very well with a dessert pizza of cherry or cinnamon apple...not so much with savory toppings.

And odd twist occurred with the refrigerated Morning After Pizza aspect.

Cold...it was no longer crispy and the flavors had melded.

In short, it tasted just like any other MA Pizza.

Even stranger...when it was reheated in the oven the crisp layers regained their crispness and it tasted exactly like it was fresh out of the oven...no crust toughness just a delicate crunch.

Won't buy another...but it was an interesting adventure.

Would like them to try a dessert pizza with this crust.

John is now a fully-vaccinated card-carrying Covid won't get me, guy.

I will be soon.

Brenda and I are planning our late Mardi Gras celebration.

Since Covid is rampant in New Orleans right now...the parades and floats were cancelled. 

Did that stop the locals?

No...they simply said

 "If I can't have a parade or floats...I'll make MY HOUSE one, instead!"

(...my sincere apologies to Dr. Seuss...)

House Floats

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/mardi-gras-2021-trnd/index.html

Nothing...if not resourceful!

(...and how I miss New Orleans...)

...sigh...

Chris and Tina are good...she just bought her new car, and he is doing well with classes and Genesis...and stopped by this week for late night chat bringing Coke and Pizza!

Lennon is doing better with the loss of his grandmother...has finances sorted for keeping the house and paid off his car...and getting out a bit. Back to work now.

James and Nicki and the kids are fine...and he has been doing some song-writing lately. One about his late father which is very nice.

Angie is back in her Shoppe...but still battling the after-effects of Covid. The rest of the family has fully recovered.

And Diane is back on her way to sit out the rest of the winter in Florida...lol

She'll be back by Spring.

Loretta is good, and life is returning back to some form of normal in her assisted living now that everyone has been vaccinated (staff and residents)

Hopefully, the rest of us can say the same by mid-year.

Now it is time to make some sense of this house. 

Definitely a Cinderella Day!

Happy Valentine's Weekend...

"Hibernating for the Weekend!"

                                                 Sofi and Gadget

 Update:  It is over...only 7 out of 50 crossed over.

So disgusted.  

 Update Update:  I was feeling pretty down after the acquittal...kind of upset with the whole human race...okay..maybe just 43 Republicans.

A package arrived at the door...beautiful red roses...Dove dark chocolates and a bag of Sofii's favorite food (and a pound of real butter...kind of an inside joke). Happy Valentines to us...

Life is good...and I have the greatest guy...I love you...and yes...we will just vote the bastards out one at a time, beginning with Todd Young.