Making time for my blog

Most of the time I post on my blog daily.  Even when my activities amount to little more than watching birds, eating, and surfing the net.  It's been about five days now and I had to make a list of things to yak about -- not that any of them are earth shattering but if I'm going to rattle on, I might as well try to remember everything I wanted to rattle on about.  So, I'll be all over the place with the blog today. Bear with me.

I wrote two letters already this morning. Figured the blog would take me a while to finish and I didn't want to miss the mailman.  Don't have any plans to go out today but tomorrow or Wed. I think I'll buy a Power Ball ticket.  I seldom play that game but I do get visions of sugar plums when the prize gets way up there. Most of the time, I limit my gambling purchases to Hit Five tickets.  Not that they've done much for me lately.

I returned my camera last week.  Second one I've tried out and wasn't happy with. I suspect I'm going to have to invest a little more money.  I don't want anything fancy but I do expect a good quality shot. I'll continue to use my old one for now because it does take good pictures; it just has a dirt speck inside the lens that always shows up on my photos.  From the reviews I've read online, I think I know what I want but I have to have more money in my account first.

I taped the Grammys last night as 3-1/2 hours wasn't something I was willing to sit through. Especially when you remember the commercials that are a HUGE part of the 3-1/2 hours.  I'll watch it later on today and FF through the ads and all the showoffs I can't stand.  (Probably most of them)  I mainly want to see Sam Smith  and I'm betting he took some honors last night.

I missed watching Downton Abbey 'cause I was engrossed in Amazon Prime's 'The Killing' which was filmed in Seattle.  I'm halfway through season 2 and notice that they want me to start paying per episode when I get up to season 3. Nope.  I'll sit it out and turn to any of several other things available.  Really good show, though.  My favorites so far have been 'Big Love', Transparent, Dexter, The Good Wife, and Oz.

My morning routine has changed a bit as far as entertainment background sounds go.  I discovered the John Tesh radio show on 88 AM KIXI  from 10-3.  Good music, good tips.  I like it. 'Course Port Angeles doesn't pick up KIXI worth a darn so I listen through my Roko on television.  My days have been taken up with surfing on Ancestry.com.

My latest project is to figure out if my g.grandmother, Jane Downs, was related to the Clarks in Kent Co, Delaware.  I've got several notes on the Clarks and am researching all their names and whereabouts.  I'm getting closer to connecting the dots too.

This is Matthew Clark and I've gotten to know his family well.  Sort of.  It's so hard to keep track of who is who when they often have the same name and when census records alter spellings from decade to decade.  Census records NEVER seem to match other census records.  There are Harringtons and Herringtons, Clarks and Clarkes, Downs and Downes, etc. and then to make matters more confusing, there are several blacks with the exact same name in the same general time period and place.  I know some of my relatives way back then had slaves so I've sometimes wondered if the black people I'm coming upon are related.  Makes for a fun puzzle.

 I found a Zadock Clark (one of the people in the Clark family I'm researching) who was a neighbor of Ben Downs, my g.g.grandfather.  This Zadock I also found moved to IL (where Ben's daughter, Jane went) after her dad died. She was 12 and I've been trying to figure out who she was with and how she ended up in Ramsey, IL after living in Delaware.  She married a Blankenship (and Zadock was his neighbor) so I'm pretty sure I'm on the right track.  I've been able to track Jane Downs Blankenship from her wedding to her death EXCEPT for one period of time (all the U.S. census records for 1890 were lost in a fire) and that's another search.  Did she have a son name Charles?

I keep telling myself I need to move on into the sewing room and focus on another hobby but every morning I get up and I'm pulled right back to the genealogy files.  Oh well, at least I'm happy.  I did move my laptop back into this office and away from the kitchen table as it was too easy for me to sit down (just for a minute) to look something up and then have two hours elapse.  I have no self control in any area of my life.  Ha ha

And there goes the mailman.  So I'm glad I did my letters first.  I usually leave the mailman a piece of candy.  That way I can tell myself "I didn't eat the whole bag."

Heard voices outside my window Saturday night when I came into this room to check email.  I peeked out the window and saw police car lights spinning a block away. Then I saw a cop walking up the street towards my house. I got out my scanner but I was too late to hear what they were looking for. Kind of sounded like teens getting into mischief.

Hunter went to Olympia on Saturday to compete in some kind of metal shop competition.  The next level goes to Tacoma.  Haven't heard yet how he did but we're all real proud of him as he's only a freshman.  He bought himself an old pickup and then by selling coins and car parts on ebay, he found a cab for this truck.  His dad and grandpa drove down with him to pick it up.  He spends hours out there working on it.

Maddie is finishing up basketball season and I suspect she's glad as the practices are numerous and the games often make getting to bed at a decent time impossible.  They travel everywhere in the area. She's thinking about  trying out for pole vaulting next.  I hope she reconsiders. Sounds too dangerous to me.  But she's strong, as well as little and fearless so we'll see.

Mary is bringing Jake over this Saturday and they'll spend the night. My first time having him here and I'm kid proofing the place as Mary says he's into everything.  Andy will stay home and get the house to himself. I suspect, however, that he's going to miss Jake.  Here's a video that Mary says is Jake's favorite:




And I can't let a blog post go by without the latest shots of THE BOY!

                                          at a play park area at Bellevue Square mall

                                                                    Sitting on Daddy

Two cartoons I saw on Facebook that tickled me.....

Two pictures from LAST FEBRUARY from my cousin, Marlee, in Gig Harbor

Two more calendar shots from seniors posing...

                                                                       Dirty Dancing

                                                                 Easy Rider

A cooking Segment:

A recipe I want to try that is lactose free..

Chocolate Crinkles                          

1/2 cup vegetable oil

4 oz.  (4 squares) unsweetened chocolate

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 powdered sugar (for rolling the dough in )

1.  Melt chocolate in a small bowl.

2.  In a large mixing bowl blend the oil and melted chocolate.

3.  Beat in the sugar and eggs (one at a time) and continue mixing until fully combined.

4.  Add vanilla.

5.  Stir in the flour, salt and baking powder.

6.  Cover dough (in bowl) and chill several hours or overnight.

7.  When the dough has fully chilled, make small balls of dough (about 1 tablespoon) and roll in a bowl of powdered sugar.  Place on lightly greased baking sheets (or line baking sheets with Silpat liners).

8.  Bake at 350* (in pre-heated oven) for 8-10 minutes.

I'm going to have to sit down with my cookbooks (and look online too) to find some new things to eat. My cupboards are bare and nothing much seems to interest me. Need something new.

Other tips:

Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal and Mash, then add the rest of your ingredients, mix thoroughly. Cut the corner of the bag, squeeze mixture into egg.

Add 1/2 tsp. baking soda to the water when boiling eggs and the shell will come right off

Arrange bacon slices on the foil and place the baking sheet on the center rack of a cold oven. Close oven door. Turn oven on to 400°F. Walk away. Come back 17 to 20 minutes later

Advantages: Avoid skin burning splatters, all bacon cooks at the same time, and easier clean up with the foil!

 (Note: I saw my daughter, Mary, doing this and it's really an easier way to cook bacon)

Tip for awesome oven fries! Pre-soak them in salted water, the potatoes release a bunch of their moisture before cooking. This ensures they will crisp up without having to risk burning them.

A note about bread:  I haven't been all that thrilled with the various breads I've been trying out but I like this one from Safeway shelves. (maybe it's other places too)

OPEN NATURE -5 Seed.  Delicious!

Two more notes from Les Walden's list:

---Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

---I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

And last but not least -- check out my granddaughter, Catie's page on ETSY.COM

SEARCH FOR WEINRIDGE JEWELRY & ACCESSORIES  (her and her mom are making earrings and other things)

Well,time to get a little work done on my flower jigsaw puzzle on the card table in the kitchen area.  I know it would be just the thing little fingers would find terribly irresistible so I've got until Saturday morning to complete it.

Heading into PT next week to put my book in a couple of places downtown. Will stop by Ruthie's too as I bought her an online scrabble game to play.  Next month I'm heading in to visit my cousin, Jimmy, who will be up here to see his mother-in-law and his nieces traveling from Ky.  Good picture ops!