crazy happy silly old bird on a cold rainy sunday in the south.

did 'ja ever wonder why this little pal of yours in the south........the peach state called Georgia........why i got me so much stinkin' dirty laundry to do all the dad blamed time?

me too.  but then today i had an aha moment.......the lightbulb went off over my brain big time.  when did this happen?  oh about the time a gigantic tablespoon of butter went flyin over my arm and landed with a light thud on my little kitchen rag rug.  sheez.  will ya look at that?  butter glop......what will the olympic judges give me for that?  soooo not close to the mixing bowl.

seems like the whole house has become an undesignated dart board for all sorts of games.  beyond the buttered rug.......which i had to whisk up quicker 'n' quick due to cats who will eat almost anything.  right now Rio is sitting on top of the couch staring out the living room window watching the Sunday rain with quiet interest.  the wind is moving just enough to keep things interesting out there.....

annie is fast asleep on my side of the bed.....she seems to love napping on my spot.  this is a random thing to say, but i hope she dies before i do.  she is such a one person cat.......fear she would sleep on that spot ever keeping it warm for me should i leave this earth too soon.  she would never understand such a loss.  (.....one of those things a body thinks about but rarely mentions)

.......and no she doesn't race to move when i come back to reclaim my spot.  it's not until my tailbone is hovering directly over her that she deigns to move.  wish i felt that swift......that i could move in time if say an elephant wanted to take over my side of the bed.  i fear the elephant would win.......and i would become human mash.  and i think, good thing my house sits on a concrete slab.....as if Barnum & Baileys' Circus Truck is about to break down in my neighborhood......the elephant minder lets Sid the elephant loose....Sid wanders over to my yard and rings my doorbell with one gigantic elephant paw........and of course my well mannered brain foggy self lets Sid in.......i wobble back to bed......not realizing Dumbo's great great great great grandson Sid is in my home. 

Sid decides to take a nap.....and he thinks why not nap on a comfy American made mattress?  why should i only have a history of resting on straw?  so he thunders into my house, breaking the doorway into smithereens.......while wonky me sleeps on to the background of the Andy Taylor Show.......the one where Aunt Bea has made her famous (but awful tastin') homemade pickles.  Aunt Bea is great at some many things but these pickles taste like kerosene.....and poor ol Andy & Barn and little Opie have to slog their way through jar after jar of these horrendous tastin' things.  So they decide to replace 'em with storebought pickles.  They do this just like any covert mission......bringing the storebought replacements under the cover of night.....in a giant bag.  Aunt Bea thinks since they love her pickles soooo much she will now make a DOUBLE BATCH.......but does Sid care one whit about this funny classic tv tale?

nuh uh.........he just wants my spot......and i don't move fast at all.  am i doomed to elephant sqishdom?  will i make it out in time......will my life ever get this exciting?  lions' and tigers and bears and ELEPHANTS oh my exciting? 

i was going to bake more nanner bread.......had 4 uber ripe bananas sitting in the pretty cut glass bowl.  but my microsoft word documents will not open, i think i accidentally virused my computer.....and will need sam's help.  since i couldn't access the recipe i looked for another one and found a recipe for decadent banana cake with homemade cream cheese frosting.......so that is why i had flying butter only moments ago.

my hand mixer is off......it revs way too fast........this got cake batter on the wall, me, a decorative plate, well let's just say everything got spattered in that corner of the room.......and i got to pick out SHIRT # 2 of the day (and i've only been up for less than an hour) (more reasons why i have more laundry to do than the average bear).  the cake is now happily baking.  which leads me to another wonderful why i am thankful for Bruce.

my oven door wouldn't shut properly.  it shuts almost, but not quite which allows a lot of heat to escape. it led to not having turkey for turkey day.....but what to do to fix it?  i called bruce to see what he could come up with.  well he came over on Saturday around noon and got busy.  he looked at it every which way....opening the door, testing the light.  feeling the seal.....finally pulling the whole unit out fromt he wall, it sits in with the cupboards.  this is when i see dirt.  on the floor.......gooey dirt that gets in between the oven sides and the cupboard side.  yecccchhhhhh!  i grab my foaming bubbles cleaner and bruce says SIT!  he does not want me commencing to clean while he is problem solving.  my need to hide this grunge from the public eye.....and Bruce is part of that public.......is a little too eager.  he benches me and sets my foamy cleaning spray in a can away from me.  man..........

he opens up the top of the oven, sits a big ol screwdriver in there to act as a prop to keep the top up........next he opens up the back of the oven.......he consults with a friend on the phone via the speaker feature.  the friend is watching all of his young rambunctious children while he tries to act as the consultant for repairs.  the phone keeps going dead.......bruce gives up on this idea and i find a youtube video that shows a guy working on a whirlpool oven......to fix the very same problem. this is very encouraging....bruce looks at this video intently and announces that he needs another tool.  off he goes........which makes a good time for a break. 

i eat lunch, leftove bbq'd pulled pork on hot dog buns....don't judge, i didn't have any round buns......i lined the two buns with thinly sliced provolone cheese.....added the warmed pulled pork.  deeee licious.......finished lunch off with two walnut free chocolate chip walnut cookies.  why walnut free walnut cookies?  that's what i'd like to know too......it was a quickie cookie bake offering by good ol betty crocker. the walnuts like the chocolate chips are supposed to be INCLUDED......but they weren't.  so no walnut yumminess for me.......move on ruthie, it's not the end of the world.  (who is handling quality control at your facility Miss Betty Crocker.......?  seriously who? i want my walnuts.....wah wah wahhhhhhh, picture a totally ridiculous tantrum by a white haired wonky sparrow)......no not really......and yet i want 'em, i paid for em didn't i?

bruce  comes back and he has a great idea.....his light bulb moment of the day.  since he is not an oven repairman, uncertain of taking the little motor apart.....and he nor do i have the voltage meter thingy to test what is what with said motor.......he offers a different solution........he will attempt to file the opening for the protruding metal lock on the inside front of the oven door......by widening it by 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch he believes that he can settle the issue.....restore me to full baking prowess.......and eliminate the need for a costly repairman.  and that is what he does and that is what happens.......he made the opening wider with a metal file dealy.......and i tested it as soon as he left by baking a chicken pot pie for one. 

the gravy bubbled up merrily through the crust......it was hot and tasy.  success......whoo hoo......i called bruce to report a successful mission and he was very glad!  this may seem like a funny way to resolve this, but it worked and both Bruce and this oven user are very very happy.  by the way, i pulled the freshly baked banana cake out of the oven.  it is golden brown and looks right purty!

the cream cheese is still coming up to room temperature........but once the cake is cooled there will be some delicious homemade cream cheese frosting happening up in here.......

stay safe.....find ways to stay present in your days......and in your nights if you're dealing with sleep issues......know that i remain constant in my prayers for you......and yeah i'm very fond of you.......( i was gonna type what i was thinking.....but i didn't.  i was gonna say i'm very fond of your happy ass.......but that sounded kindof not correct......and sort of smart alecky.......it's just me compensating for how much i care about you as my friend by putting a teen age spin on it all.........down talking the level of affection by being a dork. 

ok.....hang in there......glad to know you and glad to be up and moving around this quiet rainy Sunday.  the (formerly) buttered rug is about ready to hit the dryer.........love you!