The recipe for Giant Apricot Walnut Scones made scones every bit as good as The Chestnut Cottage. They were the hit of the day.
Well worth the four trips to the store. This is such a beloved item at The Chestnut Cottage that I wanted to give it the proper respect it deserved. First I went to Trader Joe's, who have the best nuts at the best price and very smartly bought the walnuts, without the recipe, and went home without the dried apricots. What was I thinking, how was I going to make Apricot Walnut Scones without the apricots. So I went back to the store and got those. Then I glanced at the recipe and realized I needed heavy cream, back I went. Then I actually read the recipe and didn't have Golden Raisins. Me thinks I better get back in the habit of cooking.
Who knew Golden Raisins aren't at every neighborhood grocery. You know how it is when you try a recipe for the first time you want the actual ingredients. Three stores later I finally gave up and went to see Connor. "Hey Roger," I said, "You don't happen to have any Golden Raisins do you." He checked the pantry and didn't so I gave up on Golden Raisins and was going to settle for plain ole' ordinary raisins. Then Stephanie came home and said why don't you just take mine.
She made it sound so reasonable. Now I know only Stephanie is reliable when you are on the hunt for Golden Raisens.
I recommend useing only Golden Raisins, I don't think the recipe would have been so PERFECT with anything else.
This blog reminds me of Mark and his insulation saga.
My day was full, delicious and filled with lovely people; one friend from work, one Conner, one Stephanie, two book club ladies, and three Sons. What a Thanksgiving.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The Power of Clan, Tribe, Family -- Pride
Pride, yet another name for one type of family.
Belonging is the gift of our race. The gift we receive when we are born. We are born into a group whether it be Taylor's or lions or some other form of identification. As we grow we embrace other groups that enhance our power and pride, we are born human, American, Okies, but join bowlers, readers, cyclist, birdwatchers, and yes, even actors and engineers.
I feel pride when ever I see an accomplishment in which ever group I am aligning myself with, I didn't do it, any of it, but I get power from the pride. So today I want to honor my pride in my family. The tribe I am most proud of belonging to. Taylor Pride. I didn't plan it, earn it, work for it, nor do I probably deserve it, but it is mine and I claim it.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my family, I hope yours is loving and fulfilling; no arrests, fights, hurt feelings or food poisoning.
May Connor smile, Hannah glow, Jean heal, Brittany laugh, Amber not study too much, Clark win something, Janice complete her crossword puzzle, Julia get a compliment, Tal rest, Stephanie tease, Jeff communicate across the pond, Summer cook a dazzling meal, Art walk, Jerry read, Jane quilt, Chris drive slowly, Michael enjoy a turkey leg, Blaine text, Taylor perform, Marc take a break, Dan enjoy family, Claire do what ever Brits do on American Thanksgiving Day, Danielle be with friends, Jonathan relax, Cathy shop, Mark compose a blog, Jordon dance, Jack race, Nora exercise, Andrew screen, Jason drink a beer, Judy giggle, little Cheyenne coo, Josephine enjoy the day, Jennifer sing, Scott and family have seconds, Jacquie and Julie email, Benjamin bounce, may all the family members not around be remembered, may Roger, Christian, and Ian help with the cooking, serving, eating and cleaning of the Thanksgiving dinner, and all of us remember how Thankful we are for family.
I finally ran out of things to say, so here is a sentiment compliments of Kathy Noland.
Belonging is the gift of our race. The gift we receive when we are born. We are born into a group whether it be Taylor's or lions or some other form of identification. As we grow we embrace other groups that enhance our power and pride, we are born human, American, Okies, but join bowlers, readers, cyclist, birdwatchers, and yes, even actors and engineers.
I feel pride when ever I see an accomplishment in which ever group I am aligning myself with, I didn't do it, any of it, but I get power from the pride. So today I want to honor my pride in my family. The tribe I am most proud of belonging to. Taylor Pride. I didn't plan it, earn it, work for it, nor do I probably deserve it, but it is mine and I claim it.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my family, I hope yours is loving and fulfilling; no arrests, fights, hurt feelings or food poisoning.
May Connor smile, Hannah glow, Jean heal, Brittany laugh, Amber not study too much, Clark win something, Janice complete her crossword puzzle, Julia get a compliment, Tal rest, Stephanie tease, Jeff communicate across the pond, Summer cook a dazzling meal, Art walk, Jerry read, Jane quilt, Chris drive slowly, Michael enjoy a turkey leg, Blaine text, Taylor perform, Marc take a break, Dan enjoy family, Claire do what ever Brits do on American Thanksgiving Day, Danielle be with friends, Jonathan relax, Cathy shop, Mark compose a blog, Jordon dance, Jack race, Nora exercise, Andrew screen, Jason drink a beer, Judy giggle, little Cheyenne coo, Josephine enjoy the day, Jennifer sing, Scott and family have seconds, Jacquie and Julie email, Benjamin bounce, may all the family members not around be remembered, may Roger, Christian, and Ian help with the cooking, serving, eating and cleaning of the Thanksgiving dinner, and all of us remember how Thankful we are for family.
I finally ran out of things to say, so here is a sentiment compliments of Kathy Noland.
May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have never a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Thanks For Everything
Embarking on my 51st thanksgiving holiday has me thinking about my earliest recollection of thanksgivings past. My earliest memories of thanksgiving are not that early. That is, I don’t seem to have the same vivid memories of my 5th thanksgiving like I do of my 5th Christmas (on which I received a really cool building set consisting of hundreds of tiny geometric shaped magnetic pieces that could be arranged in all sorts of imaginative patterns on a metal plate). I remember playing with that toy for hours on the cold red painted concrete floor of the tract house we lived at in1963 …Thanksgiving1963 -- not so much.
I guess my earliest recollections of Thanksgiving are really just a hodgepodge of different separate memories. They include pumpkins, pilgrim hats, and turkeys created using scissors, construction paper, and globs of sweet smelling white paste; family gatherings with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents; college football games actually played on Thanksgiving day and not the day after; Dad’s dressing that, given its mottled green color, may have had a bit more sage than it needed (but dad loved sage); turkeys, hams, yams, brown n serve rolls, relish trays, cranberry sauce – both kinds, grandma’s orange shredded carrot/celery Jell-O salad, and every dessert you can imagine – my favorite being Mom’s fruit cocktail cake (which contains so much sugar that it baked up caramel colored). I also remember the afternoon naps that followed dinner and the evening naps that followed the consumption of leftovers -- little was known in those days about tryptophan, we just thought we were extra tired because we had eaten so much.
From my past lives (a term I use to describe the separate phases of my life) to the present, my thanksgiving roles have traversed the spectrum. I’ve gone from visiting son to visiting son-in-law, to visiting grandson-in-law, to patriarch, back to visiting son-in-law, to host, and finally to restaurant patron. I, like all of us here, have been blessed throughout this time to always have a place to go for thanksgiving dinner, which in these tough times, should not be taken for granted.
So I get to my point, after rambling and reminiscing so much about the past, that we are all very blessed. As for me, I am thankful for all I have this thanksgiving, as it is not that inconceivable that instead of being here, I might have merely been dust -- if not for a twist of fate (thanks again Marc). Instead, I have a full life with children and parents, and brothers and sisters, and pets and friends. I have a great job with promising prospects and enough money to provide my family’s every need and most of their wants (not all though -- since I have a teenage daughter who can fill an internet shopping basket to infinity in less time than it takes to carve a turkey). I have time with my true love to look back on the past, enjoy the present, and ponder the future, with maybe a bit left over to make a fruit cocktail cake. And most of all I am blessed because I realize that all of these things come from my Lord, who is always with me.
Hope it’s the same for you and I hope all are well and stay that way. Mark (also for ATH &B)
I guess my earliest recollections of Thanksgiving are really just a hodgepodge of different separate memories. They include pumpkins, pilgrim hats, and turkeys created using scissors, construction paper, and globs of sweet smelling white paste; family gatherings with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents; college football games actually played on Thanksgiving day and not the day after; Dad’s dressing that, given its mottled green color, may have had a bit more sage than it needed (but dad loved sage); turkeys, hams, yams, brown n serve rolls, relish trays, cranberry sauce – both kinds, grandma’s orange shredded carrot/celery Jell-O salad, and every dessert you can imagine – my favorite being Mom’s fruit cocktail cake (which contains so much sugar that it baked up caramel colored). I also remember the afternoon naps that followed dinner and the evening naps that followed the consumption of leftovers -- little was known in those days about tryptophan, we just thought we were extra tired because we had eaten so much.
From my past lives (a term I use to describe the separate phases of my life) to the present, my thanksgiving roles have traversed the spectrum. I’ve gone from visiting son to visiting son-in-law, to visiting grandson-in-law, to patriarch, back to visiting son-in-law, to host, and finally to restaurant patron. I, like all of us here, have been blessed throughout this time to always have a place to go for thanksgiving dinner, which in these tough times, should not be taken for granted.
So I get to my point, after rambling and reminiscing so much about the past, that we are all very blessed. As for me, I am thankful for all I have this thanksgiving, as it is not that inconceivable that instead of being here, I might have merely been dust -- if not for a twist of fate (thanks again Marc). Instead, I have a full life with children and parents, and brothers and sisters, and pets and friends. I have a great job with promising prospects and enough money to provide my family’s every need and most of their wants (not all though -- since I have a teenage daughter who can fill an internet shopping basket to infinity in less time than it takes to carve a turkey). I have time with my true love to look back on the past, enjoy the present, and ponder the future, with maybe a bit left over to make a fruit cocktail cake. And most of all I am blessed because I realize that all of these things come from my Lord, who is always with me.
Hope it’s the same for you and I hope all are well and stay that way. Mark (also for ATH &B)
Monday, November 16, 2009
More Insulation, College, and Christmas
On Wednesday, November 11th we completed the deposition of the remaining 70+ bails of insulation into our 3000 sq ft attic, which now looks as if it was down wind from a significant volcanic eruption. The good news is that the whole insulation job cost me only $335 for labor—which is only twice my original estimate (I am a Government engineer, what did you expect?) plus 9 hours of my time that otherwise would have been spent celebrating (read as lounging around) Veteran’s Day. After hoisting up 70+ 25 lb bails of insulation and feeding them into a noisy cantankerous hopper style insulation blower (designated as Blower # 1 -- more foreshadowing), I was sore for 3 days. I will not go into much detail, but after dispersing approximately 3 bails of insulation, the aforementioned hopper style insulation blower (#1) did suffer what I would call an unfortunate mishap involving twisted/broken rotating metal parts followed by a raucous clanging noise that, had it not been for one key safety shield, may have resulted in careening metal projectiles that would have surely slashed through my garage door opener motor mounted to the underside of my garage ceiling. Let’s just say that the aforementioned hopper style insulation blower was prematurely retired from service.
I believe that the Home Depot service representative that checked in the “defective equipment” was so flabbergasted by the situation; i.e., the prospect of property destruction and/or bodily injury, and the ensuing cacophony of paperwork that would have been required, that he gladly issued me a replacement hopper style insulation blower (blower # 2), no questions asked, for the completion of the job. In the end, it was all worth it though as I seemed to have redeemed myself with my very benevolent spouse.
Speaking of which, she has now completed all but her last class (7-week senior capstone) of her bachelor’s degree and can clearly see the light at the end of the tunnel; a tunnel from which we will emerge on December 14th. I say “we” because it has been a total family effort with all of us pitching in, but with most of the hard work done by Ms. 3.87 GPA Amber.
When we’re all done this year it will truly be surreal as we will forego a home cooked Thanksgiving dinner for a Thursday afternoon reservation for 12 at Mimi’s Restaurant, and supplant our traditional Harris/Taylor Christmas extravaganza, which is rivaled in pomposity by only the wedding of Charles and Dianna, with a Christmas cruise in the Caribbean. It is very strange indeed to be well into November with no plan for a home cooked Thanksgiving dinner and not even a hint of preparation for Christmas. No lists, scheduling, wrapping paper, ornaments, shopping (cyber or otherwise), menus, secret presents, budgets, baking, decorating, snow village, Christmas letters, cards, stamps, lights, wreaths, parties, pajamas, late night marathon present wrapping-sequencing-numbering sessions, stockings, candy, or cinnamon rolls. No Christmas day dinner, no Christmas Eve party, no midnight mass, no journey to Bethlehem, pageants, or choirs of angels.
The impact of not doing all we usually do this time of year has not quite set in yet. I know I will mourn the loss a bit and I suspect that Amber will too, but we will also perhaps create a one-of-a kind memory for our family. And also, hopefully, we can come out of it with a greater appreciation for all the effort that my wonderful wife puts into making our traditional Christmas celebration so special. Please pray that it will be so.
I close by saying that hopefully we will be seeing some of you at Christmas breakfast in Bella Vista.
Hope all are well and stay that way. Mark (also for ATH &B)
I believe that the Home Depot service representative that checked in the “defective equipment” was so flabbergasted by the situation; i.e., the prospect of property destruction and/or bodily injury, and the ensuing cacophony of paperwork that would have been required, that he gladly issued me a replacement hopper style insulation blower (blower # 2), no questions asked, for the completion of the job. In the end, it was all worth it though as I seemed to have redeemed myself with my very benevolent spouse.
Speaking of which, she has now completed all but her last class (7-week senior capstone) of her bachelor’s degree and can clearly see the light at the end of the tunnel; a tunnel from which we will emerge on December 14th. I say “we” because it has been a total family effort with all of us pitching in, but with most of the hard work done by Ms. 3.87 GPA Amber.
When we’re all done this year it will truly be surreal as we will forego a home cooked Thanksgiving dinner for a Thursday afternoon reservation for 12 at Mimi’s Restaurant, and supplant our traditional Harris/Taylor Christmas extravaganza, which is rivaled in pomposity by only the wedding of Charles and Dianna, with a Christmas cruise in the Caribbean. It is very strange indeed to be well into November with no plan for a home cooked Thanksgiving dinner and not even a hint of preparation for Christmas. No lists, scheduling, wrapping paper, ornaments, shopping (cyber or otherwise), menus, secret presents, budgets, baking, decorating, snow village, Christmas letters, cards, stamps, lights, wreaths, parties, pajamas, late night marathon present wrapping-sequencing-numbering sessions, stockings, candy, or cinnamon rolls. No Christmas day dinner, no Christmas Eve party, no midnight mass, no journey to Bethlehem, pageants, or choirs of angels.
The impact of not doing all we usually do this time of year has not quite set in yet. I know I will mourn the loss a bit and I suspect that Amber will too, but we will also perhaps create a one-of-a kind memory for our family. And also, hopefully, we can come out of it with a greater appreciation for all the effort that my wonderful wife puts into making our traditional Christmas celebration so special. Please pray that it will be so.
I close by saying that hopefully we will be seeing some of you at Christmas breakfast in Bella Vista.
Hope all are well and stay that way. Mark (also for ATH &B)
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Two Movies
Two recently viewed movies:
Henry Poole is Here: Jerry, this is a faith based movie where faith is depicted as good, not your typical Hollywood faith as sport or joke, this movie took faith seriously. The faith part was fantastic, the story part was not fantastic, but good.
The Shadow We Soon Will All Be: This movie is weird, and my standards are pretty loose. I still have no idea what it was about; gambling, dying, traveling, suicide, a road movie, a buddy movie, a lost love movie, a lost child movie. It is an Argentina movie set in semi-current time, with a lot of Italian. If anyone is brave enough to watch this please, PLEASE tell me what it was about. I am not often completely lost in a film, but this one bamboozled me.
Maybe with better subtitles or a more intimate understanding of Argentinean life it would have made more sense, who knows.
Have a great week as you go off to work tomorrow. Well, except for Josephine, Janice, Art, Jean, Jerry and Jane -- anybody else out there retired?
Henry Poole is Here: Jerry, this is a faith based movie where faith is depicted as good, not your typical Hollywood faith as sport or joke, this movie took faith seriously. The faith part was fantastic, the story part was not fantastic, but good.
The Shadow We Soon Will All Be: This movie is weird, and my standards are pretty loose. I still have no idea what it was about; gambling, dying, traveling, suicide, a road movie, a buddy movie, a lost love movie, a lost child movie. It is an Argentina movie set in semi-current time, with a lot of Italian. If anyone is brave enough to watch this please, PLEASE tell me what it was about. I am not often completely lost in a film, but this one bamboozled me.
Maybe with better subtitles or a more intimate understanding of Argentinean life it would have made more sense, who knows.
Have a great week as you go off to work tomorrow. Well, except for Josephine, Janice, Art, Jean, Jerry and Jane -- anybody else out there retired?
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Thank you Nora
Thank you Nora for inviting me to be an author on the blog. It was so easy with your instructions. You are amazing. More instructions on December 5th in Bella Vista.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Quote, Quote, Quote
Fun stuff, being able to put other folk's ideas and thoughts on the family blog:
From my book club buddy, Carol:
From my book club buddy, Carol:
p.s. I am loving your Blog even if I don't know all the players. I feel a little voyeuristic even if there isn't nudity. Loved the Home Depot story. That would be me!
From my little chef friend, Amanda:
From my little chef friend, Amanda:
There could never be a more beautiful you
Don't buy the lies, disguises, and hoops they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you
~Jonny Diaz - More Beautiful You
From my book club buddy, Sandie:
Book Review
Has anyone read Expecting Adam by Martha Beck? It is the story of a Harvard doctoral candidate who is on the fast track to academic success. When her 2nd child is born with Down's syndrome, everything she knows is turned upside down. This is a mystical, spiritual, and incredibly life-affirming story. Oh, it is also hysterically funny in parts.
This has been a three son week. Had breakfast with Christian at 2:30 the other afternoon. Ian was able to join us at I-HOP. Roger repaired my heater just in time for winter. Last evening was my play date with The Connorman, Connor was happy to see his granny and we played Granny-In-The-Box for much of the evening. Stephanie is glowing as usual. Connor deserted his granny in a hurry when mommy came home, but he came back after he received a spot of loving attention. Connor now lives in a "gated" community. He is locked away from the dog food and water, the bird cage, the trash, the pantry, and a tempting escape route up the stairs.
A friend's father has been diagnosed with end-stage leukemia and mortality always makes my thoughts maudlin. So here is oozy love coming at you, Jan
Monday, November 9, 2009
Thanks Nora!
Thanks Nora. Disregard my request to invite me. I figured out how to do it using Jan's login. I can now post comments and I am an official author. If there is anything I can do for you, just let me know.
Nora, our amazing Nora. Thank you for making blogging the sport of everyman. If I was as smart as Nora I would have already told you what she just did. Nora you made it easy. I couldn't have done that in six weeks, hell, I couldn't have done in six years. Our amazing Nora.
And, Nora, tell your mom the spell check is on the "posting page," never mind, I'll bet you already have.
This blog is getting lively, animated, interesting -- thanks to the opinions and contributions of fellow family members.
And, Nora, tell your mom the spell check is on the "posting page," never mind, I'll bet you already have.
This blog is getting lively, animated, interesting -- thanks to the opinions and contributions of fellow family members.
Instructions for the Blogging-Challenged
Don't let the Internet Superhighway claim you as an innocent victim! Follow these easy steps for blogging and you can continue to lead a stress-free, blog-full life!
To make a comment under your own name:
1) On the right hand side of the page, under Followers, click Sign In.
2) This will lead you to a log-in screen. You do not have to have a Gmail account. You can set up an account using your existing email and password.
3) Log in under whatever email/password you choose and it will direct you back to the blog page.
4) Locate the post that you want to comment on and Type your comment in the blank provided.
5) Under Comment As, select the Google account that you are logged in as and Voila!
To make a Post under your own name:
1) You have to be invited to be an author on the blog so you can either go into the settings under Jan's account and figure out how to email yourself the invitation. Or (if you would prefer) you can reply to this post and I'll send you the invite.
2) After you have accepted the invitation (You don't have to have a Gmail account for this either), you must agree to the Terms of Service and select Accept! You are now ready to post! (Side note - you can adjust settings to display a picture or description of yourself!)
3) Now that you are logged in, you should be looking at the Dashboard. In the middle of the screen there is a big button that says New Post. Click it and you are ready to post as usual!
Happy Blogging!
Nora
P.S. For those of you who will be in Bella Vista for Christmas Breakfast I can walk you through it first hand. I can also help with Facebook pages (Aunt Jean I'm looking at you!), Myspace, Skype, iPhones, or almost any other technology platform that causes grief.
To make a comment under your own name:
1) On the right hand side of the page, under Followers, click Sign In.
2) This will lead you to a log-in screen. You do not have to have a Gmail account. You can set up an account using your existing email and password.
3) Log in under whatever email/password you choose and it will direct you back to the blog page.
4) Locate the post that you want to comment on and Type your comment in the blank provided.
5) Under Comment As, select the Google account that you are logged in as and Voila!
To make a Post under your own name:
1) You have to be invited to be an author on the blog so you can either go into the settings under Jan's account and figure out how to email yourself the invitation. Or (if you would prefer) you can reply to this post and I'll send you the invite.
2) After you have accepted the invitation (You don't have to have a Gmail account for this either), you must agree to the Terms of Service and select Accept! You are now ready to post! (Side note - you can adjust settings to display a picture or description of yourself!)
3) Now that you are logged in, you should be looking at the Dashboard. In the middle of the screen there is a big button that says New Post. Click it and you are ready to post as usual!
Happy Blogging!
Nora
P.S. For those of you who will be in Bella Vista for Christmas Breakfast I can walk you through it first hand. I can also help with Facebook pages (Aunt Jean I'm looking at you!), Myspace, Skype, iPhones, or almost any other technology platform that causes grief.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Frustrated weekend with the Harris's
Since I am not able to figure out how to post as "myself" (instead of just logging in under the username and password Jan provided at the beginning) I'll just say this is Mark.
First of all, to answer Jan’s question, I WAS going to Knoxville to attend some high powered training (about $30k for 2 weeks). But due to the fact that the class did not get enough enrollees, it was cancelled. So I'm not going to Knoxville after all. And therefore, I'm sure that unless Amber is just up to her eyeballs in homework, we'll be in BV for breakfast.
So, why am I frustrated? I'll tell you in list form so you can perhaps reply by number and offer some assistance, or maybe just some consolation.
1. I can't seem to figure out how to even post a comment on this blog. I don't have a google or yahoo mail account and really don't want one. I have enough in my engineer brain already and do not need to add another username and password to it. I just want to comment! Is there not a way to just comment? My E-mail address is markwharris@cox.net. When I enter it, the dad-blamed program just tells me that my address contains some illegal characters. Now let me tell you, I know an illegal character when I see one (having been robbed at gunpoint in 1981 while working at QuikTrip) and I saw nothing illegal about any of the characters in my E-mail address. I didn't even see anything even mildly suspicious about them—except for maybe the "." which is kind of sneaky since it is very small and hiding between the “x” and the “n” at the bottom of the line. I got into the help menu and read a little about Blogspot. It said that there were several kinds of blogs; one of which was one meant for Families or groups to stay in touch. If this is that type, it sure is hard to break the code. If it’s not, perhaps it can be converted. I'd love to be able to have my own sign-in. Please reply if you can help me do what I need to do to be able to post and/or make comments as "Mark".
2. I went to the Home Depot earlier this week and bought $1000 worth of insulation with the idea that I would do a little to stop wasting energy and cut my summer electric bills by hundreds of dollars while taking advantage of the energy tax credit that is currently available (free money from the stimulus bill!). The Home Depot man, whom I might add is a very persuasive and convincing salesman, said that two reasonably capable folks could install the 75 bags of insulation I’d purchased in just about 2-3 hours. With my keen engineering brain I quickly calculated that I could pay Taylor $15 an hour and Blaine $5 an hour and we could do the job for less than $75 of labor. Heck, the blower they lent us had a picture of a petite young woman donning a paper mask handling the job with ease. How hard could it be? I assumed (wrongfully so – this in literary terms is referred to as “foreshadowing”) that among the five of us Harris's there were at least a combined two reasonably capable persons. … I was wrong. So, to make a long story short, which is difficult to do at this point, Saturday afternoon we spent from 2 PM to 6 PM and managed to get roughly 4.2 of the 75 bags dispersed into our attic which now has two, what I would call, size 13 foot "vent holes" into our living space-- one in our laundry room ceiling and one in our master closet ceiling. I consider these vent holes to be an undesired consequence of the insulation process and therefore I will chose to repair them rather than leave them for the next buyer to admire. Luckily no one was seriously hurt, although Taylor was walking with a sight limp afterward. I again used my keen engineering brain to calculate the cost of repair for the “vent holes” at about $60 each (from a handyman I know) and by extrapolating the labor time and repair costs for the completion of the dispersal of the remaining 70.8 bags of insulation, and the ensuing cosmetic damage and potential medical bills, my total cost for the job would be roughly $12,682 (I used an excel spread sheet to calculate this) and require approximately 288 man-hours of labor (not including medical personnel), seven 4 x 8 sheets of drywall, 232 ft of drywall tape, and three trips to the emergency room. Don’t say anything about the possible expense for the divorce lawyer, alimony, child custody considerations, and child support. So, now I will hire my handyman to repair my vent holes and complete the insulation job probably at a cost far greater than any savings I would have realized within the time span that I plan to stay living here on Parkhurst Road (roughly seven and one-half years).
3. My Wife, whom I rightly referred to as smarter than me in my previous post told me, with a fair amount of prescience, to just give Taylor the money and pay someone more experienced and perhaps more nimble to do the job. And so you see, she was absolutely right on all counts and has reminded me that this whole stimulus funded green energy thing was all my idea and that if one of her precious golden nuggets gets hurt in the process she would never forgive me. There you have it, a microcosm of the whole national political landscape rolled up in one weekend at the Harris household; id est, stimulus, cap and trade, and healthcare all in one debacle. Yes honey, you were right.
4. My wife spent roughly 29 hours this weekend doing projects, assignments, homework, reading, writing, research, printing, editing, re-editing, and study groups, for the three classes she is taking right now. I might add that none of this information will she ever need to use after her December 19th graduation. She will be no smarter than she is now and no more qualified to do the job or jobs she has before her. But she will have a piece of paper that says she is. The whole academic experience has been eye opening for us. It has prepared us for the three other Harris’s that will follow. To top it all off, I went to a retirement seminar last Tuesday and found out that I can’t retire for seven and a half more years (see comment above about the house). When you add the economic situation to the picture, and the increasing cost of higher education, I’ll be lucky to get out of this job I have alive. I have two choices: 1) a mid life crisis; or 2) convince my children to petition the court for emancipation.
Well I’d like to close now with this thought. Although I am incredibly frustrated by these events and circumstances, I also know I am a thousand fold more blessed to be in the situation I am than I would be without these events, or circumstances.
Hope all are well and stay that way. Mark (also for ATH &B)
P.S. – Julia, as for spell check, I just do my writing in word and then cut and paste.
First of all, to answer Jan’s question, I WAS going to Knoxville to attend some high powered training (about $30k for 2 weeks). But due to the fact that the class did not get enough enrollees, it was cancelled. So I'm not going to Knoxville after all. And therefore, I'm sure that unless Amber is just up to her eyeballs in homework, we'll be in BV for breakfast.
So, why am I frustrated? I'll tell you in list form so you can perhaps reply by number and offer some assistance, or maybe just some consolation.
1. I can't seem to figure out how to even post a comment on this blog. I don't have a google or yahoo mail account and really don't want one. I have enough in my engineer brain already and do not need to add another username and password to it. I just want to comment! Is there not a way to just comment? My E-mail address is markwharris@cox.net. When I enter it, the dad-blamed program just tells me that my address contains some illegal characters. Now let me tell you, I know an illegal character when I see one (having been robbed at gunpoint in 1981 while working at QuikTrip) and I saw nothing illegal about any of the characters in my E-mail address. I didn't even see anything even mildly suspicious about them—except for maybe the "." which is kind of sneaky since it is very small and hiding between the “x” and the “n” at the bottom of the line. I got into the help menu and read a little about Blogspot. It said that there were several kinds of blogs; one of which was one meant for Families or groups to stay in touch. If this is that type, it sure is hard to break the code. If it’s not, perhaps it can be converted. I'd love to be able to have my own sign-in. Please reply if you can help me do what I need to do to be able to post and/or make comments as "Mark".
2. I went to the Home Depot earlier this week and bought $1000 worth of insulation with the idea that I would do a little to stop wasting energy and cut my summer electric bills by hundreds of dollars while taking advantage of the energy tax credit that is currently available (free money from the stimulus bill!). The Home Depot man, whom I might add is a very persuasive and convincing salesman, said that two reasonably capable folks could install the 75 bags of insulation I’d purchased in just about 2-3 hours. With my keen engineering brain I quickly calculated that I could pay Taylor $15 an hour and Blaine $5 an hour and we could do the job for less than $75 of labor. Heck, the blower they lent us had a picture of a petite young woman donning a paper mask handling the job with ease. How hard could it be? I assumed (wrongfully so – this in literary terms is referred to as “foreshadowing”) that among the five of us Harris's there were at least a combined two reasonably capable persons. … I was wrong. So, to make a long story short, which is difficult to do at this point, Saturday afternoon we spent from 2 PM to 6 PM and managed to get roughly 4.2 of the 75 bags dispersed into our attic which now has two, what I would call, size 13 foot "vent holes" into our living space-- one in our laundry room ceiling and one in our master closet ceiling. I consider these vent holes to be an undesired consequence of the insulation process and therefore I will chose to repair them rather than leave them for the next buyer to admire. Luckily no one was seriously hurt, although Taylor was walking with a sight limp afterward. I again used my keen engineering brain to calculate the cost of repair for the “vent holes” at about $60 each (from a handyman I know) and by extrapolating the labor time and repair costs for the completion of the dispersal of the remaining 70.8 bags of insulation, and the ensuing cosmetic damage and potential medical bills, my total cost for the job would be roughly $12,682 (I used an excel spread sheet to calculate this) and require approximately 288 man-hours of labor (not including medical personnel), seven 4 x 8 sheets of drywall, 232 ft of drywall tape, and three trips to the emergency room. Don’t say anything about the possible expense for the divorce lawyer, alimony, child custody considerations, and child support. So, now I will hire my handyman to repair my vent holes and complete the insulation job probably at a cost far greater than any savings I would have realized within the time span that I plan to stay living here on Parkhurst Road (roughly seven and one-half years).
3. My Wife, whom I rightly referred to as smarter than me in my previous post told me, with a fair amount of prescience, to just give Taylor the money and pay someone more experienced and perhaps more nimble to do the job. And so you see, she was absolutely right on all counts and has reminded me that this whole stimulus funded green energy thing was all my idea and that if one of her precious golden nuggets gets hurt in the process she would never forgive me. There you have it, a microcosm of the whole national political landscape rolled up in one weekend at the Harris household; id est, stimulus, cap and trade, and healthcare all in one debacle. Yes honey, you were right.
4. My wife spent roughly 29 hours this weekend doing projects, assignments, homework, reading, writing, research, printing, editing, re-editing, and study groups, for the three classes she is taking right now. I might add that none of this information will she ever need to use after her December 19th graduation. She will be no smarter than she is now and no more qualified to do the job or jobs she has before her. But she will have a piece of paper that says she is. The whole academic experience has been eye opening for us. It has prepared us for the three other Harris’s that will follow. To top it all off, I went to a retirement seminar last Tuesday and found out that I can’t retire for seven and a half more years (see comment above about the house). When you add the economic situation to the picture, and the increasing cost of higher education, I’ll be lucky to get out of this job I have alive. I have two choices: 1) a mid life crisis; or 2) convince my children to petition the court for emancipation.
Well I’d like to close now with this thought. Although I am incredibly frustrated by these events and circumstances, I also know I am a thousand fold more blessed to be in the situation I am than I would be without these events, or circumstances.
Hope all are well and stay that way. Mark (also for ATH &B)
P.S. – Julia, as for spell check, I just do my writing in word and then cut and paste.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
SCORE !!!
Wednesday I was talking to a colleague at Onlineshoes.com and telling her how much I enjoyed taking guests to The Chestnut Cottage in Port Angeles because of the Apricot-Walnut Scones. Today she was reading Bon Appetit Magazine and lo and behold there was the recipe. I guess it was under reader's favorite restaurants, and this reader asked for and got the recipe. SCORE !!!
I think Margie was more excited than I was, and I was excited.
The Chestnut Cottage Restaurant
Giant Apricot-Walnut Scones
2 c. all purpose flour
1/3 c. sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1/2 c. chopped dried apricots
1/2 c. golden raisins
1 1/3 c. heavy whipping cream
powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Whisk first three ingredients together in large bowl
Stir in walnuts, apricots, and raisins
Add cream: stir with fork just to blend
Transfer dough to work surface sprinkled with powdered sugar
Knead dough until smooth, about 10 turns
Form dough into a 1 inch thick round
Cut into 6 wedges
Sift powdered sugar over
Transfer to baking sheet
Bake scones until golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
DO AHEAD: Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cool completely, cover and let stand at room temperature.
Bon Appetit Magazine, December 2009 and my colleague Margie.
I think Margie was more excited than I was, and I was excited.
The Chestnut Cottage Restaurant
Giant Apricot-Walnut Scones
2 c. all purpose flour
1/3 c. sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
1/2 c. chopped dried apricots
1/2 c. golden raisins
1 1/3 c. heavy whipping cream
powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Whisk first three ingredients together in large bowl
Stir in walnuts, apricots, and raisins
Add cream: stir with fork just to blend
Transfer dough to work surface sprinkled with powdered sugar
Knead dough until smooth, about 10 turns
Form dough into a 1 inch thick round
Cut into 6 wedges
Sift powdered sugar over
Transfer to baking sheet
Bake scones until golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
DO AHEAD: Can be made 8 hours ahead. Cool completely, cover and let stand at room temperature.
Bon Appetit Magazine, December 2009 and my colleague Margie.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
As I sit here listening to "PIRATES OF PENZANCE" and wishing Mother had known Andrew and vice-versa (sorry Nora, I do not know the spelling) I must disagree and be thankful my long term memory leaves a lot to be desired. I remember dressing up in the big girls starched petticoats and singing and dancing with Jan for a show we insisted Mother and Dad watch and admire. I do not know why, but the record that comes to mind is "THE 4 SOMETHING(?) SINGING BROADWAY HITS". I especially remember the music from "KISS ME KATE". Don't ask me why, I have no clue.
I am sorry Andrew missed (and Nora got only a very small taste) of someone who absolutely LOVED children, all children, without reservation. Any child, with all their warts, funny hair, bad behavior and without reservation my Mother either loved or was the world's greatest actress! My memories are mostly happy. I remember Mother holding Curtis when she was practically blind and Voleta or Berchie (I cannot remember which one) commented on the embarassment of having a child of color. I remember Mother saying "it feels like a baby to me". My children would have fallen in love, as all kids did, with our Mother.
I remember the rich kids from Pleasant Hill wanting to come to my house and I am pretty sure it was not because I was special! I remember the "decorate the cookies" birthday party and the Cinderalla Cake - TWICE - once when I was twelve and again when I turned 21! How good is that! I feel sorry for people who are not me.
The music is over so Ta-ta for now. I must finish cleaning for the Friday night wine & cheese block party. We finally have new neighbors, so it is not just Sonja, myself and the "informer".
Nora - where is "spellcheck" on this thing?
I am sorry Andrew missed (and Nora got only a very small taste) of someone who absolutely LOVED children, all children, without reservation. Any child, with all their warts, funny hair, bad behavior and without reservation my Mother either loved or was the world's greatest actress! My memories are mostly happy. I remember Mother holding Curtis when she was practically blind and Voleta or Berchie (I cannot remember which one) commented on the embarassment of having a child of color. I remember Mother saying "it feels like a baby to me". My children would have fallen in love, as all kids did, with our Mother.
I remember the rich kids from Pleasant Hill wanting to come to my house and I am pretty sure it was not because I was special! I remember the "decorate the cookies" birthday party and the Cinderalla Cake - TWICE - once when I was twelve and again when I turned 21! How good is that! I feel sorry for people who are not me.
The music is over so Ta-ta for now. I must finish cleaning for the Friday night wine & cheese block party. We finally have new neighbors, so it is not just Sonja, myself and the "informer".
Nora - where is "spellcheck" on this thing?
Fried Chicken
I had fried chicken today, sometimes only fried chicken will do when you are in a Southern mood, and it worked, I wolfed down my chicken legs and biscuits, burped and pondered infinity.
You know -- fried chicken -- home cooking -- mother -- fudge -- bumble bees -- cedar trees -- rolling down the hill -- laying in the grass on a summer's eve staring into the black black sky at the enormity, the immensity of the milky way and pondering infinity.
It was bigger than me then and it's bigger than me now and after fifty years I'm still pondering infinity, but my tire was low and loosing air so I drove to Discount Tire and had it fixed, that's two this year, and the painters left a hole in my screen, ladders and scaffolding I guess. So you can see what a mess my life is, disaster all around, but Ian had scored a box of Trophy's Cupcakes and I ate my share, watched the newest Woody Allen film and went to bed, couldn't sleep so I got up to feed The Taylor Blog and ponder infinity.
And what in the world will I cook for Thanksgiving and who will be here and am I really crazy. Tomorrow, well actually today, is another State-of-the-Company meeting so I'll go and see how my paycheck is doing then on to a play date with The Connorman, and my friend Lynn said she liked Mark honoring the women in his life and thinks I should sign my name every time I blog, she despairs of making me behave and I should have left Julia's blog alone after she showed me how to edit it.
No amusing childhood story burbled to the surface for entertaining purposes and I thought our childhood wasn't exactly the rosy cheeked, babbling brook idyllic sort anyway, it had thorns and burrs and manure and dad sitting at the end of the kitchen table, usually with a pipe or cigar, fixing, mending, building, wiring, glueing -- things.
And infinity is still there, sort of like family -- beyond understanding and ain't I glad.
You know -- fried chicken -- home cooking -- mother -- fudge -- bumble bees -- cedar trees -- rolling down the hill -- laying in the grass on a summer's eve staring into the black black sky at the enormity, the immensity of the milky way and pondering infinity.
It was bigger than me then and it's bigger than me now and after fifty years I'm still pondering infinity, but my tire was low and loosing air so I drove to Discount Tire and had it fixed, that's two this year, and the painters left a hole in my screen, ladders and scaffolding I guess. So you can see what a mess my life is, disaster all around, but Ian had scored a box of Trophy's Cupcakes and I ate my share, watched the newest Woody Allen film and went to bed, couldn't sleep so I got up to feed The Taylor Blog and ponder infinity.
And what in the world will I cook for Thanksgiving and who will be here and am I really crazy. Tomorrow, well actually today, is another State-of-the-Company meeting so I'll go and see how my paycheck is doing then on to a play date with The Connorman, and my friend Lynn said she liked Mark honoring the women in his life and thinks I should sign my name every time I blog, she despairs of making me behave and I should have left Julia's blog alone after she showed me how to edit it.
No amusing childhood story burbled to the surface for entertaining purposes and I thought our childhood wasn't exactly the rosy cheeked, babbling brook idyllic sort anyway, it had thorns and burrs and manure and dad sitting at the end of the kitchen table, usually with a pipe or cigar, fixing, mending, building, wiring, glueing -- things.
And infinity is still there, sort of like family -- beyond understanding and ain't I glad.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Oops
Sorry, no photograph of Jerry and Jane, I wasn't smart enough to get it posted. Maybe tomorrow.
A Photograph and a Quote
From the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations:
"The life of man written under the direction of his family, did nobody honor." Horace Walpole, Fourth Earl of Oxford
...or as I told mother one time, she is the only person I knew who raised eight black sheep. Baaa...
"The life of man written under the direction of his family, did nobody honor." Horace Walpole, Fourth Earl of Oxford
...or as I told mother one time, she is the only person I knew who raised eight black sheep. Baaa...
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Notes from Julia - Bella Vista
I have been lazy since returning from Greenleaf - so this is pretty boring (I live a very small life and I love it!).
I had a wonderful 61st birthday celebration with Andrew, Nora, Jeffery and Tal. Tal is back on the road and we had a week of drizzly, dreary weather. I did nothing but go to work, help our church move to a new location and go home to vegetate! We finally had a nice Saturday, so Jeffery & I helped St. Matthews move "the big stuff" to the new location.
Sunday morning dawned clear and crisp (41 degrees) so Jeffery & I started our 3 mile Crystal Bridges trail to check on progress of the new art museum and the James Turrell sculpture (?).
The "sculpture" is a round building with a hole in the top so you can go in, sit down, and admire the sky and clouds moving overhead and meditate on your past, present and future life, lives or whatever. The building is beautiful, peaceful and I can hardly wait to get inside. BUT - I am just not sure it is art. By the time we had finished our 3 miles the sun was well and truely up in the sky and the temp had risen substantially. It is a GLORIOUS Sunday! I am looking off my back deck to a lovely full moon just rising. The back deck is actually facing southeast (I think) - Dad would absolutely die and it is hard for me to comprehend. A house should be oriented north, south, east or west!
Jeffery and I are looking forward to as many people as possible for Christmas Breakfast, Saturday, December 5th @ 10:00 a.m. (or whenever you can get here) @ Tal & Julia Bowman's -xxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxx . Between #16 Victoria Lane and #9 Kenneth Lane, we have 4 beds, 2 couches, 1 big cot (Jean can vouch for it's comfort) and 2 small cots. We can also call upon Nora @ 479-841-9358 for reservations in case you have forgotten what it was like when ten of us lived in 800(?) sq. ft. on 50th Street.
ps. I have no clue if I got the photos of the James Turrell sculpture posted - but who cares!
Love to all...Julia
I have been lazy since returning from Greenleaf - so this is pretty boring (I live a very small life and I love it!).
I had a wonderful 61st birthday celebration with Andrew, Nora, Jeffery and Tal. Tal is back on the road and we had a week of drizzly, dreary weather. I did nothing but go to work, help our church move to a new location and go home to vegetate! We finally had a nice Saturday, so Jeffery & I helped St. Matthews move "the big stuff" to the new location.
Sunday morning dawned clear and crisp (41 degrees) so Jeffery & I started our 3 mile Crystal Bridges trail to check on progress of the new art museum and the James Turrell sculpture (?).
The "sculpture" is a round building with a hole in the top so you can go in, sit down, and admire the sky and clouds moving overhead and meditate on your past, present and future life, lives or whatever. The building is beautiful, peaceful and I can hardly wait to get inside. BUT - I am just not sure it is art. By the time we had finished our 3 miles the sun was well and truely up in the sky and the temp had risen substantially. It is a GLORIOUS Sunday! I am looking off my back deck to a lovely full moon just rising. The back deck is actually facing southeast (I think) - Dad would absolutely die and it is hard for me to comprehend. A house should be oriented north, south, east or west!
Jeffery and I are looking forward to as many people as possible for Christmas Breakfast, Saturday, December 5th @ 10:00 a.m. (or whenever you can get here) @ Tal & Julia Bowman's -xxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxx . Between #16 Victoria Lane and #9 Kenneth Lane, we have 4 beds, 2 couches, 1 big cot (Jean can vouch for it's comfort) and 2 small cots. We can also call upon Nora @ 479-841-9358 for reservations in case you have forgotten what it was like when ten of us lived in 800(?) sq. ft. on 50th Street.
ps. I have no clue if I got the photos of the James Turrell sculpture posted - but who cares!
Love to all...Julia
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