Sorceror's Bane
“I refuse to entertain your claim,” wheezed the old man.
“Say what you will,” refuted the proud mother. “After all, she has your eyes.”
“Nonsense.”
Willem leaned forward, gathering his heavy robes about knobby feet so as not to trip, and stood squaring bony shoulders. The child looked up, cherubic and unblinking.
“Hello, Father,” she chirped.
“What is your name, girl?”
“Willamina.”
“Ah, clever Hester. Naming your spawn thus may convince superstitious villagers, but a rose by any other name… Well.” He chuckled. “At least she’s no shrinking violet.”
Willamina, still wide eyed, muttered an alien phrase. Caught halfway between guttural throat singing and a mournful hum, her voice trailed off into reedy echoes. They faded as if swallowed by the hall’s ancient shadows. Cornflower blue eyes rolled back in the brunette’s petite face.
The mage’s thin chest welled. He bellowed a startled expletive. Hestor cackled at Willem slapping his hands over his ears.
“Too late,” Hestor taunted.
Willamina blinked three times and clapped her hands once. Coming out of her obvious trance, she winked one rheumy brown eye.
It was the last thing Willem saw. The last thing he heard was a childish titter lacing Hestor’s repeated prediction.
“I told you, my dearest mentor and betrayer, she has your eyes.”
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Saturday, May 29, 2021
Saturday, May 22, 2021
Gastronomic Gains, Savory Sweet Scones - & - What's This?
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| I have been enjoying our various new kitchen gadgets, especially this multi-use air fryer... |
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| Surprise! I'd not seen a double yolk since childhood. |
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| My pastry fresh out of the machine, loaded with blueberries & grated ginger. |
Saturday, May 15, 2021
Bottled Up, Boxed In, & Unbridled (Joy)
Please forgive any errors. I'm trying not to spend so much time nitpicking. :) In the long run who cares anyway?
In a perfect example of First World problems our built-in kitchen soap dispenser is a pain to refill. From above it is slow and the removable bottle is tucked way up behind both the right hand sink and garbage disposal. Removal is easier than replacement and I did it without thinking so I had no choice but to finish the job I twisted into all sorts of contortions and worked up quite a sweat. Sweet Polly ‘supervised’ all the while. Her super soft distracting cuteness made my task all the more difficult. At last I succeeded.
Minor lingering aches and pains are another win. I count that as an unplanned workout!
I also needed to do some laundry loads without letting cats into that cellar room where we store various potentially toxic paints and such. My first attempt at engaging Terra and Polly in play succeeded until my steadily speedier basement approach met Terra’s racy intervention. Her equally fast sister and she followed me back down the upper hall whereupon I shut them inside for the few precious minutes needed.
A win. Right? Not quite.
Upstairs I let them out but could not enter the room. Entry had been blocked by a narrow box I’d stashed behind the door. ~shakes head~ Fortunately I managed to push away the obstruction without pinching my arm (or worse).
How can one not laugh at these cat antics? And can you believe Jezebel tolerates their craziness with minimal hissing despite their manic efforts to engage her in play?
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In a perfect example of First World problems our built-in kitchen soap dispenser is a pain to refill. From above it is slow and the removable bottle is tucked way up behind both the right hand sink and garbage disposal. Removal is easier than replacement and I did it without thinking so I had no choice but to finish the job I twisted into all sorts of contortions and worked up quite a sweat. Sweet Polly ‘supervised’ all the while. Her super soft distracting cuteness made my task all the more difficult. At last I succeeded.
Minor lingering aches and pains are another win. I count that as an unplanned workout!
I also needed to do some laundry loads without letting cats into that cellar room where we store various potentially toxic paints and such. My first attempt at engaging Terra and Polly in play succeeded until my steadily speedier basement approach met Terra’s racy intervention. Her equally fast sister and she followed me back down the upper hall whereupon I shut them inside for the few precious minutes needed.
A win. Right? Not quite.
Upstairs I let them out but could not enter the room. Entry had been blocked by a narrow box I’d stashed behind the door. ~shakes head~ Fortunately I managed to push away the obstruction without pinching my arm (or worse).
How can one not laugh at these cat antics? And can you believe Jezebel tolerates their craziness with minimal hissing despite their manic efforts to engage her in play?
-
Tuesday, May 11, 2021
Unintended Upgrades
I can hardly believe it's been so long since I posted anything. And I sure got behind reading others' blogs. ~shakes head~ Time is just flying by these days.
And on that note we've lived in this house since 1994 (!) and have replaced a number of things both inside and out, some multiple times like the water heaters that always flood our basement. LOL In an odd chain of events following replacement of our kitchen faucet we have seen multiple small (thank heaven) kitchen appliances suddenly need replaced.
I believe this trend started when the nonstick coating on my sandwich press start to peel. Then our steamer quit working shortly before I noticed rust behind the inner coating of our microwave oven. Yikes.
I found a Toshiba unit recommended by two different sources and we've been very happy with its greater power and neat features. Meamwhile my husband found a multi use six quart GoWISE USA 12-in-one electric pressure cooker. I had no idea it's comparable to the Instant Pot friends kept touting. We've been happy with everything we've used it for: soft boiled eggs (super easy to peel), perfect jasmine rice, and even banana bread (cooked in a bowl, it looked funny while tasting great). I'm looking forward to trying a pear jam recipe.
Soon to be delivered is an air fryer/toaster oven. It seems we're finally catching up with the times. ~grin~ I'm so thankful my guy is good at finding reasonable deals.
Do you have many kitchen gadgets? What do you think is, or would be, most useful in your home?
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And on that note we've lived in this house since 1994 (!) and have replaced a number of things both inside and out, some multiple times like the water heaters that always flood our basement. LOL In an odd chain of events following replacement of our kitchen faucet we have seen multiple small (thank heaven) kitchen appliances suddenly need replaced.
I believe this trend started when the nonstick coating on my sandwich press start to peel. Then our steamer quit working shortly before I noticed rust behind the inner coating of our microwave oven. Yikes.
I found a Toshiba unit recommended by two different sources and we've been very happy with its greater power and neat features. Meamwhile my husband found a multi use six quart GoWISE USA 12-in-one electric pressure cooker. I had no idea it's comparable to the Instant Pot friends kept touting. We've been happy with everything we've used it for: soft boiled eggs (super easy to peel), perfect jasmine rice, and even banana bread (cooked in a bowl, it looked funny while tasting great). I'm looking forward to trying a pear jam recipe.
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| My husband cooks an egg (or two or three) in this daily! |
Do you have many kitchen gadgets? What do you think is, or would be, most useful in your home?
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