Miscellanous Minutia

About a week ago I attended a graduation party in Northeast Ohio. After braving the usual freeway insanity heading north I decided to take surface roads home. That took longer yet provided more interesting views and fewer screeching brakes.

I didn't know Nashville, Ohio existed...

...Or that a city represents our state's
geographic center. Huh...

I stayed overnight with my brother. It was odd. The living space he wants to renovate is a deathtrap and his health crisis in January limits his capacity. Worse, he rents a room to the former occupants' son who doesn't help out as promised. My brother Brian also cares for this dude's dog and that of his eldest daughter. The former got in my car and didn't want to leave.

First up, this sweetie is a handful my
niece's other dog dislikes.

Near blind, Lexi was defensive yet sweet.
I rather wanted to take her home but it
would have been rightfully vetoed.

After I returned home my husband and I went to an amazing international market. We missed going since the Chinese 'coof' hit but exploring the huge space with oxygen restricting face masks made the ideal unpalatable.

However, this ugly hybrid photographed
between two lemons was very palatable

Would you live in a house where bits of floor are falling into the cellar? Can you blame little Lexi for wanting out of there?

-

A Rare Bite

Browsing our grocer's frozen food aisle I often keep a lookout for sales and/or interesting products. A closeout item fit both categories in the form of Welsh rarebit. The label confused me as one small box listed the servings as 4 and a half while the picture showed the classic cheese sauce on two toast slices. No normal person eats a quarter or so slice of bread. But at less than one (US) dollar each, two found their way into my shopping cart.

I later discovered the image depicted a 'serving suggestion'. Rather than finding two separate compartments I discovered a frozen block of golden cheese. Reading the ingredients should have tipped me off. ~shakes head~ For a ready-made, processed food its list is short and includes no preservatives. Most were what constitutes Worcestershire sauce, the flour being just a classic thickening agent.

We already had a loaf of nice crusty bread for a tasty platform. And yes, I ate just about a fourth of the sauce. ~grin~ One difference I'll make in future is to brown the cheesy bread. It tasted good right out of the microwave but this image found on the website Good to Know looks extra tasty. This link leads to the recipe, which I'd like to try sometime.

Yum...

Have you ever eaten Welsh rarebit? Did you know another name for this meatless dairy dish is the incongruous Welsh rabbit?

-

A Friday Fill-In

Reading yesterday’s post on 15 and meowing intrigued me to join in the Friday fill-ins. I hope you enjoy.

1. I am (often) overdue to feed my fish for days (!) in a row. This sounds odd but I avoid lifting the lid of my aquarium where too-clever-for-her-own-good kitty Terra can see. When she’s finally napping I tend to be otherwise occupied and forget. Thank heaven my spotfin gobies don’t seem to suffer.

2. I am so sick of all the various powerful global entities making bank on hate, fear, and misinformation. I’ve heard that the media assigns us our opinions if we let it. We need to take it upon ourselves to do our own research on whatever we find troubling and have patient, respectful dialogues. Or I could just take my unicorn out for a ride. ~hangs head~ Most folks of every ilk just want to live in peace.

3. Tinned anchovies on bread is a strange snack I like to eat. Snacking is rare for me anyway, but I tend to opt for savory over sweet.

4. A bento box is one of the most random things I own. The compartments are great for more than just sushi. Its first use was when my husband and I enjoyed strawberries dipped in plain yogurt off the shared tray.

Not exactly the one I bought, but close...

What say you on these topics?

-

Oops!

Somehow, I missed the fact my post about the cicadas included the same video twice. ~rolls eyes~ Let me try this again...

Cicadas aren't the most graceful creatures on the planet. But living underground for seventeen years would probably mess me up way worse.

:)

-

The Swarm

Blogging friend Strayer and I were of like mind when she requested images of our cicada infestation. ~grin~ I am sorry that sharing my footage has been so long delayed. I am sure you can imagine the… ahem… feline reasons.

Even as I began uploading stuff to compile here, Terra decided to knock over a sculpture. I’m happy to say that this one did not break. The elephant’s giraffe friend had to have its ear glued back on. ~shakes head~ The moment our eyes met I decided my kitty needed some enrichment time.

So I got her harnessed for a foray into the front yard. What fun - for us, anyway. A few unfortunate cicadas were caught and at least partially devoured. I wish the humidity hadn’t been so miserable, though dodging the ugly bugs provided me a good bit of calisthenics.

 

I am very glad none of the neighbors were out as I yipped, yelped, and danced around the yard. Heh... Eventually I had to carry a resistant yet well behaved and gentle Terra inside. Her sister Polly enjoyed a good sniff fest.

Would you consider following Terra’s example by eating these high protein insects? Do you know the difference between locusts and cicadas?

-

Brood X in a Nutshell...

I must admit finding the current cicada emergence quite fascinating. If you're interested, I found this local article. WARNING: the information includes some rather disgusting facts you might best avoid reading if bugs creep you out.

On the cute side of things, here is a time-lapse video I filmed this morning. Terra and Polly Dactyl were fascinated by all the aerial activity.

Have you ever heard emerging cicada's mass mating chorus? A friend from North Dakota, unfamiliar with the cacophany, attributed it to a mass number of car alarms sounding off. And that yearly event in Chicago was miniscule compared to the hoards outside my Ohio home.

-