Sleighbells ring and all that.

I've been feeling a little pathetic recently, to tell you the truth. I had some meds changed, which helped curtail a slide downwards that I was feeling, but they've also left me with some weird side effects. Basically, in the mornings I've been feeling shaky and sometimes vomitous. Actually, I think for the first time ever, coffee is truly exacerbating this yuck feeling. I tried stopping the wakefulness-encouraging medicine, but that just left me so sleepy I've taken two 3-hour naps in the last two days. Followed by a full-night's sleep. Ugh!

This morning it hit me hard that I was going to be alone on Christmas. I called up a friend, but she wasn't able to invite me along to her goings on. I have to admit that I then cried in public. I do have a couple of places I can go, but for some reason they don't feel *right*. I want FAMILY, darnit. Hi Mom. I love you. I'm still glad I'm not getting on a plane, but I sure wish teleportation were a viable travel option. Sigh.

The good thing is that I've managed to take the last couple days' slump and transform it some. I left the house this morning, and when I came back I put in a couple of loads of laundry, ran the dishwasher, and gathered cookie recipes. I've made some thumbprint cookies to showcase my plum jam, and I'll begin on my traditional toffee here in a bit. Tonight I have a party to go to, which I'm looking forward to, and tomorrow I'll be doing the Chapel Hill Christmas Bird Count. I did the Durham one last weekend.

I did get a couple of cards in the mail today, which also helped. One was from my wonderful Grandma, and I'd like to share it with you.

Dear Stew,

I'm sorry you couldn't make it up here for Christmas, but when you work that's not always possible. We'll miss our Stew but will look forward to next summer maybe.* The weather up here is just so cold and snowy right now. I hate to go out and shovel my walk off, but I'll have to because the poor little birdies are all out of seed. So I'll have to go fill the feeder. My two pair of cardinals and the little snow birds (juncos) and sparrows and chickadees and blue jays are waiting for me to feed them. The squirrels and a little rabbit are out there, too. The boys were over last week with their father, and they brought hamburgs. I can't say no to that! I went to school doings with Annie and the boys last Wednesday. Your mom and Pete were here Mon. and brought me wine, two kinds of soup, fresh strawberries, and choc. cheesecake. I guess I won't starve! We will miss you!

Love, hugs, and kisses from
Grandma


*What Grandma doesn't know is that I'm flying up to Michigan for a long weekend at the end of January. She's turning 90, and I'll be there, dammit!

Art (Not that kind)

As long as I've been alive enough to remember, my dad has been enormously overweight. Back at the end of January, as I believe I mentioned, Dad had some kind of gastric bypass type surgery. There was quite a long time where he felt like extreme crap, but it looks like that part is over with for the most part.

One hundred and fifteen pounds later, he looks like this:

I can put both arms all the way around him when we hug, and he's a handsome devil, but by far the best part is that he's been able to go off of almost all the medicine he took as a result of being so overweight. We went to lunch, and he ate 1/4 of a sandwich and two spoonfuls of a divine strawberry soup. Cheap date.

And......more.

This is definitely a house of the 50's. Linoleum, shuffleboard court, and a brick BBQ structure in the backyard where many teenagers stashed beer cans and cigarette butts.


I have laid claim to this still-working gas stove. Pedro used to cook dirt in it.


The beer cans got stuffed down the chimney. It wasn't me. Just to the behind is the woodpile that housed (probably still does) chipmunks and squirrels. My doggo growing up used to tear back and forth trying to get them.



However, there are many remnants of the 1980's here and there as well. I've brought out two of my prom dresses. I recall being very proud that they were "couture" dresses (I was snobby that way). I also know that I got them on sale. I've retained that sense of thrift. Actually, I think I've refined it down to "buys all her clothes at Goodwill" status, which is fine by me.

Anyhoo:

9th grade. Fuschia Victor Costa strapless. No bows, but the ruffly top is presh. I was the only girl there in a full-length dress. Ah well, at least I had my princess moment. There's a photo somewhere of me and my sister when I'm wearing this dress. She has a surfer girl haircut and is making a hang ten sign with one hand, with a glass of red wine in her (underaged) other hand. I'm wearing aviator Ray Bans.


Senior year: Alfred Sung bubble dress, in a very nice peachy color. I was a bit mortified to see bubble dresses back in style recently. I had a perm when I wore this more understated dress. Note that both of these dress designers have no true connection to "couture" as far as I can tell. More like wedding and bridesmaid dresses.

We'll see what else we come up with.

A day at the farm in Ionia. More of my favorite things.

Welcome to my aunt and uncle's 250 acre farm in beautiful Ionia, Michigan, home of the Ionia Free Fair.


The farmhouse is real old. It's kind of not my style on the inside, and I wonder if there are hardwood floors under the carpet. The well water is very very full of iron, which is difficult to get used to drinking.

The barn is really old, too. I love it. Blue silos rock.

Flower mix of goodness.

Oh, my, how cute?!

Uncle Evan. Over the course of my life they've had normal farm crops (wheat, soybeans, corn, etc.) and always animals. The best ones in my opinion were the angora goats. I mean, look at how cute the kids are! Evan and Linda used to have huge numbers of cattle for beef, but now they just have about 14 head that they breed for stud. One roan got out of the barn while I was there, which was very exciting. Aunt Linda and I had to chase the poor cow back before it decided to cross the street onto someone else's farm. Evan's not in the best of health, but he still spent the day spreading manure. Like I said, the farm is 250 acres, but Evan rents about 175 of them out to other farmers. The rest is for pasture, hay, and maybe grain.


Steer. Soon to be MEAT. Less than a month, dearheart. Enjoy it.



I wish I had gone up in the hayloft yesterday, but here's a shot of where the cattle go to feed once they've had their fill of pasture.



Grandma and Aunt Linda pick some strawberries. I came home with more vegetables than I know what to do with. And a pressure canner! And a ton of rhubarb seeds! And onion sets! Lots to do today. I might take the beans home in my suitcase and process them at home with my new pressure canner.




Isn't she lovely? Born 1919. Grandma kept telling me that if I was tired I should take a rest. There's another photo on flickr of her that I couldn't get to rotate correctly on my computer. It shows Gram's beauty even better. An added bonus is that you get to see a monster beet.


What a fantastic day.

Introducing Stew, the video

Shelby

It's raining! Not the crazy pouring storm type of rain, but it has cut into my birding a bit.

Yesterday morning I headed out to the nature preserve first thing, and immediately spotted a slew of female or juvenile American Redstarts. There were some of the usual suspects as well--Red Eyed Vireos galore, for example, and titmice, chickadees, bluejays and the like. By far the most exciting were a pair of Hooded Warblers. My Sibley's says they're not usually up here in this part of Michigan, so I'm interested in checking out their distribution in more detail a bit later.

That is if I don't run out of time. I'm at the small library in the small town closest to the cottage, and I have about 10 minutes left of computer time before they kick me out. So this entry will be brief brief brief! Both of the librarians have really cute hair and were kind enough to refer me to their stylist down the road. $14 for a haircut is really unheard of. I'm up for it.

I'm sure I have 90 zillion more things to report (of interest to few, but hey, that's my MO) but neither the time nor the memory to flesh them out.

Oh, Marco? I'm noting things for you. There were a bunch of cyclists I passed on the way into town. I bet you've done that route before.

Much love to you all,
Stew

Not supposed to be doing this.

At this moment my mom, Pedro, Annie, her three boys and my Grandma are all up at Lake Michigan, enjoying a temperate, sunny day, cool breezes, hammocks, hugs and snuggles, fresh cherries, wildlife, sand, outdoor showers, cold waves, and a new spa. Look at the weather up there. Sigh. 

I'm inside at my mother's computer, doing research on public health issues, catching up on the time sensitive tasks I didn't get done before heading out of Cackalack. I was hoping to finish up before lunch, stop for a wet burrito to go and be on my way. 

This is taking longer than I expected, likely due to my perfectionist tendencies. Luckily, I came across sustenance in the form of Diet Vernors and a wild rice, almond and morel pilaf from the freezer. Two of the three main components of the pilaf are local, I suspect.  Little by little I've ingested about 3 cups of this manna so far, which is keeping me sane as I bemoan my delayed gratification. 

Get me out of here!

Decapitated Chicken

That's me. The day after tomorrow I leave at the asscrack of dawn to head up to the Great Lakes State for some R&R, good birding, and familial bonding.

Somehow, though, every single type of deadline possible is also this week, both at work and in my personal life. I have so many things to do that it's been keeping me awake at night, with all the to-do's running through my head over and over. What if I don't remember to do X before I leave? What if I can't get in touch with Y person? What're these other unexpected time-consuming work tasks that have a deadline while I'm gone? Must do! Must pay rent! Must document all car problems! Must water neighbor's garden by hand with her cistern water and free any Brown Thrashers that managed to break through the netting to get to the sweet sweet blackberries and then can't find their way out! Must make homemade fruitsnacks with a handful of blackberries and two dozen underripe peaches! Must do sinkload of dishes! Must deal with housemate pas de deux! Must clean out car! Must complete and hand over certain things best not to mention here but that take way too much time and are inordinately important and that are due before I go! And that I just found out about yesterday! Must pack ahead of time because I'm going straight from work Thursday to Chapel Hill to take my car in and then spend the night at Emily's so she can get me to the airport at said buttcrack of dawn! Must prepare my bathroom for new roommate to use before old roommate leaves! Must harvest and figure out how to take produce on the plane! Must get medicine refills, because I might run out, but who knows if I can because of the damned health insurance limitations?????????

Argh!!!!

Out the Front Door

There's more coming. People are hunkering down tonight.

Non-event

The beer didn't make it long enough to have frozen, thank GAWD. But now it's entirely gone, sniff. As my sister once said as an 8th grader on a trip to Spain, in a resigned tone of voice, "Oh well, wine again..."

I've confiscated/rescued a bottle of cherry wine from the beer fridge that looks to be either tasty in its sweetness or horrible in its attempt to be real wine. I hope it has embraced its cherryness. We'll see when I get back from Dad's house.

We had a lot of power outages in this area last night because of the wind, but not so much snow. I'll have all-wheel drive with brand new tires and stability control to make it out into the hinterlands where my father lives, and then back in time for the traditional dinner my mumma makes. Then it's time to try to fool the kids into thinking that Santa managed to come early so we can open presents.

Tomorrow is a brunch at my sister's and then a big ham dinner here at Mom's. Overeating is par for the course here Chez StewFamily during this season.

For those of you following the cookie saga, I bought my mom a Springerle rolling pin as an extra xmas gift and made her open it early. I'd been gifted hers, and then I couldn't find it when she wanted it brought home. Now we have cookies! Whee!

Red-breasted nuthatches are the most exciting bird so far.

Here are some pictures of the family for your pleasure (but mostly for mine).


Liam, whose favorite color is orange because of his hair, winking for the camera. Age 5.



My sister and I, on her birthday; not the best picture of us.


Conor, aged 9.4, being a total goofball. Par for the course.


Pedro and I.

Mumma and I! We're so cute, aren't we?

Ian, aged 9.4 as well, putting up with me grudgingly. "Aunt Stew, I hate pictures."


Liam being sweet.

Porch Beer and other problems.

I'm a little worried about the beer. I mean, I can't drink it too too fast, because it's 7% alcohol, and MAN that is a kick in the pants. It's already losing some fizz, and I'm not real psyched about that, but it's not my main concern at the moment.

The problem is, you see, that the temperature has dropped something like 9 degrees in 20 minutes and is getting lower. The day began at 51ºF and will end up at 18º or so. I'm worried that the porch beer will freeze.

The wind is blowing so hard that the (fat!) squirrels are barely able to hang on to the trees, and the bushes near the feeder are full of chickadees (black-capped, not Carolina) with messy feathers. The back screen door, despite being tightly fastened, is fighting hard not to be sucked open.

They're expecting light snow; just 3-6", but the roads that had all melted are frozen over now to black ice. I'm supposed to go to my dad's house for dinner tonight, but I've kind of lost my winter driving mojo, I'm afraid. And the winter weather advisory reports that the gust of wind up to 50 mph will create "near blizzard" conditions. Um...not driving in that. Maybe I'll see if I can go out there during the day tomorrow instead, when things will have calmed down a bit.

Dude

Woke up at 4 a.m.
Almost missed my 6:30 flight, nonetheless.
Free wireless in Cincinnati. Whee!
Annie's pretzel and my 3rd cup of coffee.
Takeout from the Bonefish Grill(e?) for lunch.
Crablegs and champagne for the annual Champagne tasting party. (Ask me sometime about the smoked quail)
I can take a bath. Oh my, a bath.
I can flush the toilet more than every 4 times.
Mom will lotion my back.

I like going home.

(Ask me how I feel in 10 days)

For Suzanne. It's so true.

One way to spend good time with friends while not biting into the time you need for your to-do list is going on errands together. So in addition to the pedicures and cashmere sweaters, we also went to the grocery store and the home despot.

I bought some cottage cheese, but Suze really ruined it for me. I had forgotten, see, about the wonders that are Michigan Brand Cottage Cheese In The Blue Container.

My breakfast cottage cheese is really lame in comparison, damn it.

Gwen Frostic and Bronner's Christmas Wonderland, too.

Pinky, in addition to you being just, well, COOL, I love that we share roots. We have a bond that most people just will never understand, and I appreciate it.

FRAGELS, PEOPLE!

You only WISH you had access to these fantastic lumps of hot, sweet, chewy bits of happiness.

From here:

fragel

(thing) by Lucy-S (5.4 hr) (print)

?

Fri Jun 21 2002 at 20:11:50

A fragel ("FRAY-gul") is a a bagel that, instead of being baked, is deep-fried in light oil and then rolled in sugar and cinnamon.

They are soft and sweet and densely chewy. They taste like a cross between a bagel and a doughnut, and have far more calories than the former but are healthier than the latter. They are probably at least as fattening as boardwalk fries, and they are deeply yummy.

As far as I know fragels are solely a regional Michigan delicacy. I first encountered fragels when I was in East Lansing, MI for the Clarion workshop. East Lansing is evidently an enormous market for all manner of exotic bagels due to the huge college student population. One of the Clarionites, a native Michiganer, came in one morning with a big brown paper grocery bag mottled with telltale grease spots. A delicious aroma filled the room the moment he opened the bag. He passed the fresh-fried goodness around the room, and five pounds of fragels disappeared in about as many minutes.

I have searched the Midwest for bagel shops that offer fragels, but I have been met with nothing but blank looks when I've asked about them. I'm amazed no one else makes them -- it's surely not out of bagel purism, because real water bagels are not what most bagel joints offer.

If you visit Michigan, your best bet for finding fragels is to seek out a regional chain called Bagel Fragel that has locations in Lansing/East Lansing and Ann Arbor.

Thank you Pinky!

Oh, Hai.

Please pardon the posting post World Beer Festival. Cause 2 oz servings really add up. Jesus, am I blogging under the influence aGAIN?

Um, yeah.

So the best part, and there were many good parts, was that I found a brewery from the town where I grew up. Awesome, right?

Well, imagine on top of that the one of the booth people was actually a guy I went to fucking high school with. Almost 20 years ago, because YES, I'm that old. I didn't recognize him at first, but the second time I went back I just had to ask: "Is your name Dave?" "Maybe" "Dave Lastname? It's Stew! We went to high school together!"

He put a temporary tattoo on me. It runs; not so high of quality.

So bizarre. I had to call my friends Nemoid and JJ (both happy commenters) and tell them. I swear it's like the 20th reunion is at bay and I'm actually kind of interested in going back.

Right now, though, I've had too many 2 oz beers to make sense.

A man named Malu cabbed us home.

Oh, and my ex-boyfriend from college's brewery was there too. I called him when I found out. It was weird.

UPDATE: The picture, incidentally, was just some random guy I went up to, not the high school person. I met a lot of people yesterday.

I know, I know. Addict.

Getting up at 4 a.m. is horrid, but doable. I even washed the dishes so that my NEW ROOMMATE wouldn't have to wade through them while moving in today. See? Am nice.

It's beautiful here. Just....perfect weather. I took a nap on my favorite couch, and my mom gave me a new purse. Well, new to me. Leather. Spendy but a hand-me-down. Sigh. The best of both worlds!

I had a wet burrito for lunch. It was as big as my head.

Creepy Cardinal is here again. This time he's got a skater 'do--just a tuft in front. So cute.

Today I'm driving here for a party with friends of the family on my dad's side. Then I drive back tonight and crash at my mom's house. Tomorrow a.m. I'll be picking up Gram and driving out to meet up with Mom at Pedro at the cottage. I'll also be joining my sister and the boys (including this one) there.

It feels good to see everyone. I do love it here in the summer.