Saturday, February 15, 2014

Baking: Banana Nut Muffins UPDATED

Not having much to do today I decided to make use of some old-ish bananas and tried the Joy of Cooking's Banana Nut Muffin recipe. They are yummy! Recipe link below.

Very easy and delicious!
Recipe is here

UPDATE: Just for the record the recipe says you should eat them while they are fresh and warm. If you don't they're as dry as a buckwheat fart. 

Friday, February 14, 2014

GOP Senate Candidate Calls Mitch McConnell 'Beltway Turtle' In Anti-Cornyn Ad

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! Priceless!


Once again we go into the Wayback Machine...

Scanners are wonderful tools aren't they??

Katie and Jon
At Dara's wedding
Scargo Pottery
The Bieb's old gay uncle

Ted Cruz explains what Republicans hate most: 'When they're forced to tell the truth'

Take a moment to read and savor this (my bolding). 

From DailyKos:

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Douchebag
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz took a victory lap yesterday celebrating his successful maneuver on Wednesday to force Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to vote for advancing legislation to raise the debt limit:

“In the 13 months I’ve been in the Senate it has become apparent to me the single thing that Republican politicians hate and fear the most, and that is when they’re forced to tell the truth. It makes their heads explode,” Cruz told radio host Mark Levin Thursday. [...] “A lot of the Republicans wanted exactly what Barack Obama wanted, exactly what Nancy Pelosi wanted, exactly what Harry Reid wanted, which is to raise the debt ceiling, but they wanted to be able to tell what they view as their foolish, gullible constituents back home they didn’t do it.”
So according to Cruz:
  1. Republican politicians are a bunch of liars
  2. Most Republicans were bluffing all along on the debt limit
  3. Republicans think the GOP base consists of a bunch of gullible fools
I've gotta' say, pretty hard to argue with any of that. But I will add one thing: To the extent that #3 is a true reflection of their beliefs, that's one thing most Republican politicians are right about.

Something sweet for St. Valentine's Day from Mr. B


Happy Valentine's Day!


Country Life

Mr. B and I were driving into Orleans from the Clubhouse in Dennis and were discussing that we really do live (pretty much) in the country. I thought it was kind of a stretch until I got this news flash from CapeCodOnline this morning:


Avertissement! Les vaches!
EAST SANDWICH - Two cows were struck by a car and killed Thursday night on Route 6A near the Riverview School, according to Sandwich Fire Capt. James Huska. Police began to get calls about several cows that were wandering on Route 6A a little after 8 p.m.. Then, at about 8:17 p.m. two of the beasts were struck by a single car, said Huska said. The driver received minor injuries, Huska said. The animals were black, he added.

It took about 90 minutes for Department of Public Works employees to remove the carcasses.

The accident happened in the area of 588 Route 6A, he said.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Snow Days


I've had enough: Wallpaper Edition, Final

Well, I have finally finished. The one afternoon (Monday) cheap project had dragged itself out to 4 days, more expense and trouble than I had bargained for but it is now done. If I may offer some unsolicited advice for tenants; If you do not know whether the wallpaper in your rental has been put up properly, do not attempt to remove it yourself. It will only end in misery. Either get a pro to do it or just paint over it and you'll be much happier. Good thing I was on vacation this week or it would have dragged out longer. Here are some photos.

 Moving in day 2011. As you can guess we have been living with this tacky wallpaper and avocado fixtures for some time now.
This is the same room last Sunday before I got going. Note the ugly framed mirror on the medicine chest.
Nothing to do but remove the crappy paper and paint.
Here it is today after all of the pictures are up. I decided rather than to compete or coordinate with the avocado fixtures I embraced the color. Glidden now calls "avocado green" "Hazy Sage". So now I have fabulous Hazy Sage fixtures in our bath. 
I also silvered the mirror and glazed it with a burnt umber acrylic to give it an antiqued look. I think it came out well.
And no bathroom of a gay man would be complete without the obligatory Audry Hepburn in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" poster

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Enjoy the view... Empresses

Empress Catherine II of Russia
Catherine II in national costume
Empress Maria Theresa of Austria (mother of Queen Marie Antoinette of France)
Empress Josephine of France, Napoleon 1er's first wife
Empress Marie Louise of France, formerly Grand Duchess of Austria (Napoleon's 2nd wife)
Empress Marie Louise of France
Empress Elizabeth of Austria (Sissi)
Grand Empress Dowager Cixi of China

Empress Eugenie of France
Shabanou (Empress) Farah Diba of Iran

Another photo of the Shabanou with a close up of her magnificent emeralds and pink and yellow diamonds
The remarkably lovely Empress Michiko of Japan

I've Had Enough! Wallpaper Edition: Update 1

Scoring tool
Well, as anybody who has done any home improvement project can attest it always costs twice as much because you need double everything, and you need to go to the hardware store at least twice and probably 3 times for everything you need. My 1 afternoon project of removing the wallpaper and painting in my bathroom has now become a 2-3 day project of wallpaper removal, huge hole patching, sanding, washing, patching, taping and then painting.

I bought all the stuff I needed (or so I thought), Zinsser "Paper Tiger" scoring tool, scraper, Zinsser DIF spray-on wallpaper removal gel, paint, tape and painting stuff (pan, rollers, etc.) and I was ready to go. As I am removing only 30 sq ft of wallpaper (tops) I thought it would be a breeze. I discovered however that the paper has been up since 1984 and was stuck right on the drywall without any sealer or coating whatsoever on the drywall so the paper is literally a part of the drywall now.

Wall beneath paper in terrible shape
First I ran the scoring tool over the paper to make holes so the gel can penetrate, then I sprayed on the Zinsser DIF blue gel and waited the requisite 20-30 minutes and tried to remove the paper. Some came off easily, most did not. The more scraping I did the more drywall paper came off too. It was obvious that the bottle of gel was not sufficient to do even this small space I had to do. I got off as much of the paper as I could and figured that Inevitably I would need another bottle of that gel. Put that on the list.


This hole covered up with wallpaper
While I was removing the paper that I could get off, I discovered that when the drywall was put up someone had poked a huge hole in the wall and rather than patch the hole they simply covered it with wallpaper and left it. Now I need stuff to patch the wall. I texted our Frenchy's House Party DIY Expert/friend Mike the Dick (a real handy-man) and asked him for his advice on patching that up. He didn't get back to me as soon as I wanted so I went to DIYNetwork.com and looked up how to patch a hole in drywall. I watched the film and made a list of stuff needed. Put that stuff on the list.

By the time I got back from the Home Depot I realized I had forgotten to get a utility knife so I'll need to get one of those today. I said "F@#k it" and put the project to bed for the evening last night. Today I'll respray the gel on the paper that is left, scrape that off, do the patching and sanding. I guess I'll paint tomorrow. 

What a tzimmes!

Today's Vintage Recipe: Peanut Butter and Mayonnaise Sandwiches


Ugh!

Shirley Temple, iconic child star, dead at 85


Shirley Temple Black has died at her home in Woodside, California at the age of 85, the L.A. Times reports:

From 1935 through 1938, the curly-haired moppet billed as Shirley Temple was the top box-office draw in the nation. She saved what became 20th Century Fox studios from bankruptcy and made more than 40 movies before she turned 12.
Hollywood recognized the enchanting, dimpled scene-stealer’s importance to the industry with a “special award” – a miniature Oscar – at the Academy Awards for 1934, the year she sang and danced her way into America’s collective heart.


Here's the perfect sendoff for little Shirley...

Monday, February 10, 2014

I've had enough! Wallpaper edition

Nana's Bathroom (before we moved in)
We moved into the Clubhouse 3 years ago and I have been so lazy about rectifying one thing about living here. The master bath. It needs a complete renovation but as we are tenants we are not going to put any money into renovating this place. I'm resigned to living with the avocado green tub, commode and sink, as well as the formica-topped cabinet holding the sink. I really can make do with those. However, the walls above the tile are covered with "grandma-esque" rose printed wallpaper. I've been living with this awful paper for 3 years now and I've had enough. It comes off today. I'm about to go to Home Depot to get the stuff I need to remove the paper and paint the space. I've watched the DIY video and I'm ready to go. I'll post the result when completed. In the meantime, enjoy these photos of the paper I've been living with. It'll probably answer some of those questions you've had.

The paper is loose in the corners so it will hopefully come off easily
Chrome fixtures + awful paper = unpleasant shock at 3am. ;^)
As you can see it's just awful.