If you go to Warsaw...

...make sure to go to Arkadia mall and find the E Wedel shop and have some super special hot chocolate. Mine was spicy pepper...and it was delicious! Wow! Some pepper syrup in the bottom and hot pepper sprinkled on top. Would never have tried it on my own but a friend let me have a taste of theirs and it was instant love. I'm Not Kidding. And you will love it, too! ;)

Forgot to take the before-I-drank-it pic. But use your imagination. ;)
need some Wedel links?
all the stores in Warsaw
main store-really nice but too far away for this trip
and how about just some good old all around hot chocolate recipes?

Smile!

This is Fenya. We see him nearly every Friday and he is a real sweetheart. 

25cents if you can tell me what's coming next...

And then I had to stop taking pix and go chase him off... ;)

all so appropriate

First it did this... and did it some more and some more.

Until it literally was a blanket. A swooshy looking one. 

And then I ended up with this. Although I'll have you know I didn't stay in bed. Didn't go out, though. 

ps- saw an article online- 10,000 cars stranded on roads and bridges in Kyiv, our capital. Whoa.
BBC had a bit to say
One article said Northern Ukr has had up to 50 cm (19.5 in) of snow in the last few days- more than twice the normal for December. I don't know how much we have but it's getting on toward that much, I'm guessing.

;)

my broken ankle

For sure. But aren't these cute?!
Oh My.

let's take a look out the window

A month or so ago. 

Yesterday afternoon. 

It's hard to do it justice. And I didn't go outside today to get better shots. It's just too miserable out there...

I had plans to visit A way out in Western Ukr near the Carpathian mountains. Last night a friend was here for about an hour and was worried she wouldn't be able to get back to her apartment (about a 30 min walk from here). Get off the narrow beaten path and you're in snow to your knees. And the buses? Having serious trouble staying in motion. Traffic accidents and jams and snarls. She wasn't hanging around, thanks very much. I got worried and called A to ask what was happening out by them. It's raining she says. RAIN?! I ask. Yikes. Uh, I think I'll likely not come tomorrow I say. Oh please do come she says. I'll uh see I say. But I'm thinking- this is December, it's in the 20's here (Fahrenheit) and we know good and well that rain won't stay rain. You'll have ice by morning. And I have to leave here at 6 am to catch my train. And they won't have these rapidly-jamming-with-cars-and-snow streets cleared then if they don't have them open now. I mean...this isn't New York City. We just aren't into keeping roads open like that here. Not when the day coming is Sunday and not a work day. 

I went to bed feeling troubled but also scared about getting on a train (the last time I saw the train station- at 1.50 AM Sat- the tracks in the station were blowing closed. And the wind hadn't stopped since then and neither had the snow. I didn't set my alarm knowing that I'd have a hard time not going once I woke up and knowing with my head that it was foolish to get out.

Well- 5 AM on the nose I'm wide awake. Completely. I never knew my body had its own alarm clock. It's never seemed to have that affliction before. Well- I got up and shuffled around, literally and mentally. Looked out the window. Snow. And blowing. And lots of both. What to do? I really need to go back to bed. It's crazy to even consider going. And I do. I go back to bed but I'm restless. 

A is looking forward to this. 

Be quiet and go back to sleep. 

But A....

NO! 

Well, I did go back to sleep but it was restless sleep. Woke up again at 6. Still not too late to peel out of bed and fly for the train. Like really fly. I looked out the window again and reluctantly went back to bed. 

When I came to again the train, thankfully (if it managed to get through at all) was long since gone. I'd missed it and I was here for the day. For good.

Called A later and she said- I was so worried about you. Our rain froze-there's soooo much ice- and now lots of snow on that. The roads are closed and they're telling people to stay home unless it's an emergency. I was afraid you were on the bus. Oh I'm so glad...

That made me feel better! 

So- now you know what it's like here. It's snowy. And wintery. And bad. 

And I've got chicken curry in the crock pot and it smells super! 

:)

You know how kids are all about being logical? And how it's so easy to explain the totally logical things to them? Yeah. Well- this brought back a lunch with my Sweet Sis and her Darling Kiddos. (And they are darling.) Must have been a stressful day for Kiddo #2. Who had a tall glass half full of milk. And who looked at Kiddo #3 or #4 who had a small glass full of milk. And dissolved into loud angry 'life's-not-fair' tears, sobs and wails. She has more milk than me! She does, She does! She has a full glass and I have only a half glass! Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, nothing ever goes right for me. And in the end, the only thing to do was pour her milk into a small glass (probably it didn't even all fit) and give it to her like that. Wow.

When did they start making bifocals for kids. I have a nephew (and a niece, I think) who have bifocals. One's 10 the other is 6. 

Once again, I love Peanuts!!

Snow!

The weather app on my phone is iffy, at best. It says it’s raining when it’s actually sunny. It says it will be sunny and there’s a thunderstorm. It says cold and colder and it warms up.

But yesterday it said snow all night and today.

And… we got snow!!!

We all have our moments

Someone sent this to me. I've been enjoying it ever since. (I think it came from facebook originally.)

I so get you, Sally

I have been where this kid is. I have.

And when something- anything- about math finally becomes do-able, no matter if it’s by accident, it’s totally worth celebrating.

Totally.

Daylight Savings Time

Here's an email 'Now I Know' (which I get 5 days a week- lots of little trivia stuff, fun stuff) about DST. I mostly found the map interesting. Apparently, not every place on the planet is (dumb? gullible?) enough to do it. The map is also wrong... heh. Ukraine is orange (so is Russia) and both should be blue. Believe me- we do DST here... and No, it makes no sense here, either. I'd be happy to just leave the clocks on summer time, period. I mean- who really wants it to be pitch black dark at 5 pm starting in late Oct? helloooo
And- FYI- we've been on slow time for a whole week already. Yup. We change at a different time in spring, too, I think...

Saving Daylight

Insects. Candles. Golf. Coal. Depending on who you ask, each of these three things have had a role in the "spring forward, fall back" mantra called Daylight Saving Time.

George Vernon Hudson of New Zealand, a postal worker by day, wanted more time for his hobby -- entomology, the study of insects. Hudson has taken a liking to insects early in life, having published his first paper on the subject at age 14. But there were never enough hours in the day -- literally. In 1895, then in his 20s, Hudson was a shift-worker for the post office, requiring that his hobby be relegated to after-hours. Noting that a two hour shift of daylight time would give him more time after work to study insects (while not impacting the number of daylight hours during which the post office was open), Hudson took his proposal to the powers that be in New Zealand, authoring two papers on the subject. He was unsuccessful in getting the plan adopted, but, for the first time in recorded history, someone had taken up the Daylight Saving Time mantle.

A few years later, a British man independently came up with the Daylight Saving Time concept. In 1907, William Willett, a builder, penned a paper called "The Waste of Daylight" (here) arguing that we spend too much of summer's daylight time asleep -- a terrible waste of leisure time. (While not in the paper itself, many believe that Willett originally took up the cause, in part, because he wanted more time to play golf.) He also estimated that the British economy lost over 2.5 million pound sterling due to the unnecessary use of artificial light. Then 51 years old, Willett devoted the rest of his life to the cause, proposing that clocks be turned forward 20 minutes each Sunday in April (for a total of 80 minutes) and returned to "normal" time slowly over four Sundays in September. While he managed to get the ear of a Member of Parliament and get a bill introduced, he was otherwise unsuccessful in getting anyone to adopt his plan. He died in 1915.

The early work of this duo was not for naught. The seed of their ideas -- probably more Willet's than Hudson's, due to simple geography -- were well-planted and yielded results soon after -- in Germany. On April 30, 1916, the Germans became the first nation to implement Daylight Saving Time, which they did for coal preservation. By turning the clocks forward, they burned less coal during wartime, and gained advantage of their adversaries. That advantage was short-lived, as most European nations quickly adopted Daylight Saving Time soon thereafter. Russia followed the next year, and the U.S. in 1918.

But Daylight Saving Times never has -- and never will be -- universal. The map above (larger version here) shows where DST is still employed (in blue), has never been used (red), and was once but is no longer (orange).

Bonus fact: Insects, golf, and coal are covered above. But candles? Credit Ben Franklin's sense of humor for that one. In 1784, over a century before Hudson penned his treatises, Franklin anonymously wrote a letter to the Journal of Paris, chastizing Parisians for what he believed to be lazy demeanors, demonstrated by the culutral habit of sleeping in late. Franklin, tongue firmly planted in cheek, argued in part that Parisians wake up with the Sun, in effect shifting their clocks forward, to minimize the amount of awake-time without sunlight. The goal: to reduce the need for candles. What was a joke in the 18th century became a good idea in the 20th.

Caught up on some Calvin and Hobbes today.
Seriously- how can you not love or want a kid like this, right???? ;)

I mean... he does 'have an imagination'

Slow Cooker Granola (and a few other things)- so many reasons to grin!

About a month ago, someone gave us a crock-pot. Really and truly. We were grinning so big we couldn't see to walk. No kidding.

It works great for baked beans.

It works great for soup.

And today, I'm finding out if it also works great for granola (click here for the recipe I modified) (I'm thinking it will). 

I can't stop grinning! :)

The heat's on. Yes. We have heat. As of last Wednesday...so- about 10 days already. 

The little hut in the courtyard of our cluster of apartment buildings has a wizard occupying it. I mean a shoe repair guy. But he is a wizard. Yes He Is. Thank you Mr Shoe Repair Man- my boots are fantastic!

After 1 month of visiting the torture chamber gym next door (Pilates and aggressively ferocious stretching yoga) I can actually do some of the things. Wheeee. 

We had pancakes for lunch. With cottage cheese. Oh Yum.

And we still have leftover baked beans in the fridge. Oh Yum Again. 

(And- we're supposed to have snow beginning tomorrow through Tues.)

And I hope you're smiling, too!! 

 

Guess what? It's someone's birthday! Happy happy birthday to my own dear sweet lovely mom! She's hopefully eating some kind of cake today. I wish I could bake her one.

did you know that lots of women everywhere just wish their family would bake them a for real cake for their birthday? Did you know that what some of them really really want is a homemade cake on their birthday? So if, by some odd chance, you're a guy reading this AND you have a dear sweet lovely wife...DON'T forget her birthday...and DO bake/commission a homemade cake for her.
;-)
Xo

WW I

It will soon be 100 years since the start of World War I. I've been reading some interesting (way more interesting than history class ever was) articles about the things that led up to WW I.
Time magazine recently had an interesting post on the first Balkan War.

Time's photoessay.

And Mental Floss magazine (blog posts) has been doing a series of articles.

Did you know that during the first Balkan War aircraft was used for the first time for offensive military action? And, I think I read it was also the first time to see trenches used during combat.

and did you ever think...

that I would post again
this sooooooon?
;)

No more worries! The water came on yest sometime after noon. Ahhhhhhh. I tell you- that (white ceramic 'thing') in the smallest-room-of-the-house was so happy when I wiggled its little handle. It gurgled with happiness. So did we.

And by this morning, we had hot water, too! What more could you want?!? (Mind you- in this building, hot water is only on part of the time ever. Like Tues and Thurs mornings, every evening and (all day, I think) Sat and Sun. I mean really- what would you need hot water for the rest of the time? Eh?)

I 

I made lunch the other day. It took something like 17 matches to get the oven lit. I. Could. Not. Believe. It.

This just cracked me up.

On a serious note- something I've thought of often the last 7 years, shared by an acquaintance: If there's one thing I've learned in my xx years of life it's that I never know WHAT (speaker's name) is going to do tomorrow. Best not to say stuff like- What was he/she thinking? I would NEVER do that!!! Pretty good advice, I think.

We've eaten more super yummy grapes right off the vine this fall than I ever have in my life. And that put me in the mood for grape jelly. A totally unheard of thing here. Seriously. They eat lots of fruit/berry preserves but no one ever has had grape jelly (until one of us makes it and shares it). Pectin is also hard to find here. I hunted around the market yesterday and found some locally made stuff and some Polish stuff. Got 2 pkgs of each. And 3 kgs of grapes. Which tasted good but were not exactly as juicy as I'd hoped. Did them up tonight. There are 8 sm to med jars of (hopefully) jelly cooling in the kitchen now. It didn't look too hopeful in the 'setting up' deptartment. I finally retreated to my room so as to quit looking at them. See the thing is- the pectin here just isn't SureJell. SureJell has it down pat how to do each fruit/jelly/jam. This pkg had 1 set of instructions for everything. (Tremble. I'm scared, Mommy. Ok, not really. Maybe.)

And then there was the email with this pic in it. Enjoy your upcoming sugar high, America!!!! ;)

:)

There's a torture chamber small gym across the street from us. We go when we can. This pic has nothing to do with that. But it is kind of cute... and, as K pointed out- Granny totally missed that ping-pong ball... but maybe she's good advertising anyway???? She sure is cute at any rate!

from the weekend

Nazar found these! With Grandma or Grandpa's help. He was sooooo proud of them!

Showing off. But who cares?! She's too cute. And completely FULL of vim and zip and vigor. 

K playing with the kids. I sat in the swing and watched! ;)

Trying to hatch the watermelon ball... (it didn't work)

So cute I should be a girl! 

Find of the weekend! An old (and genuine- as in- Nina's grandparents used it) wooden hollowed out log used for grinding/pounding cereal grains into submission. Now the hunt is on for the pole they used to pound the grains. (Note- it's now used as a catch-all inside the door!)

baby piggies! 13 of them! And they move fast and constantly. And they looked for all the world like rats.

Oh- and we have a crockpot! Yay!!!! :)

October

In Ukraine...there will be pumpkins and squash. Always. Lots of them. These from this weekend. The board in the foreground? That's where they chop them up for animal feed. The nicest ripe ones will be eaten by the family as porridge...often mixed with rice.

Soon to be November, I'm sure. And just where did the days go? Not long ago it was New Year's. Now it's nearly the end of the year. Old Year's. Or something.

It's that time of year when there's no heat but you wish there was. You do laundry and hang it on the lines and it's still damp 2 days later. You use your camel hair blanket (just in case you don't remember this subject which some people thought was seriously funny... harumph- you're just jealous...I'm sure!) plus wear all the pj's you have and are glad to stay under the covers as long as possible. You can use the balcony as a 2nd refrigerator. It's warmer outside than in and you're never quite sure how to dress because being inside won't give you any idea at all about what it feels like outside.

And...part of the fall routine here in this town, apparently, is shutting off the water to the whole city. Yup. You got it. The Whole City. No One Has Water Right Now. No ONE. (That means we don't, either.) That means the smallest-room-in-the-house ummmm (smellsLikeAnOuthouse). heh. That means I took a 'bath' with 2 cups of water tonight. (You want to know more? Oh.. ok. 'nuff said about that!) That means my hair needs a wash and will continue to need a wash. That means we're just Really Glad we actually did a load of laundry yesterday while we still had water. That means we ate at a pizza place for lunch today and closed our minds to the haunting monsters-under-the-bed question- Just how are they washing dishes back there with no water?

Ah yes. Never dull here, oh no it isn't! 

How is it nearly a month (AGAIN) since the last post? What is up with me?
Well... this blog never did have any obligations attached to it (in my mind) so I guess nothing! Nothing is up with me. I do have a pile of stuff in my head and on my hard drive that I eventually plan/want to write about. But.
So what is up? Life for one.
And, amid the busyness of our day to day life, life has also been this:

We took a long walk in a park and saw a lot of bridal parties... including this one (well- ok, this is just the bride and groom and photog) on the way home. 

Someone in this building has twins. The double stroller is always parked under the stairwell in the entrance of the building. In fact, looks like 2 strollers there. I've been seeing this all summer.

And ok- it's not summer anymore. This granny was out in her garden working the other day. This is definitely a huge part of life right now as people clear out the last of their gardens. This one was in a large field near our apartment building. Several dozen families (I'm guessing) have plots in it and on a good sunny day the place is crawling with people.

Anyone know what this plant is? There's a large field of it nearby...

ahhh- it's sideways... ooops
Well anyhow- anyone know what it is???? I thought a weed; K says Can't be- it looks too planted. 

Sorry California. You want poppies? We got 'em. And they're purty, too. And they're still (again?) blooming. :) They are happening!

And this. Canola. Rape Seed. Can you double-crop this stuff? Because it sure seems late in the year for it to be blooming. And will it actually produce a harvest? What say the farmers?

And these Very Cheery Beauties!

And, of course, Life has been food. I love food. ;)
Someone fixed fixed this (German eggs in mustard sauce) for our lunch a month ago in Germany. There is no good pic online that actually resembles what we had (and what I tried to recreate last week). But here's a verbal depiction:
-White sauce (about a TBS of flour's worth) with about a TBS regular yellow mustard
-Served over hard-boiled halved eggs and boiled potatoes.
I'm not a huge fan of German food but this qualifies as comfort food, in my opinion. It is creamy yellow (what's not comforting about that?) and mild and delicious. You can play around with the amount of mustard. The veggie broth in the sauce adds a nice flavor. I did NOT use boullion cubes- they're full of MSG you know!
and another day's lunch- savory millet- this needs some work yet. I didn't make it into patties but served it in place of rice with meat. Flavor was good but definitely need to start with less liquid and add if you need more. Wished it were drier. But going to try it again and see how it goes. 

ps

Dear Fellow Bloggers,

You know I love you and want to show it when I comment on your 'please prove you're not a robot' captcha blogs. No kidding. Sometime over the past several months, those captcha's have gotten a lot harder and sometimes it takes 3, 4, 5 or more tries before I get the letters and numbers right. Not that you shouldn't have those things. I understand. Really. I do. Mostly. 
I am not a robot. I am not a robot. I am not a robot. I am not a robot. I am not a robot. I am not a robot. I am not a robot. I am not a robot. I am not a robot. I am not a robot. I am not a robot. I am not a robot. 
If I repeat it often enough, I might believe it even if I can't reproduce that captcha to prove it. Truly. I am not a robot. 

Sincerely,
Not-A-Robot Me...

just another Monday

I was glad for every bit of caffeine I had today. Every drop.

 Really, it's been a good day... for the most part. Life happens and we go with it. I'm learning that lesson... I hope.
My time in Poland is rapidly drawing to a close and while I always love being here, I'm always happy to head back across that wild eastern border to where it's a tad less civilized a tad more muddy and tad less organized a tad more... well, Ukrainian. :)
I was asked many times while in the US recently- Are you homesick for Ukraine? Do you miss Ukraine? The answer was somewhat surprising for me and a bit disturbing at first. No, I did not. I was too busy soaking up the rarity of being in the US to mourn what I was temporarily removed from. I was comforted by the certainty that if I couldn't return to Ukraine... I would feel differently. Fitting back into life in the US isn't always easy when you've been away for 5 years. But. There is nothing like the the feel of US soil under your feet, the taste of US air in your mouth. The sight of the dear dear faces of loved ones who are in the US. There is nothing to compare to that. There is nothing that compares to the Red White and Blue snapping in the breeze over your head. Nothing. So- I've come to terms with my mixed feelings. I know that my love for my place here is no less nor is my love for the people I'm with here any less for loving the US and all she holds for me. I loved every minute there. I hope I profited from it in ways that matter most. Having said all that- I'm happy to be here again. Leaving is never easy. But being is dear, is precious. Home truly is where the heart is. And my heart is in me, thanks. :)
 Onward. You need some comic diversion. Right? ;)

from Neatorama

I hear you. Sometimes what you need is a flamethrower. I'm back in the land of matches, too!

oh boy. Do I know this feeling. About so many things electronic. About this sweet laptop. About that smarter-than-me-phone I use. Really, if they just called 'aps' 'programs'...I think I could cope a tad bit better. I. Just. Don't. Get. So. Many. Things. 

On the other hand- it fills my world with mystery and magic! Because it's just like magic!

this one just made me smile...that's why

me again Margaret

One does have thoughts that shoot through one's head. Sometimes they leave a blazing trail; sometimes a little dust; sometimes there is hardly any ripple at all after they've passed. These days have been good for me, though, because there have been lots of thoughts and lots of things to make me smile, to make my heart glad, to me stop and think- I need to be careful. I've been aware again that I tend to take people at face value (and to expect others to take me that way)...well, at least I do that when I'm functioning at normal levels; get me a little tired and stressed and... well... I'm as good as the next person at reading all kinds of stuff into any situation. But really, I usually make major missteps in interpreting what I see/hear then so... I do better with the 'take it as it seems' thing. But... not everyone is like that. And people we're with might be trying to read us and wondering What on earth does that little 'Uh-huh' mean? So- I've been trying to think a little more about what other signals might (seem to) be coming from me. 

Mind you... I still think you should take me at face value. 

But anyway.

Where is this going, anyway? (shrugs)

Meanwhile, it's been awhile since I did any funnies... and I've saved a few! ;)

The summer was sort of like this. Only instead of grass stains, I noticed that the shower floor got gritty every time I took a shower and the first water going down the drain was brown... it was a hot dry summer here, too (well- in Ukr) and there was a lot of dust in the air... and it washed off in the shower. Fascinating. It did feel good to get that tired again on a daily basis! ;)

What is it with kids and fly swatters? We had to hide them sometimes this summer...when there was food around. Our diligent 'slappers' didn't always use the best judgment on when to swat and when not to swat.

I hear you Satch. A very good way to describe onions. The raw ones, at any rate.  

I have known a few people like this. The first was an old man I met with Sundays back in my university days. His memory was amazing. I miss him. ps- did you know Lucy was THAT old?! ;)

Well- wouldn't you blog a comic that had your very own name in it?! I mean... ;)

ps- I tried to talk to a Polish cat today... with no success. Apparently I don't know the way to talk to a Polish cat. When I first was in Ukr, I saw a cat one day and said, 'Here kittykittykittykitty...' and was totally ignored. Funny that Ukrn cats don't know English. Neither do Polish cats. They don't know Ukrn either. Ukrn cats respond to 'kitskitskitskitskits' (sort of like kttskttsktts) The cat today did NOT know that line. huh. 

Jesse the Jack Russel Terrier- someone shared a Jesse video with me recently. He's an amazing dog. I'm not sure if I'd want toast that had been put into the toaster and taken out by a dog, though. On the other hand, I think the point is service dogs and what they can do... in which case, I might be very glad to get toast like that if I had a dog like that...
Monarch butterflies are cool!- Yes they are! Especially since the Monarchs that migrate south are not the same ones that go north in the spring.

It's raining and cool. Feels like fall. Feels like September and not August. In fact, most of the past 3 weeks have felt like Sept. I really really REALLY love not sweating All The Time. yay! I'ma open my windows wide and get under the covers!! ;)

And- Tomorrow is my dad's birthday! :)