Memorial Day pt. 2

For our official Memorial Day I celebrated with Amanda and Virginia. I piled the ladies into the back seat and we headed over to Delhi for a little Girly Cookout Action. It was quite fun, which is not a surprise at all whatsoever.

The girls always enjoy playing with friends, and after having Allie and Lazarus over recently, it was our turn to play on their turf. I knew that Daisy was a good traveler, and Madison's foster mom had her in the car tons during weekend trips to Natchez. It turns out that they really do ride well together. They just sprawled out and enjoyed the ride. Once we arrived it was time for the dogs to play play play. As we all knew, Daisy was not a big fan of the cats, as evidenced by her shaking her booty at us while she wiggled under the gate to get at them! She wasn't alone in this game - Madison was right up in it too!

It turns out that while Madison was learning obedience Daisy decided to learn some things of her own! She has learned a new sit - the greyhound/sphinx pose.

It was fun to get to spend some tiem outside of work with Amanda and Virginia. We hadn't gotten a chance lately. Va is growing so fast, and so big! She cracks me up. We got lots of play time in, and she enjoyed having more animals in the zoo to keep her company. I look forward to our next holiday gathering. Or, perhaps we will just hit the zoo, literally! One of these days I'm going to make them go to the Monroe Zoo with me. I hear it is better than the ghetto Jackson zoo.

Purple People Eater

A belated Happy Memorial Day to one and all. Not sure if there is more than one reader out there, but a belated none the less. We had a pretty hard core weekend. As in, I worked hard.

At St. Paddy's day I found a set of quilts for my spare room. This weekend I painted the walls. If you recall, they were fairly blah and icky.

Now they are PURPLE! Yes, not the easiest color to pass of when selling the house, but I'll slop on a couple coats of a neutral when I'm ready to unload it. THere is so much other stuff to do before I can unload it that I imagine I'll go through several other colors between now and then. So, the Hotel Sarah Jersey is up and running - feel free to book a room!

The Ghost Orchid

I've been a busy little reader, and not so busy on the blogging front. My last read of recent times is The Ghost Orchid, by Carol Goodman. I am a HUGE fan of Goodman. I accidentally found one of her previous books a few years back and had to read them all. She took a break from writing for a few years, and it was totally worth it. She generally sets her novels in New York State, and does a phenomonal job of describing the region. Her prose is awesome, and I get incredibly vivid images in my head. After my trip to the Hudson River Valley last fall, I recognize that she writes it like it is, using far better words than I ever could. I would classify her novels as fiction, although there is a certain amount of suspense or mystery that the heroine must solve in order to move on with her life.

The Ghost Orchid is set at a Victorian Mansion somewhere upstate, Bosco. The mansion has exhotic gardens and has become an 'artists' haven - a residence program for writers and artists. The main character, Ellis, has been accepted at Bosco to turn a short story based on historical happenings at Bosco into a full novel. Goodman seamlessly weaves Ellis's story into that of her character, Corinth. Corinth is a medium who was called to Bosco to connect the Mistress of the house with her dead children, allowing their spirits to move onward. The Ghost ORchid, a white orchid with a vanilla smell found in bogs features prominently as a fixture which connects the two stories. I was able to guess the relationship between Corinth and Ellis pretty quickly, however the rest of the book was fabulous.

I cannot say enough about Goodwin - if you are looking for a good book, I highly reccomend picking one of hers up. This novel went slightly into questional territory with the medium. I might reccomend one of the others first. I see that last years publication should be heading into paperback soon. You can look forward to my review.

The Lovely Bones

I also recently re-read Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones. I had read it in 2004 (according to my reciept) on the way back from the Louden's wedding. Erin had picked it for this months "Book People" meeting, so I reread it.

This novel was a narritve loosely based on some horrible experiences in the authors younger years. I remember really enjoying the book the first time I read it. It had some very difficult things in it, however it was so well written that I was sucked into it. Apparently I had forgotten a lot of the details, as evidenced by what little I recalled of the text when I re-read it. There was some definite craziness in the way the story unfolded, particularly a few of the character interactions. In essence, it is the story of a young girls death and the way it has affected her family. The story is told by Susie from heaven as she watches from heaven. her murderer lives down the street from her family - and the murder affects many more people than expected, in many more ways than one might predict. It was enjoyable despite the upsetting subject.

The Lost German Slave Girl

Last week I read The Lost German Slave Girl: The Extraordinary True Story of Sally Miller and Her Fight for Freedom in Old New Orleans . This was a departure from my normal reading as it was a nonfiction book. I really enjoyed the change, a little change is good for us all. I think I also enjoyed the book since it dealt with NO and the MS/LA/AR area - an area I know a little better now.

My mom had given me this book in a pile she passed on to me about a year ago. I don't think I even knew it was nonfiction for the first 10 months it sat on my bookshelf. I just never made it to the point in the pile of unread books where it resdied. now that I finally read it, I really enjoyed it. The author was planning to research and write about slave law in NOLA. During his research he found te story of Salome Mueller, AKA Sally Miller. She was a young girl, around the age of 4-7 years old when her parents immigrated from Germany to the US. Through an unfortunate turn of events her parents passed away, and she disappeared. Suddently 25 years later she is magically found, living as a slave in the French Quarter. Her relatives and family friends go through the efforts of freeing her and her children. It is these struggles that are narrated in the book. It was quite enjoyable, and there were some real twists. Human nature at its worst and at its best shines through loud and clear. I definitely would reccomend this book.

Madison, Obedience School Graduate

She is no beauty school dropout -she's an obedience school graduate. That is my Madison! She is so proud, ok actually, I'm so proud. Although, there was no standardized test to finish - just a final class. We went, we finished. It is totally like high school today - you can graduate and not actually understand how to read or add. However, Madison does know how to STAY, SIT, and DOWN. She can Heel and Come sometimes. Hopefully we'll be going back for refresher training in the fall when Daisy Dogg gets indoctrinated.

Jano Fabulous is Fantabulous

Just wanted to put out a quick happy birthday shout out to Jano Fabulous. Jano and I go back to my college days. She was an Non-Academic Usher supervisor at the Assembly Hall, and a darn good supervisor at that. Plus, she was a fun supervisor. We got to know her back then, and the friendship stuck. Last year when I was back at school I got to spend some time with Jane - it helped make returning to school worth while!

Happy birthday Jano Fabulous. I hope it was Fantabulous!

Crawfish Boil Take 2

This afternoon I worked on the yard - the back yard to be specific. I started removing one of the flower beds. I have been letting them grow in to see what comes in. The idea is that I can figure otu what comes in and what does not. Then I can decide what I like and replant as I deem necessary. This is a great idea, however one of my beds started comming in full of nasty things. It seemed like these bulb-y things were comming in - but there was no sign of flowers and no rhyme or reason was behind the plantings. I spent part of this afternoon weeding the bed and working on digging out the plants/removing roots. I have a little more work to do tomorrow. The part that has already been done looks pretty darn good.

Tonight was the annuall Tate crawfish bowl - my second crawfish boil of the year. The Tate's throw a HUGE party every May, with some sort of crawfish theme. I think they start buying beer about January, and by May they have quite a party - crawfish with potatoes, corn, mushrooms, and sausage as well as a bunch of grilled glory, potluck sides, desserts, and beer. This year the Culkin fire department manned the crawfish while Mr. Tate manned the grill. It as fun times, as always. A huge crowd showed - literally the entire volunteer fire department was there - as well as people from all over town. It is amazing how many of them I knew, and how many I didn't. I already look forward to next year's crawfish boil. For my entry in the potluck i brought potato salad - a new recipe.
DILLED NEW POTATO SALAD

• 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tsp dried dillweed or 1 tbl fresh dill
• 1 tsp sugar or splenda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground mustard
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 3/4 lb green beans
• 10-12 new potatoes cut into fourths
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1 small yellow bell pepper

1. Combine vinegar, oil, dill, sugar, salt, mustard, pepper, and garlic for dressing
2. Boil/Steam potatoes and green beans until the potatoes are just tender enough to be pierced with fork
3. Toss potatoes, beans, and dressing large bowl. Add onion and pepper and tos. Coer and refridgerate until chilled

I must say, I thought it would actually be pretty yummy warm too. I really liked it, and I didn't bring much home with me. I'm definitely going to keep this recipe - now I have three great potato salads - dilled new potato salad, garlic roasted potato salad, and Grandma Goerss's German potato salad

Painter's Update

I forgot to post this picture of my dining room! I put the final coat on the top half a couple of weeks ago. It looks soooooo much better in the Cabernet color than it looked in the Pink/Peach Color. Now the DR just needs a new coat on the white paneling, the trim re-painted, new blinds/shades, a new light fixture, and re-staining the built-ins. I guess I have my work cut out for me.

BEFORE

AFTER

Vegatation Obliteration

Yesterday I killed a tree. It was quite fun actually! Tons of work, but quite fun! There was this tree on the side of the house. It started off nice enough. Then things got crazy. In fact it went from being a little tree on the side of the house to a huge pain in the ace. It started growing, and suddenly there were branches closing in on the wiring going into the house. So, I made a call for action and got rid of it. Check it out! There is no better way to feel like you have accomplished something than to get rid of a huge blight on your property.

The dogs had a great weekend! They were exhausted after a long weekend of playing with Astro. They were sitting on the couch, passed out. They wouldn't budge, even for a picture.

I tried a new recipe this week - Balsamic Chicken from the South Beach Diet. It was pretty good - and will make for a good lunch with some greenery this week. It makes for a pretty good "basic" chicken to use in other recipes. I imagine it would work well in a pasta salad too. While I had my apron on, quite literaly, i fired up the grill for a "puppy mamma" mosters day dinner. I grilled up some high quality NY Strip Steaks and summer squash. It was totally yummy, especially the squash.

6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

1 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary leaves or 1/2 tsp dried

2 cloves garlic minced

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbl extra-virgin olive oil

4-6 tbl white wine or water

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1. Rinse chicken and pat dry. Combine rosemary garlic, pepper, and salt in a small bowl and mix well. lace chicken in a large bowl. drizzle with the oil, rub with the spice mixture, cover and refridgerate over night.
2. Preheat oven to 450F. Spray a heavy roasting pan or iron skilet with cooking spray. Place chicken in pan and bake 10minutes. Turn the chicken over. Bake 10 minues or until fully cooked. If the pan is dry stir in white wine/water into pan to loosen the drippings. Drizzle the vinegar over the chicken.
3. Transfer the chicken to the pan. Stir the liquid and drizzle over the chicken.

Hot times in the city!

Ladies and Gentlemen it has been a fun filled week at Chez Jersey. Monday was obedience school. Madison seems to be doing well. We haven't practiced very much this week, which is totally my fault. I have a feeling we won't get good grades tomorrow. After obedience we went out for Cinquo De Mayo dinner with our friend Stephen. the folks at Sol Azteca were so kind as to give us the drink special and to let us close the place down. I thoughroughly enjoyed my chicken chimichunga.

Wednesday night was the Paws Rescue meeting. We got together to discuss the puppies and kittens we are currently housing as well as fundraising, advertising, and other issues. There are several new pets taken in recently - check them out online. I have several favorites - I just hope someone takes them into a loving home. After our meeting the Leigh's, Alissa, and I met JR and went out to dinner. Always a fun time! I think JR enjoys looking like a pimp at a table wtih 4 women ;-) I don't blame him!!! I definitely owe JR and Alissa for watching the girls when I went to Philly - I think I'll be returning the favor and watching their cats when they go to NY next week.



Thursday I hit the town! We went to the Warehouse Lobby for a drink to celebrate the safe return of Julie and Tommy from their recent deployment to Iraq. Unfortunately one of the guests of honor couldn't make it, so we plan to repeat the fun next week! After the martini bar we wandered over to the sports bar to grab a bite to eat. Apparently the lounge serves food, but it is more along the lines of meat and cheese plates rather than FOOD. The sports bar continues to increase their menu. I'm happy to see these things happening in our tiny town!


Friday night my friend Vern came to town, so I joined some of our friends and we grilled out. Vern used to work with me until he decided to return to his native land of Slidell, LA. He is really happy to have made the change, but I still miss him. This is how small town we are: Vern's best friend from college is Will. Will is married to Carolyn. Carolyn was the college roomate of my coworker Haley. Will's brother Chase is also good friends with Vern, and works with me now. 3 Degrees, if that! Gotta Love it.

Saturday was a fun day! I pulled out the old lawnmower (I really need to give her a name- any suggestions?) and hit the lawn. I also did some hedge/bush trimming and sprayed some poisonous bushes. I brought Stephen's dog, Astro, over to play with the girls while he was out of town. They played, and played, and then played some more. I think that it will take about a week of sleep for them to catch up! Later in the evening I headed over to Al and Christina's for the annual "it's not hot yet" cookout. True to form, it was warm, but not hot yet. The others brought their dogs, but I decided to keep the girls at home since they were tired from a day of play. It was a good thing I left the dogs at home - 8 dogs in the back yard would have been a bit much! For my contribution to the potluck i brought Golden-lemon crusted tomatoes. They turned out pretty darn yummy if I may so. It was the first time I made them, and I enjoyed! I've decided that since I'm an eating right kick - I'm only allowed to bring things to potlucks that I will be OK with bringing home and eating if there are lots of leftovers. Gone are the days of pans of brownies.

Golden Lemon-Crumb Tomatoes
½ cup plain fresh soft breadcrumbs
2 tbl snipped fresh parsley
½ tsp dried basil, crumbled
½ tsp gated lemon zest
2 ounces fat free feta cheese crumbled
Vegetable oil spray
2 large tomatoes. Halved crosswise
1 ½ tb fresh lemon juice
1/8 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In a small bowl, stir together breadcrumbs, parsley, basil, and lemon zest. Toss gently. Add the feta and toss gently
3. Spray bottom of a pan with vegetable oil spray. Place tomato halves in the pie pan. Spoon lemon juice over the halves. Top the tomatoes with the breadcrumb mixture. Liberally spray with vegetable oil spray.
4. Bake for 30 minutes or until tomatoes are tender when pierced with a fork and beginning to brown lightly.
5. Sprinkle with salt. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Bowling for Something

This man is my new hero. He is blind and bowled a 300 game! how awesome is that. I have my sight and can barely bowl a 30!

Grass, grass, more grass, and lots of weeds

Good news!
Yesterday I "fixed" my lawnmower! I use the word fixed very loosely. It wouldn't work. Eventually I replaced the air filter. That did the trick! It works! It was a good thing that I did it - the air filter was nasty and the yard was starting to look like the Amazon Rainforest back there.

After mowing out the rainforest I stopped to talk with my neighbors. Luckily they are like me, and prefer to wait to mow until their neighbors mow! We had a nice little conversation. I had a great compliment - apparently the thug dogs who terrorize the neighborhood bit a girl - hence they were hauled off 3 weeks ago. She was asking if it was me - and the girl was rumord to be 18 yrs old. That made me feel so nice :-) She also confirmed that they struggle with the Poison Ivy/Oak on a regular basis. I guess it is a group battle.

Mermaids in the Basement

Apparently, in looking at my blog history I have forgotten to post some of my reading. Last month our book club read was Mermaids in the Basement by Michael Lee West. It was pretty amusing. It was a stereotypical type of chick lit - the story of a writer who is discovers her hot filmmaker boyfriend (He's Irish!) is cheating on her with the latest Hollywood Hottie. She is reeling for her loss and heads off to her grandmother's place on the Alabama Coast. Hilarity ensues as she goes through a sort of regression therapy - learning about all of the things she missed/forgot from her childhood. One of my favorite characters had to be grandma's best friend who would drop drugs of some sort in the food at a party! Be careful there could be laxatives in the sweet potatoes or viagra in the chocolate covered strawberries.

A Model Summer

This weekend I ready A MOdel Summer by Paulina Prokzkova. First off, this was the book of the month for my Book Club. We'll be discussing it Tuesday night. I am curious to see how the discussion goes. The author was a model, formerly the face of Estee Lauder. In this book she gives us a fictional account of breaking into modeling in the 1980's, which cannot be much different than it is now. If anything, it is probably worse now than it was then as society continues to become more accepting of this lifesyle rather than less. This is the story of Jirina, a 15 year old gil from Sweden. She spent 15 years in Sweden being made fun of as the "ugly imigrant cow" as her parents were Czech. Apparnelty the little Swedes didn't like her much. She is found and travels to Paris for the summer to become a model. The story details her exploits. She starts off with the best of intentions, reading Kafka and exploring the culture of Paris. It does not take long for her to join the true underbelly of Model Society- getting introduced to sex, drugs, and rock and roll. If analyzed the story has lots of moral undertones and leaves the reader wiht many good questions and introspection. However, I felt it was a bit trashy, and too full of sex and drugs. It saddened me to see the changes in Jirina and the encouragement she recieved from the modeling industry.

Luncheon of the Boating Party

I recently read Luncheon of the Boating Party by Susan Vreeland. She takes the painting by Renoir and constructs a rich story surrounding the painting. The novel is written through the point of several of the models views. It was definitely interesting - they were all quite up in the whole "vie moderne' (modern life). The models were comprised of friends, lovers, and business acquaintances of Renoir. Obviously, the story is primarily told through the eyes of Pierre Auguste Renoir. It is a few years into the impressionist movement and the group is getting nowhere. Émile Zola writes "The Impressionists are inferior to what they undertake. The man of genius has not yet arisen." Renoir takes the challenge and the result is the Boating Party. I found this to be an enjoyable read, but it was difficult to read. There were lots of characters, and sometimes I had a little trouble keeping them all straight. However, I enjoyed the commentary on la vie moderne and the society that was Paris in the 1880's. I wonder what was truth and what was fiction. Perhaps I need to venture into some nonfiction.

A Really Rad Rash

Poison Oak is such fun! I had never had the pleasure before. I had also never really known what it looked like. I can't believe I am just now getting it - my yard is totally INFESTED. I don't know how I am just now showing reactions. I took a bottle of Roundup to the yard this afternoon, but it is definitely going to require more treatment. I knew I should have bought the big bottle. Wish me luck. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears. If I can't get rid of it the dogs won't be allowed in the princess pad, and how horrible is that?