Lego City: Train Museum -- All Aboard!

Based on the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, but on a more modest scale, of course.

Snowy Long Weekend

Marriage Equality Valentine!

And it's been a stellar week!

Monday - NEVADA: State Attorney General Catherine Cortez-Masto announced that the state would not defend it's ban on same-sex marriage in the courts (same thing happened in VIRGINIA last week).

Wednesday - KENTUCKY: Federal Judge rules that same-sex marriages performed in other states must be recognized in Kentucky, too!

Thursday - INDIANA: The state's legislature postponed any further attempts to enact a ban on same-sex marriage for two years, effectively ending the movement in the Hoosier state.

Thursday - VIRGINIA: Federal Judge declares the state's ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional, following court rulings in UTAH (Dec 20) and OKLAHOMA (Jan 14).

Romeo's Birthday!

He's two years old now!  Whoo Whoo!

 And he knows he's not in Costa Rica anymore!

 Present #1 a new Yak Milk Cheese Chew...his favorite!  And a new Beef Marrow Bone to come later.

Steak & Vegetable Noodle Soup

I used a top round steak thinly sliced and before making the broth I first seared it, and then simmered it in bacon grease (from breakfast) for a couple of minutes each side.  Then I tore it apart after letting it cool into bite-size pieces. 

To kick-start the broth I used Knorr concentrated beef stock as well as some freshlly ground Black Pepper and minced Garlic. 

Then added: Onions, Celery, Mushrooms, Carrots, and Green Beans with the meat. Let this all simmer for a couple of hours.

Finally, I added the Egg Noodles. Very hearty tasting, perfect for a cold rainy/snowy day.

Stuffed Cabbage a.k.a. Pigs-in-the-Blanket

Dinner, Stuffed cabbage! Ready to go into the oven and Perfect on another COLD day.... Stuffed with Ground Beef, Rice, Green and Red Peppers, Onion, Garlic Oregano, Salt and Black Pepper.

The Outer cabbage leaves that you use to wrap the meat mixture need to be blanched in boiling water for from 30 seconds to a minute to make pliable.

I surround my little "piggies" with a mixture of sauerkraut and Ro*Tel mild diced tomatoes with chilis.  Non-spicy diced tomatoes works fine, too.

Next I bake in a 325˚ oven for 60 minutes.

Today's Sermon

I rarely include comments on these posts, but today is a rare day.  The poet Maxine Kumin has passed into ancestry.  Today's regular sermon will be followed immediately by a children's sermon.  It seems fitting.

IN THE PARK

You have forty-nine days between

death and rebirth if you're a Buddhist.

Even the smallest soul could swim

the English Channel in that time

or climb, like a ten-month-old child,

every step of the Washington Monument

to travel across, up, down, over or through

--you won't know till you get there which to do.

He laid on me for a few seconds

said Roscoe Black, who lived to tell

about his skirmish with a grizzly bear

in Glacier Park.  He laid on me not doing anything.  I could feel his heart

beating against my heart.

Never mind lie and lay, the whole world

confuses them.  For Roscoe Black you might say

all forty-nine days flew by.

I was raised on the Old Testament.

In it God talks to Moses, Noah,

Samuel, and they answer.

People confer with angels.  Certain

animals converse with humans.

It's a simple world, full of crossovers.

Heaven's an airy Somewhere, and God

has a nasty temper when provoked,

but if there's a Hell, little is made of it.

No longtailed Devil, no eternal fire,

and no choosing what to come back as. 

When the grizzly bear appears, he lies/lays down

on atheist and zealot.  In the pitch-dark

each of us waits for him in Glacier Park.

~ Maxine Kumin, 1925 - 2014

TONIGHT

Tonight the peepers are as loud as all

the grandmothers of the world's canaries, those

Petey- and Dickey-birds trilling vibratos

from their baggage-handle perches, perpetual

singing machines stoned on seeds of finches' hemp.

Tonight the peepers are a summer camp-

ful of ten-year-olds still shrilling after taps.

Winter will have us back with cold so harsh

the nose hairs freeze.  Weasels will spring the traps.

But tonight -- tonight the peepers raise the marsh.

~ Maxine Kumin, 1925 - 2014

Pride Birthdays and Memorials for the Week ~ February 9th to February 15th

Lego City Apple Computer Store

Been finishing interiors on existing buildings these past couple of days.

Lego City Ice Cream Store

Interior completed!

Bought A New....

VACUUM CLEANER!

Yesterday my vacuum cleaner exploded. It was a little pop really, but it's death was without a doubt. 

Therefore, on the way home today I did what I did 12 years ago when my last vacuum died, I went to Sears. My home is 90% hardwood floors, consequently a big, bad vacuum serves me no purpose. 70% of the 10% with carpet is stairs. So an upright is likewise useless. So I bought another Kenmore canister. This one is ORANGE!

Now, the only person who knows less about vacuums than I was the sales person! She was clearly a novice in that department. What sold me was the price point and the fact that it was on sale; however, once home and assembled I discovered many things that made me happy. The power is great, the filtration system is designed to remove allergens "down to .03 microns," and it comes with a very efficient attachment specifically designed to remove pet hair from upholstery! Like how perfect it that. Additionally, it's light weight--which is important when lugging the thing up and down the stairs. And finally, it has a setting designed to vacuum hardwood floors! How perfect.

One of the many curious joys of Romeo is that he is completely non-chalant about vacuum cleaners (both the former canister and this one, as well as, the wet/dry vac in the basement.) He just finds no reason to be excited by them.

Improvements to Lego City's Seaport

Lego City: La Taverna Liban Done

 The fact that you get their via an alley gives the restaurant a greater sense of allure and exoticism.

 DK House of Music sits in front of La Teverna Liban.

It sits on the right bank of the Lego River.

Breakfast Option #2

Ciabatta Bread French Toast with Maple Syrup.  I cook the toast in butter after dipping it in a bath made of one egg, 1/3 cup of half and half and a 1/4 tsp of cinnamon.  To die for!

Breakfast of Leftovers!

Broccoli and Scrambled-Eggs on toasted Ciabatta Bread with Hollandaise Sauce.  The Broccoli was the left-over.

Harbinger of Spring

Snowdrop, Gallanthus nivalis

In past years they were here in mid-December.  But this year, late-January.  It's been a very cold winter.

Pride Birthdays and Memorials for the Week ~ February 2nd to February 8th

2014 Senate Playing Field

You all know that I am a political critter.  And of all the bodies of politics, the Senate is the most compelling to me.  This is true for their nearly universal demi-god temptations--and especially for those who bite that apple: Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, awesome clowns all!  But also for the fact that  they serve longer than a President and are the most direct challenge to the President's authority.

This is the year of the #2 Class.  The Senate is divided into 3 classes, covering 100 Senators with elections of 33, 33, and 34.  The #2 Class has 33 seats attached to it--and so far there are 36 seats in contention.  The 3 additional seats represent two elections in Oklahoma and South Carolina, and an off year election in Hawaii.  The Elections in South Carolina and Hawaii represent elections to fill seats in other classes currently filled, but which were vacated in the past two years, while in Oklahoma, it is to fill a seat still held, but being vacated by an early retirement.  The seats in Hawaii and South Carolina will be fill for full terms, and the seat in Oklahoma will be filled only for the remainder of that term.

Seven Senators have announced their retirements leaving open seats.  5 are currently held by Democrats and 2 by Republicans.  Of these 3 are particularly vulnerable to party switches.  Two Democrat seats and one Republican.  More on all of this as the season unfolds.

Nothing Else Matters...