Posts
Friday, October 30, 2026
It seems to me that if there is no spiritual undercarriage beneath the ideological, if the political does not rest upon what can only be called love, then our politics grow hard and narrow, turn in on themselves, become tribal, cannibalistic, and lacking in mercy. Look around and see. Nick Cave
O mangiar questa minestra o saltar questa finestra
This classic Italian saying literally means ‘Either eat this soup or jump out of this window’, and is interpreted as ‘take it or leave it’. Minestra, originally used to symbolize the food on the table, can be a symbol for anything according to the situation. The saying is also frequently used about accepting a situation, settling for something /being happy with what you have and can’t change, to avoid unfortunate results.
Thursday, October 29, 2026
Join Blackstone Valley Regional Animal Control
We service the communities of Blackstone, Millville, Uxbridge, Mendon, Douglas, and Hopedale
14 Chestnut Street, Blackstone, MA, United States, Massachusetts (508) 883-2822 ACO@Blackstonepolice.org
We can experience nothing but the present moment, live in no other second of time, and to understand this is as close as we can get to eternal life.
―
The Children of Men
Overheard
Early this morning as I was leaving the pool I overheard two women talking while standing waist deep in the water while waiting for their Aqua Fitness class to begin. One woman said to the other, "Well, she gets to sleep and we get to eat!"
I thought this was hilarious and my husband didn't get the humor. Perhaps it's only funny to women? You tell me!
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Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Three Rats
This morning I jumped when I came upon a dead rat on the sidewalk. I was walking my 2 dogs and I immediately crossed the street and after a few steps we came upon another dead rat on the sidewalk. I kept walking and crossed to another street. I was relieved that we did not encounter any more.
This afternoon I spotted a 3rd dead rat on the sidewalk in front of my neighbors building. Three dead rats all on the same street.
My husband said it's a spell. All of the drug dealers were hit with a secret City Rat Ray Gun and turned into rats. I like it. So far that explanation works for me. They perished, not knowing how to be proper rats.
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
Baking Two Pumpkin Pies for my Husband's Birthday Tomorrow
Pumpkin Pie re-posted from my blog The Insomniacs Kitchen, March 2012, adapted 10/27/2021 and DOUBLED.
I just made pumpkin pie for the first time and it came out great! I put it in front of the tiny fan so it would cool off fast so we could eat it. I am so excited. I think pie is my new friend.
This is a delicious whole wheat crust and the pie is light like Indian Pudding and not too sweet. This is an adaption of the Libby's Pumpkin pie label recipe and the One Pie brand label recipe. I love pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin ice-cream, pumpkin everything!!
Ingredients and instructions for 2 pies (9-10 inch) or 6 mini pies (6 inch)
Pie crust:
2 cups of whole wheat flour
1/2 cup corn oil
3/8 cup (6 Tbs) white or brown sugar (the sugar is the glue holding the crust together)
2 teaspoon Kosher salt (less if using regular salt or white flour)
1/4 cup water
Mix ingredients with fingers so it is pebbly. Press into pie pan with fingers. Prick dough on the pan bottom with a fork. It can be sticky and hard to handle but hang in there, it will be delicious.
Bake at 350° F for 5-10 minutes. Then let it cool.
Tip from Once Upon a Chef Jenn Segal: Press the crust into the bottom of the pan with the back of a measuring cup. This will make sure the crust is in the pan nice and firm, so that it won't fall apart when you cut this for serving.
Pie filling:
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup of dark molasses
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon Kosher salt (half if using regular salt)
2 teaspoons ground ginger (I used freshly finely grated frozen ginger root)
2 teaspoons vanilla (homemade)
4 large eggs
1 large can of pumpkin puree (29 oz.)
2 cans of evaporated milk (12 fl. oz.)
Mix sugar, dark molasses, cinnamon, salt, ginger, vanilla, and eggs in large bowl. Whisk in pumpkin puree and evaporated milk.
Pour into the pre-baked, cooled pie shells.
Bake pie in preheated 425° F oven for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 more minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.
Some bakers use sweetened condensed milk so I tried it but I discovered that it is cloyingly sweet and drowns out the pumpkin taste compared to a pie made with evaporated milk and 1/4 cup sugar (per pie). The evaporated milk pumpkin pie is much more like Indian Pudding and tastes like a food!
sooner or later if he walks down a dark street, fate will slip out with a stuffed eel-skin and get him.
The cat sat on the mat is not a story; the cat sat on the dog’s mat is the beginning of an exciting story, and out of that collision, perhaps, there comes a sense of retribution. Now you may call that God, or you may call it the presence of fatalistic forces in society, or you may call it man’s inhumanity to man. But, in the immortal words of P.G. Wodehouse, what it boils down to is that if your character does something wrong, sooner or later if he walks down a dark street, fate will slip out with a stuffed eel-skin and get him.
JOHN LE CARRÉ
The Singing Lady
For years I have heard the singing lady. She sits in the alley between my house and the apartment building next door. I wave and say hello when I am walking by with my dogs. She's a large woman. The phone is always propped up on a tripod in front of her when she talks. I have seen her out there under a big black umbrella in the rain. She sings wildly out of tune. When I am in bed or in my office I'll grumble and run my box fan to blot her out.
The other day I saw a woman coming down the sidewalk in a motorized wheelchair. I noticed she had a missing leg cut off at the calf. And she was singing wildly out of tune. It was her! The singing lady!
