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Good amount of snow here, I actually lost power for about 1-2 minutes earlier this a.m. But all good now. I've been worried about some friends and family in harder hit areas, but thankfully no one on my list lost power. My back deck has some nice blown drifts.....

For the New Englanders:

WCPGW? I used a leftover biscuit this morning to make breakfast.

Nice of the deer to pose for the shot. And I have my Mt. Tam. View back /s

I read an article about the best breakfast burrito in the Bay Area and the winner had cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon, beef tallow tater tots, crema and avocado. I didn't have tots so I heated up some fries and then fried them in the bacon fat. Adding a bit of salsa as I eat. It's almost too decadent and I'm considering going back to bed.

Pepperoni, mushroom and onion pizza

So, updates from our little shelter. Since cats are now used to find proper food whenever they're hungry, they are not coming in big numbers when we put food in containers. Also the time for remaking the upper side has come. We'll redo it this summer. Also recently we added a proper sleeping place for hard weathers. We modified an old bed base, isolated it, put some rags and cushions in it. Here are the most recent pics from visitors: We had our doubts if cats wants to use the shelter for sleep but as we can see from "biscuit" marks, they do. And Şanslı (Lucky). She was abandoned (by an ex neighbour, she is neutered), was hanging around our backyard. She was attacked by a dog or dogs. Dog caught her by her lower back. There was clear bite marks. She couldn't use her back legs but after long treatment and thanks to her will, now she is fine. Bad thing is she and Şirin cannot get along. So we made a proper place for her in the building, in front of our enterance. When Şirin is not at home or sleeping, she comes in and hangs out. We named her "Şanslı" cuz, well, she survived a very bad dog attack and recovered well.

Even as a 10 year old, I thought this was great.

Added lights to the patio. Previously Now with lights That work! And are automated!

Breakfast at the Mayberry compound. I made homemade biscuits while Al manned the flattop. He cooked bacon, hashbrowns and a scramble w/sautéed onion, bell pepper and cheese. We had honey peppered smoked salmon, which a few of us mixed into our scramble. Mmmmm! Now I don't see this as a bad thing, but I tend to cook just slightly more than needed. Is 18 eggs, 15 biscuits and a pound and a half of bacon really too much for 5 people? 😀 I believe that there should be leftovers for everyone to take home.

Some sourdough za and a glass of red.

Thanks everyone! We were away for a long weekend of eating and drinking. Our son lives in the NE of the UK, so we spent a couple of days with him. Then we spent two days at The Black Swan at Olstead https://www.blackswanoldstead.co.uk/ , a two michelin star restaurant. That was quite an experience. 7 courses in the tasting menu with a glass of matching wines with each course. This is really in the middle of nowhere down a single track road. As it got narrower and narrower we honestly wondered if we were on the right road. Got back a few hours ago - and I feel as if I've put on quite a bit of weight! Cheers all!

Thanks all. It's a bit difficult to comprehend (at times anyway) where the time goes. I remember a lot of what's happened in the last 25 years or so but at the same time don't. But I think I'll continue Operation Ostrich and try not to have today feel like much more than any other day. That said, minus work it was a great day of catching up with some friends and family and having good food at home and now breaking my no-drinking-till Thursday rule to enjoy a wee dram of the good stuff.

Quick paella (in a frying pan)

Steve loves to smile for pictures

Bacon, tomato, spinach, avocado and queso fresco omelet with fresh baked biscuits. I think I've mentioned before that I like my omelets on the darker side. Iced coffee with Irish Cream Liqueur to drink. Food coma incoming.

90’s action plus some classic heart

10 potato cheesy skillet bake.

for scale None of those chairs are in the sweet spot. But I did find a room for Ric.

Exactly right. My own little slice of heaven. It has honestly been a really good post so far.

12lb American Wagyu Shoulder. SnP only. 12 hours @225. Good smoke. she'll eat.

Since I just got these, might be time to talk about possibly the rarest stuff Stax ever made. Let me introduce the SRM-Monitor Mk2 and the SR-Lambda Pro New: I've only seen a couple of these for sale over the years so very rare indeed. The headphones are basically the modern version of the Lambda Pro's but not the Spirit/Pro Classic, made later than that. The SRM-Monitor has been called the Mk2 but the changes are mostly to the chassis. Inside there is still a SRM-1 Mk2 and the ED-1 but with different parts. They are all Pro bias only and notice the extra output on the back. The volume knob is also similar to the SRM-T1S/W knob and not the SRM-1 Mk2 unit found of the original Monitors. I have no idea when these were made but I've heard late 90's and for special customers which wanted to replace their older Lambda Pro sets and SRM-Monitors. With these here the Lambda collection is almost complete...

"I think I found a market for these old SCSI cables."

Jazz in the Movies: Chet Baker Performing (which he only does on seven of the 18 tracks). This Italian release is under various titles and various track listings, so whatever you find, may or may not be the same album, but this version is a good listen as you wind down the work week (yes, I'm mentally winding down at 9am). Also not to be confused with the Jazz on Film: Italian series, which is much more comprehensive and I probably need to buy next. Ex. EDIT: Just bought.

From All Sides by Vince Guaraldi (1964) https://open.qobuz.com/album/v8c45tsbx2ekb Example: Ah Bola.. Not super fidelity on this album, but a very nice listen.

Cable Managed / Mangled "Streamer Edition", with passing turkeys. 🦃 🦃 🦃

I do like me a go fast story...

Danny sure could sing.

I did this recipe today, and for some reason, made me think of French toast. Mostly the crispy outside and the soft inside. But also the sweetness. AQNEI5o45uP6-hbhQdgA4t3CyC5TSsM4mUb4R6fdezLunPXr5cpA9q2Cbw8VikSymhKZ53KycFP0EreG1IWczYRdhd5PEawtLiL-94RjhbVqKQ.mp4

but you'll spend that 15 minutes on the crapper.

Nigella's Slow Roasted Garlic and Lemon Chicken

The Turkeys took an interest in proceedings.

Have a TICEtastic birthday Steve! Cheers!

I use what I think is a very simple recipe, from Melissa Clark (NYT cooking), with slight tweaks based on what I actually have in the kitchen. Ingredients Yield:10 to 12 biscuits 230grams (about 2 cups) all-purpose flour 50grams (about ½ cup) cake flour 15grams (about 1 tablespoon) baking powder 8grams (about 2 teaspoons) sugar 6grams (about 1¼ teaspoon) fine sea salt 9tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cubed 1cup buttermilk, chilled I rarely have cake flour so just use 2-1/2C of whatever I have. I rarely have buttermilk so use a substitute of 1T of white vinegar and a scant C of whatever milk is in the fridge. If I am feeling really lazy I'll use salted butter and scale down the salt or sometimes I don't have unsalted butter. The technique is simple, whisk together all the dry ingredients, cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, stir in the buttermilk while try not to over mix. Turn onto a floured surface, roll until ~3/4" thick, and I use a biscuit cutter to cut the rounds making sure not to twist the cutter. Allegedly that seals off the outside and doesn't let them rise properly while baking. I've never had this recipe fail. I'm lazy, so I never brush the tops with butter - which is what 1 of the 9 (heart-attack-inducing) TBS of butter is for. So I usually just use 8 in the dough.

In, ahem, "honour" of Randy Andy getting cuffed, I resurrected a meme format from the early 2000s.

Used Gemini to fix and update my Ubuntu server. At one point, I had a great success, so I told it, "(party favour noise)", and it responded, "(confetti cannon fires)", LOL.

I just picked up an outin nano espresso maker and fino grinder. Total cost under $300. Battery powered, and comparable in size to an aero press and hand grinder. makes pretty darn good espresso from my beans. Good crema, good body.

What a coincidence -- someone on Facebook asked where we first heard Kate Bush -- several of us answered the same: her appearance on SNL -- you say 'transfixed', I said 'mesmerizing':

Time to watch my favorite Robert Duvall movie, "The Great Santini." RIP to one of the greats. Need to fit in "To Kill a Mockingbird" too.

On a trip last weekend up the north shore of Lake Superior with my girlfriend and a wolf crossed the highway between Grand Marais and Grand Portage. My girlfriend rolled down the window and snapped a picture. I lived in the Northland most of my life but never thought I'd see one in the wild like this.

Extra Veggie Turkey Chilli 🥒 🫑 🦃 🌶️

Extra Veggie Turkey Chilli (Cooked after dark, to avoid repercussions)

You have to have multiple "bucha" drinks on a "woke" desk. Are those turkeys of the "Jive" variety?

I just want to thank everyone who's contributed so far. I haven't posted an update yet because I've been overwhelmed. Thank you all, so so much!