Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Spooky Day!

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com



(Hope you all had a great Halloween & only got good candy!)

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Curiosity

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com


What are you going to be for Halloween?

(And if you have kid(s), how about him/her/them?)

Monday, October 27, 2008

Totoa Bleh!

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

She might like chocolate, but...



Thursday, October 23, 2008

And the winner is...

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com


...Kashka_Z with her guess of 132!

I'm sure you're all terribly surprised that she was the winner of the "How many dang green tomatoes are on my counter?" contest, since, you know, she was the only entrant. :) But I do have to say she would likely have won even out of a much larger field because the correct answer was 144! Yes, that's right, I had a gross of tomatoes sitting there. (Well, plus or minus a few, I'd say - it's easy to lose count with that many roly-poly tomatoes!)

And for her prize, she get to choose one of the following interesting, historical, literary prizes! (Aka things found in our attic)


To give her (and you) just a bit more info, the Readers Digest, April 1937 (subtitled, "Articles of Lasting Interest" so you KNOW it's still good reading!) has such gems listed as:
  • How Can Our Democracy Be Preserved?
  • Isles of Enchantment
  • The Problem of the Holy Shroud (from Scientific American)
  • Gilbert and Sullivan
  • Baa Baa Black Sheep (by Rudyard Kipling)
  • Syphilis Can Be Stamped Out, and
  • Why American Women Marry Foreigners (Hmmm... maybe because of all the syphilis?)

Sunset August 1937 has the tagline "What's New in Western Living." It's got articles on gardening, home decor, write-in advice columns, and recipes (Carrot Ring and Frozen Cake have both have cartoon illustrations demonstrating the steps.) The gems in here, in my opinion, are the ads. I mean, "Look Lovely, Use Mercolized Wax"and Lynden Chicken Fricassee (a canned food, in case you don't know it!) would not be found in any mag today. But Mazola Corn Oil, Ivory Soap and Quaker State Motor Oil make appearances as well as Shirley Temple pushing Quaker Puffed Wheat.


Physical Culture February 1933 (tagline: "Mind Body Soul Beauty Charm Personality," not that I'd call most of those "physical attributes," but whatever) has these articles listed on the cover:
  • Just Why Do You Drink?
  • Never Be Tired - Here's How
  • How to Build Personality
  • "What Prudery Did to Me"
  • Building Better Legs
  • How to Make Children Grow
And the model of masculinity on the cover is apparently the editor "as He Is Today at the Beginning of His 65th Year." Also, lovely pix like the following are inside:




So, you know, I realize it'll be a tough choice, but just let me know when you've decided and I'll mail it on out! :)

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

WW - What we did when we weren't playing Rock Band or eating cheese

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com



(Thanks, Pusher & Puck!)


You can find more Wordless Wednesday here.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

What's in YOUR cupboard?

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

I am a hoarder.

Probably not a surprise to those of you who know me, I realize, but rather true. Always have been. Probably always will be. Never know when something is going to be useful!

Looking at my pantry & the small chest freezer downstairs (also the mass of mostly still green tomatoes on my counter), I realized it's time to use some of my hoarded food supplies. So for the moment I'm declaring a moratorium on grocery store purchases.*

(I must admit the fact that we got bills from the gutter guys, the roof guys & a "is that bill ever coming?" bill from the radiator/dryer vent guys all this week was a bit of a push as well, but I've been thinking about doing it for a while.)

(But our house is currently quite well stocked in yummy cheese, fancy olive oil & vinegar, & other yummies from Pusher & Puck's visit this past weekend. Where they made us stay up far too late playing Rock Band. 'Cuz it was all them. Really. Not me going, "Oh, let's just do one more song...." Um, yeah.)


So for the next two weeks I'm challenging myself to make yummy meals from my hoarded food supplies. I was going to do just one, but since I came up with ideas for the first 5 meals so quickly [pasta w. dried cherry tomatoes (own garden) & leftover chicken, fried rice w. bacon & peapods (frozen from CSA), squash soup with homemade croutons, homemade mushroom pizza (with new porcini olive oil!), ring bologna with sweet potatoes and cabbage], I'll dig a little deeper and do two weeks. Wish me luck!

(Also, 'cuz I posted this, now I've got accountability. Kind of like posting my New Year's Resolutions and goals, you know?)



*Well, except for milk, oj, butter, eggs, diapers, wipes, and Mr. Kluges's cream, honey & oatmeal. Plus other NECESSITIES as they arise.

Friday, October 17, 2008

99 Green Tomatoes on the Counter, 99 Green Tomatoes...

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com


*Click to enlarge to get the full effect.

I know this is more of a Recipeeps question, but it gets less traffic than this blog and BOY DO I NEED HELP! What DOES a person DO with this many green tomatoes?!?!?

(Yes, the tiny ones are green cherry tomatoes, so if you've got idea for those, too, let me know.)

(Oooh! Also, I'll count them. Well, the big ones anyway. Not all those dang cherry ones. So take a guess in the comments as to how many there are & the winner'll get a prize. If I have your address (or you're willing to email it), that is. I'll give you a few days, say until Monday evening/Tues morning or thereabouts.)

(And no, it won't be a green tomato, although that's mighty tempting.)

(But don't be a dork and blow up the picture and try to count them all. Well, actually, if that's how you want to spend your weekend, go ahead, but I'll warn you there's quite a few in some of those mounds.)

Not an everyday occurrence

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

Today we were the House of 42 Doors...

...and 1 blimp.


*shrug* I don't know; our life can be bizarre.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Almost done... really...

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

The following is a conversation Mr. Kluges and I had on-line yesterday about how he's almost done with all the storm windows, so we can put them on for the winter.

MK: Storms are getting close. I just have three windows left to putty and then eight to paint and fourteen to wash, weatherstrip and hang.
MK: OK. That sounds like a lot now.
MK: dang

MHH: :) that's what I was thinking.

MK: oh, and two windowsill to putty and paint.
MK: no, wait, make that eight. We never did the attic
MK: dang.
MK: oh and one window to add plastic to.
MK: see? almost done.
MK: :)

MHH: :) right.

MK: I think next year I should probably start working on the storms in June, one month after I take them off.

Yeah, I think so, honey, I think so... *grin*

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

WW - Why yes, I CAN be a one-trick pony...

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com



You can find more Wordless Wednesday here.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Catching up

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

No, I'm not dead - just busy.

And yes, I can write a post that doesn't include pictures - it just won't be this one. (*grin*)

Much fun, busy-ness, and work-on-the-house lately. Mr. Kluges has been writing about the large and on-going roof and gutter project over at the House of 42 Doors, with a side of masonry thrown in. Yes, lately we've USUALLY had more than one sort of contractor working on any given day. Also, between the gutter guys, the masons, and the roof guys, we've got LOTS of ladders and scaffolding up. See?

This past weekend my youngest brother, his wife, and my parents all came out to visit. It was a full house! The whole crew was only around Friday night, before Uncle TP & Auntie Kay continued their weekend up in Door County, but that night Mr. Kluges and I sacked out on the air mattress in front of the fireplace in the LR. It was wonderful fun seeing all of them again.

Auntie Kay and Uncle TP even had the brilliant idea to go apple-picking on Saturday. So we did...



(All clickable to view larger.)


























(Well, Gramma Pet, Auntie Kay, Uncle TP, the girls and I went. Grampa Pharaoh and Mr. Kluges stayed behind and did painting of trim and shingles for the roof project.)

But Grampa still got some good quality time in with his girls this weekend anyway.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

WW - We Pick This One

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com




You can find more Wordless Wednesday here.

Monday, October 06, 2008

Pumpkin Pickin'

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

On Sunday, we went out to our CSA farm for the scheduled pumpkin picking. The morning was one of those gorgeous, cool, sunny fall days - beautiful!


The afternoon, however, was not.

In fact, it started raining about 5 minutes before we arrived...

...and didn't let up the whole time we were there.



So not as many pictures as I'd hoped for, especially as I tried to keep the camera dry, but here are some fun ones. I just couldn't wait until Wordless Wednesday for these!










Say cheesy!


This next one was snapped in the about 5 seconds Penguin actually held her pumpkin before dropping it, which happened to correspond to the about 5 seconds she left her hood on.

'Course, that may have only been 'cuz her hands were full.


The chickens were smart enough
to stay out of the rain.

Not so much the rest of us.

Thursday, October 02, 2008

One of the sweetest things I've ever seen

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com

This afternoon, Pumpkin was sad because a toy had broken. You know those noise-makers that you blow at New Year's Eve, that unroll and roll back up and make noise? She'd gotten one of those at a birthday party and now it wouldn't work anymore. So she was upset and crying about it.

Suddenly Penguin, all on her own, comes toddling/running into the room and chucks at her... Pumpkin's very favoritest, best stuffed animal in the world. The one that she loves, and sleeps with, and holds when she's sad or nervous or scared.


Isn't that sweet?! Who says 17 month olds don't have any empathy?

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

WW - It was a VERY VERY tall crane.

(c) 2008 Ms. Huis Herself at musenmutter.blogspot.com




You can find more Wordless Wednesday here.