Wordless Wednesday

I have discovered...

Having a cold is not a good thing. I really hate being sick. I hate how poorly I sleep when I'm sick. I hate having a runny nose. I hate coughing all the time.

I love how much Mr. Perfect loves me and watches over me when I'm sick (he did all of the hand-wash dishes last night). And he better. He gave me this thing.

I am a plant killer

I have done something I thought was impossible. Growing up, my mom always had tons of plants on the kitchen window sill. She has the most amazingly green thumb; no plant in her house ever dies. EVER.

Every Mother's Day, she would get a new geranium from the Young Woman at church. And they always lived. For decades. And bloomed year-round.

This is the first year I've received a geranium for Mother's Day. And I've killed it. Amazingly, the plant next to it was also received at a church function (Relief Society lunch in March or April), but it's thrived. Apparently, it needs much less attention, water, sun, and personalized care than a geranium.

You can't tell from this picture, but the geranium used to have two main stems, and now one of them is black and limp. I can't tell if it's from over-watering or some other plant no-no I did. I do much better with plants in large plots of land that I can water with the automatic sprinkler system. We are currently watching two enormous pumpkins trying to out-do each other in size. It's going to be a fun Halloween, just not for the geranium.

We have a working bathroom!!!!

And it's a joyous thing. There are few touch-up details to finish, but it has all the working necessities for a bathroom, plus Italian tile, two-tone paint, and crown molding. What more could a girl wish for? Oh, how about a shower with one of those amazing rainfall shower heads with 5 (yes 5!) settings?

The names have been changed to protect the guilty...

Times change. People change. Pseudo names on this blog change. Introducing the updated Kite Strings names:

Mr. Perfect will continue to be Mr. Perfect because he is still... well... perfect.

Most Happy Girl will also continue to be the Most Happy of Girls.

Super Swim Chick has become Lawyer-in-the-Works as she finishes up undergrad work and makes the transition next year into law school.

Beatles Lover is now Drama Queen, because it's just a much more accurate way to describe her.

Game Boy is still into games, so he will remain the same. Thanks, GB!

Psycho Wunderdhund will always be psychotic, though he is starting to show miniscule signs of slowing and calming down (still can't just sit there and blissfully stroke his head without him trying to playfully bite your hand off).

Wordless Wednesday

I have discovered...

Pumpkins.

Everywhere.

They are taking over the WORLD!!!
At least they are starting to turn orange.

Harry and Percy miss the Utah Shakespeare Festival

We forgot to grab them on our way out. I feel like a horrible travel mascot owner.

They'll have to wait until we head back for the Fall shows.

If we remember them...we're bad owners.

Wordless Wednesday

A new look

Not for the blog, but for me. I've been thinking for many years about donating hair to Locks of Love. I finally did it. I spoke with Mr. Perfect about cutting my hair very short. He hasn't seen me with very short hair. The shortest it's been since we met is still well below my shoulders.

So, here it is. The new hair cut. The new look.

What do you think? Mr. Perfect says he loves it, and he does like playing with it.

Here's another that really shows the length.

*sigh* I really don't like pictures of me.

A request for pie information

I had a request for the peach pie recipe. I usually post these things on my cooking blog, but I didn't actually blog this pie. Kind of sad, I know. The pie crust recipe is there, though.

So, here's the recipe (which I got from Cooks.com):

Ingredients:

5 C sliced peaches (yes, please peel first)

3/4 C sugar

3 Tbl flour

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Dash of salt

2 Tbl butter

1 unbaked pie shell 9" and top crust for pie

Combine sugar, flour, spice and salt. Add this to the fresh peaches and mix lightly. Pour this into the unbaked pie shell and dot with butter. Top the pie with strips of crust. Crimp edges. Bake in hot oven 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until brown. Serve warm with ice cream or whipping cream.

Here's a picture of the flaky, flaky crust:

I have discovered...

I love this man more every day.

I mean, who wouldn't really?

Mr. Perfect's reward

Mr. Perfect's favorite pie is fresh peach. I made a couple last year, and he became an instant convert to the joys of warm peach pie with vanilla ice cream.

We have joined a food co-op called Bountiful Baskets. On Saturday our baskets included five beautiful peaches. On Tuesday, I made the most amazingly perfect pie crust dough. I don't expect it to happen again, so I don't mind bragging about it a little right now. Well, as amazing as it was to roll out, it was even more amazing to eat. Flaky, flaky, flaky. Did I mention it was flaky? The secret really is lard. I know it sounds gross. I know it looks gross. I know that Mrs. Obama would fine me for feeding anything made with it to children. I don't care. Lard makes the best pie crusts. Hands down.

This will not be the last peach pie this year. I've already promised at least two more. It's okay; it's one of my favorites, too.

(P.S. It's a sun on the pie, not a peach.)

Percy and Harry see the Bees

Most Happy Girl's office had discount Salt Lake Bees tickets, and we decided to make a date night of it. But we also knew that it would be a great experience for the Boys. Even though the Bees lost (we left at the end of the 8th inning to avoid traffic), we had a great time.

I highly recommend the gourmet nachos, not the ones with melted Velveta and a handful of jalapenos thrown on top, but the "meal for eight in a tin" nachos.

Yeah, we all had a great time.

Wordless Wednesday

Beatles Lover goes Into The Woods

This year, Mr. Perfect and I didn't audition for the Taylorsville City Arts Council's show, but Beatles Lover did. It was Into The Woods, which I admit is one of my dream shows. But when auditions happened, I was in Sound of Music at the Empress and feeling seriously burned out of shows, and Mr. Perfect was head-deep in home improvement stuff and work. Beatles Lover was Snow White, who shows up quite late in the show, but they used her and another cast member with the same "issue" to help with scene changes in some very funny ways. Another good friend was Cinderella.

It was a very fun production.