Little Mat

Every morning when I wake up
you have it where I lay my foot.

Every night when I go to bed
you are the last beneath my feet.

Your name is Rhodes
and you are my dearest.

Cheerio

As Sweet as They Come

Dark Matter

Listening Porcupine Tree

“This has become a full time career
To die young would take only 21 years
Gun down a school or blow up a car
The media circus will make you a star“

It’s fascinating to find something fresh when you often think it all must have been played and heard already. Such a sweet finding I was lucky to raise from the abysmal well of music.

Digitus Pedis = Pain!

I think I may have broken my little toe. Nothing more than an unfortunate but well aimed kick against our living room dresser plinth. At first I did not notice anything special compared to any previous missteps. Later I’ve realized that I might have broken the silly toe. It’s been purple & blue for a week now. I’ve had it taped next to the fourth toe for some time and it feels a bit better. Sweet painkillers and only precautious movement is the treat of the day.

Personal Space Shuttle

It’s about 2 × 10³ km that I have gathered to the odometer by now. Not much but it’s been real fun every meter. I got the winter tires mounted just the other week. Not so much snow yet even there has been some flurries and icy nights. Step by step I have prepared for the winter. Snow-chains are still missing but I got the snow shovel already.

Today I learned that the rear end of the vehicle is a way too light for me to survive the upcoming winter. So I kind of emptied the garage out of summer tires & rims and hauled all that weight into the end of 9 cubic meter luggage compartment. Must have been worth something like 150 kg at least. No problem in thick wet snow so far. Now I have four extra spare wheels and another four that don’t even match the vehicle. But the ride is sweet and every meter makes me even happier.

Deep-fried Twinkies

I have been, actually for some time already, trying to figure out the secrets of deep fried Twinkie cake bars. Twinkies, like chocolate bars as Mars and Snickers, can be deep fried. I have bought oil and gone through best recipes for crisp dough. I have purchased at least a dozen of different kind of bars even I have failed to spot any Twinkies. Looks to me I have not been persistent enough to complete the project. Funny how the candy bars always dissolve in a jiffy at our house. Anyway, while more wet snow keeps falling I realize how sweet it is to have something so tantalizing task waiting ahead. Me happy soul.

Cheerio

Next Level

We will be there - on the yellow sandy beach

A jiffy while escaping away
Where no debt can reach
Into the innocence no evil dares to stay
We will be there – on a yellow sandy beach

Under the blue and orange
It’s time to learn and teach
Have holidays due and the courage
We will be there – on a yellow sandy beach

- on the yellow sandy beach

Cheerio

On 25th birthday

It’s raining

I would like to dive into blue like Discovery once again did as it started the 37th space flight (STS-128).

Like I sometimes do, I saw a dream last night. It was winter and a lot of snow. I had a puppy dog. A chocolate colored Labrador Retriever. It was lovely like no other as puppies always are. I was happy and this is the feeling I currently hold. Despite of the rain.

I got the Smiley

I bought an used ‘96 Ford Transit with turbo diesel engine. It’s old but I was not after a new since I certainly do not need one. The size is good with length near to 5.4 meters. Seats for three and one thousand kilos loading capacity. Big enough cargo doors for easy access for loading. Anyway, I prefer this older construction over the new ones. One good reason is the price tag but less expensive spare parts and simple construction counts as well.

This is my personal space shuttle. If it can serve for 25 years like Discovery has done for NASA then I would have something like dozen of years left here. Discovery has over 206,000,000 km in the odometer. That is more than 630 times the amount “Smiley” has today.

Vacation ahead

Less than two weeks for the second part of annual vacation. This is something we agreed with my wife during the spring. We are going to have an extension to the summer. I believe it was ideal decision since hardly I can recall such a misty and cold July as we had this year. It’s natural you expect to have those shiny hot days and pool conditions on every vacation.

Like so many times in the past we have now raised antennas for all potential cancellation of travel offerings we might exploit. The plan is to have 7 to 11 days in the sun and spend the rest at the cottage or just at home. I can already feel the excitement in the air as family members are pondering different possibilities.

If it was me to decide I would not have any alternatives than islands of Greece and their exquisite hideaway places. This, however, is depending on pure luck as you never know what lies ahead behind the next corner.

Cheerio

Sweet Carrots & Apricots in Twelve Steps

It’s about time

As evenings get shorter and a lot darker, it’s time to make an inventory among preserves shelf. Everything is looking good as almost nothing is left. It tells a simple story of successful preservation, exquisite taste and quality of past autumn. Just to start up the season I quickly tried out this recipe.

For about 5 dl of ready jam you’ll need following ingredients and some clean glass jars.

- 5 fresh carrots
- 12 fresh apricots
- 5 dl fresh water
- 500 g gelling sugar
- 1 fresh lemon’s juice
- cinnamon bar

1) Peel and grate carrots
2) Peel and remove seeds from apricots
3) Insert cinnamon into boiling water
4) Add apricots and boil for 5 minutes
5) Add half of the grated carrots
6) Boil for about 15 more minutes
7) Remove the cinnamon (that can be reused several times)
8) Mash with mixer
9) Add gelling sugar, lemon juice and the rest of grated carrots
10) Boil another 10 to 15 minutes until the jam will start to solidify
11) Store into clean glass jars and let cool properly before storing in cool & dark place
12) Serve with good hot tea and crispy butter toast!

For more detailed instructions about making jam check WikiHow

Cheerio

Yeppers Rhyme

On the edge of solar polar
series of “all sparks” have their war
Harvester’s eye staring at draining star
electrons spotting up the silent roar

One reads a stasis lock whine
snatched by the wave of restless brine
Sweetness blue, lullaby of mine
bring down the dark star’s spine

Cheerio

My property

Some say that louder is not better
and less is even more.
But what I’ve learned,
there is at least one exception to the rule.
–
That exception is called happiness.

Cheerio

A Drop of Dew

300mm F/4,0-5,6 Di Macro makes a difference.

Mophotos / Less Space

Few weeks back I finally got me a new Tamron LD 70-300mm F/4,0-5,6 Di Macro for Pentax *ist digital SLR. Well, what can I say, this lens is worth every dime. Especially the macro ability has kept me taking photographs. Awesome device!

I should actually make an investment into some external hard drive unit in order to store ever growing iPhoto library. New Mac Mini would be ideal home theater upgrade for living room. I’d prefer Wireless keyboard with mouse too. This would make viewing photographs through our 32″ telly really convenient. Also, I could finally store all my music in one place and play it out from living room equipment.

Too many tunes?

I believe I have gathered too many songs into my iTunes library. Most of the songs are also in my iPod 5G. Every now and then I discover new tunes in my iPod as I sometimes make it shuffle songs. Today I found the album “Ten Silver Drops” of The Secret Machines. I believe I haven’t bought it, yet there it was. And it was good. Actually so good that I was close to purchase the album from iTunes just before I realized I already had it. Huh… wondering how many double purchases I have already done in the past.

5th generation syndrome

This is something you will not be able to find anywhere in Wikipedia. Still I’m pretty certain of having symptoms of it in mild embodiment.

Lately I have been dreaming of Ford Transit 5th generation as a second car in house. They are on sale for quite reasonably prices nowadays. It would make easy to haul all size of tools and other stuff around. Turbo diesel version is attractive alternative as there is no stop for rising fuel pricing. Also it would make a good engine for pulling trailer or mobile home though I don’t even posses any yet. Maybe someday… as I first get big enough farmyard, whooah.

Cheerio

Lammas Day

Bye bye July

Endeavour is back safe and sound but where did the month of July go? I try to memorize late July days while stuffing in tasty blueberry pie and gulps of tea from a favorite mug. It’s as always. The early mornings are the best. At home or on the road. No matter what but I’m an early bird and loving every moment.

August arrived on time. It’s +13 degrees and raining. Ripples of raindrops make the pond “boil”. Like it has been for the last two to three weeks. Seldom have I seen such a wet July. At least I do not recall more than one similar sometime during mid ‘90. Maybe due to often being weeks abroad during several summer months. Good reminder why do I dream of blue skies and endless sunny days. Continuously that is.

That said, I feel no yearning for past July even there may be different opinion shared when we reach the winter again. There are some plans to put into practice before that.

Lefkada, Corcyra or …

What the exact location will it be is yet unknown. One thing, however, is clear. We will definitely be somewhere down in Greece. The schedule is ready and vacation days are set. After such a lame weather for practically whole summer we have decided to reach for at least one week holiday under the sun. Glad to see it happen even financial situation is not in favor. Well, it seldom is anyway.

Year before we spent exquisite two weeks in Lefkada. I’ve heard and read so much praise about Corfu claiming the beauty of architecture derived from Italian roots. The island has tremendous history recorded back into 7th century BC.

Small bowl of crushed hazelnuts on top of Greek yoghurt and honey incite my impatient mind step by step as these rows of rain fronts pass over me.

Cheerio

In Electron blues

While being unable turns out you really can’t

No matter what, I still miss going on holiday in Rhodes. Yearning made me browse last summer pictures, once again. This picture was taken exactly one year ago from Mandraki harbor of Rhodes town.

Rhodes, where boys of the Sun go paddling around.

I checked, today the temperature at Rhodes is +32 degrees. That is almost 15 degrees more than where I’m writing from. It’s been a lousy weather for the whole July. Like the sky was making the storm of century for all the time yet being unable to launch it properly. Some rain of course but no real deluge.

I’m happy they got the STS-127 finally into orbit. Now there is only 7 more shuttle launches planned ending with STS-134. Then it’s all over. Sounds pretty incomprehensible.

On Monday the 20th it’s time for great celebration of Apollo 11. I will sleep my dream with NASA vector logo socks on and salute with honor mission Commander Neil Alden Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Eugene ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, Jr. for their exceptional courage and success that turned the history page of human space flights forever. Cup of tea from “Failure is NOT an option” mug will make my day.

On weekends after supper I’m used to take a sip of something good. I was lucky to get a bottle of Mackinlay’s Scotch from my sister. This is the same gender that Sir Earnest Schackleton, explorer, asked for his Antarctic expedition to the South Pole.

I wonder about the force that drives heroes to seek and reach for such extraordinary prize while some of us can’t accomplish more than keep bewailing missed days under the Sun.

“First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important in the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”
- John F. Kennedy

Cheerio