Yeah right MFJ. It would be a great time to go with all the recent renovations to grounds.

KathyG, I got a phone call for some shops worth rearranging my schedule then found some other bonus work on the way. Yesterday was a very good day.

Gotta love June, (short month), got my Soc.Sec. deposit today, three days earlier than usual, paying bills, weather turned muggy, haven't seen any jobs worth doing, so, doing usual except looking for an Electrician, all
my plugs in the kitchen are not working......why is it always something? Watching news, yet another shooting,
what a world!!!!

Renovations or not, it’s on my wife’s list and I’m driving into St. Louis this afternoon.

@LisaSTL wrote:

Yeah right MFJ. It would be a great time to go with all the recent renovations to grounds.

KathyG, I got a phone call for some shops worth rearranging my schedule then found some other bonus work on the way. Yesterday was a very good day.

The Abraham Lincoln Museum in Springfield, IL is quite something.

Irene, before paying an electrician, try resetting the circuit breaker. Sometimes one will "open" but look like it is still closed because it did not pop all the way into the open position. In other words, pull it all the way open and then firmly close it. (Got through grad school managing apartment buildings, lol.)

I will, thx, you may be right and save me hundreds, if so, I owe you one.

How fun!

@MFJohnston wrote:

I think I’m going to go up the St. Louis Arch today...

I'm glad to have it done it once. Never again.

Lisa, will you be checking out the new museum under the Arch when it opens? From what I've read they've really done a good job on it.

@LisaSTL wrote:

I'm glad to have it done it once. Never again.

Most definitely. I'm just too claustrophobic for the tram.

We have The Getty Museum with a tram, built on the side of a mountain with fabulous gardens and grounds and outdoor patio's where they have music events during the summer. The Museum is small, was moved years ago from Malibu, which is now an Int'l Art school. The Museum that has stayed with me through the years was the Smithsonian in D.C. where I saw Liz Taylor's jewelry collection including the Krup's Diamond. Another was at the Louve in Paris viewing Venus de Milo, which was quite small compared to pictures you see. The ceilings in the European galleries being so old are devine. I'm due for another trip, guess the Chicago Art Institude for a day viewing, lunch and meeting others. My daughter is a member and they have a great room with coffee, goodies and a restaurant for members, although anyone can get a free one day pass.

Irene, the tram to the top of the Arch is quite a bit different. Think a very teeny tiny elevator you sit in for 63 stories. Here's a YouTube clip. The videographer was really bad, but it gives you a good idea of the ride. At least they stopped filming people's feet long enough to get a brief glimpse of the view which is spectacular.

[www.youtube.com]

Oh dear, much different, ours is a regular tram run on tracks, more like Disneyland....I wouldn't care for that either. I saw it and would get dizzy, 63 stories, couldn't they do better?

@LisaSTL wrote:

I'm glad to have it done it once. Never again.

Sometimes once is enough, like marriage...LOL

@LisaSTL wrote:

Most definitely. I'm just too claustrophobic for the tram.

We did the tram in 2013. It was so much fun. I remember a woman siting with us having a panic attack!

Mum, I knew we had met before!

Irene, I don't see how they could do it any different. The Arch is awfully tall, but not so wide as you go up. They don't allow visitors to use the stairs. In all honesty, I've climbed 27 or 28 flights, but 63 would take me days, LOL.

The summer I was 16 I had a 'make work' government job on the grounds of the Arch and Old Courthouse. One day they let anyone who wanted to climb up to the top of the Arch. I did. It was very hot, and very HARD!

@LisaSTL wrote:

Irene, I don't see how they could do it any different. The Arch is awfully tall, but not so wide as you go up. They don't allow visitors to use the stairs. In all honesty, I've climbed 27 or 28 flights, but 63 would take me days, LOL.

You are a better woman than I am. At 16 I'm still not sure it would have been possible

Regarding all the talk about Museum's, I'm going into Pasadena to the Norton Simon Museum, then lunch on a job. Home to movies, computer and stuff.

Today I am: 1) slow cooking pork ribs 2) cleaning out my kitchen drawers & cupboards 3) prepping for next week's shops. Everyone, have a safe & wonderful 4th!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2018 06:40PM by Monk-N-Nut.

Last day on the full-time grandparent gig. This morning we went to Target and Sprouts, then came home to do some housework chores and play before lunchtime and nap.

Son and DIL come home today, then we're headed to somewhere in the Central Valley of California to meet some of Oldest Son's fiancee's family.

Quiet day here. Between naps, I am doing the usual house tasks. The projects are on hold indefinitely. I will not even look at them until I can be awake and upright long enough to do something meaningful about them. The good news is that strong winds are blowing away acrid smoke from a wildfire. That smoke makes everything worse for me in my world. *gasps**gags**pants*

So squirrels like PayDay candy bars. Yes, I know, not good for a steady diet, but lately on my Circle K shops it's been a purchase requirement for standard sized candy bars, so I get PayDays and in between piles of natural sunflower seeds and cracked corn, I have been giving them some small pieces of PayDay candy. Today I threw a large chunk of candy to one of the squirrels who was hanging out on the deck rail, looking sad and pathetic in his begging stance and waiting for a treat. Before the squirrel could grab it, this little chipmunk ran up on the deck and stuffed it in his mouth, then hightailed it with the squirrel in hot pursuit. Chipmunks are much faster than squirrels, LOL.

I am slow cooking baby back ribs!!! It was a steal of a deal, BBQ sauce for $1 a bottle and baby back ribs for $2.79 lb, fresh corn 6 ears for $1. I just have to find something green my husband will eat to go with it! I am NOT cleaning out drawers and cupboards, though, I am going to clean the bathrooms (yuk) and call it a day.

Happy holiday weekend!

@Monk-N-Nut wrote:

Today I am: 1) slow cooking pork ribs 2) cleaning out my kitchen drawers & cupboards 3) prepping for next week's shops. Everyone, have a safe & wonderful 4th!

Sounds so good you guys, but not in a cooking mood, spending the 12.00 fee I made at Best Buy at Trader Joe's picking up a small Filet Mignon, corn on the cob. Jas, you should be a chef......I did laundry, just whites, now watching Law and Order and mysteries.

You are sweet, Irene, I do love to cook but just for family and friends. Working in the restaurant business in my 20s (as an lowly server and sometimes kitchen helper) I would never want to cook for a living unless I ran a bed and breakfast. That might be fun, but the problem is, no time off, and I love to travel way too often and too much to marry myself to a business like that.

I think a filet mignon and corn is a grand dinner. I cook my filets in a cast iron skillet in the oven these days, it comes out just fine (better than risking the "man" manning the grill accidentally overcooking, LOL). My husband is quite fine with not grilling these days, too, it's way too hot out!!!

I do my baby back ribs on a baking pan (cookie sheet) with seasoning in the oven wrapped in tinfoil and cook them at 325 for about an hour, then turn the oven up to 425 for 15 minutes, then down to 300 for another hour or so. The higher heat allows the connective tissues to relax and make them more tender, but turning them back down keeps them from drying out. At the end I unwrap them, put the sauce on them, and turn them on low broil until they get seared across the top, then turn them off and let them rest. It's quite good like that if you like them falling off the bones. Some people prefer a chewier rib and that's not a good method if so.

Popular now are AirBnB's where you rent out a room for a day or so, fix breakfast,and make $$, but it is work,
and having strangers come and go, kinda weird. I know a girl that's just become an empty nester, isn't married and is doing it, she loves it. I'm perfectly happy with my Filet and corn, less is more these days.
I'm content playing on the computer, fixing what I like, and watching my shows.
Running around a bit happy hour, not bad for an old broad...LOL
I never make ribs, doing my Lucille's BBQ takes care of it. Enjoy the holiday.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/2018 11:41PM by Irene_L.A..

Decided to stay an extra day in St. Louis.... will venture up the arch this evening - we had a change of plans last night.....

JAS, girls can grill you know. I grew up with a mother claiming she liked to cook while relying heavily on pre-packaged convenience foods along with a stepfather who could manage to both burn and undercook chicken on the grill. My brothers and me are just the opposite of our parents.

Food usually sounds so tempting. But not today. Maybe tomorrow. Today is for finishing a book and organizing stuff for merch tasks. Someday, I will look at food again and proclaim, "You look pretty good!".