Playing with the new toys.
and the research thats going with it. RECIPIES - need to find good ones..

holidays have been fun and we recieved (& bought) some fun new toys.
one is called an Instapot - its a small (6qt) pressure cooker. less bulky than my pressure canners. (love them but they are rather large for day to day use)
so have gotten to play and so far am loving it
homemade mac & cheese and tomato soup..

now, mind you i could do these without this fancy critter..
BUT it was fast and easy and 'one'pot cooking.. so rather fun :)

i intend to use the thing at LEAST 3times a week for something.. going to see if i follow through on that lol but i LOVE soups and this baby shines for soup

oooh  ooooh did i mention the BEAUTIFUL kitchen-aid immersion blender (in Turquoise!!!!) that we got? perfection for blending the tomatoe soup -- heavenly!

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another 'fun' trinket.. little mini waffle maker..

we had a Large Belgium waffle maker - awesome beast - big and heavy. for only two of us - overkill - so it now resides with the kids & their kids!!  this little baby makes a single waffle just the right size to pop in a toaster.. so made a batch of batter - made breakfast for gr son & us and Still had enough batter to make then freeze about a dozen of them. will try them in the toaster when i have the littles here.. WAY better than buying frozen waffles at the store.. these i can make ANY time. :)
(i add extra eggs so higher nutrition too)

so much fun with 4 pretty gadgets :)

number four isnt a cooking pretty but a sewing one.. half way thru a marathon assembly line sewing session (making xmas gifts for 5 gr babies) the old machine up and died.. seriously dead.. it literally started screeching & then jammed. -- soooo not good.
hubby took me to wally world (plan was to give up and hit the toy aisle..3 days before xmas ya know)
but dear man took me over to the machines and said check them out.. then bought the one that seemed the most versatile for what i sew.. OH MY..

so gadget #4 was really gadget #1 lol & it came home and helped me finish all the gifts including small ornaments for all the grown ups.. its a Lovely little machine with lots of potential use..
sqeeeeeeeeeee!!!

midnight musings...

shade  and shadows
shadows and shade

have you ever noticed how the sky is lit affects how you perceive things??
or perhaps this is a desert thing....

on a clear day - a really clear day,  -- coming down the mountain road from the high desert to the low, the hills that stretch out across the valley from me, look as tho drawn in various shades of pastels that someone has then taken their thumb to, smudging and softening the edges.
surprising when the light itself is sharp & harsh.. this is the time one feels like you can just reach out and touch them, so lightly do they float in your vision.. one could believe that walking up there would be a gently quite stroll thru undulating hills & dales..

have seen paintings done of these hills, where the shades of lavenders & pinks are so rich they catch your breath, have heard people see such paintings and state mountains dont look like that!.. well sadly maybe their mountains dont.. but if you are lucky enough to be out at sunrise or just before dusk and the sky is lit just so.. for a few mesmerizing moments these colors will astound you..

there is such beauty here, there is such ruthlessness here.. both in the same breath.. a gut punch in perception at times

on a hazy cloudy day where the sky is patchy and shades of grey, i look at those same hills and they are sharp & clear, jagged edged as tho claws have caught them and pulled them asunder.. those curves no longer seem inviting when you can notice the sharpened outline of jagged teeth  even at this distance they are formidable and unfriendly...

i often hear of foolish souls who look up on those hills on clear days, thinking oh what a lovely day and lovely spot for a bit of hiking - just an hour or two.. and they take little or no supplies or precautions.. little knowing those hills bite the unwary. they all to often swallow them whole and Maybe someday will spit them back.. maybe..

for myself i Love these hills in all of their moods. i used to drive to work at sunrise and watch the pink shadows work their way up the mountain sides..i love their moods and i have a deep and abiding respect for their ways.. i have climbed a number of them, slid down too many rough bits of rock and sand, camped on the rim of arroyos, even poked my nose in a mine or two (not a smart move i admit)

as the sun would rise i would watch the great horned owls winging their way towards the foothills & their sleeping sites for the day.. have often noted a coyote or 3 quietly trotting back to where-ever their current den was to wait out the heat of the coming day.. have had the privilege to briefly share my day and my life with bobcat, desert fox, raven, raccoon, puma, packrat, cactus wren & roadrunner diamond back, sidewinder, chuckwalla, Coopers hawk, Kestrel & more.. i have been incredibly lucky and perhaps even blessed by them..
so many humans are utterly oblivious to the sheer number of wildlife that reside here.

knowing always that for all my love of these places, they do not love me.. they may seduce the viewer, entice them to come be 'one' with the desert. but for most its a false promise and is never ever a safe one. love the desert but NEVER forget she is a harsh mistress and will kill you as easily as she can provide food and shelter for those who pay attention..

thats another secret of our hills.. humans think they have 'tamed' the desert.. the desert meanwhile laughs and thumbs its nose at us knowing better..
the desert is fragile tho and easily damaged often beyond saving in places,

but in the overall scheme of things, its most likely that it will still be here, moving in its slow and stately (most of the time) rhythms - the hills will continue telling their stories even if its only to the mountains and the winds --
Long past when humans have gone the way of the neanderthals & dinosaurs...