Ballard Street by Jerry Van Amerongen for March 15, 2013

Charles and Mildred have a huge house!

I’m here now, Dogsniff….. I often get here about his time, though I try to be earlier.

The Tiki is open 24/7…..you can always walk in and say hi….sometimes people even answer.Or they show up an hour later.Never hurts to check back.

And there’s more to Ballard Street than the Tiki….

I often stroll through a lot of comic neighborhoods on my way here…

I gotta leave for a few minutes….

Red…. in case you arrive while I’m gone, the Monkey announced free mudslides tonight, if you’d like one….and I’m giving away slices of pie to celebrate Pie Day.It’s officially over at midnight…. but there’s lotsa pie left, so be sure to get some!

pcolli, if you show up tonight, same for you!

you can put your clothes back on, come off the tracks and stop waving that silly, whatever it is.

certainly octogenarian code.

wow, sounds like you may have blown one. (care for a piece?)

Absolutely, Red!

And hi, Nazz…. thought you abandoned these parts.

While I was out wandering, I made some microwave popcorn…. something I seldom do.

Something on the bag made me laugh….

Red…. you know how we laugh at confusion over using words like “tonight,” “today” and “tomorrow” at this time?

Well, dunno whether you’ll see a connection….but on the popcorn bag, it says “Caution: Contains hot oil and steam.”

It’s printed on the bag I popped…. and on the two still in the box.Time traveling…. just like saying “today” right after the turn.

LOL…

Either those unused bags contain hot oil and steam right now…. in which case I hate to store them in the kitchen….

Or it’s future hot oil and steam.

But then, I have never denied that I am exceedlngly easily amused….

Oh… there you are….refill before you go?

If you’re still awake…. LOL….Do you need me and Elvis to give you a lift to the Piano house?

And BTW…. note to Nazz….yes, I DID ignore that……

So taking the night coach is foreplay?

Now I have “Last Train to Clarksville” playing in my head.

I had some relatives who road German trains, in 1942, (it was not a pleasant ride)

And now for something completely different“SQUIRREL”!!!!!!!!!Okay, I’m okay.I remember…………….Choo Choo Charlie was an EngineerGood and Plenty, Good and Plenty, Good and PlentyYa gotta go back for that one.

I did ride a German train in 1974. We were moving our M60 tanks to a range for training. I was the last on board as I drove the M88 Recovery tank. Sometimes we had to pull em off if they would not start. The trip was okay except I had to ride in M88 in case there was trouble. About 15 tanks up the train the turret barrel retainer came loose on one of them and the turret began to swing out to the side. We began clipping poles, wires flying everywhere. I locked down and called the engineer with the phone. I yelled Stop the Train, Stop the Train. All I got back was German gibberish. Vas? ALDKKDKDKaaaaakddk? (I think he was cussing me as I had woke him up) I (using my best German) yelled Halten the Train you dumkoff!!!! Suddenly I heard panic voices in German and on went the brakes. We had gone maybe 15 to 20 kilometers, knocked out power to who knows where, and I got fussed at for not going up there and securing the turret. I went “Go up there with all that debris, live wires flying about, to secure the turret HOW?”. They, I guess, were afraid someone was going to steal the damn things so they had locked all the hatches with master locks and I had no key or bolt cutter to open it up to get inside. Great train ride however.

Another of our favorite things to do was knock down the KM post markers. We would run over them for miles and miles. Cost the Army a 100 dollars a pop for each one. We would blame it on VW beetles forcing us off the road.In a berg we were moving our tanks around and I had a VW with 5 people pull up in front of my M88 and began honking his horn yelling at me in German to back up. He yelled at me in all kinds of angst. I lowered the stabilizer blade which was Red with White sharks teeth painted on and just started moving forward. He honked and honked and hooked. I made contact with his bumper and just pushed him back till he finally got the idea and drove off still calling me all kinds of names.

“No, Charles, I don’t care to take the night coach this evening!”++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++(12 hours later…)

“Well, then…how about the morning train to Bliss? [ Idaho, that is! ]

A friend of mine sent me a horrible bumper sticker that scared the begesus out of me. A 2016 Hillary Clinton/Michelle Obama bumper sticker.Another was from Maxine. She got into trouble for using the word “towel heads”. She was informed they are a small sheet not a towel. So she now uses the term “sheet heads”Hey I don’t make this stuff up others send it to me.

Zzzzz…. snick*….Hay…!!! Wha…..!!??Wuz I dreamin on top of teh fridge oar did ah akshuly see our long lost frend LEFTY2…???It wuz sumwares round teh turn lass nite…!!!Sum buddy PLEEZE tell me ah wuznt dreemin..!!!Haloooooo Lefty..!!!!Ah missus yer bak story’s…!!!!Hab sum pye..!!!!!

anybody want to ride my night coach……

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake For SusanSunshine:

10 oz. semi sweet chocolate, chopped, or 1.5 cups semi sweet chocolate chips1 19 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed4 eggs(optional) 3/4 cup brown sugar, or teaspoon vanilla, or maple syrup to taste. (I use the vanilla)Preheat oven to 350 degrees FMelt chocolate in double boiler over low/medium heatPut drained chickpeas and eggs in blender and puree until smoothAdd melted chocolate and blend thoroughlyAdd optional sweeteners as desiredPour into a 9 " round or heart-shaped pan lined with parchment or dusted with gluten free cocao powder (Fry’s)Bake in oven for 40 minutes or until straw comes out clean.Dust with icing sugar if desired.Enjoy!

Pass it on….

See you tonight? Maybe.

Oh, that’s what a mudslide is……count me in, but please keep the banana ones down wind.

Charles, ever the romantic, has followed his heart and to Shirley’s delight completed the narrow gauge track, restored the mini-mine all electric turbo engine and refitted the coach with lay down, rolled and pleaded leather seats, comfy cushions, padded swing out foot rests, a fold up table and pull down satin shades with hand knotted and neatly monogrammed tassels. Shirley was always fond of a man who had an eye for detail. And in an effort not to break the ambiance or disturb a tender moment, Shirley sits quietly reading her favorite civil war novel. She has gracefully matured from beads to pearls and where once brightly colored polka dots swept across the horizon as far as the eye could see; now softly muted floral patterns bring a sense of intrigue, a whisper of wisdom and a foretelling of secrets to be discovered and shared. But tonight is a night for tasty desserts, watching the weather and finding that hanging sliver of moon through the clouds, a kiss and a smile, early to bed and dreams of canoes on the river, sand on the shore, a trail through the trees and pictures of birds on the wing. Life is wonderful. Ain’t God Good.

The coach car.

The Canadian version

Oooh, Stel….. their house is gorgeous.Did you find it for them, or was it before you got into real estate?

It’s big enough for them to open it to paying guests! I should suggest it to them…. we get so many tourists on Ballard Street, we could use a nice elegant little hotel with a train.

Of course, if the tracks run all along those two upstairs balconies, Charles might run over a few patrons….And they’d have to turn on the actual ceiling lights…which might ruin their “Flashlight Fun Nights”…and Mildred would probably prefer being swept away (so to speak) in private…

I guess I should leave them to their own little world.

Thank you, Shika!If I need to make a gluten free dessert, it sounds tasty…though I’m not a big fan of the garbanzo, myself.

No hummus for me…. sorry.

I honestly thought you were joking about the “three ingredients”…. cos so many people use the “recipe” on the box.you know….One cake mix, 1 egg, and water.

X — I think you’re on the right track!

And hiya Lefty…. where ya bin?

pcolli…. um….. I’ve been trying to fit “caramel” into Lefty’s tale…. but…. uh… ….what?

LOL.

Anyway, sorry I didn’t answer…. but your question was over my bedtime horizon.

Oh… and I just commented in answer to your post (pcolli) on Arlo and Janis about Pi day…..

I don’t know whether you’ll go back there…. and it fits here anyway, cos I baked all those pies…so I’ll cross post it….

In the American system, yesterday was 3/14.which resembles 3.14.

The proper time to celebrate is precisely 1:59, of course… 3.14159.

It doesn’t work in countries that use 14/3 for the date….so “approximate pi day” is celebrated in England and on the continent on 22/7.

(How will I bake approximate pies? X …do you know?)

A great song as well.

JimmyH and Riverhawk…. Marrakesh Express, too.

Nazz….I hate to point out what I’m ignoring, … LOL…. but it was your remark to Dogsniff, about what he missed….Oh right…. you didn’t mean it that way…..

@Susan, I’m not only gluten free right now, but also no sweets allowed (not even fresh fruit); my Amatetti are fine forsweet and gluten free. I have some in the LR in a Rubbermaid box for next time the kids need a treat, but I used the same almond flour today (1-3/4 cup) with a single whole egg, Tablespoon and 1/2 of Hazelnut oil and a T of my own blend of Italian spices ground in my morter; I topped them before cutting in squares (but after rolling to 1/16" with some sesame, dill and anise seeds (were the tastiest in my cabinet), and baked for around 14 min @ 350. I will start buying that flour in larger bags- very good and will be much better and cheaper than any GF I found in the store.

@X_tech, They look very nice but the beds just aren’t big enough for my needs. I really don’t want any machinery in the house anyway; I hope I never need a stair climbing one like my mom had after her stroke.

But that IS why I’m taking care of my BP, after all. I hope to finish this bottle of 10mg tabs and drop it after the 27th. I am working on more relaxation techniques ;-D

@Bev, FUNNY! My brother did that at least once when we still lived with my folks; he wound up on the roof of the back porch outside his window. My room had the front part of the second floor.

Good Night Ballardeers.

Have fun at the turnover.

@Shikamoo, I never use canned beans. I do all mine from dry, but I made some hummus from a recipe a couple of weeks ago and froze it in babyfood size containers. I never had that before, but not bad. I use garbanzos with kidney beans and string beans for my salad with lots of red wine vinager, but my favorite for gluten free baking is almond flour. Honeyville Farms store is in Chandler (not all that far to drive) and they have it in bulk (as well as other stuff I want to buy) but they also ship flat rate. The bags I’ve bought at Sprouts are too small if I’m going to make more of those crackers and I WILL, now that I tried the recipe I can do variations. GF crackers at stores are mostly rice flour based with little substance and a high price.

@Bev, I made chili yesterday with kidney beans and made mixed wild rice to have with it today (ate a serving of almond crackers too and a bit of romaine salad). I’m getting used to the vegetarian foods. I forgot to look for nutritional yeast when I went to Sprouts Wednesday (don’t image the chain store that is nearby would have it). I want to try the cauliflower pizza crust and bought some vegetable mozz and pepperoni- figured the yeast might be close to my Reggiano.

Okra is way too slimy for me; I don’t like anything slimy, and cornbread is also off my list per the 5 pages of food instructions my dr gave.

Friday at last! I’m on staycation next week. Tomorrow I’m going to the opera, The Magic Flute.Monday I have to try to get caught up on my chores. I’ve got dust bunnies larger that actual bunnies. What can I say, I’m a bachelor.

I didn’t mind reading with a flashlight when I used to read in bed after lights out at my parents’ house. Now I only read outdoors because I still manage without glasses in daylight and I don’t like wearing them (and inside I have so much stored on my 2 TiVos). At his house (and elsewhere) the TV just serves as a nightlight.

@Bri, my man and I used to attend the opera a lot too (Lyric in Chicago). I also had a season ticket here when I was working, but I would also go to dinner and have a few drinks, so – cabs both ways. Taxi fares from my house became a strain on my budget. We might still go while I’m there if it is in season and a good one (I like the Flute, but generally prefer the Italian composers + Offenbach and Gilbert/Sullivan. Things like Butterfly and Cyrano make me cry every time.

“And I don’t care that it comes with a private sleeper cabin.”

Things you always wanted to know about vending machines…

https://cleoandcompany.net/march-15-2023/

Good morning Balladeers and Tigressy!