Among Friends

[mousiegirl]

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@AnikaBrodie wrote:

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@hullie wrote:

Cold here with snow this morning. Having a low key day too @Sweet Caroline 1 , glad you got your hot water back! I know when I built this townhouse and moved in the plumbers had set water temperature way too low for me on the water heaters citing "safety temperature ". I insisted the builder get them to adjust temperature higher. 

Had an old favorite hamburger for lunch, Maid Rites, an Iowa restaurant that I copied the recipe from. My mom used to work there in her teens. 

Going to snuggle in my recliner now and read a book. By the way @1Snickers  I know you're a reader and for any of you others who are, I just finished a very good book, different but it kept me fascinated. It's an NPR book of the year called Black River Orchard. You should check it out in case it is in a genre that you enjoy. It made me want to pull an apple pie out of my freezer to bake, you'll laugh about that if you read the book. 

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@hullie 

Thanks for the information on the book, Black River Orchard.  Ed is an avid reader and I gave him a note on the book and author.  He doesn't recall reading anything by Chuck Wendig but will check the village commons and the public library to see if he can find it.  The Commons has a small library but is closed several days next week while new flooring is installed.  Ed's favorite author is John Grisham and he is working on two of his books right now.

For now, Ed is working on a puzzle.  Shelby's son, Steve, gave us a small patio table and I borrowed a 500 piece puzzle from the Commons.  I thought the table was big enough but it isn't.  There's not enough room to sort all the colors into different piles.  So Ed borrowed about 6 of my lock&lock bowls filled with different colors!  LOL.  I hope he can finish it; I want my bowls back. 

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@AnikaBrodie   Here is a description of the book.

AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

It’s autumn in the town of Harrow, but something besides the season is changing there.

Because in that town there is an orchard, and in that orchard, seven most unusual trees. And from those trees grows a new sort of apple: strange, beautiful, with skin so red it’s nearly black.

Take a bite of one of these apples, and you will desire only to devour another. And another. You will become stronger. More vital. More yourself, you will believe. But then your appetite for the apples and their peculiar gifts will keep growing—and become darker.

This is what happens when the townsfolk discover the secret of the orchard. Soon it seems that everyone is consumed by an obsession with the magic of the apples . . . and what’s the harm, if it is making them all happier, more confident, more powerful?

Even if something else is buried in the orchard besides the seeds of these extraordinary trees: a bloody history whose roots reach back to the very origins of the town.

But now the leaves are falling. The days grow darker. It’s harvest time, and the town will soon reap what it has sown.

[hullie]

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@AnikaBrodie wrote:

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@hullie wrote:

Cold here with snow this morning. Having a low key day too @Sweet Caroline 1 , glad you got your hot water back! I know when I built this townhouse and moved in the plumbers had set water temperature way too low for me on the water heaters citing "safety temperature ". I insisted the builder get them to adjust temperature higher. 

Had an old favorite hamburger for lunch, Maid Rites, an Iowa restaurant that I copied the recipe from. My mom used to work there in her teens. 

Going to snuggle in my recliner now and read a book. By the way @1Snickers  I know you're a reader and for any of you others who are, I just finished a very good book, different but it kept me fascinated. It's an NPR book of the year called Black River Orchard. You should check it out in case it is in a genre that you enjoy. It made me want to pull an apple pie out of my freezer to bake, you'll laugh about that if you read the book. 

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@hullie 

Thanks for the information on the book, Black River Orchard.  Ed is an avid reader and I gave him a note on the book and author.  He doesn't recall reading anything by Chuck Wendig but will check the village commons and the public library to see if he can find it.  The Commons has a small library but is closed several days next week while new flooring is installed.  Ed's favorite author is John Grisham and he is working on two of his books right now.

For now, Ed is working on a puzzle.  Shelby's son, Steve, gave us a small patio table and I borrowed a 500 piece puzzle from the Commons.  I thought the table was big enough but it isn't.  There's not enough room to sort all the colors into different piles.  So Ed borrowed about 6 of my lock&lock bowls filled with different colors!  LOL.  I hope he can finish it; I want my bowls back. 

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@AnikaBrodie 

I read a variety of genres but I like Grisham too. I download my books from the public library that they helped me to get set up on my iPad. I usually have to put a hold on the popular books and wait until it becomes available. This book I had to wait for and it is a long one too. I use to love to go physically to our library and browse the books but it is convenient to download and no chance to catch a virus from someone. I like to do puzzles as well. I hope Ed will enjoy this book. 

[meallen616]

[meallen616]

[meallen616]

[meallen616]

[Sassy7356]

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@AnikaBrodie wrote:

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@Sassy7356 wrote:

Good Morning, All ~

Yesterday I was away all day and very tired once home in the evening.  We spent the day with my Mom.  It was the day to get her taxes done and do a bit of grocery shopping.  It was pretty iffy if we would even go as we had snow Wednesday night/early Thursday morning that left the roads snow covered and icy for half the way.  We saw many cars in ditches, stopped along the side of the highway, and a few jack-knifed semis.  We took it very slow and it took us 3.5 hours to get there.  As we got closer to my Mom's the roads were clear.  Even though they say we only received 3-4" it did quite a number on the roads.  My Mom kept saying she thought she would get a phone call saying we wouldn't be coming.  The way home the roads were much better.

Besides working his day job, Jason has been hosting karoake.  His friend and boss went on vacation so instead of hosting just one night a week (Saturday) he also had Wednesday and Thursday nights and then again tonight.  Jason says Wednesday night when he was on his way home (1 a.m.) it was a white-knuckle drive.

This weekend is pretty much the same.  We will go out to dinner with friends tonight.  Jason then will bring me home before going to karoake.  Sunday is grocery shopping and puppy school.  

I need a new hand mixer as I don't always want to bring out the stand mixer.  I want one with a low setting as the one I have supposedly has a low setting but I want slower so that batter doesn't shoot out the bowl.  Anyone have one that they really like?

Today is going to be pretty low-key.  I may do some piece washing.

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@Sassy7356 

I may be able to help you with the hand mixer.  When we moved 5 years ago I purchased a 9 speed KitchenAid hand mixer.  (I sold my big stand mixer and don't really miss it.)  I really like this mixer and it works well for all my baking and cooking needs.

The functions are shown on the graphic below.  The top part (in white) shows the 9 speeds.  The next part (in black) is the start button (left to right).  The bottom part with the up and down arrows increases or decreases  the speed from 1 to 9.

The bottom graphic shows included accessories available.  This mixer is available in several colors.  Mine is black.  I hope this informtion is helpful to you. 

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@AnikaBrodie Thanks for the hand mixers information.  That does look like a good one plus I love all the attachments that it comes with.  My current hand mixer is over 30 years old and I have always disliked it, just never got serious about getting a different one until now.  Oh, and Jason reminded me I gave my stand mixer to my daughter.  That tells you how much I have used it or even thought about it since June 2023.  

[Sassy7356]

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@Sweet Caroline 1 wrote:

Hey @Sassy7356,   I did miss you yesterday.  I'm so glad that you and Jason made it to your mother safely.  Did you have chains on the car?  I know your mom was super glad to see you and Jason as she was expecting you two to not make it.  I'm wondering what a white knuckle drive is?  Karaoke sounds like so much fun.  I wish that all of us could gather there and have a fun time.  Maybe you have some karoake stories to tell us.  

I can't help you with a hand mixer.  Maybe just choose a good name brand and see if it has the speeds you're looking for.  Check it's reviews on line.  I'm having a low key day too and it feels good.  Have a wonderful friday dear friend!  Love and hugs to you  

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@Sweet Caroline 1 No, I don't think Minnesotans use chains anymore or snow tires.  I have never sung karoake but I am sure Jason has some good stories. It is always fun when we go as a group.  Most of my closest friends are singers and darn good, too. 

[Sassy7356]

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@AnikaBrodie wrote:

             

WYNONNA JUDD            "I WANT TO KNOW WHAT LOVE IS"

                              featuring Jeff Beck

Utube:  https://youtu.be/QO26nLoEzl8?si=r6oObKfP3DN5aMKA

I posted this song by Foreigner (recorded in 1984) this morning, and now post Wynonna's version recorded 5 years ago.  I love her voice and her ability to make you feel the lyrics.  Her vocals are impeccable.  I hope you enjoy this version as well.

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@AnikaBrodie  Wynonna has always been a favorite of mine.  I have seen her many times in concert as well as with her mom, Naomi.  I fell in love with The Judds way back in the early 80s. I would play their CD over and over and over again and dance around the kitchen.  .  This is my favorite version of this song.

[Sassy7356]

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@mousiegirl wrote:

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@Sassy7356 wrote:

Good Morning, All ~

Yesterday I was away all day and very tired once home in the evening.  We spent the day with my Mom.  It was the day to get her taxes done and do a bit of grocery shopping.  It was pretty iffy if we would even go as we had snow Wednesday night/early Thursday morning that left the roads snow covered and icy for half the way.  We saw many cars in ditches, stopped along the side of the highway, and a few jack-knifed semis.  We took it very slow and it took us 3.5 hours to get there.  As we got closer to my Mom's the roads were clear.  Even though they say we only received 3-4" it did quite a number on the roads.  My Mom kept saying she thought she would get a phone call saying we wouldn't be coming.  The way home the roads were much better.

Besides working his day job, Jason has been hosting karoake.  His friend and boss went on vacation so instead of hosting just one night a week (Saturday) he also had Wednesday and Thursday nights and then again tonight.  Jason says Wednesday night when he was on his way home (1 a.m.) it was a white-knuckle drive.

This weekend is pretty much the same.  We will go out to dinner with friends tonight.  Jason then will bring me home before going to karoake.  Sunday is grocery shopping and puppy school.  

I need a new hand mixer as I don't always want to bring out the stand mixer.  I want one with a low setting as the one I have supposedly has a low setting but I want slower so that batter doesn't shoot out the bowl.  Anyone have one that they really like?

Today is going to be pretty low-key.  I may do some piece washing.

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@Sassy7356   Kitchenaid works well on low, use it most of the time.  One time I forgot to start on low and chocolate frosting went everywhere, what a mess to clean.

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@mousiegirl I am leaning toward that brand.  The one I have is a Cuisinart and like I mentioned below is very old but sure has lasted.