Mrs Whiggins

I read Moby Dick the summer prior to entering college. I wouldn't call it my favorite book, but it was not a bad read. I did have to spend a fair amount of time looking things up as well, but in addition to the themes it provides a good framework for *American History (along with some other novels of its period). *I have come to appreciate just how much "history" was omitted because of an overall lack of educational/career opportunities for much of the populace among other things. What stories and perspectives that are never told is not unique to this country.

Beryl is a traditionally *feminine name. The masculine version is Barrel and if American naming trends continue is likely coming to a youth sports team roster in the near future. J/K...sort of. *In America. The name was also used as a masculine name in the past. The spelling was the same as the feminine version but if one goes back far enough, there were a number of variations.

Been way too busy to hang around much, but spouse made The Last Word as our pre-dinner drink and we had a little wine with our pasta (clams with a tomato sauce from our garden). Not a bad Wednesday at all at all. The Last Word 3/4 ounce gin 3/4 ounce green chartreuse (good luck finding this now, its production has been scaled back--if you locate some, let me know where you found it sil vous plait, we're low) 3/4 ounce maraschino liqueur 3/4 ounce lime juice garnish with brandied cherry (we used a couple of bing cherries we had on hand) Shake with ice, strain.

In addition to the resource links that @Masshole Horn provided, I would add this one: https://www.centraltexasgardener.org/. Be careful though, I could spend a lot of time on their site because they have a lot of useful info. They have a to do list calendar that includes maintenance chores for lawn and garden as well as planting dates. For example, here is one for July: https://www.centraltexasgardener.org/resource/july-to-do-list/ ...and here is the link to the months so you can see what is coming up: https://www.centraltexasgardener.org/category/tips-of-the-month/ Have fun! My youngest liked growing beans the best; lima beans and green beans. I have the sweetest pic from when he was five with a big no front teeth grin holding a lima bean as big as his thumb.

No one should EVER spend money on a sport coat that looks like the wearer forgot to have a burp cloth handy when holding the baby.

Sorry for not keeping up lately. Work has sped up the last couple of weeks and fell behind on t&f watching.

When it's this humid, boob sweat is indeed a thing, but I prefer not to talk about it and just shower when I finish a work out and that's all there is to it. I have been known to run through an irrigation geyser (those early morning runs where certain homeowners have not noticed they have a wonky sprinkler head spraying the sidewalk) to cool off but five minutes later it's just back to sweat. Ugh, Texas heat is no joke.

Two cocktails on tap for this evening. The first is an Aviation (gin, elderflower liqueur, lemon, and topped with club soda) because I feel rather light while the second is a Spring Collins (gin, lemon, creme de violette, cherry liqueur) because last week was Dame Joan Collins' 91st birthday and she has a great quote: Even when you win the rat race, you're still a rat...

Truth be told, I don't either. He's 21 years old now and running low on options. Not so much because he couldn't perhaps find something but moreso because he comes with a not insignificant amount of baggage.

Not passed out as much as TMI. But tonight is one martini followed by some bubbly because we were celebrating and gosh darn it, it's good to be married for a long long time. Nice to have some memories that go back decades. Cheers!

A signed copy of his book normally costs $59.99. Imagine paying ~60 bucks for a 241 page book (~10 bucks for the Kindle edition) signed by a high school dropout that was co-authored by two other people (including Michael Quinn Sullivan) because owning this book must in some small way prove one's worthiness as a patriot. He's got a bright political future ahead of him in the GOP. But he's going to need help when it comes to drafting anything beyond a note to teacher excusing him from PE.

Fucking hell. Spouse made Cosmopolitans during dinner prep and then finished with a Pegu Club and I am tipsy. But its Friday so whoooo. Oh, and using the Tanqueray Seville Orange Gin in a Pegu Club is not a bad way to construct the cocktail. But after the Cosmos can't say that my judgement is legit.

Bumping this thread because there is a Season 1 marathon prior to the release date of Season 2 (June 16th) for those of you who don't stream it/ are interested. This weekend on Saturday (HBO2) starting at 12:00pm CDT.

You DID remember to change your watch right? I kid, I kid. Really happy for your family; the whole experience (even the traffic issues) will have so many memories and stories for all of you.

While technically a liqueur and not a gin, per se, we have really enjoyed Plymouth Sloe Gin. It's a little hard to find, but it makes an outstanding *Charlie Chaplin. Made them while cooking supper last night. 1 oz Plymouth sloe gin (there are other brands, but there is absolutely a difference) 1 oz Rothman and Winter Orchard Apricot Liqueur (same as above, I think this brand uses the apricot flesh instead of the pit and it is lovely) 1 oz fresh squeezed lime juice Note: we do NOT add the simple syrup that some recipes use; the liqueur is sweet enough for us. Shake with ice, strain into cocktail glass. *This is an older cocktail, apparently featured at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in the 1920's. We've found the older cocktails are often less sweet which is our preference.

Off topic, but I do wish more people used 'inchoate' and other expressive words in their vocabulary. The idea that one is a snob or high falutin' for possession of such vocabulary when languages are as much art as they are communication tools is one I lament. I fear it is something being lost in education (no CR) when having a wide range of words from which to select is denigrated. Sure, sometimes the most appropriate phrase is "Oh shit, the brakes are out" as opposed to " a calamitous tragedy is upon us," but it's nice to have both at one's disposal.

We picked this up a while back and I agree, it's pretty good. In addition to our usual faves, have added a couple of others to the stock. The Eden Mill Original is a good gin. Have not yet cracked open The Sassenach nor the Red Door: I'll be pleasantly surprised if the Red Door works in our house only because it's supposed to have a fairly bitter orange come through and while I'm a fan of the Negroni as well as absinthe based cocktails, spouse is not so much so we'll see what he thinks. Cross fingers. Speaking of absinthe, we made the Corpse Reviver No. Blue last night as well as a French Blonde (which doesn't have absinthe but does have grapefruit juice and since we prefer white grapefruit juice to ruby red in cocktails, it has that bitter note underneath. Corpse Reviver No. Blue French Blonde Obviously pics aren't mine, I never remember to snap a pic until after we've finished. I can say that the blue curaçao liqueur does indeed turn the drink a very pretty blue. And don't skip the absinthe rinse for the glass either, it adds just enough to give it some flair.

Louis "I'mma gonna fuck up this service" DeJoy has entered the chat.

Number of dead links so don't know if these were posted before: Joe Keery (DJO) of Stranger Things, Free Guy, etc sings: Andrew Garfield (actor) from The Amazing Spider-Man, Hacksaw Ridge, etc sang quite a few songs in Tick Tick Boom, the Lin Manuel Miranda film about Jonathan Larson. I don't know that I'd call him a musician, but AFAIK, he had little to know musical background prior to the role. Ryan Gosling, however, actually was in a band or two long before he sang the Ken song at the Oscars. Eddie Redmayne had a choral background that earned him scholarships to uni, but I don't know that he composes. He was in the Les Mis film with Crowe.

Prairie Du Chien. Now there's a name I haven't heard in a while. Used to visit Villa Louis on the reg (they offered classes on cooking on a wood stove) and loved the Ft. Crawford museum there. (the story about the doctor who treated the man with a window in his stomach was memorable) Pretty area with a lot of history. Stay safe!

Monday...meetings, meetings, meetings. Ugh. So, martini Monday. The Botanist gin, Noilly-Prat vermouth, and 3 Mezzetta Super Colossal Spanish Queen cocktail olives on a pick. Cheers!

Oh, I forgot to add that Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone are set to reunite in another Lanthimos film, Bugonia. Stone, if I understand correctly, finds working with familiar cast & crew preferable (hence the Gosling/Stone 3 movies together), and this will be something like her fifth film (including shorts) with the director. It seems to be a good formula for her cause she's done some fantastic work. Would love to see her reunite with Garfield in a non-Marvel/Sony drama piece, but the pap/fan drama would be insane so can't say I'd blame them for avoiding that. Added an edit to include another female. I ended up with a lot more females on my list than males but then realized that the 40-50 year age group for males has so much talent (Gosling, Redmayne, Andrew Scott, Cumberbatch, Reynolds, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rami Malek, Joaquin Phoenix, Bradley Cooper, etc) that it may be harder for the younger guys to break into certain roles.

Most of the top names listed I'd watch if I saw their names in the cast--Emma Stone for certain, absolutely love her; Margot Robbie, Florence Pugh, Anya Taylor Joy, Saoirse Ronan, Jodie Comer, Carey Mulligan, Zendaya along with the males. Completely agree about Jesse Plemons, Adam Driver, Barry Keoghan, Dev Patel, and Michael B Jordan but I'm not completely overwhelmed by Chalamet and Butler. I haven't seen as many of their movies though so I may not be giving them a fair shot. Andrew Garfield is 40 right now so kind of a squeaker on the age bit but he is amazing in whatever he does. At 39, Scarlett Johansson is on my list as well, along with Janelle Monae and Lashana Lynch. I'm rather delighted at the range of talent in the <40 category, it bodes well for the movies yet to come.

Had some leftover salmon from another meal so tonight while cooking made a tequila sunrise while making salmon cakes with a dijon mustard sauce, salad, and a mashed carrots. Since the sauce uses white wine, well you know once you've opened the bottle then you've got to finish it off. Nice meal and we are full and feisty.