Y’know when you find a recipe online, whether via Google or by following a link in an Instagram post, let’s say, and (at best) you have to scroll past 14,000 step-by-step photos about how to cut an onion sprinkled with advertising after every paragraph/photo, or (at worst) also do battle with a myriad of pop-up videos?
Sometimes there’s a “Jump To Recipe” button, which at least saves a ton of scrolling, but still…
Well, I have a trick for you!
Copy that entire URL
Type cooked.wiki into your browser, followed by a forward slash (/), and
Paste that entire URL
Not only do you spare yourself all the BS, but you also get a lovely, organized, formatted recipe with a link to a printable PDF.
GAME CHANGER!!
My next trick is something I use all the time when I know I won’t remember, like… What is it that I type before the URL of a recipe to skip all the BS?
I compose an email, usually with a subject line that makes it easy to find/search, which automatically gets saved in Drafts. Your mileage may vary, but this works for me because it won’t get lost in a notebook or on a slip of paper, which I may or may not have handy at any given time (and definitely not when I need it), and my email is as close as my phone (which is usually very close).
I have draft emails with various lists (Christmas, To-do, Bucket), TSA pre-check numbers, a few recipes, things that I need to share often, yarn weight substitutions, and links to last-minute availability calendars of my favorite get-away spots — stuff like that.
The draft emails get culled every now & then, but I can’t tell you how often that little trick has spared/saved me.
Another little “trick” to share for all you poetry lovers that I just read about yesterday, and that’s only valid for a few more days: Oregon’s Telepome Poetry Hotline @ 503-928-7008. You can call every day of National Poetry Month (this month) to hear a daily poem! The hotline was created by Oregon’s poet laureate, Anis Mojgani. You can read all about it here.
That’s all I got. Tomorrow’s my day off… so HAPPY WEEKEND!!
One of the wonderful things about the house next door going up for sale (again) is that this time, there are some great drone pictures of OUR house!
Ours is the one on the left.
If that drone was just a little bit higher, you might be able to see Annie’s rooftop! You can see just a bit of the pergola to the left of the house, and the roof of the playhouse barely peeking out just to the left of the garage. Maybe I’m the only one that can see it because I know it’s there!
These photos were taken less than two weeks ago and I’m happy to report that the terraced areas are greening up, as are the trees. There have been some trees planted/replaced in the terrace, as well, though not yet right next door… possibly due to the type of tree being planted there.
This is just an amazing overview! I can see 313 Dodge (one of my favorite local spots), Hydro Park, the utility company & hydro power plant, the middle school playground (formerly high school, sans playground), the old paper mill that now houses our public library, the current paper mill, the Fox River, the nature center, rec dept ball fields (formerly high school fields), our swimming pool (currently undergoing a big re-do), the creek & trails, and the main road that I take out to Ali’s house! The “south side” downtown area is just to the left out of the picture.
I always say that I’m pretty much in the middle of everything but no one knows… we’re elevated, the ravine is wooded, and we’re at the end of a street that’s only two blocks long. I can see the pool from a few areas in the house right now, but as soon as the trees leaf out, I’ll only be able to hear it.
By the way, doesn’t that new street look great! They didn’t replace the entire sidewalk, though there is some brand new sidewalk across the street where there never was before (kind of weird). I’m still sad that we lost so many big old trees, but not as sad as I was… it’s a huge adjustment after 37 years! Our house is visible as soon as you turn on the street now, where it was a bit hidden before, and I just think… this is probably how it looked when our house was brand new — almost 140 years ago!
We celebrated two of the April birthdays yesterday — the third will require a total & welcome re-do in July!
Ali’s birthday was Tuesday, and Kate’s is today. Everyone came over & we had spaghetti & meatballs, salad, garlic bread, and a yummy flourless chocolate cake.
It was a pretty good day to be outside — a little nip on the breeze, so we bounced in & out a lot — the sun was shining and, of course, that made everything better. I even got out early to do a little hoeing out back, and Rusty got the rain barrel re-installed.
Bleeding heart
Bloodroot
The bleeding heart is prolific, as always… the bloodroot, not so much. A certain helpful gardener child may have been a bit overzealous in her attempt at taming it last year. I think we counted four plants in the back area. Luckily, it seems to be taking hold in another — arguably, more appropriate — area of the yard.
“Barn” by Malina
It was fun to see a couple of old sweaters walk in the door! The one with the truck was knit for Mack, probably 15 years ago, and basically a Wonderful Wallaby (by Carol A. Anderson) sans pocket. The truck was by request & adlibbed. I knit it with some precious Mission Falls 1824 Cotton (oh, how I loved that yarn), and I’m always surprised when I look for the Ravelry project page… it’s not there! Yesterday, it was sported by Davy.
The striped one was knit only NINE years ago for Junah, based on Devan (by Holli Yeoh), using self-striping yarn by Knitterly Things, combined with a solid that I dyed. I knit it quite a few sizes larger than he was at the time… and yesterday it was worn by Malina.
Speaking of Junah… (he’s fine).
They were hauling a few things home from the apartment above the coffee shop, so a goofy photo op as they were getting ready to depart.
I wasn’t sure how much knitting I’d get done while we were away for our long weekend in Sault Ste Marie — I so often do no knitting at all on vacation! I brought Maddy’s blanket panel, but only the colors that would take me for a while.
Turns out, I did a lot of knitting! If I’d brought just one more color, I’d have been able to knit several more weeks worth. Alas… as it is, we’re into September and you can see the cooler colors returning!
That was my spot over there on the couch.
Rusty sat across when we was painting, sprawled on the adjacent sofa when reading. 😉
Though I wasn’t sure how much time I’d have for leisurely pursuits, you know that I brought along other projects — supplies for a cowl, the crocheted hexagon blanket, quite a few mending projects, my “good” camera — but most of those never even made it out of the car. The cowl (portable) was in the basket with Maddy’s stuff, and I sat in the car & cast on the cowl while Rusty roamed a beach, but I didn’t get much further than that.
We had dinner at Mo’s Pub in Escanaba on Friday night (I recommend the house-smoked pulled pork sandwich), stayed at a cute little motel called Sunset Lodge (perfect for our needs — updated & super clean), had breakfast at The Family Inn Restaurant next door on Saturday, and then hit the road for Canada. We drove across the International Bridge right around noon and went right down to the Sault Ste Marie Canal Historic Site. The Visitor Centre wasn’t open yet, and the weather was a bit cool & breezy, so we didn’t spend a lot of time there, but we walked along the canal. We were fascinated by the Emergency Swing Bridge Dam and its story. We were hungry, too, so found lunch at The Boiler Room — one of a few establishments at The Machine Shop in the Canal District, and then headed out to our Airbnb, which was a half-hour west, with stops for provisions on the way.
I chose our weekend accommodation because of its location… right on the St. Mary River.
That’s a screen shot from the Marine Traffic app showing activity along the canal (and all over the world!). We were at the end of the point that the “boat” on the right is pointing to — with a great view of ships going to-and-fro. Just as we arrived, there were two ships passing each other right out front. We were busy talking to our hosts, though, so no pics! Rusty saw that happen one other time, but I did not. I did see one at night, though.
Endlessly fascinating.
The largest ships were about 1000′ long.
We sure lucked out weather-wise.
We were happy to just sit and knit/paint/read/watch boats go by on Sunday, and I wish we’d had one more day to do that again before heading home!
On Monday, we drove up to Wawa. We weren’t originally thinking that we’d go that far, but so much was still closed for the season — including the Provincial Parks — that what else were we going to do? The up-side to the off-season travel is that we were often the only vehicle on the highway! We did find some spots that were “less closed” than others, so it wasn’t a total bust.
Katherine Cove.
We were pretty far north, and there were quite a few iced-over small lakes and plenty of snow to be seen.
A lot of places in Wawa were still closed for the season, too, and it was looking like Subway or Tim Horton’s were our only choices for lunch. We were headed for the latter when we spotted Philly Wawa Hoagie — thank goodness! I was drawn in by falafel, ended up having gyros & baba ganoush (with baklava to-go for later), and fascinated by some of the other “fusion” options on the menu…
…particularly some of the poutine dishes. Personally, I find regular old poutine to be, let’s say unappealing… and these mash-ups — Philly Cheesesteak Poutine, Shawarma Poutine — aren’t making it any better! haha.
I tried to stop at a yarn shop on our way home on Tuesday — it was practically at the foot of the bridge — but not open on the weekend so Monday was my only shot, and they were closed. I really, really, really don’t need to buy any yarn but, y’know, I thought if they had something special… I might also have stopped at the Shetland sheep farm we passed (twice) on the highway in Michigan but the T*u*p sign on the barn did its job & warned me off.
We had to stop by The Family Inn on our way back home because I’d left my credit card behind when we had breakfast on Saturday, and it was perfect timing for lunch.
I spotted this flyer in the vestibule… thought you might get a kick out of it, too!
Yahoo! We’ll be all packed & ready to head out tomorrow afternoon when Rusty’s finished with his Friday classes. We’re breaking it up with an overnight in Escanaba, then heading on to Sault Ste Marie, ONT, on Saturday.
The last time Rusty & I were in Canada was in 1984. We took the northerly route from Oregon to Wisconsin so Rusty could meet my mom. We crossed back into the USA at International Falls and Customs did not look kindly upon these two youngsters who drove 2500 miles across Canada with only a souvenir t-shirt to show for it. They tore our car apart!
I dunno… do these two look suspicious to you?? haha. (They didn’t find anything!!)
In Other News
on Tuesday I had a fleeting thought about taking a photo of Maddy’s blanket panel — pergola lights are coming on just past 7:30 now — but it’s getting light enough in the morning now to take a quick pic, so I thought that I’d just do it then… when I’d have a little more to show, anyway. Alas, I forgot that Tuesday is SHOGUN night, thus no knitting! And there was some severe sleep interruption in the wee hours of Wednesday, so I forgot all about it yesterday. (Large police presence down on the path/creek w/spotlights, flashlights, drones — no idea what was going on, but I’m pretty sensitive/aware of light in the middle of the night, so I was awake for about an hour.)
I snapped a photo this morning, though… with residual sidewalk chalk from the kids’ visit over the weekend. I think I’m just about to mid-August.
Speaking of Maddy…
…she & Viv fostered a couple of kittens, and have decided to keep them! She sent this photo the other day, “Here is my little junior detective buddy while we play Nancy Drew.” I’m not sure if that junior detective is Lil Shep or Fern, but aren’t they adorable??
Meanwhile
Our Airbnb host shared MarineTraffic.com with us & I’m so looking forward to watching some big boats go by — they’re going to be so close! If I don’t pop in sooner, I’ll catch up next week! Have a great weekend!
