Wolf's Den

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Our May 2012 Daring Cooks’ hostess was Fabi of fabsfood. Fabi challenged us to make Boeuf Bourguignon, a classic French stew originating from the Burgundy region of France.



I love my new computer. My new computer is perfect, it can do no wrong.

Ahem. Sorry.

Because my new computer decided to be such a pain and ended up having to be sent to Dell for repair, I ended up losing most of my original 'making of' photos. So I've actually done this Challenge twice this month. Mark was so bummed. Heh.

The first time you see pictured up top. That one I made last week and served it over German Spatzle noodles.



This version I made last night for the BiL, SiL and niece and was served over mashed potatoes. We actually prefer it over the mashed potatoes, honestly.

Now, the Challenge uses the Julia Child version of this recipe. I, however, am contrary and I used my fav recipe- Anthony Bourdain Les Halles version that we vastly prefer.

Both recipes are included.

( Onward! )

Knock on wood, keep the fingers crossed, and all that jazz...

Got my new computer back from Dell yesterday. They managed to gouge the side of the case, all the way through the enamel into the metal. It's a black case, so if that side wasn't against my desk, it'd be VERY noticeable. However, since it's 'cosmetic' and not integral to the function of the computer, they won't replace it. (The BiL thinks I should call and complain, but honestly, after all the crap I've gone through with it, sending it back again for a gouge isn't really worth it. )


They did, however, replace the front where a few hinges had broken on the door covers when it tipped over. So I'm not complaining TOO badly. It is irritating though, that they couldn't respect my property.

They ended up replacing the entire motherboard as the source of all my problems. So here's keeping my fingers crossed that that was definitely it.

The new computer is back from Dell. Seems they had to replace the motherboard. And they replaced the front panel as well- there was a broken cover on the CDrom.

However, they managed to scratch the side deep enough to go all the way through the enamel INTO the metal beneath. Not happy about that. And it is oh so noticeable as it's a black computer and this 1" long scratch shows up as silver/white. Yeah.

Not much we can do about it as they'll just claim it's 'cosmetic', but it's more that they damaged an otherwise perfectly fine case.

Now begins the fun of unplugging this computer, plugging back in the new one and figuring out whether its going to behave or not.

Wish me luck, I guess.

So.

I just finished book 1 of a new trilogy I've started reading. Now, I don't read a whole lot of sci-fi type books, but when I do, I rarely manage to lose myself in the story. I tend to get bored and have to read something non sci-fi (usually fantasy based) in order to reset my mind to wanting to read that sci-fi book or series again. (See the Starfist Series by David Sherman and Dan Cragg, for example. There's 13? books, I've made it through the first 8 so far, with breaks every 2-3 books. Mark, on the other hand, has read them all, one right after the other. Yeah.)

I should have known better with this trilogy.

See, I love the October Daye books. I loved Discount Armageddon. Seanan McGuire has a way of writing that allows me to lose myself in the story.

So I gave her Mira Grant books a try.

I should have known better, honestly, from reading her other books. She has a way of drawing you in subtlely, of making you emphasize with the characters, of feeling real emotions when something happens to one of them. A way of making you care about the story. This carries over into her Newsflesh Trilogy as well.

I just finished Feed. I was originally planning to read a few pages- I had only 3-4 chapters left- while waiting for Sims3 to load. I ended up moving to the couch just so I could know how this book ended. I had to finish it after reaching THAT POINT. Sorry, no spoilers for you.

I had to know how it ended. I had to know that the one guy got what he deserved. And gods damn you, Seanan McGuire, I had to know if this story making me freakin' cry was worth it.

And it was.

Right from the start this story grabbed me and made me want to know more, made me want to read it without taking a break from it. The momentum built over the course of the book and when it finally broke, it was done in a believable, heart wrenching way that makes me want to read the next two books.

In fact, Deadline is sitting right next to me, waiting for its cover to be cracked and for me to immerse myself in it too. And Blackout is waiting after that.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a world so very like our own to revisit.

Shasta is a roughly 2 yr old Akita/Husky mix that was picked up by the Wytheville, Va Animal Control as a stray. She came across the Akita Rescue email list needing either a foster homew for a few days, or transport to Blue Ridge Husky Rescue down in Asheville, NC.

It took a bit of doing, but a foster in Wytheville was found for the few days it was needed after Shasta's spay surgery. Then on Sunday, Mark and I had the pleasure of going to Wytheville and transporting Shasta to Johnson City, where we met D. with Blue Ridge husky Rescue, who would be taking her to her new foster home in Asheville.

Shasta is an absolute sweetheart. She's very talkative until she gets to know you. Timid in the way that animals who've been abused and are unsure as to whether you mean to hurt them again or not- especially around guys. It took awhile- nearly the whole drive- but when we dropped her off in Johnson City, she stopped barking at Mark and even went up to him and licked his hand before we put her in D's car and said good bye.

She's severely underweight- you could feel nearly every bone in her body, which means she's been a stray for awhile, and blowing coat. We sat in the parking lot at the pickup spot in Wytheville with her temp foster M, and I must have pulled enough fur out to create a cat from. She was a sucker for treats though, and by the time we were ready to leave, she was trying to give me one of her rather large front paws, apparently that means she decided to be my friend, according to M.

We folded the seats up in Orion and spread a blanket out in the back for her. I ended up having to pick her up, literally, to get her in the CR-V, as she was extremely reluctant to get in herself. Once in, she looked around, then laid down and pretty much slept the entire 2 hour drive.

When we met up with D in Johnson City, she had a Husky named Merlin with her, when Shasta saw him, that was it, she was friends already and wanted nothing more but to play. When we went to put her in the back of D's vehicle, Merlin decided to make a break for it and run around the parking lot a few times with Mark and D chasing him. I think he thought it was a game. It took a bit of doing and the intervention of a kind woman, but he was caught and both went into the backseat- Shasta very willingly because it meant she got to hang out with her new friends. They headed out to Asheville after that.

And we headed home to our own sweet Akita.

Got woken up by Mark telling me that pissants have invaded the counter by the kitchen sink. I'm still killing them as they crawl out of hiding spots.

Yesterday it was carpenter ants. Ugh.

Got an email that the PoS computer was back from Dell and in the process of being checked in, so it'll be ready for pick up this week. I don't want it back, quite honestly. I'd rather deal with the bit of slowness on this computer and I can even deal with not being able to upgrade IE8 to IE 9- although that means I can no longer use my Big Cartel shop, despite support saying it uses IE8 (um, no it doesn't). No big loss there, 2 sales in 3+ years? Yeah. Canceled that subscription as it was a waste of money.

Got a couple new cuffs listed on Artfire and Zibbet. These feature adjustable clasps. Working on a third. Hope to have it up by Friday.

Need a new mouse. This one, a Razor Deathadder, randomly decides to double click on things. Which makes reading emails very interesting. It's now started to NOT click at all. And it's impossible to take apart to clean, as they tightened the screw down to the point that the head is striped out. Yeah.

Sunday I transplanted the tomatoes we bought on Friday- got a couple new Irises too- and repotted a bunch of stuff. Got photos of various Irises that are blooming. Need to post those.

Went to grab a pot off the rack by the front door and noticed it had nest building material in it. So I left it alone.

Now I'm sitting here watching a Carolina Wren bring nest building material to the porch and that pot. I'm listening to the 'tap tap', 'tap','tap tap tap' as it builds a nest.

Heh.

Rather neat, honestly. I've not had a bird decide it likes my porch enough to actually build a nest on it, so I must be doing something right. I'd get photos but I don't want to scare it away.}:P

Oh! It's a PAIR of Carolina Wrens! Even better! That means babies! Hee.

Note to self- get more birdseed.