So much is going on around here. For such a very long time, I have been going through old photos and organizing them by date, place, etc. Our old (before 1998 when I switched to digital) snapshots will be scanned, then shredded. Family "heirloom" photos will also be scanned, then distributed amongst the siblings. Siblings will also receive flash drives of family photos and their original photos. Photos will also have serious back-up: on two (separate) clouds, on an external hard drive, on a DVD disk and on a flash drive. Much less space than a closet full of boxes. Organized! Searchable.
This is a huge job. Some scanning will be farmed out to companies that specialize in this sort of thing. I want to get organized, not insane.
After spending so much time sorting, I am going to tell you all now to stop taking photos of oceans, mountains, rivers and waterfalls - unless you tag the location immediately. After a while, scenery photos begin to look the same. Was this a beach in New Hampshire or Oregon? Who knows? Who cares? Out it goes. Unless there is a person we love in the foreground of a scenery photo - the snapshot has been shredded.
Am I ruthless? Yes and no. All of this crap is eventually going to end up as Lisa's problem. Would she want a closet full of boxes of photos of people she does not know or would she like all her parents memories on a flash drive? No brainer. Now, Dear Readers, get to work.
My ProjectAnother project? Television and internet upgrade. Our system was ancient. Seriously. Cavemen used our DVRs. Our internet went on and off all day. So annoying. We switched-out the modem/router, but that did not help. An expert was required. After an initial inspection by the cable guy (John), it was determined we needed rewiring, new boxes and a new-new router. John was here so long, we are now claiming him as a dependent on our 2015 income tax form, but we now have the latest equipment and 24/7 high-speed wifi. Our massive DVRs have been replaced with 7-inch square boxes. One remote works everything. The cost for all these upgrades? Nothing - and our monthly bill dropped by a third and our internet speed doubled! So happy we adopted John.
In other news: Leo's birthday pillow is finished.
Just what every 4-year-old wants - a pillow!Speaking of my gorgeous grandchildren - Lisa, Lenny, Leo and Lucy spent a week on the east coast with Lenny's family. They had a blast and Leo caught his first fish.
Yes, Lucy is always smiling... and, yes, Leo is always styling.Looking back at all our photos from our time living in The Philippines (honestly, mostly photos of our cute little baby), made me crave Filipino food, so I made a batch of lumpia (fried egg rolls) and Pancit Canton (stir-fried noodles). Interestingly enough, both dishes use much of the same ingredients (cabbage, carrots, onion, garlic), so the meal came together faster than I had remembered. Or maybe our housekeeper made them most of the time? I don't remember. I used ground turkey as the lumpia filling; ground pork is traditional.
Yeah... they are little over-fried, but they were super crunchy. The egg rolls (pronounced loomp-ee-ah) were served with a sweet-sour dipping sauce.The pancit was made with stir-fried chicken (sliced thighs, cabbage, carrots, red pepper and green onion. The sauce is only a little drizzled soy sauce and a little fish (anchovy) sauce. The noodles are added at the last minutes with a little chicken stock and dinner was served.
I do not have/use a recipe for these dishes, I just make it on the fly. There is a basic recipe on the back of the package of Pancit Canton noodles and lumpia wrappers.Assuming you can find Pancit Canton noodles and lumpia wrappers in your grocery store.
We now know the Great Horned Owl hanging around in the forest behind our house has a baby! We have been hearing her "training/teaching" her youngster hunting techniques at night, but finally spotted both of the creatures soaring around together. This explains the complete lack of squirrel activity in the forest. Thank you, Dear Owls. Though squirrels are cute, we fight a constant battle to keep them in the trees and out of our attic and basement.
Don't you worry, Mrs. T. I'm on it.Until my next update, I remain, your protected correspondent.