big william's world

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEREMY
2 YEARS OLD TODAY!!!!!!!!!

Jamie Oliver's bacon wrapped Poussin (French for ten minutes of struggling for a tablespoon of meat) stuffed with potatoes and sage. Served with roast potatoes and STEAMED spinach. Not telling you about dessert!

WOW! I am so glad for all this concern about my health!
Since this seems to be "Venting Sunday" in this family's portion of blogworld
I am almost 59 and, after spending most of my life avoiding exercise, I have swum a mile almost every day since I was 50 and today I cycled 10 miles as well. That is around 2 or 3 thousand miles.
I weigh within a few pounds of my weight at age 18
My cholesterol was fine until two years ago - when it rose a lot - with no change in diet. So I did change my diet an reduced cholesterol intake as much as I could. Resulting in no change. My doctor strongly suggested I take Lipitor ( the most widlely used Statin drug) every day and doing so has reduced my cholesterol to an acceptable level. I also had a heart scan for cardio-calcium ( an indicator for heart attacks) - which, despite my other numerous heart attack risk factors (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, over 50 and male) is at a low level.
Famous last words suggest my blood lipids (fatty stuff and tri-glycerides etc.) are in good shape. I am staying out of the inter-necine feud about Danish taxes!- I don't want to have a heart attack but after this outburst I will probably have one tonight or tomorrow.
Stay tuned for tonight's menu - coming soon to this blog!

Cooling in a sink of ice

Freezing in the ice-cream maker.

Sage is the most exotic flavor to me - it had a lot of heavy cream and egg yolks in it too! - very good after the Strata.

By the way how many times have you seen Marie Osmond faint? I am claiming 24 times!

The flaming cheese dish I referred to is a Greek dish called Saganaki - fried Halloumi flamed with Ouzo - I don't like fried cheese generally and this was just fried cheese with flames. A bit like a cross between mozzarella and paneer (Indian cheese)

I didn't actually see the bear but I found the bin, having put it out for collection, in the middle of the street. It still had the strong bungee over the top keeping the lid closed to keep the bears out.
However the contents were all down the street and the bin was empty lid closed, with deep claw marks all over it.

I am told they are very hungry at this time of year but I have not managed to see one yet.

I think it knocked the bin over then pulled the lid open, stood on it to keep it open while it pulled the bags out then let the lid close and tore open all the bags. What a mess!

This is the legendary Flagstaff Mountain which I ride up. If you click on it to enlarge the view and look at the top you will see the flagpole I have shown you from the top previously.
The Flatirons from just down the street

Better red than dead! - clinging to the autumn sunshine.

This is an Aspen Tree - common in Colorado and the ski town of Aspen is named after it.

This particular one has the normal small, turning gold in autumn leaves up to a certain height but then the leaves become four times larger!

Can anyone explain this? the top was pruned in spring to keep it out of the gutters - is this relevant?

There are a number of family members who seem to want to lose weight - I would like to lose 8-10 pounds and read about the others on littlewilliamsworld and gillselevenses.
How about we start a blog - we could declare our weights daily or weekly, or, as I used to organize in my workplace in Pennsylvania we could just declare how much weight we had lost or gained.
The really overweight ones thought we would never know how heavy they were as long as they didn't tell us.
This could just be a few columns of numbers or maybe one of the more cyber savvy readers could set up a graph for us each to add our symbol to. I used to use colored pins.
I think this would encourage somewhat more careful eating.
What do y'all think?

Cycled up at about 40F - 4 C no problem but almost turned into and icicle coming down!

From birth to death
We are the water of life
Shaken with the sands of time

Layers ascribed, baby, child, teenager,
Adult, middle age, old age
Settle respectively

You never know
Or, at least admit,
Which layer you are in

Blending and separation of the layers is perfect
With the uniqueness of fingerprints
Only time achieves deliniaton.

(WRM)

Think

Think flow downhill
Think lake sit still
Think pump uphill
Think mountains shrink

Think rain come down
Think plants grow tall

Think browning grass
Think leaves in fall

Think tidal flow
Think windmill blow
Think energy grow

(WRM)

Temperature 20 C on Saturday 2 C on Sunday and warm again Monday - note the ugly house accross the street and the Flatirons.
Buddha had her first white halo this morning but by the time I fetched my camera she had switched it for the green sash and denied all talk of wearing white!
Leaves are still mostly on the trees but looking very different.

Sunshine and sprouts on Saturday - snow on Sunday

Quite definitely from our garden at least!
One of our neighbors trees weeping tears of blood
Here is some of the "mellow fruitfulness" Keats refers to on the "a whey with words"
(click on the photos to enlarge them)


Just to show you that "Christmas Tree Drive" is real.
No snow here yet but they had a "chain law" in force in Vail today - means you can't drive there without snow chains.

After a weekend in California sunshine the house was cold last night so we chopped up some furniture and lit the furnace! - This morning I blew the water out of the sprinkler system with compressed air - one of the early hatches to be battened down for winter to prevent freezing and burst pipes (I hope) watch this space for pictures of snow and log fires anytime now.
Sorry for the recent paucity of blogs but my time has been fully occupied reading my ex-wife's blog. Much of the wit and innuendo is lost on me - sometimes even when it is directed at me.
Great photos Gill.
I did not realize until MK's comment that I had posted pansies in poetry - quite poetic in itself really. As usual the poems are skillfully outshone by "j" with her instant brilliance.
My visit to B, E, T and KP and my guest posting there seem to have killed that blog stone-dead!
I hope it is not really my fault!

William will be pleased to note that the first ski area in the US opened today and was Arapahoe basin not too far from here. It is always among the first to open but today was the earliest in it's 61 year history.
As you can see I had some fun there this afternoon (telling lies!)

By little William of "giving up blogging" - it has only been 4 days and I was jetlagged and contemplating my navel!The colors of the autumnal Farmer's Market were as bright as the spring flowers had been yesterday


M digs for the smallest potatoes
While I make a new greyhound friend. Don't ask where my bottom teeth went!
We had several days in the high 20's C - 80's F and today was supposed to be cold with rain and snow.
We have blue skies and sunshine with temps in the 50's - no complaints yet.
Can't stop eating the Thorntons Toffee that B,E, T and KP gave M for her birthday - its wasted on Americans I think! - It seems softer than it used to be - more like caramel (pronounced "carmel" as in Mount Carmel here in the US)
Rode my bike neath long shadows down Boulder Creek, up Formile Canyon, Poorman Road and back down Sunshine Canyon yesterday - managed it without stopping but speeds were as low as 2.9 mph on the steep bits and up to 40 on the downhill.

Tim was only serious when having his haircut!
KP with Susie the Seahorse (from Monterey Aquarium)
What's this little Danish boy doing here?

These new occupants of the stable trotted over from Ukraine while I was in the UK following some profligate eBay activity. They were made in the USSR in the 60's
The one on the left is a Swiss quartz chronograph with hinged lugs.
The one on the right is also Swiss but the case is made from Tungsten Carbide - very difficult to scratch - being number 7 on the Mo's hardness scale - where talk is 0 and diamond is 10. It will actually scratch glass if you drag your wrist over some glass.

This is a Citizen which charges up from sunlight or any other light. It is always accurate to better than a second because it corrects itself daily using radio signals from Colorado, Germany or Japan depending where it is.

I am still jet lagged - slept like a log until midnight and then cat-napped for 5 hours - finally giving up and swimming a mile.

So many nice things to say about my stay in Bicester - with my other fantastic daughter-in-law. I am reading her latest book recommendation - The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrel. Superb writing - about someone locked away for 62 years in a mental institution. No it's not tragic really - I will "do a William" and send it to anybody who wants it.

I have already shown you pictures of the fun I had with Ben, Tim and KP. - I have lots more if you want them!

Grandad gets a smile
Tim gets a haircut
Ben gets a haircut

M admiring KP

Tim admiring his sister Ben emulating his father's taste in sweaters (according to E)