Computers simply confound me. To make a long story short, this column was written and emailed on Wednesday, January 9th. On Thursday, I checked my email by remote as I usually do from the office only to find that my "username and/or password are bad". After several attempts to fix the problem periodically through the day, I decided to phone my ISP to find out what they had to say. It seems they had "suspended my account in error". No one knew the reason why this had happened, only that it happened and they were "extremely sorry" for the inconvenience. When I told the girl I had done some emailing the previous night and I was concerned about whether those mails had arrived, she said that they most likely had if the server had accepted them, but she couldn't be sure. Since the other emails I sent weren't all that important, I didn't worry about them though I did send a follow up message to Ronda (our editor in chief) from the office telling her of the situation and that I would appreciate a note if she hadn't received the column.
As you may have guessed from these last few lines, she did not. At least it gave me a chance to gripe about my "favourite" indispensable piece of office equipment!
I guess though, on reconsideration, the fault lies not really with the machine but with the fallibility of the human programming it.
Oh well!!!
It's February in "zine"-land. Though I wrote this in January, it's the February installment of my new column. All around me, as befits the "Christmas Ladee" soubriquet my friends have given me, I am still surrounded by my Christmas decorations. Truth be told, they'll likely still be here in February anyway! I'm notorious for leaving things up as long as possible.
For the rest of you, February conjures visions of hearts and flowers and candy. I love Valentine's Day. I'm a firm believer in the practice of telling all of those you love how you feel all year round, but having a day dedicated to just that is special. And I do mean ALL of those you love! Valentine's Day is especially for sweethearts, but it's also for your kids, your grandkids, your very best friend, your co-workers, and even the lady down the street who grows those lovely roses each year that just brighten your day. It doesn't take much, just a card will do, but this year, make it a special assignment to acknowledge all the people who make your life just that much better. I know I will.
Amazing GraceFamily Graces have always intrigued me. Over the years of food reading and writing, I've collected quite a few from here and there. From time to time in this spot, I would like to feature special ones that I've come across. Feel free to share your special Grace with us. The following Grace is one that I've had in my collection for a long time. The first time I read it, it made me smile. I think God pays special attention to the ones that make him smile.
- Bless this food O Lord, which we now receive. Keep us from
being like our porridge, slow to boil and hard to stir. Make
us instead more like our cornflakes, always ready to serve.
I came across this not too long ago and it made me laugh. Hope it does the same for you.
- 1 medium sized elephant
- salt and pepper to taste
- brown gravy to cover
- 6 rabbits (optional)
- Cut the elephant into bite sized pieces; this should take about two months. Cover with brown gravy and cook over a kerosene fire at 465 degrees for about four weeks.
This recipe will serve 3,000 people. If more are expected, six rabbits may be added, but do this only if necessary as most people don't like hare in their stew!
It was short and sweet this month. See you next month, hopefully with a recipe request or two in our recipe exchange.
TTFN . . . and remember . . . a rumour is about as hard to unspread as butter!