Ira 13 minutes past the first day of Spring

13 past midnight...day two of Spring 09. We were actually busy in the store today...did ok, but not great..Great would be that everyone who entered...bought something..but one must be thankful for every blessing no matter how small that blessing might be....
The boys and I went to paint the ceiling in my upstairs gallery room, in preparation of putting down carpeting there and down the stairs to the entrance. But on the way we stopped at another carpet store, where I think I can cut the cost almost 25%....from the last store...then, driving up to Wayne, he stopped at PIZZA TOWN USA....a place that I think was there when I was in HIgh School....and its scary to say, that was half a century ago... One asks..where does time go? I dont think it goes anywhere....time is only a hypthetical construct, and not a real thing...You cant see it, touch it, feel it, taste it,...its an only an idea that explains physical aging.. The flower buds, opens, closes....and finally turns to dust leaving....the plant the ability to leave seeds and reproduce. It is a process. And like the flower, humans have babies, that grow ingternally, are born, grow, live a life filled with pain and pleasure, reproduce and like the flower, eventually return to the ground as molecules and atoms....possibly to return again in another form, another time....And their is the word time....again.
Pizza town has consistantly had one of the best pizzas in NJ....the crust is just right..not to thick or thin, and the sauce and cheese nice and juice...and flavorful.
THen onwards to CASA MAURY...where the boys painted the ceiling upstairs, partially down stairs, washed the walls to remove more dust......and as soon as I get the funds, the carpet will be ordered installed...which I hope will be in the next week or so. Then the house will really take on a new look.
Step 3..will be to repair various dents,scratches, and holes in the livingroom..with new plaster board, including a board replaceing a hole in the ceiling where the bathroom flooded...Great strides have been taken since September..although, it would have been long ago finished had I had the time, the money and the help.The living room since last month has undergone a metamorphasis...of putting up shades and drapes... paintings on the wall, a new sofa,...and vacuuming enough dust and doghair, to fill lots of industrial size garbage bags.... I hadnt been in there for a very long time......you heard of "DUST BUNNYS?" which are blobs of dust in funny forms...well I found DUST ELEPHANTS under the couch, and behind it, and under the piano....etc...the vacuum started coughing and told me it was allergic to all that shit..I patted the vaccum on the top and said, hold on good buddy, you wil be ok.
Furnishing the living room and up stairs gallery will be easy....I have hudnreds of pieces of furniture with great potential...but then again, what style do I wasnt????I think very eclectic...with modern and antiques mixed....modern,funky and vintage.....The art work will be modern and impressionistic...

RECIPE: CAULIFLOWER SHRIMP GUMBO....
STEAM THE CAULIFLOWER,COOKED BUT NOT MUSHY.....PUT IN FOOD PROCESSER WHEM A LITTLE COOLED DOWN. ADD CUP OF HALF AND HAVE...AND PROCESS UNTILL A PASTY CONSISTENCY. ADD A CAN OF CREAM OF SHRIMP SOUP. ADD ONE CAN FILLED WITH CHICKEN BROTH OR VEGGIE BROTH ..THIN WITH HALF AND HALF OR BROTH TO MAKE IT A CREAM SOUP CONSITENCY. tAKE TWO CUPS OF UNCOOKED SHRIMPS AND FILL POT WITH WATER TILL IT COVERS THEM BYH TWO INCHES. aD 7 CUT UP OKRAS, ONE DICED ONION,..BOLIL TILL SHRIMP TURN RED.....DRAIN OUT WATER AND RESERVE. pEEL SHRIMP AND CUT EACH ONE INTO 5 OR SIX PIECES, ADD SHRIMP, OKRAK AND ONION INTO CREAM SOUP. OPTIONS ARE ADDING CELERY SEED, A BIT OF CORN KERNALS, CHOPPED RED PEPPER, DICED COOKED CARROTS,...ETC
ADD SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE. SERVE AS THICK AS YOU LIKE OR THIN AS YOU LIKE....THIN AT END WITH THE RESERVE SHRIMP STOCK.

YOU CAN TURN THIS INTO A GREAT CURRIED SOUP .....BY ADDING CURRY POWEDER SAUTED WITH ONION IN OIL...AND ADDING TO SOUP AT END....YUM...AND THEN ADD SOME YOGURT.....