Friday, June 20, 2014

Five on Friday




1. Regarding blogging woes: Here's one little fix that might work if you find that people cannot comment on your posts. Jenny of Elefantz  (a beautiful site with lovely embroidery designs) did some research and she said to spread the information around. Apparently the "embedded" option is the one giving problems.

Solution: 
1. Go to the top right of your blog page and click on 'design'.
2. In the left hand sidebar, click on 'settings'.
3. From the list shown, click on 'posts and comments'.
4. Go to 'comment location'...
5. ...and choose either 'pop-up window' or 'full page', but not 'embedded'.

I changed my comment option so if you've had trouble leaving a comment before and notice a difference, I'd like to know if this fix really does work.



2.  Summer means salad. Crisp Vegetable Slaw is currently a favorite in spite of my love/hate relationship with cabbage. You can read about it over on my recipe blog. The weather has cooled off (not that we had much heat to begin with) so I'm back to making heartier meals. I'm confident hopeful mildly optimistic that we'll have warmer temperatures soon.

3.  Many of my readers know that we spent quite a few years living in Ecuador, including 10 years on the edge of the Amazon rainforest. (It sounds so exotic, but really, life becomes pretty ordinary or extraordinary no matter where you are - depending on your attitude.) Anyway, I dug out my crochet hooks last night (keep up here, this will all fit together in a sec). I haven't crocheted much in the 12 years we've been back in Canada and when I opened the container, out wafted the peculiar musty smell of Eau de Jungle. Took me back to sunny days and evenings with rain pounding on the tin roof (in our first home) so hard that conversation was impossible. Drifting into sleep to the steady drum on the roof as clean, rain-scented air blows through the room is one of the things I miss. A simple scent brought it all back.   


4.  Until recently these shelves were a pale wood color. When I was painting picture frames a few weeks ago, I painted the shelves, too. They look crisper and fresher and so different that I've been asked if the whole setup is something new. Nope. Just paint. As an aside, do you know hard it is to take photos of something between two windows? I finally forced the flash. There's nothing like looking at a photo for realizing things need to be moved an inch or two to really balance out. But hey, this is real life stuff and those are working shelves, not just for pretty.


5. Three deer were enjoying a late dinner when I passed them on my walk yesterday evening. I was just across the street from them and they took little notice of me as I stopped, took out my phone and snapped a few portraits. I also saw a wild bunny at the bottom of our street. I'll be keeping a wary eye for my garden. Fortunately we have a fenced yard, but for keeping the wildlife away, the dogs on either side of us do a much better job.

Today I'll be house fluffing in the morning and meeting a friend for a walk in the afternoon, then grocery shopping. Tim's had a busy week including 3 nights of meetings that included dinner so I haven't done much cooking this week (except for the strawberry tart.) I'll make a nice dinner for this evening - any ideas? What are you cooking?     

24 comments:

  1. Such a sweet post..
    Happy day hugs x

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  2. Ha! I just went to embedded as the other options showed my email. Maybe it was just to me the author. And I had to go to comment moderation as I got like 14 spams today on the same post. Ouch. Something isn't right! I'm anxious for our hydrangeas to come full bloom;I've had one bouquet so far. Have a nice weekend!

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  3. I didn't realize you had a food blog or I would have followed you on it long ago:) Love those hydrangeas and the deer--I never tire of seeing wildlife!
    Last night our son made us tacos with guacamole; tonight it all depends on whether he gets home in time to cook dinner.
    Blessings, Aimee

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  4. Anonymous1:13 PM

    Very beautiful hydrangeas.
    Funny how a scent will take you back in time. Eau de Jungle made me giggle!
    I cheated and picked up pizza for dinner!
    Hope you have a nice weekend.

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  5. I haven't had problems with comments until one today and was going to change it but read Podso's comment and changed my mind. I've also been getting a lot of spam comments this week which is really annoying and may have to go to moderation for a while. Grrrr. I enjoyed your post and beautiful photos of the flowers and deer. I love your newly painted shelves! They look really nice. We're going to a neighbour's for their daughter's grad celebration so I'm guessing there will be food there. LOL Enjoy the weekend.

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  6. I'm watching Ecuador and Honduras playing their game right now. I like those shelves white. Very nice.

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  7. Based on the strawberry tart you made, we went searching in two counties for strawberries. We found some for $6.99 a pint. No go. They won't be ready more locally for another week. Like everything else this year, they're late.

    Thank you for the tip about embedded commenting, which was what I had. I also have had lots of problems with the pop up so have gone with full page for now. Hope that it helps.

    And thanks for the slaw/salad recipe. That sounds so good I had to pin!

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  8. As a cabbage lover that photo made me hungry! :) What a great capture of the deer! :)

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  9. Ha you made me laugh when I read that you continued on to paint the shelves as well as the frames. It's hard to stop painting when everything looks so new and fresh afterwards.

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  10. After arriving from Florida this afternoon, I did some grocery shopping and I picked up melon and also a rotisserie chicken for dinner. It was so good.

    Have a lovely weekend!

    Deanna

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  11. Hi Lorrie,

    Thanks for the helpful advice on fixing Blogger comments. I need to check mine out, even though no one has said anything to me about not being able to comment. I've got Hydrangea envy now -- yours are so lovely. The blue/purple one is my favorite. :)

    Regarding your crochet container and the smell of Ecuador, I've read that smell is our strongest memory sense, and I really do believe that's true. Amazing how many memories they can bring back, isn't it?

    We have a lot of deer in our area, and they're notorious for eating flowers and vegetable gardens. It's a real problem here because they can jump over most fences.

    I enjoyed your post and hope you have a great weekend.

    Hugs,

    Denise at Forest Manor

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  12. I haven't had comment problems here! Like your white shelves! I'm in the process of painting an old headboard white. What did you do for dinner? We ate out!

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  13. Can you read me now? With the two us on,y now, it is very hard to cook oar perhaps to eve want to. So at his suggestion last night we ate the local hamburger stand,a the A&W. Then came home a gardened.

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  14. Gorgeous blooms! And I'm sure your salad tastes great! The picture of the deer is very nice. I liked the Ecuador part very much. You've written it like a short story.It's so wonderful when the scent brings back some sweet memories!

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  15. I checked mine to be sure I didn't have embedded. LOVE those beautiful deer...so much bigger than those we see here in Florida. We're grilling beef ribs tonight. I'll make potato salad and vegetarian beans to go with them. Enjoy your weekend! Hugs!

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  16. Isn't it fascinating how a scent can bring such a barrage of memories to the surface. The olfactory sense is quite powerful!

    Your salad looks scrumptious! On my way to investigate...

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  17. Amazing what the scents can do. I do love the shelves - I MUST get to the hardware store and buy the paint for my kitchen cabinets - I MUST paint them this summer - they are builder basic cheap tan faux wood - can it get any worse? They will be palest mint in a white kitchen.

    Great shot of the deer. Isn't our weather great this weekend - we spent 6 hours yesterday at Birch Bay - right on the beach - stayed through the end of the glorious sunset - ahhhh summer.

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  18. I love those hydrangeas.
    And the salad. Somebody said that if you can make a salad look like a painting it tastes twice as good.

    Yours must be a marvel.

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  19. I never had a problem leaving comments before. Changed mine sometime back to embedded and no one has said they've had a problem. Who knows. Little glitches seem to make the rounds ever so often. What are you planning to crochet? Have a great day. Tammy

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  20. Beautiful five. That veggie salad looks like a wonderful summer treat.

    Lovely to catch these glimpses of your beautiful world.

    Brenda
    oxo

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  21. Oh I love seeing the sights of your days from walking views, a yummy looking salad, and a tip for leaving comments. Thanks! And I absolutely love, love hydrangea spottings.

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  22. Your shelf looks very nice the way you set everything up. I wouldn't move a thing. =) I can vouch for photos to show way more detail than what the eye naturally sees.

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  23. For whatever reason, I can't comment on your posts with Bloglovin'. I have to get out of the format before the "comment" button will work. Some blogs are like that and I suspect it has to do with how the comments page is set up. It is a bit discouraging on the iPad, and I usually visit via the iPad since I try to grab moments here and there to catch up with people.

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  24. The shelves look pretty. The deer looks curious and not at all afraid.

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