Average Jane

Blog

  • Average Jane’s Sunday Afternoon

    Here are some photos I took at my aunt and uncle's house this afternoon. It was a gorgeous autumn day and we had a lovely time sitting outside with all their animals. You can see more of today's photos here.

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  • New Caturday at Average Jane’s House

    Please join me in welcoming Trillian to our household. Like the instant messaging software, she's named after a character in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series.

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    I adopted her from The Animal Rescue Alliance where I sometimes volunteer. I originally met her a couple of months ago and liked her very much. Every time I worked a pet adoption event that included her, I would carry her around in my arms so people could pet her, hoping to find her a great family. The last time around, I came to the conclusion that mine was the great family she was destined to find.

    You might notice from the photo that her left ear tip is missing. That's because she was rounded up with a group of feral cats that were going to be spayed and neutered and then returned to their neighborhood after recovering from surgery. They "ear tip" the cats to mark that they've been fixed to save future animal welfare workers the hassle of catching them again later.

    In this girl's case, she was tame and friendly enough that the group decided to adopt her out rather than return her to the streets. Thus, she has the lean physique of an alley cat with the mellow personality of a lap cat.

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    Our other cats are very interested in her, but not as hostile as you might expect. She was frightened of them at first, but it seems as though the transition is going to be pretty smooth.

    Right now she's about seven months old and very petite. The perspective in the photo above is misleading: she's about two-thirds the size of Velcro (the calico on the bed) and maybe half the size of Xena (the cat on the floor).

    I know I've always said that three cats is more than enough. My sister is already mocking me for my crazy cat lady ways. Still, Trillian is such a sweet, cuddly little thing that I didn't want to pass up the chance to include her in our lives. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go downstairs and snuggle with her some more.

  • Average Jane’s Unpopular Opinion

    I heard that there is going to be a Wizard of Oz marathon on TV this weekend. Considering that I am an Oz fanatic, you'd think I'd be excited, but the truth is: I don't really like the movie all that much.

    When I was growing up, I read every Oz book I could get my hands on. I have a hard-bound copy of "The Tin Woodman of Oz" that belonged to my grandfather when he was a young boy. I also still have all of my trade paperback-sized illustrated L. Frank Baum Oz books. I even read some of the Ruth Plumly Thompson Oz books, which I checked out of the Carnegie Library in Lake Andes, South Dakota when I was visiting my great-aunt in the summertime.

    All of this Oz-mania meant that when I eventually saw the movie, I knew it was all wrong. According to the books I read and the accompanying John R. Neill illustrations:

    • Dorothy should be about 9 or 10 years old
    • She should have short, blonde hair
    • The witch is supposed to have silver slippers, not ruby slippers

    My childhood self could have gone on and on.

    If all you've ever been exposed to is the movie, I highly recommend the books. You can get "The Complete Oz: Volume One and Volume Two" at Amazon.com for $19.95 each to read the stories, but I suggest buying the books individually in editions that have the original illustrations.

    Any other Oz book fans out there? Movie fans? Let's talk Oz!

  • Average Jane Passes Along A Tradition

    I was baking this morning and after I'd put the vanilla in the brownie batter, I touched the inside of the measuring spoon with my finger and dabbed some vanilla extract behind each ear.  As I did so, I could almost hear my grandmother's voice saying, "It's the cook's perfume."

    It reminded me that I had already extended the "cook's perfume" tradition to my niece. When she comes over to my house, she loves to bake with me. Early on, I taught her about perfuming herself with vanilla while she baked and I remember how delighted she was at the idea.

    I didn't think much about it at the time, but it makes me happy to know that at least three generations (and probably many more before that) have all taken part in such a charming little ritual.

  • Average Jane’s New Band Photos

    Here's one of my favorites of the band photos that Cate Bennett took for us recently. Click to enlarge.

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    Typepad is being a pain about letting me upload photos today, so if you'd like to see a few more, try Flickr or our Facebook fan page.

  • ’90s Average Jane

    Through the magic of Facebook, one of my friends from the early 1990s shared this with me recently:

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    It brought back a flood of memories. From my shiny wedding ring and the wallpaper I remember from the condo we rented at the time, I can tell that it was taken right after I got married in 1994. 

    It was during one of our annual (at the time) cookie decorating parties before Christmas, back when I was young and thin enough that I could eat all the cookies I wanted. That's my natural hair color, incidentally. Well, not anymore. Now it would be half grey if I let it grow out. 

    I still have those Jell-o molds on my kitchen wall, but they've been joined by many, many more. Collecting faux copper Jell-o molds from flea markets, antique stores and garage sales was something of a hobby for me until I discovered Ebay and finished the collection with pretty much every style ever made.

    It looks like the cookie decorating party will be making a comeback thanks to this photo. I commented that it had been too long (2003 was the last one, as far as I can determine) and another friend wrote on my Wall that she hoped I'd have one this year. And why not?

    This year I'll plan to bring together old friends and new friends for an ultra mega cookie decorating party! We'll have spiced cider, hot chocolate and – just for one day – all the cookies we want.

  • One of Average Jane’s Favorite Cookie Recipes

    This is a recipe I've been making all my life. The yellowed recipe card calls these cookies "Nut Butter Balls" but I've seen similar recipes called Italian (or Mexican) Wedding Cookies and Russian Tea Cookies. The recipe only makes a couple dozen cookies, but it's easy to double if you want more.

    Nut Butter Balls

    1 cup soft butter
    1/2 cup sugar
    1/2 tsp. salt
    2 tsp. vanilla
    2 cups flour
    1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
    Powdered sugar

    Cream butter and sugar together. Add salt, vanilla, flour and nuts. Mix well. Chill. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Roll in powdered sugar while still warm.

    Note: For the holidays, I like to mix decorative colored sugars with the powdered sugar for little sparkles of color.

  • Average Jane Is An Animal?

    Conversation right after I got home from doing some volunteer work yesterday:

    Me: Was [specific friend's name] here?

    Husband: Yes! How did you know?

    Me: I could smell him.

    Husband: What, are you a wild animal or something?

    Me: He wears patchouli!

  • Every Day is Caturday at Average Jane’s House

    This morning I gathered up all the cat toys I could find and put them back in their basket. It's possible that our cats might be a little spoiled.

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    Velvet quickly removes the sachet of catnip so she can have it all to herself.
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    Velcro isn't really interested in toys anymore, but she sure would like it if I'd put down the stupid camera and pick her up instead.
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    Xena stops by to select a ping-pong ball. When it rolls across the floor, both black cats will simply sit and watch it without moving a muscle to chase after it. I blame the 'nip.
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    The cat (and dog) fun continues today as I'm volunteering at a low-cost vaccination clinic and a pet adoption event.

  • Average Jane Buys Artwork

    I went to a casino night and silent auction for charity held by the Kansas City Ad Club last night. They had some really great auction items and I ended up getting two framed art photographs. 

    Here's one of them. It's by Lyndon Wade.

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    The print I have is even more vivid than the image looks on your monitor.

    The other was a collage-like black and white photo by Aaron Newell. I couldn't find it on his website, but it's a blurred image of a woman bathing in a stream with fallen trees on the bank behind her. 

    Now I get to decide where to put them! I think the first one may end up in our bathroom, simply because the colors complement our turquoise walls so nicely. The other will probably go on our living room wall.

    Best of all, I managed to double my gambling chips from the $25 they handed me when I walked in to $50, so I saved that much off the purchases. Oh, and I won three pizzas from Wheat State Pizza in a raffle. All in all, quite a nice evening.