Bird in the Rice
1 c. cooked rice
1 pkg dry soup starter – onion or mushroom
1 c turkey or chicken
2 c milk
In a small casserole dish layer rice, then turkey or chicken meat. Mix dry soup with milk, then pour over rice and poultry. Put in oven at 350 for 1 hour.
Also good with a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste mixed into the rice.
With Running Water
Jill: What-cha doing?
Jack: Trying to fix this leaky faucet. We have buyers coming in to look at the house tomorrow. If they see the faucet leaks, they’ll think all kinds of things are wrong with the house.
Jill: We should hire a plumber.
Jack: The one with the huge butt and the pants…
Jill: … that hang down to… and he kept telling all those dirty jokes…. hmmm…. Isn’t there anyone else?
Jack: Not one we can afford.
Jill: Here. Let me help.
saturday photo scavenger hunt
The rules for Photohunt can be found here.
Today’s theme is water
Be sure to visit the home page.
Previously in Jack and Jill PMS
Suzie's House 72: If the Shoe Fits
In the episode from last week, Ben tried to come home, but Suzie couldn’t let him stay.
Suzie might not have caught Miranda red handed if she hadn’t felt so bad about the way Ben stormed off. She felt like crying, and didn’t want to do it in front of anyone, so headed for her room. At the top of the stairs, she saw Miranda sneaking into Ben’s room.
“Miranda, what are you doing?” Suzie reached her son’s room just as Miranda came out.
“Nothing,” Miranda said too quickly. She stepped in the way when Suzie tried to go around her to see what might have been disturbed. “Nothing! Nothing. Just a pair of boots.”
Thursday Thirteen #32: Things I'd Like to Say to my Neighbors.
1. What are you doing with that tool kit? It doesn’t look like you’re actually fixing anything.
2. Why can’t you and your girlfriend argue INSIDE your house?
3. You should have kept playing the saxophone even after you patched things up with your girlfriend. You were starting to get good.
4. Please stop putting your trash in my can. The disposal company charges extra if the lid isn’t all the way down.
5. Thanks for the tool box. Since you left it on top of my garbage can for three days, I assume I can keep it.
6. Of course my lawn isn’t as green. You’re supposed to be rationing water.
7. Thank you for helping me break into my house. No, I don’t really want to give you a copy of the new keys.
8. I love watching your kids run up and down on the sidewalk, but I gotta wonder; are they afraid of grass? They never actually play in your actual yard.
9. I understand your girlfriend’s need to scream at you, but does she have to do it at 3am.?
10. Hey, can I borrow that weed whacker? It must be a magic weed whacker, because it’s the only thing I ever see you use, but your lawn is always perfect.
11. If your dog insists on jumping the fence into my yard, you’re just going to have to live with it when my husband chasses it around with a broom.
12. When I said you could have some of my apricots, I didn’t expect you to show up with a bushel basket. I intended to use some of them too, you know.
13. Do you have to look so pained when I bring around a plate of Christmas cookies? Relax. I didn’t expect anything in return.
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By George! He Was Born to Lead.
When we left of last week, George IV was about to get his heart’s desire. Is anyone besides me wincing?
It seems that The Prince had been after dad about military service for some time. Most of his brothers were getting to cover themselves in…um…glory…after a fashion…so why did he have to sit on the sidelines? There were some very good reasons for doing so. One, he was a spoiled, drunken womanizer with the impulse control of a three year old. He had high intelligence, but the attention span of above mentioned three-year-old. Such men are NOT the stuff from which great generals are made. And that was the other problem. Because he was The Prince he would have to be a general.
Considering how his brothers conducted themselves, and they had had years of military training, The Prince had received none, the prognosis for The Prince of Wales becoming anything other than a walking disaster was very remote. The Prince felt his father was being quite unfair. His Majesty was convinced that he was acting in the best interests of the British army. Not many people were ready to argue The Prince’s position. But…..
There were some arguments in favor of The Prince serving. Not least of them were that there would be a public relations problem if he were not allowed to serve. What would the Tories say to His Majesty? “You think he can’t be trusted with a few thousand troops for a couple of years; but WE the people are supposed to trust him with the entire country for, perhaps, decades?” No, no. The Prince of Wales had to be given something to do.
In January 1793 The King wrote to The Prince that after due consideration he had asked the War Office to seriously consider the matter of The Prince of Wales military service to his country. The Prince was absolutely beside himself. The War Office informed him that at His Majesties request he would be appointed Colonel Commandant Of the 10th (Or The Prince of Wales Own) Regiment of Light Dragoons.
I would like to point out that all British regiments carried names. Usually the name would derive from whatever part of the country the regiment was formed in. (The Royal Sussex Regiment, The Bedfordshire Regiment, ect.) In this case, the name of the regiment did not indicate that it was The Prince of Wales personal plaything. However, being appointed Colonel Commandant did give him the right to pick his subordinates.
In short order the officers roster was filled with drinking buddies and political cronies. He also wasted no time in getting to his tailors to be fitted for a sharp new uniform. Yes sir, it was blue skies for as far as The Prince could see. And he knew whom to thank. Dad had really come through for him this time. In a long, and according to one historian, nearly incoherent letter to The Queen, The Prince begged her to forgive the letter’s “prolixity” but his heart was overflowing with gratitude to his “good and gracious father.”
So much so that words alone could not express the depths of emotion he felt. Indeed, so strong were his feelings that, although unfit for society, he begged mom to be allowed at whatever hour would be “the properest and most convenient” the following day to drop by the Queens House so that he could prostrate himself at dads feet.
“The King has already given me life; the letter went on to say; but now he has done more. He has not only given me life, but the enjoyment of life and is that not the greatest of all blessings? I am not equal to meeting you this evening overpowered by the shocking events of France (where hapless King Louis and his lovely wife Marie had just been given “Republican Haircuts.”) and with the species of sentiment towards my father which surpasses all description.”
His Highness was putting it mildly.
A few days after this, the War Office informed him that his commission had been dated 19 November 1782. This meant that he outranked, by seniority, all other colonels in the army. However… The King himself had told The Prince that under NO circumstances would he become a general. Don’t even ask. End of conversation. He had to content himself with being “First Colonel at the head of the Regiment.” At least he got a flashy uniform to impress the ladies with.
The Prince went to join his regiments encampment at, guess where? Brighton! What a small world. And he was in time to celebrate his thirty-first birthday there. Which was just as well because dad informed him that it would have been “against all military rules” to allow him to come home to celebrate it with the family. I’m sure he had a good time anyway.
Of course, being a soldier means having to rough it. The Times reported that it was The Prince’s intention to dine in the officers mess every day that the regiment was encamped “in a delightful spot by the seaside.” A nice thought, but it didn’t turn out that way. He had his own tent, of course. Not army issue, unless he had joined an army of French interior decorators.
It was a complicated affair in three major sections. A kitchen, (so much for the officers mess.) a dining room “furnished with the most elegant chairs” and a bedroom with a “superb square bed, its fringed and tasseled hangings being of a very delicate chintz, a white ground with a lilac and green cloud with it’s four corners ornamented with The Prince’s signature feathers and motto.”
Army life can be hell.
It can also be distracting from business. For The Prince, this meant getting money from dad. Once dad made it clear that he would not be allowed to fight overseas he was back at Carlton House contemplating his sorry financial situation. His brother, the Duke of York had come up with a solution to his own money problems that pointed to the future. It gave The Prince a viable and hopefully permanent solution. But it also caused him to wonder if the cure might not be worse than the disease.
This blog was written by Mr. Al
How's Your Weather?
It’s summer, and all through the land people are facing extremes in the weather. I’m in Western Montana where summer has been very, very slow to come. We had snow a week ago and highs in the 60s for over a month now.
The Big Hole, which is a few miles to the south of me, is more water logged than I’ve ever seen it before, and all that water is going into the river, which is already even higher than the last time I complained about it.
This is nothing compared to what others are going through.
Floods in Wisconsin, Tornados all up and down Tornado Alley, fires in California long before fire season should have started there.
I realize there is room to argue, but to me it looks like global warming in spades. I’m convinced it’s the onset of a disaster of epic proportions. I watch the satellite pictures and latest reports with morbid fascination. I take each rain shower or unseasonable snow storm in stride, but worry about the sum total.
So when I ask you how your weather is, it isn’t a trivial matter to me. I really want to know.
How is your weather? Are you OK?
Quick and Easy Weight Loss!
It’s true. There’s a way to shed pounds instantly. I can vouch for it myself. I’ll tell it to you for free. I’ll even show you. Check it out.
How to Lay Floor Tile Part 3: Tilus Interuptus
That bit of green and the doors above it are the closet, which still had the original carpet. Somehow I naively thought I could tile right up to that point and call it good. No go.
So I had my mortar down and the tile laid up to about a foot away from the closet, then I had to stop and take the closet apart. Yeah, it would have been better if I’d taken the closet apart first, but then I might have procrastinated again, then who knows how much longer it would have taken me to get the job done.
Taking the closet apart started with removing all the coats, TV trays, and shoes piled inside, then unbolting the little pedestal built in to catch the mail that comes in through the slot. It was such a relief to see it was only screwed in at a couple of points. Once freed from the wall, it lifted right out. I’m never that lucky with home-repair projects. I can only put it down to pure luck.
There’s a little pedestal thing welded to the floor – OK, more like glued and bolted 
because it’s wood to concrete but I’m sure whoever installed it would have welded it in if it were metal We unscrewed the brackets on top of the pedestal that were holding the sliding doors in place, but otherwise left the pedestal alone. Which… you guessed it… I’ll come back to.
This left enough room for us to shove the bottom of the sliding doors in. With some wresting and a lot of grunting and I’m not entirely sure how it worked, but it did, the doors came out.
Now we could get at the floor. Yep, it took all day just to get there. The carpet came right out and left a nice, smooth, concrete sub floor just begging for some tile.
I was worried about the tile I’d already set as it was supposed to have a couple of days to dry, and I barely gave it one before standing on it wrestling with the closet, but near as I can tell we did not damage. I think this may partly be because I didn’t put the mortar on all that thick, just enough so the special smoothing tool thing left grooves in the wet mortar, so the bottoms of the tiles touched the concrete and were all nice and even with each other. Regardless, I wish I’d done the closet before starting.
For one thing, it threw my plans into the air. I wasn’t sure what to do with my decorative border. Should I run it around the inside of the closet? Use it to bisect the line between the closet and the rest of the floor? Both?
The tiles came out the wrong distances to make a nice edge between the closet and the rest of the floor without having to actually, like, cut tile. By this point I had actually played around enough with the tile cutter to know how to do it. I’d also messed up enough tile to know I’d have a hard time doing it right.
To make matters worse, there was that pedestal thing sticking up. No way I was going to mess with it. For one thing, I needed to have it exactly the way it was when all was said and done so I could reinstall the doors. But it stuck up far enough in and over to require some serious tile cutting if I wasn’t going to do the decorative thing.
It’s total hack work, but at this point I just wanted to get the project over with, so I ran the decorative border around the inside of the closet and filled in one, single, decorative square around the pedestal thing.
It looks a little strange, but I like it.
By the time I was done setting the tile in the closet, the rest of the floor was ready for grout.
I don’t know about you, but I need a break from all this tile work. I’m going to toss out a couple of recipes in the next couple of weeks, then pick up with the grout the following week. Let’s just say it got messy.
Also see:
How to Lay Floor Tile, Part 1
How to Lay Floor Tile Part 2: Mortar
How to Lay Floor Tile Part 3: Tilus Interuptus
PMS
Jill: Did you just say…
P. 
M. 
S.? 
Jack: Uh… yeah.
Jill: I’ll show you PMS!!!
saturday photo scavenger hunt
The rules for Photohunt can be found here.
Today’s theme is emotion.
Be sure to visit the home page.
This is the culmination of a three part series. If you haven’t already seen them, I recommend you check out the other two parts:
Previously in Jack and Jill Jill Alone in the House
Previously in Jack and Jill G-g-g-g-ghost!
Suzie’s House 71: The Outsider
Ben walked the same route he’d walked before, going home to Mom’s house from Dad’s apartment, hoping the red haired man – the one who had tried to give him a ride – would come by. Ben wasn’t sure what he would do when he saw the man, but he’d do something. He would. He really would.
He got all the way home, and nothing. He should go back to Dad’s apartment, but he didn’t want to. It wasn’t like his dad was going to notice he was gone. Instead, Ben stood on the sidewalk across the street, and tried to look in through the windows.
Thursday Thirteen 31: Contests, Real and Imaginary
1. Whisper. What do you think? Too complicated?
2. Watermelon seed spitting. I have a friend who says her brother once spit a seed over the roof of the house. Knowing her brother, I believe her.
3. Unicorn duels. No way I could come up with 13 without making up a few.
4. The TriWizard Tournament. Actually, if I include ones other people made up I can do it easily. I’m all for easy.
5. Avon FanLit. Those who entered it almost two years ago better go back to the site and copy out any comments you want to keep because they are going to delete the site soon.
6. The RITA contest, which will only mean something to you if you’re into Romance novels.
7. FieldReport is offering $20,000 1st place prize and a bunch of other prizes in a true story contest, if you have the time for it.
8. Fire Fighting Robot contest. I don’t know why this appeals to me so much.
9. Yack riding contest. I’m sure there is one somewhere.
10. FanLit Forever has regular rounds. No prize but pride, but it’s still fun.
11. American Title Contest, of which my friend Helen Scott Taylor was the winner. Yay Helen!
12. Rodeo Clowns on Teeter Totters.
Warning – this clip contains rough language and bull violence.
13. Girl Scout Cookies. I offer them for commenting on certain days of my blog. I have two boxes left, so keep a look out for them.
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Kimberly Menozzi
Jennifer McKenzie
Nina Pierce
Paige Tyler
Savannah Chase
Talk About My Favorite Authors
TLC
Toni
Susan Helene Gottfried
Tamy ~ 3 sides of crazy 🙂
Di
Socks Scylla & Charybdis (MoMo & Charlotte)
SandyCarlson
Nancy
Danica/Dream
babyamore
Sue
Dad of Divas
Cindy Swanson
Wacky Mommy
By George! Even the Sickly Can Raise Cain
Last week Mr. Al left us hanging with the intentions of Prince Augustus, George III’s youngest son, regarding the way his father exiled him from England. Let’s see what he does about it.
In October of 1792 he wrote to the Prince of Wales that he longed to return home “after an absence of so many years. I have frequently wrote to His Majesty on this subject. The physicians have also informed The King it would be highly advantageous to my health. Not a line on the subject. Not a hint… Perhaps a word thrown in by you on a favorable occasion might have the desired effect. The more so as he knows my wish is not to remain near the Metropolis (London) from which both physical and political reasons drive me.”
Gee, why do you think he felt the need to reassure The King that he wouldn’t hang around London? Whither The Prince talked to dad on his brothers behalf is not recorded. What is known is that The King refused to allow him to come home. As it turned out, His Majesty would have been a lot happier if he had.
In April of 1794, Prince Augustus met Lady Augusta Murray. Miss Murray was the second daughter of the forth Earl of Dunmore. She has been described as plain and rather bossy. Be that as it may, she was definitely ten years older that Augustus and her mom was tickled pink that her girl had attracted a real live prince of the realm. All this would have been weak tea, gossip-wise had not Augustus done something typically Hanoverian. He married Miss Murray.
Naturally, he didn’t have The King’s permission. That made it illegal. The lad was twenty at the time. That made it doubly illegal. His Majesty heard about it when one of Augustus’s servants ratted him out. NOW dad wanted him to come home! Prince Augustus was ordered to return to England toot-sweet. He did and he brought his brand new wife with him.
This was the only right and proper thing to do since she was pregnant. His Majesty didn’t know that at the time, however. Worried that some persons might not consider the marriage ceremony proper because it had been performed in Rome, although it had been performed by an Anglican clergyman, and completely leaving aside the fact that the ceremony was a double felony, the newlyweds had the ceremony performed again once they reached London on December 5.
I think His Majesty could be forgiven for considering that second ceremony to be a poke in the royal eye with a very sharp stick. He certainly reacted to it as though his son had done so. For the boy he had once hoped would “prove conspicuous” by his good behavior, the Royal Marriage Act was dusted off. The King declared the marriage null and void. But wait, there was more… for reasons not recorded, Augustus returned to Rome a few weeks later. Alone. Perhaps he forgot to feed the cat or he left the front door unlocked, either way, it was a very bad idea because once out of the country, dad wouldn’t let him back in. SURPRISE!!!!
Nor would His Majesty allow Augustus’s wife (ex-wife? Never was wife? ) to leave England. A year later he was still begging his father to let him come home. He wrote to The Prince asking him to “cast one moment of compassion on a unhappy being…. Wandering among the ruins of Ancient Rome.” I’m afraid we’ll have to leave Augustus drifting wraith- like among the ruins of Ancient Rome because The Prince received some good news about this time. The king was about to hand him what he had assured the king and queen was his hearts desire.
This blog was written by Mr. Al
What’s New?
My mother has a new kitten.
He’s very cute, and very active, and hard to get pictures of.
The girl is having a grand old time playing with him, but the boy isn’t quite as interested. My mother said what he needs is a big dog he can run around.
Personally, I’d like to have both a dog and a cat, maybe a couple of cats. Mr. Al is not so keen on it. He seems to think you can either have cats or dogs, but not
both.
How about you? Can you have both? I know at least one of you has a new puppy. Anyone else have a new pet?
The Whisper Contest
.
A few weeks ago I started a meme called Whisper. Now it’s time to hold the contest based on the meme.
This is how it works. I read through all the memes that were posted by those who chose to do it and found the following phrase.
He came from the bathroom, a plunger in one hand and a tool chest in the other.
Your job is to find which meme has that phrase and leave a comment. I will put your name in the drawing once for leaving a comment on the correct post and a second time if you leave comments on all the other posts as well. The prize is a $20 gift certificate.
The winner will be announced here on June 23rd.
For your convenience I’ve put together the original meme and all those who did it:
We’re playing Telephone again. From now on I’m going to call it “Whisper.”
What you do is make a change in the paragraph below. It can be as little as a single word or almost every word, so long as we can still recognize the paragraph you received. I’m talking about the one in the blog of the person who tagged you, not the original paragraph. Link to the original paragraph at http://aliceaudrey.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/Whisper. Tag three people. Link to those three people plus the person who tagged you. Don’t forget to link to the person who tagged you so the chain will not be broken! Go to the original paragraph and let Alice know you did it. She will link to you. Include these instructions in your post. On June 9th go visit http://AliceAudrey.wordpress.com for instructions on how to win the $20 gift certificate.
Here’s your paragraph:
He came from nowhere, a gun in one hand and a flower in the other. His name was Ricardo, but she’d always called him Clem. She said she liked his deep, brown eyes. Instead of thanking her he took her watch and her left shoe, and ran off with Merry D.
1. Andi Unhinged
2. Renee Renee Lynn Scott
3. Sasha Looking for the Right Word
4. Kelly Delusions of Grandeur
5. Heather Phoenex Hearse
6. Ian The Popcorn Principle
7. Lyza Lynn Shell Game
8. John Wayne’s Girl John Wayne’s Girl
9. sghoul Oozings From My Mind
10. Kathleen Oxley Kathleen Oxley Erotica: More Than a Promise
11. Kaige Impulsive Hearts
12. Kelsey Simmons Kelsey Simmons Normally Paranormal
13. A. Catherine Noon A. Catherine Noon
14. Bethanne Strasser Romance in Writing
15. Eaton Bennett Passionate Fiction
16. Jennifer Shirk Me, My Muse and I
17. Fionn Jameson Fionn Jameson
18. Ally Kendall Tangled Up in Words and Life
It’s still possible to do this meme, though new links will not be included in the contest. Simply tell me you did it, and I will add you to the original list.
To people from Contest Alley, Contest Guide, and Contest Blogger, welcome.
You may have noticed a box of Girl Scout cookies at the top of this post. Let me know if you’d like to be included in the next round of Whisper and I will put your name in a drawing for the Thin Mints.
How to Lay Floor Tile Part 2: Mortar
I knew I was going to have trouble making the edges look good. When I laid out the tile ahead of time I could see the edge go from thick on one end to thin on the other though I had started off perfectly even with the end. I was going to have to make little adjustments along the way.
I drew a line on the concrete where I wanted the edge to be. Then I realized the mortar was going to cover it up. Doy. So, I taped a piece of string a few inches above the floor to act as a guide. For the most part this only got in the way, though there were a couple of times I dropped a plumb line from it to figure out which way to go.
I had a cylindrical bucket for the mortar. My intention had been to pour in the powdered mortar and the water, turn it on it’s side, and roll it around like a cement mixer. Didn’t work out that way. The lid kept trying to pop off, and I couldn’t tell the mortar was getting wet. I ended up mixing it with a hand trowel just like in the picture on the side of the package. I don’t know if one of the $30 buckets from Home Depot would have worked better or not, but don’t intend to shell out for one in the future, as mixing my hand worked fine.
I was afraid the mortar would set too fast, so I only put out enough at a time to set one or two rows of tile. Keep in mind these tiles are about a foot long on each side. I’ll have to come back to the “about” part in a minute. Then I filled in the outside edges with broken pieces before moving to the next section.
I probably should have set the mortar out thicker, but so far have seen no problems with the way I did it. With the help of a board, I was able to kneel on the newly set tiles while I worked around the edges. Getting them in exactly the right position wasn’t easy.
The mortar isn’t sticky like adhesive, but it does act like a suction cup on the tiles so they don’t lift off easily once down. With tiles that big, plus leaning over awkwardly so I didn’t swim in fresh mortar, some of the tiles went down poorly. If I shoved them around, which was easier than prying them up, then I got too much mortar piled up on one side which had to be wiped away, and too little on the other so I had to re-do the mortar step. It wasn’t a big deal, just an annoyance.
I used little blue spacers between
intact tiles. This became a problem when it turned out the medium-brown tiles are an eighth of an inch smaller than the others. I didn’t realize it, and didn’t compensate the way I would have otherwise until I got to the high-traffic area in front of the door, then ended up putting in spaces that were too big and sometimes gollywampus. The tile I set earlier had already dried, so there was no going back. I simply let it ride.
With a lot of stopping and starting, interruptions by kids and a certain man, and middle-aged-housewife-grunting It took about two hours to do all of the floor except the little bit of around the closet, which I’ll discuss at way-too-much length next week.
Also see:
How to Lay Floor Tile, Part 1
How to Lay Floor Tile Part 2: Mortar
How to Lay Floor Tile Part 3: Tilus Interuptus
