I really miss tuna fish. The one of my youth, that is.

A few months ago I picked up this book, Four Fish, by Paul Greenberg. I don't eat much fish so it was just an idle curiosity about fish, fishing and the fish "industry". Plus, I had heard all these cautions about farmed fish.

But, as I was reading along, I had a sudden ah-ha moment. The reason I don't like to eat tuna in a can anymore is that light chunk tuna is no longer "chunk". The cans are smaller, and what passes for chunk these days is what was labeled as "flake" back when. Professional homemakers used to say that flake tuna was alright for tuna salad since you were going to break it up when you stirred in the mayonnaise anyway. But my mom and grandmother, in fact none of the women I knew would ever buy flake tuna. It was always chunk light for us! I am talking the 1970s and prior. Maybe into the 80s, but honestly I don't remember when tuna became either flake tuna or solid white. Solid white is flavorless, IMO, and with a texture of fish that's overcooked. I eat it but I b*tch about it.

The problem is of course, people. We have fished for tuna so much that the actual fish are harder to find, and they are smaller, too. So the cans are smaller and the cans have a higher portion of liquid to tuna. I remember squeezing out the oil with the lid and having more than half a can of meat left. No more.

I really miss tuna, but I do understand that with as many people who also love it, we have got to let the tuna reproduce and grow some or we won't have any.

House painting

All the houses in my neighborhood are getting painted. They are getting painted with exactly the same colors they have been, since the beginning, 1996. Apparently some of the residents were ok with a color change but the most vocal were not ok with it.

I wish I had seen the samples; I would have blogged about them, with photos. But, the samples were on #1, which I don't usually drive by. Oh well, drama opportunity missed. I like the old colors or I wouldn't have been so charmed by this place, but when the next painting time comes around I will be on the lookout for the new opportunities.

Since it's raining today, the painters are not in the neighborhood. They come in a crowd with suprisingly few vehicles. There must be some kind of drop off, but my vision of the street through the kitchen window is quite limited and I haven't seen it. This picture was taken Thursday morning, on the building across the street from me. As near as I can tell they work on 3 buildings at a time.

I must say, if you had asked me I wouldn't have said my house needs painting yet, but the ones that have been done really do look better and brighter. This must come from years of reduced expectations in the paint department of my brain. But, new paint is good, even with the old colors.

Uh oh, looks like it's time for me to pressure wash the driveway again.

Worst food product EVER

In my attempt to eat healthier snacks, I picked up some packages of freeze-dried fruits at Target. The strawberries were tart and kind of tasty, but these freeze-dried bananas tasted like they had been dipped in gasoline. What the what?

I keep a small but potent list of "do not buy again EVER" products and this is going to the top of my list. Yuck, double yuck.

New spices, same old chicken? We'll see.

Wanda gave me these 3 new rubs and I think it may help to cure chicken boredom. If I make 3 different kinds of chicken tenderloin strips on the same pan, then the leftovers for all week long won't seem so repetitive, right?

I am tired of chicken but maybe this will work? A girl can dream, right?

Valentines are so yesterday...

OK, here it is January 28th, and already the valentine decorations are on clearance to make way for the shamrocks. This is way to fast for those of us who plan at the last minute. Even those of us who prefer green to red and pink.

Avoiding the dry cleaner

I've managed to avoid the dry cleaner for over 4 years. Mostly I wear casual clothes, and I have started to hand wash some things that were previously marked dry cleaning recommended.

But, I have a confession to make. My jacket, pictured above, has not been cleaned in over 6 years because I needed to mend the lining in the sleeve first. We wear jackets infrequently in Florida, and I would remember the lining each time I would put this on, but promptly forget until the next time. And the tear in the lining wasn't getting any better by itself.

I believe I have mentioned in the past how much I don't look forward to mending by hand. Never mind I have enough hand sewing needles to last 4 more lifetimes, I just don't like to do it. But I did it anyway, and finally took the thing in for a cleaning. Ten bucks, why am I not surprised? Anyway, it's good to get that one little nagging job off my list.

What's next?

Knitting progress

Well, it's up to 31" and I don't think I've dropped any stitches, at least none I couldn't pick back up more or less. While it is getting more comfortable, I'm still not ready to start up with patterns or anything else that requires counting as I go. Baby steps.

Lucky for me, my neck is often cold.