Glen’s Oasis is my newest website. Although no website is ever finished, it is complete enough to publish and submit to Google. Glen’s Oasis is a personal site mainly about our home, neighborhood and the city where we live: Irvine, CA. Take a look, then sign the Guestbook to tell me what you think.

Not until I started my own newsletter did I realize how informative they can be. It has been very exciting for me so far. I am amazed at the feedback I have had to this point. Thanks to all who have responded and a special thanks to those who have recently signed up. 

I have gained so much useful knowledge for myself in researching for articles to include. I hope you enjoy the newsletter as much as I have enjoyed preparing it.

This week Ginger came to visit again for an extended time. Ginger is Glenda’s cat. Actually, Ginger is a cat that lives at Glenda’s house. Nobody owns a cat. To own something is to have some control over it (her/him). This could never be the case with this cat. She, and only she, decides what she is going to do and when. Ginger comes to visit “Grandma and Grandpa” from time to time. This time she has been more mellow from the beginning. She has even stayed out in the open during the day, not under the bed as she has in the past. Maybe she feels more comfortable here this time than ever before. Only Ginger knows. 

We love Ginger though, and we know she is a very special pet.

In recent times, Chipotle has become a common ingredient in the preparation of foods across the country. We always keep pureed Chipotle in Adobo in the refrigerator because, added to mayo, it spices up almost any sandwich you want to make. Realizing that we already had some in the fridge, I decided to make it the secret ingredient in a dessert. The cake was easy. Just a Betty Crocker Triple Fudge Chocolate mix. The frosting was easy. Just a container of Betty Crocker Triple Fudge Chocolate Chip frosting. But the secret ingredient, Chipotle, added a hint of something that no one would ever guess. Just a teaspoon in the cake and 1/2 teaspoon in the frosting. Oh so good. I know my next batch of brownies will have a hint of Chipotle because we usually have it in the fridge. Maybe a little more than a teaspoon. Why not make Chipotle the secret ingredient in something you make soon?

I don’t know why it took so long for me to discover Pinot Noir. I guess it is too easy to get stuck in a rut with Cabs and Zins. (Yes, I saw the movie, Sideways.) Now that I have discovered the soft velvety texture of Pinot, I’m hooked. It’s like liquid silk, gently caressing the palate!  In my research I discovered that Pinot Noir is one of the oldest grape varieties to be cultivated for the purpose of making wine. It’s forerunner and inspiration hails from red Burgundy, one of  France’s most prized wines. Today Pinot Noir is planted in regions around the world, including California and Oregon. So try one from California and one from France. Maybe you too will develop a passion for Pinot!

I rolled out of bed at 7:45 A.M. The alarm did not go off. It didn’t go off because it was not set. It wasn’t set because I didn’t want it to go off. You see, that is the way retirement is. No alarms unless you want one. No alarms just because you have to be at work at a certain time. It didn’t come easily. In fact, it took 32.5 years to reach this point. It was worth it. It has been worth it for 9 years so far. Nine years with no alarms. Every day is a late start day if that’s the way I feel when I wake up.

I love food! I enjoy preparing food for myself and others. I am always looking for a new recipe to try and then share with others. That’s why I created a page on this blog for recipes that I want to share with readers of this site. So what’s holding you back. The first recipe is there for you to try. Just click the recipe link. You can make your own Perfect Roast Chicken in a very short time!

There is a difference between cheap wine and inexpensive wine. In times past, I have had cheap wine. I know because the headache lasted for awhile! A five cent bottle of wine, however, is not cheap in this instance. It’s just extraordinarily inexpensive. When is the last time you had a $69 bottle of wine for 5 cents? The catch is that you have to spend $69 for the first bottle to get the second one for–did I sat it already–5 cents. I’m talking about the 5 cent sale at BevMo. Wines in all price ranges. California Wines. French Wines. Wines from Spain, Italy, and Argentina. Cabernets and Pinots. Zinfandels and Syrahs. I am out of storage space now. Did you get your five cent wine?

I was perfectly content with my original blog until I tried repeatedly to sign on without success. The only way I could log in was by using Firefox. What’s the deal with that? I thought there was no reason to reinvent the wheel since my original blog had several entries. Then came Glenda. Yes, it’s her fault for introducing me to WordPress. It’s her fault that I am starting over again with this garbage! If you want to see other things she is responsible for, look at her blog. It’s Reinventing the Wheel and the link is on the right.

Is this a total waste of time? After all, does anyone read any of the stuff that is posted by millions of bloggers each day? Or could it be that people get a charge out of messing with blog templates, settings, etc. that result in something that they themselves like and not much happens after that? That seems to be what happens here. After over a year, only a couple of people have commented on my posts. Am I so boring, or am I a typical blog junkie?