Fry sauce

 

Hi Natty!  How are you?  I hope you are having lots of fun, and feeling great.  It's a cold day today.  I like it cold here, so alhamdulillah.  You would think that we don't sweat when it's cold.  But I had to prune the creeper tree on the old house this evening, and put up an annoying sweat, and it's bloody cold!  Well, it's not that cold.  I know what cold is, while most people here don't.

Want some fries?  I made a cheeseburger and fries for dinner.  The fry sauce in the video above looks OK, it's just another mayo based sauce that turns into that off-white color.  Probably has some sourness to it from the vinegar.  The Worcestershire sauce is a good idea.   It's basically a fermented fish sauce with tamarind.  But if you were to make a mayo based sauce, why not just dip your fries in ranch dressing?  Yes Honey, I know how to make ranch dressing.  I think I should just do that instead of bothering about making a novelty sauce.  I was at the supermarket this morning, and I bought a bottle of chilli sauce so as to make fry sauce with.  But I forgot to buy chillies, so I wound up accidentally endorsing this sauce by dipping my fries in it.  There's nothing special about this chilli sauce.  It's just the cheapest chilli sauce there is, that isn't based on ketchup.

Snacks

 

Hi there, beautiful Natty!  How's it going today?  I sure hope you are keeping safe and healthy.  I just got done with dinner.  I had eggs and beans, plus I steamed some fishy treats my brother gave me.  I made the last batch of beans too rich, I can't eat too much at a time.  That cats love them, but if I can't eat the beans then they can't eat the beans.  I might have to chuck the whole batch, I don't know.  I didn't have anything sweet.  I did buy a bottle of strawberry juice with basil seeds yesterday (a Vietnamese soft drink), I drank half of it then and the other half this morning.  That was sweet.  I planted some of the seeds just to see what happens.  They're most likely dead, but you never know.  I know you love sweets Honey, but now is the time to slam on the brakes and make sugary things an occasional thing instead of an everyday thing, and not be forced to chop off a leg or two.  If you can't live without sugar, then you definitely (will) have diabetes.

My brother also gave me some fish crackers, so I fried them up yesterday evening.  My mother loves the stuff, and I like them too sometimes.  Depends on the recipe.  This is a good batch though, and the same type as the video above.  I used a big fire though, so I had to hustle cook.  I dropped a handful at a time into super hot oil, and got done with the task very quickly.  These fish crackers make a nice snack, with no sugar and the crunch is gentle and easy on the teeth.  Of course the cats love this stuff.  I can't even eat it in the privacy of my bedroom and they hear the crunch, then start yowling at my bedroom door.  Would you like to try some?

Gumption

 

Hi Natty!  Oh, nice country!  Where is that?  I'm happy to see you enjoy yourself.  I'm also happy to see you show some gumption.  Of course, it's easier to have courage when there are people backing you up.  At least you don't have to be a man.  A man is expected to show courage whether he is alone or whatever.  But you don't have to be a man.  You are MY girl.  I will take care of you, inshaAllah.  I'm sure you don't have to worry about being cocky.  As your brother would say, "Don't die stupidly".  By they way, I think it's good you removed that photo of his looking like an adult Beavis.

Nice cake!  Please place a limit on your sugar consumption.

Birds

 

Hi Natty!  How are you, Honey?  Are you enjoying the ride?  I hope you are feeling good and having tons of fun.  Oh, are those buzzards on that tree?  I didn't know California had buzzards.  I must say that you have some clever bosses, Natty.  I hope they sell out of bags.

It's been cold today.  That doesn't bother me, I like it cold.  It's the tropical heat and swelter that I can't stand.  It's so comfortable here, I could sleep and sleep until tomorrow or whatever.  I didn't, of course.  All sorts of birds always hang out at my house, and can get very talkative.  The bird in the video above is supposed to be illegal to catch.  So how did it get into the cage?  But the birds have been whispering all day today.  Just soft pips and chips in a subdued and serious tone.  It must be the cold.

Caught in the crossfire

 

Hi Natty!  What's up?  I hope you are keeping calm and doing well over there.  It's just another day over here for me.  I just got done with dinner.  I had rice for a change, with sautéed onions, eggs, and spicy sardines.  Yeah, cat food.  I wanted sunny side up eggs but I'm not very good at cooking eggs, so they ended up scrambled.  Plus the eggs weren't fresh, the shells were brittle and the yolks unstable.  Yeah, so what.  I gave a sardine fillet each to Lookie and Adolf Kitler.  Adolf had a tough time eating his fillet.  No he's not dumb, his head was too big to maneuver the fillet into a comfortable biting position.  He's a bulky boy, a muscular cat.

I've never had an indoors male cat before.  At first, Adolf was planned to live a life of an outdoors cat like most other male cats.  Then Allah killed off Floofy and Adolf's sister Lily, so I kept him inside.  He eventually won my heart, so now I'm glad I didn't put him outside.  He's such a good boy and an affectionate kitty, he's never not used the cat box, and he's aggressive at pest control.  But boys will be boys.  Whenever I step out of the house, he usually follows me.  I always step out into a cage where I keep the motorcycle at night, so there's another door to open before I'm actually outside.  Emma usually waits for me there.  Emma used to be my brother's cat but now I'm the one who feeds her, she's an old kitty about 14 years old.  Adolf is normally friendly with her, but today he attacked her as if she were a pest.  Emma was clearly upset by this, and ran off to my brother's house.  When I walked further outside, I found out why: the brown cat was lurking around the wall.  We all know the brown cat, who incurred Adolf's wrath by flirting with Lookie.  Adolf attacked Emma because the brown cat was close by, and she just happened to be caught in the crossfire!  I knew Adolf was still gunning for him, but I didn't see the brown cat before I opened the door.  When we got back inside I said to Adolf, "You don't have to attack poor Emma like that!  She has nothing to do with the brown cat!"  As you can see from the snapshot above, his attitude is "So what?"  I had a difficult time getting that photo by the way, Adolf refused to pose or sit still.

Hopes and dreams

 

Aw Natty, you look like my hopes and dreams.  I absolutely had to save that snapshot, and I used it to replace the photo of you wearing a chain around your neck.  Remember that one?  Do you like cultured diamonds?  Of course you do.  I do too.  I don't consider them any different in quality than mined diamonds.  All that jewelry is very pretty.  And that's a big 'un on the ring.  The setting doesn't look very strong though, so you can't do gardening or hiking with that ring on.  What kind of ring do you really?  What do you dream of in a ring?  For me, I just want a titanium band.

It's been a rather busy day for me.  I spent the morning driving my mother around.  I took her to get a booster shot, but they wouldn't let her in without an appointment.  I think that sucks, because there were no patients waiting and they could have just looked my mother up in the computer to check her qualifications.  Instead of just sitting around picking their noses and eating snacks.

Anyway, they're calling the sunset prayer now.  A lot of people are jealous of you right now, so please be cautious with your next post OK?  I love you!

The inevitable

 

Hi Natty!  How are you today?  I hope you are well, and keeping safe and healthy.  Today is Sunday, and it's been a busy day as usual.  After the Asr prayer, I had to rush downtown to get a light bulb for my mother's closet.  I could have bought one from the store at the crossroads, but the quality is poor.  That's one thing to watch with LED bulbs.  The LED part lasts forever, but the housing is designed to fail.  So don't buy off-brand LED bulbs.

It is inevitable that my wife lags behind.  Otherwise she would have been suffering poverty and danger with me from at least 13 years ago.  It's been mellow lately alhamdulillah, but it's been a 9 month respite.  I guess Someday We'll All Be Free.  Even if she had been with me since way back then, she and our children might have gotten killed.  Or she abandoned me out of fear and poverty.  Or she turned against me in favor of my enemies.  I would certainly have been doing "things she doesn't understand".  Thus the burden is on me to gain enough power to be able to build and maintain a safe home environment for her and our children.  Therefore, my wife lags behind.  But imagine the kind of woman who would stand by my side through all that.  I guess I will never know.