Y’know when you find a recipe online, whether via Google or by following a link in an Instagram post, let’s say, and (at best) you have to scroll past 14,000 step-by-step photos about how to cut an onion sprinkled with advertising after every paragraph/photo, or (at worst) also do battle with a myriad of pop-up videos?

Sometimes there’s a “Jump To Recipe” button, which at least saves a ton of scrolling, but still…

Well, I have a trick for you!

1. Copy that entire URL
2. Type cooked.wiki into your browser, followed by a forward slash (/), and
3. Paste that entire URL

Not only do you spare yourself all the BS, but you also get a lovely, organized, formatted recipe with a link to a printable PDF.

GAME CHANGER!!

My next trick is something I use all the time when I know I won’t remember, like… What is it that I type before the URL of a recipe to skip all the BS?

I compose an email, usually with a subject line that makes it easy to find/search, which automatically gets saved in Drafts. Your mileage may vary, but this works for me because it won’t get lost in a notebook or on a slip of paper, which I may or may not have handy at any given time (and definitely not when I need it), and my email is as close as my phone (which is usually very close).

I have draft emails with various lists (Christmas, To-do, Bucket), TSA pre-check numbers, a few recipes, things that I need to share often, yarn weight substitutions, and links to last-minute availability calendars of my favorite get-away spots — stuff like that.

The draft emails get culled every now & then, but I can’t tell you how often that little trick has spared/saved me.

Another little “trick” to share for all you poetry lovers that I just read about yesterday, and that’s only valid for a few more days: Oregon’s Telepome Poetry Hotline @ 503-928-7008. You can call every day of National Poetry Month (this month) to hear a daily poem! The hotline was created by Oregon’s poet laureate, Anis Mojgani. You can read all about it here.

That’s all I got. Tomorrow’s my day off… so HAPPY WEEKEND!!

One of the wonderful things about the house next door going up for sale (again) is that this time, there are some great drone pictures of OUR house!

If that drone was just a little bit higher, you might be able to see Annie’s rooftop! You can see just a bit of the pergola to the left of the house, and the roof of the playhouse barely peeking out just to the left of the garage. Maybe I’m the only one that can see it because I know it’s there!

These photos were taken less than two weeks ago and I’m happy to report that the terraced areas are greening up, as are the trees. There have been some trees planted/replaced in the terrace, as well, though not yet right next door… possibly due to the type of tree being planted there.

This is just an amazing overview! I can see 313 Dodge (one of my favorite local spots), Hydro Park, the utility company & hydro power plant, the middle school playground (formerly high school, sans playground), the old paper mill that now houses our public library, the current paper mill, the Fox River, the nature center, rec dept ball fields (formerly high school fields), our swimming pool (currently undergoing a big re-do), the creek & trails, and the main road that I take out to Ali’s house! The “south side” downtown area is just to the left out of the picture.

I always say that I’m pretty much in the middle of everything but no one knows… we’re elevated, the ravine is wooded, and we’re at the end of a street that’s only two blocks long. I can see the pool from a few areas in the house right now, but as soon as the trees leaf out, I’ll only be able to hear it.

By the way, doesn’t that new street look great! They didn’t replace the entire sidewalk, though there is some brand new sidewalk across the street where there never was before (kind of weird). I’m still sad that we lost so many big old trees, but not as sad as I was… it’s a huge adjustment after 37 years! Our house is visible as soon as you turn on the street now, where it was a bit hidden before, and I just think… this is probably how it looked when our house was brand new — almost 140 years ago!

Hope you enjoyed the bird’s-eye tour!

We celebrated two of the April birthdays yesterday — the third will require a total & welcome re-do in July!

Ali’s birthday was Tuesday, and Kate’s is today. Everyone came over & we had spaghetti & meatballs, salad, garlic bread, and a yummy flourless chocolate cake.

It was a pretty good day to be outside — a little nip on the breeze, so we bounced in & out a lot — the sun was shining and, of course, that made everything better. I even got out early to do a little hoeing out back, and Rusty got the rain barrel re-installed.

The bleeding heart is prolific, as always… the bloodroot, not so much. A certain helpful gardener child may have been a bit overzealous in her attempt at taming it last year. I think we counted four plants in the back area. Luckily, it seems to be taking hold in another — arguably, more appropriate — area of the yard.

It was fun to see a couple of old sweaters walk in the door! The one with the truck was knit for Mack, probably 15 years ago, and basically a Wonderful Wallaby (by Carol A. Anderson) sans pocket. The truck was by request & adlibbed. I knit it with some precious Mission Falls 1824 Cotton (oh, how I loved that yarn), and I’m always surprised when I look for the Ravelry project page… it’s not there! Yesterday, it was sported by Davy.

The striped one was knit only NINE years ago for Junah, based on Devan (by Holli Yeoh), using self-striping yarn by Knitterly Things, combined with a solid that I dyed. I knit it quite a few sizes larger than he was at the time… and yesterday it was worn by Malina.

Speaking of Junah… (he’s fine).

They were hauling a few things home from the apartment above the coffee shop, so a goofy photo op as they were getting ready to depart.

Hope you had a great weekend!