Busy, rainy day

Today was a big cooking day. My new Indian vegetarian cookbook had a recipe for a cauliflower and potato curry which sounded good. It went well with the basmati brown rice, our favorite  dal and Naan bread.   The recipe I wanted to try, called for the bread machine, so I retrieved it from the  basement only to find that the machine was kaput, so I wound up figuring out how to make it work with the kitchen aid. The timing was totally off on the recipe and I burned the first batch not even cooking it the full time. Next time I'll try one of the Naan recipes from one of my own, trusted Indian cookbooks.
While the bread was rising, I got on line and did some bread machine research and wound up ordering one that has two mixing arms which is heavier duty than the now "late" bread machine. This new one is supposed to be very quiet which will be a welcome change over my old one. I was also surprised to hear that many of these bread machines only last 3 years, which I hope isn't true. It should last longer in this house since our favorite, every day bread is Jim Lahey's no knead bread.
Jim's football game just went into over time and I'm watching the Australian Open tennis as long as my eyes will stay open.

Christmas tree is up

 .
Here's our Christmas tree. I decorate the tree and Jim does the village under the tree.

Been playing with the computer and cooking today. I made a cauliflower, tomato and garbanzo beans curry and dal. I used store bought, frozen, Naan; but it wasn't very good. Next time I'm make my own or use Chapatis.

I'm still trying to get my wireless mouse and keyboard to work with the new Windows 7, but they tell me I need need a different driver for it  work. Dell is sending me a disk, which should be here either tomorrow or Monday.               
                         
It's probably  going to take a week or so to get this new Windows 7 working. I lost a lot of files when I used DOS to transfer files to the stand alone hard drive. When I tried to get them yesterday they said there were problems on the stand alone drive and it needed to fix them, but fixing them, seems to erased some of my most recent files. Have I mentioned again that I'm still in my "I hate computers" mode.

Windows 7 is also not compatible with some of my 6 month old software that came with the laptop, so I'm going to have to get on the phone again with Dell after I check the rest of that new software. If 6 month old software isn't working, I'm not holding up much hope for my older programs. Unfortunately, Microsoft doesn't have any information on a lot of program compatibility for their new system - typical! :-(

Rose of Sharon

My three year old Rose of Sharon is in full bloom - glorious color!

Yesterday was a super busy day starting early with an appointment to get an estimate to pave the driveway, then back to the studio for more organizing. Aaron came early to cut and hang two shelves for me and I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon loading shelves and organizing and sharpening more tools. I think one more day should finish this project. I would have finished it yesterday but had to stop at 3 o'clock and get to the dentist, then had dinner out at the local buffet.

This morning I'm heading out to buy more clay to feed the hungry pug mill, do a bit of food shopping (hoping Earth Fare has some Meyer lemons for tomorrow nights margarita madness, porch sitting - a weekly ritual with our friends Laura and Jim), and if the rain isn't bad and we can find a parking space, we'll have lunch at the Indian restaurant. They have a big, inexpensive, lunch buffet and their food is excellent.