Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Second rate reporter says what?

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

Thanks for reminding me that Van Jones needs to be slapped.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / It’s That Time of Year

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59Comments

  3. 3.

    BC in Illinois

    Okay, here’s my news for the week.

    Youngest daughter, out east, gave birth to BC Grandchild #8. All are doing well.
    The new baby’s name is Wilberforce.

    The name led to a discussion on the part of his cousins.
    The 11-year-old cousin asked, “Can we call him Willie?” (I will let the parents handle that question.)

    But the 5-year-old declared,

    “I’m going to call him “The Force.”

    Yup. That settles it.

    The parents may be thinking of the heritage of a noble namesake.
    The cousins are going to call him “The Force.”

  7. 7.

    TomatoQueen

    For the great abolitionist I’d guess. A wikipedia see results list gives the appropriate references, and then an entry for Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office (a job going since 1500 and of course held presently by Larry of 10 Downing Street
    https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Mouser_to_the_Cabinet_Office

    ) the reason for this entry in the list of course is now lost down a mousehole.
    Congratulations and we hope for a pic of The Force.

  8. 8.

    BC in Illinois

    @laura:

    May he be with you soon.

    Thank you. Mother and baby come home today. Doing well.

    The whole family — all vaccinated — masks up and travels to North Carolina in June for a baptism. And a week on the beach.

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    @TaMara (HFG): Don’t hold your breath. :-)  Cole promised me some spiced peaches a year or two ago.  Volunteered!  I hadn’t even asked.  I am still waiting.

    Maybe Cole likes you better than me!  :-)

  15. 15.

    Anonymous At Work

    Just curious…what percentage of your house is taken up by canning equipment and homemade canning products?  There absolutely isn’t money involved, certainly not at 4:3 for 15% and I quite positively didn’t take the OVER at total cost of $7500.

  17. 17.

    Dagaetch

    Anyone else look at the cows and see an album cover? “Balloon Juice by John Cole, ft. the hit tracks ‘Naked Mopping’ and ‘Shitmas: A Holiday Classic'”.

  20. 20.

    NotMax

    Would make jam or jelly … if it was an edible I had occasion to use more than maybe twice a year.

  23. 23.

    oldster

    Made a batch of raspberry coulis the other week, and all of a sudden all I wanted was more raspberry coulis.

    On ice cream, in drinks, in oatmeal, man oh man, most everything is improved with a drizzle of concentrated fresh raspberry flavor.

    Not hard to do — just bring the berries to a low boil in a simple syrup, then press through a fine sieve. A little lemon juice to adjust the bite. Pure, concentrated magic. Now I’m on the lookout for some blackberries, too.

  24. 24.

    Alison Rose

    HI COWS!!!!!!

    Sorry. I love cows. As a kid (and TBH even as an adult, back when I was able to drive) anytime I drove past a field with cows, which is often around here, I’d yell out HI COWS!! They rarely responded.

  33. 33.

    Mary G

    1-6 commission killed in the Senate 54-35. Not voting Dems: Sinema and Patti Murray of WA.

    Manchin's ten honest Republicans didn't show up. Let's see what he does with that.— Cheryl Rofer (@CherylRofer) May 28, 2021

    I wouldn't have thought it possible, but in some ways today's vote is even more shameful, more disgraceful, and more appalling than either of the Senate impeachment trial acquittals.— George Conway (@gtconway3d) May 28, 2021

  34. 34.

    Bex

    @BC in Illinois: If there’s another baby and she’s a girl, she could be named Grace.  Wilberforce knew John Newton (former slave ship captain) and was encouraged by his hymn, Amazing Grace.

  35. 35.

    Another Scott

    @Alison Rose: I remember driving somewhere in rural Ohio after dark and having to pull off the side of the road.

    And hearing a seemingly disembodied cow mooing at me.

    Incessantly.

    Like I was disturbing her beauty sleep or something.

    I finished up what I had to do, whatever it was, and left as quickly as I could.  I hope she was happy…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  36. 36.

    Spanky

    @Mary G: So Manchin found 6 Republicans and 9 sat on their hands.

    Eta: Any word on what happened to Murray? I can guess about Li’l Krissy.

  37. 37.

    sab

    Last Fall I assembled a planter that I intended for my back yard, but I didn’t get around to putti g it out there. So it was sitting in the backyard all winter. I kept meaning to move it, but we had snow right up to Mother’s Day.

    Finally I got organized to move it this week. Then I noticed a little pile of sawdust at its base. On closer inspection I noticed some very large bees like bumblebees, and a perfectly round drill hole about 3/8 to 1/2 inch in diameter.

    So my planter is being used by carpenter bees. I guess it is staying put until late Fall again. Another successful year of procrastination.

  41. 41.

    leeleeFL

    @BC in Illinois: All of this is wonderful!  Congrats on Grandbaby #8!  They are too much joy, ain’t they?

    “The Force” is delightful and I love all the Cousins for it!  Will would do okay for the Adults, no?

    Hugs and smooches, BC!

  43. 43.

    trollhattan

    @Alison Rose:

    When cycling out in the boonies I’m unable to not moo at the cows and baaaa at the sheep. Guessing they think I’m daft but they never complain.

    More practically, I’ve learned to announce myself to geese and more recently, wild turkeys on the local bike path because if they’re startled they sometimes take off and fly across your path. Was once going along at about 15 mph and had a Canada goose brush my face with its wing crossing in front of me. They’re…big.

  44. 44.

    geg6

    I will also be buried in strawberries this weekend.  Every year, our office says goodbye to some of our Lion Ambassadors (student tour guides) who are either moving on to another of our campuses to finish their degrees or who are graduating.  We usually have a dinner catered on campus for them.  Obviously, that can’t happen this year.  So we have two going to our main campus in the fall and one graduating and we’re having our celebration for them at my boss’ house.  I stupidly volunteered to bring something and called his wife to see what might be needed and all she said she needs is dessert and she heard I make a mean strawberry trifle.  Which is true.  But I’ve never made it for 20!  Same day, my niece calls and reminds me her birthday is Monday.  And guess what she wants?  Of course, strawberry trifle!  I don’t think I have room in the fridge for all of that!

  45. 45.

    WaterGirl

    @oldster:  I never knew that had a name.  A restaurant here used to make their own, but you could only get it on top of their chocolate decadence cake.  (Not that that was a bad thing!)  Now they just serve the cake with a few fresh strawberries.

    I tried buying a jar of it a few years ago (not by that name) and it tasted like chemicals.  Ugh, threw that away.

    Can you share the actual recipe version of that. Like how many cups of raspberries for x amount of simple syrup and this amount of lemon juice?

  47. 47.

    Calouste

    The system is pretty fucked up if you can’t pass simple things even though the “yes” outvotes the “no” by more than 3-to-2.

  49. 49.

    WaterGirl

    @geg6: Oh my god, isn’t trifle a crazy amount of work?

    If you could share your recipe with us – after you get done making trifle for 30 people – I would be exceedingly grateful!

  50. 50.

    JMG

    @WaterGirl: She did not take this vote because she does not care. Period. She just wants Senator on the resume for her next life rolling in dough as a K St. pest/lobbyist.

  51. 51.

    trollhattan

    @geg6:

    I will also be buried in strawberries this weekend.

    Sounds like something an 18th century French aristocrat would arrange. :-)

  53. 53.

    oldster

    @WaterGirl:

    Very happy to oblige, though the measurements will be loose and approximate.

    For two pints raspberries, put 1/2 cup white sugar + 1/2 cup water into a 2-quart sauce pan. On medium heat, boil the water and stir until the sugar is dissolved.

    Meanwhile, rinse and clean the berries. Some water will cling to them after washing, and that’s fine.

    When syrup is clear and berries are clean, toss berries into syrup. Continue on medium heat, stirring pretty often, until you see a low boil among the berries. You want the drupelets (a real word!) to swell and pop, but you do not want the seeds to cook, because that can contribute a disagreeable seedy taste.

    Take off the heat and let cool for five minutes, mostly for safe handling. Arrange a fine wire sieve over a large bowl. Pour the berry-syrup mix into the sieve, one cupful at a time, sieving in between. Using a large ladle, press the berries through the mesh into the bowl, leaving the seeds inside the mesh. Note that some of the thicker pulp will adhere to the outside of the sieve — be sure to scrape this off periodically and add to the product.

    For some reason, I got lucky with the respective sizes of the sieve and ladle, so that they acted like a mortar and pestle. The mass of seeds inside the sieve started cohering like a lump of dough.  Nothing special about the sieve — I bought it at a grocery store. Maybe 8″ in diameter. Nice to have a bowl of roughly that diameter as well, so that when you lean on the seed-mass the pressure is distributed around the perimeter of the sieve and does not simply snap the handle.

    Anyhow — after you have pressed the good stuff out of the seed-mass, add a tablespoon of lemon juice to the cooled mixture.

    So, maybe 1 qt to 1/2 cup to 1 tbsp. But I suspect some people would find that on the sweet side — if you are worried, then reserve part of the syrup and add it in later to taste.

    Oh! I forgot. On a later batch, I also thickened it while boiling with a slurry containing a few tablespoons of corn-starch in water, drizzled slowly into the boiling berries and whisked with a small balloon whisk.  That turned out to be a nice addition — it was not super thick, but gave it a little body, maybe a bit more cling when poured over things.

    The cool people tell me that “coulis” is pronounced “coolie” with no “s” sound. I don’t much care how you say it.

  54. 54.

    geg6

    @WaterGirl:

    I’ll get it to you via email and you can post it later for a respite or weekend post.  It’s my mom’s recipe (adjusted a bit from my British grandmother’s, which was a ball buster of a recipe—everything from scratch).  My mom, and thus I, used instant pudding and angel food cake mix.  It’s not terribly hard, just time and labor intensive.

  55. 55.

    catclub

    @schrodingers_cat: What recipe do you use for your jam?

     

    I am always impressed by the span of  time  when crops come in.

    We get Strawberries in late Feb and blueberries and blackberries now and in early June.  Places further north are much later.

  56. 56.

    catclub

    @Calouste: ​
     The system is pretty fucked up if you can’t pass simple things even though the “yes” outvotes the “no” by more than 3-to-2.

    FTFY

  57. 57.

    Ruckus

    @sab:

    Another successful year of procrastination.

    Professional or creative amateur procrastinator?

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