MoreCheese

Trains and Gardens

Turns out the botanical gardens are holding their annual train and garden show.  So we peeked in on these tiny homes and the tiny creatures living in them and watched tiny trains wind in and out of forests of Christmas trees and every other kind of plant you can imagine.  I soooooo wish our neice and nephew were with us; they would have lost their ever-lovin' minds.

I'm not sure why Bunny Jr.'s ear and face appear to be melting, while Mr. and Mrs. Bunny are so rosy and robust. 

 

  

I loved this loco train.  And the caterpillar train, too.

 

 

Hope you all had a lovely long weekend.  

 

"This is the Early Fraud Detection Department..."

I was hoping my Saturday would start off a little more gently... but boy, am I ever thankful for the Early Fraud Detection Department.   Turns out someone in AUSTRALIA tried to charge about $15,000 to one of my credit cards yesterday and today.  Lucky for me, this was caught early and I was able to shut down the card.  I only hope they can catch the jerks who tried to rip me off.

Something similar happened to a colleague last year, except in her case, the thieves had her bank account number.  It turns out that the thief was part of a ring that the FBI was watching, and they busted the ring shortly after they attempted to drain my colleague's account.  The scary part is the way her information got out -- someone in her doctor's office was selling the patients' identification and payment information to a ring of identity fraudsters!!!

I don't mean to make you paranoid.  My colleague got all of her money back and, even better, the criminals were arrested and are hopefully enjoying a nice thorough prosecution right now.  Most banks and credit card companies have strong fraud detection programs in place.  Just be aware and be careful.  

The Day After

                
 

The day after Thanksgiving.  Ginger lemon tea with honey steaming in the mug.  A bright spot of sun.  The Rockstar upstairs working on the baby's room.  Finishing some work on the computer with Puppykins warm at my feet.

Hope your Friday is a good one, too.

Ginger Lemon Tisane

1/2 inch slice fresh ginger

1/2 lemon

2 Tbsp honey

2 or 3 cups hot water

Slice a chunk of ginger off the root -- 1/2 inch to an inch, depending on the width of the piece you're slicing.  Remove the skin.  Slice into 1/4 inch thick slices.  Into a tea pot or two separate mugs, press ginger in a garlic press to help the juice come out.  Add the ginger pieces into the teapot/mugs with the juice.  Add the lemon juice and hot water.  Finish with honey or agave syrup to taste.

Ginger is a wonderful digestif.  Also, the combination of spicy, tart and sweet in this tisane is sure to bring you into a most zen-like state.  :)