Happy Birthday HTP!

Word of the Day

Ima - I am going to.

Woodtick Count - 8

Canning has started. I've canned five quarts of tomatoes so far. Three quarts, yesterday, two quarts, today. I've got more tomatoes ripening in a box on the top of my kitchen table...which...I'll have to move before Willie gets here on Monday. I'm hosting the Welcome to The Lake dinner on Monday night. Steaks on the grill, Caprese salad, fresh sliced tomatoes, home-grown potatoes (yes, my purple potatoes will be on the menu), and...I'm thinking about making a lemon meringue pie. However, it's been so humid that...NOT the best weather to make a meringue pie. Heck, I haven't even been able to pick my raspberries. I'm still hoping to pick enough so I can at least make one batch of raspberry jam. *sigh* So far?...not happening.

I've been exercising like crazy but....I've also been giving into my popcorn craving. I weighed myself after my aerobic exercise this morning (OK...given that it was a LOT later than I normally weigh myself, so that may figure into it) but....I'm NOT losing weight. My fault. I really have been CRAVING popcorn...with BUTTER! ACK!

I won't be exercising tomorrow...well...if the weather allows and if JC's doctor appointment that he went to today ends up encouraging....I'll be taking BW Babe to the Rutabaga Festival tomorrow which would mean a LOT of walking...exercise.

The weather has been "Soft". Icky! However, the table that my Mr. Fix-It helped me install out on the deck is LOCKED into the deck right now...versus...wobbly. Apparently, all we needed was a LOT of rain to help swell the wood. Happy. I went out on the deck tonight to sit on my rocking chair with my nightly glass of wine and...aside from the fact that I need to sweep (hail storm), and aside from the fact that I had to put my homemade "sit upon" cushions on the rocking chair so I wouldn't end up with a wet butt...it was nice. Yes,....the weather is definitely "soft". Hazy. HUMID.

It was HTP's birthday yesterday. I feel horrible that I wasn't back in Arizona to help him celebrate. However, I felt really happy that Sarge sent a special present to HTP at his work. Of course, if I'd done that, HTP would have been majorly unhappy. Last year, I sent him a canister of caramel corn. He thanked me but...told me never to do that again. I sent him a card. But...*sigh* I wish HTP was here. I wish I was there. I wish we were together. I HATE that he can only be here for a couple of weeks during the summer. I HATE the fact that health insurance costs are the cause of this. I WISH that HTP loved it up here a The Lake like I do. More guilt? I didn't call him yesterday. I emailed him but....the time difference makes phone calls a bit miserable.

I bottled and labeled my red wine. 27 bottles of Eclipse Cabernet Sauvignon. I also re-bottled a couple bottles of the Coastal White that I'd bottled earlier in the month. It really helped clear it out. I'll have to do that if I plan to gift it to someone who doesn't understand "decanting". I'd planned to gift a couple bottles of each of my wines to HTP's cousin. However, despite the fact that he told me that his son would contact me....it hasn't happened. No matter, I'll gift the bottles to my brother. I'd rather gift them to my brother anyway.

Did I tell you that I burned the heck our of my little toe? I dripped some molten hot fudge sauce on it which only goes to show you that...I shouldn't have been treating myself to a hot fudge sundae. No wonder that I'm not losing any weight. Anyway, on Day 3...my toe has a HUGE blister on it...not yet popped. Yucko!

Random Quote of the Day

The squeaking wheel doesn't always get the grease. Sometimes it gets replaced.

- Vic Gold

Hail! - OK...not the best picture but....Hail!

Word of the Day

Habitosis - A disease affecting those who continually form habits out of every aspect of their life; the condition of making every action into a habit.

Woodtick Count - 8


Habit.... It's Tuesday, therefore, it's laundry day. I have my reasons which I've discussed in previous posts. Good habits are easy to break, bad habits...not so much. In my humble opinion, my habit of doing laundry on Tuesdays is a good habit which I NEED to maintain. I've already had problems maintaining other good habits....blogging, exercising....

No...I did NOT exercise today but after the day I put in, I can honestly say, I've had PLENTY of exercise. Aside from laundry day which requires several trips up and down stairs, I went down to the dock...more upstairs and downstairs and up and down hill, to bail and bilge the boats. We had 2 inches of rain yesterday...but, it was probably more because it's hard to measure hail. Yes, we got hail. I noted, immediately, that the water in the rowboat was up to the bottom of the seats. ACK! LOTS of rain! I set IT to work. "IT" is my portable bilge pump. LOVE IT! IT immediately went to work pumping water out of the rowboat. Then...I stepped into the big boat and pushed the switches and....nothing...nada...no response. *sigh* NOT GOOD! I checked to make sure that the batteries were good. As far as I could tell...they were. UP hill and UP stairs to call the people who help me with the boat. Yes, #1 Son probably could have fixed the problem. Yes, HTP probably could have fixed the problem. Me? Not so much. There was water pooling around BOTH the marine batteries. NOT good. I had visions of the boat, sinking. NOT GOOD! I RAN up the hill and up the stairs to call "Seasonal Toys". Thankfully, "Mike" took pity on my and...hey...it isn't high season out here at The Lake...and he came out to take a look. After a lot of checking this and that, he determined that our bilge pump had bitten the dust. Croaked. Ceased to be. Not only did it "ceased to be" it took a fuse when it went to "The Great Beyond".
The new bilge pump worked great and the big boat has been bilged. Done and did.

The hail really made a mess of the plants on my deck. I've got mashed basil and lettuce. I had to pick up LOTS of green cherry and plum tomatoes that were knocked off their stems. I haven't even started to barely think about cleaning up the mess. Meanwhile, Stan the Man, is currently mowing my lawn, removing all evidence of fallen leaf debris that the hail deposited on my lawn.

I'm tired. I still need to see if I can destroy the ground wasp nest that was created in my big boat. WTF?! I need to refill the hummingbird feeders...again. And...even though I brought empty wine bottles up from the basement, I still need to sterilize them and then...bottle the red wine that is waiting to be bottled. Oh...and I need to can tomatoes and make salsa. And...I need to pick raspberries. Why can't I find the energy to do everything that I need to do?

My brother is going to be coming next week. I am sooo looking forward to seeing him and catching up...even though he is LIBERAL.

Random Quote of the Day

Sometimes in life you don't always feel like a winner, but that doesn't mean you're not a winner.

- Lady Gaga (1986 - ), Ellen Degeneres Show, 09-08-09

"Lasagna"

Cooked Lasagna

Dinner

Word of the Day

Gleak - 1. A fountain of saliva which spurts out of the mouth in large droplets. 2. When a person extends the muscles in their mouth in such a way as to send a minimal amount of watery saliva a great distance.

I try to pick my zucchini before they turn into logs but, sadly, there's always at least one that hide and get away from me. At that point, I have to figure out what to do with them...other than burn them in the fireplace or leaving them by some unsuspecting neighbor's front door. Ma would frown upon such an action. BW Babe and I both suffer from this particular Ma Guilt. I mean...normal people...would just throw the dang thing away. However, if I'd thrown the darn thing away, I would never have enjoyed my wonderful noodle-less lasagna last night. Using a combination of several recipes, I thinly sliced my zucchini log. Dipping each slice in a bowl of beaten eggs, I covered each slice with a combination of Panko crumbs and dried garlic. I ended up with two large sheet pans of slices. I baked these for 15 minutes at 400 degrees...flipped...and then 15 more minutes. These, I used as my noodles for "lasagna". Then, dragging out my Betty Crocker Cookbook, I followed the recipe that I've used for years....kinda. I used hamburger for the meat. I used jarred spaghetti sauce instead of taking the time, I used cottage cheese AND ricotta cheese. I used fresh minced parsley. I used Romano cheese instead of Parmesan, and I topped it all with mozzarella and freshly minced basil. Totally wonderful!

With the aroma of homemade "lasagna" still lingering when I woke up this morning (Eau Di Garlique), I decided to pick my maturing peppers....both Anaheim chili peppers and the Italian peppers from the plants that I'd purchased from Burpee, thus giving my plants more strength to keep producing. I cleaned, minced, and froze the Anaheim chili peppers. The Italian peppers? I cooked them up using the "recipe" that I got from HTP's Mom....she had two "recipes" but, my favorite was the one with tomato. I had so many peppers, that I ended up frying up three batches. Recipe? Well...it's hard to actually pin this down to a recipe card type thing. One large onion, chopped in hunks, an equal amount of Italian peppers, chopped in "hunks", three or four large cloves of garlic, minced. Fry the bunch in a pan with olive oil and garlic salt to taste until most of the juice is gone (REALLY wilted and COOKED), then, add about a half small can of tomato paste. Done. Repeat. Actually, for the last two batches, I diced up some of the tomatoes that the squirrels munched on. Hey! I cut off the munched on portions! It's another Ma Guilt thing. They were really nice and large tomatoes that I just couldn't bring myself to waste...unlike the nasty squirrels who seem to only want to take a couple of bites before tossing said tomatoes aside. Grrrrr!!!!

I've set traps for the squirrels but...so far...no takers. Meanwhile, I've had continuing problems with them munching on my tomatoes AND my jalapenos. *sigh* I guess treating my plants with cayenne pepper won't work.

Random Quote of the Day

Comedy is nothing more than tragedy deferred.

- Pico Iyer

Rest in Peace Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951 – August 11, 2014)- You made us all laugh but... all I can think of is the lyrics of Smoky Robinson's song..."the tears of a clown,
when there's no one around."

Boiling Up my First Potatoes of the Season

Word of the Day

Flavorite - Referring to a flavor that is preferred above all others.


Woodtick Count - 8


I dug a hill of each of the types of potato that I planted this spring. With the plants dying back and drying....it's time to dig and enjoy. I plan to steam some of them up today and then add them to a bacon, sweet sour sauce...my own version of German potato salad.

Willie emailed a couple of days ago to let BW Babe and I that he'd be coming to visit us the last week of August. We're hoping that we can all go out fishing again. I'm glad he's going to be here for more than a couple of days this time. BW Babe and I are already planning for his visit. We'll have to have one family meal for when he's here.

In the meantime, I promised one of HTP's cousins that I'd get him some of the wine that I've bottled. I'm going to try to connect with his son during the Rutabaga Festival in Cumberland next Thursday. I'll have to call the guy. I "think" I met this kid (no longer a kid) while HTP and I and our kids were visiting Disneyland...I think.

I got my hair dyed and cut yesterday. ACK!!!! She REALLY dyed my hair dark this time. I KNOW that it'll fade out but I manage to startle myself every time I look in the mirror. I also stopped by to see my folks to give them some of my tomatoes. Yes, they were startled too at how dark my hair ended up. ACK!!!

***

BW Babe and JC stopped by to pick up some of my ripe tomatoes and some of my eggplant. I also gave them some of my newly dug potatoes. Before they left, they also tried a bite of my German potato salad. It turned out so yummy! I steamed the potatoes before throwing them into a sauce (recipe in my Betty Crocker cookbook). I was going to wait until dinner to enjoy the potato salad but I just couldn't wait. I had an early dinner 3:30 PM of German potato salad and then popped up some popcorn to enjoy with a glass of red wine for a snack at around 5:30 PM. Since I never got much exercise today...I cut back on calories.

Random Quote of the Day

Nothing contributes so much to tranquilizing the mind as a steady purpose - a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye.

-Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797 - 1851)

Black Currant Jelly - My First Jam/Jelly Making Efforts of the Season

Word of the Day

E-touch - A method of staying in contact with friends by e-mail or other electronic devices.

Woodtick Count - 8

I juiced the black currants, with a few wild gooseberries thrown in to the mix, in late June but it's only now that I've gotten around to kicking my rear end in gear to make jelly. I've started prepping raspberries for jam-making...they're in the freezer, but I don't have enough to actually make any jam as yet. I gifted a whole tray of raspberries to Birchwood Babe and JC and I'm really not getting an over-whelming amount of raspberries this year due to the harsh winter but...I'll probably end up making at least a couple of batches of raspberry jam...eventually. I won't be making any strawberry jam because...well...I never picked any strawberries. I don't grow them so I would have had to go out and pick them at one of those U-Pick places. For the last couple of years, #1 Son and #1 DIL picked for me but...not this year. Oh well...I still have some that I made from last year so...maybe next year. Sadly, my old red currant bushes are still diseased. I dusted them but to no avail. The new bushes that I planted last fall aren't producing as yet. Thankfully, the black currant bushes haven't been affected by whatever hit the red currant bushes. The jury (that's me) is still out as to whether or not I should rip out the remaining old red currant bushes. The jury (that's me) will make that decision next spring. I may replace them with tame gooseberry bushes.

I picked raspberries again today, after the dew had dried off. I also picked more tomatoes. I made the decision to pick some of them tomatoes from the lower deck that were "mainly" turned, not fully vine-ripened. I didn't want to risk losing them to my errant bear. Must I remind you that my first vine-ripened tomato of the season last year was taken by a bear? I didn't want to risk it so the tomatoes that were almost vine-ripened are not continuing the ripening process in a box on my kitchen table. I'll be making salsa really soon. I have to laugh because I noticed that a chipmunk...or squirrel...picked one of my jalapeno peppers and started to eat it. I'm laughing because, they won't do that again. Next year, I WILL treat the soil around my lower deck gardens with ground cayenne pepper. I wish I'd done it sooner this year to save my peas. I have NOT attempted to trap and transport the little critters this year.

Kylee and I hiked up to the main road and back. The loggers were busily working out in the woods. We could hear them. They are working their way closer to the house. I noted that one of the logosauers was parked along with a pick-up truck on the first logging road turn off from my driveway. I'm trying to make daily hikes to the road and back...if not for me...for Kylee. She needs the training walks and the exercise. Me? We all know that I need the exercise. I still need to lose at Least twenty more pounds.

I made myself a wilted spinach salad for lunch today. Interesting...I'm not hungry for dinner tonight. The book I ordered from Amazon, The Big Fat Surprise, the hard-copy, arrived this week but I haven't taken the time to study it...other than the three chapters that I read on my Kindle. But, maybe, despite the calorie count, the additional calories that I'm ingesting from fat, will keep my binge eating in check. I've been craving popcorn....CRAVING! But not tonight.

It looks like I'll be boiling up another gallon of hummingbird nectar...or...maybe only a half gallon, as well as filling the seed feeders. The hummingbird activity has leveled off. I'm only going through a half gallon of nectar per week. The hummingbird feeders over at the edge of the house and near the kitchen don't seem to be as popular as the ones by the door near the deck. Interesting. And the seed-feeders near the other door to the deck are more popular than the one that over-hangs the edge of the deck. Again...just observing.

Since I went to a yoga retreat last fall, I've been intrigued by Yoga Nidra. I found a U-Tube offering that I've been using via my Kindle Fire. It has been VERY interesting and it has helped my insomnia issues...a bit. However, maybe THAT'S why I've been having such interesting dreams. I had a dream the other night that I had hair...a LOT of hair...growing on my toes. I don't...well...not a LOT of hair....not as much as I dreamed about. Where does this dream activity come from?...and in living color? Last night, as I played the program, I felt like I OBB'd (Out of Body'd)and then woke up when I felt like someone drove a spike through my brain. Major headache pain. That was a bit scary and made me feel a bit sick from the pain and a bit of disorientation but....interesting.

And...I practiced with my Sig Sauer Mosquito tonight, now that I have some ammo. I did hit my target but not as often as I should have hit it. Meanwhile, Kylee has decided to hide in her kennel for the rest of the night. Apparently, she doesn't approve.

Random Quote of the Day

Rejoice not at thine enemy's fall - but don't rush to pick him up either.

- Jewish Proverb

Crippled Logosaurus?

Word of the Day

Dinophobia - Extreme fear of dinosaurs.


Woodtick Count - 8


It's incredibly hard to watch the news these days. It's been heart-breaking. I fear that I'm watching the beginnings of another World War and I have no confidence in the people who are leading our country. I KNOW that I shouldn't be taking what I'm hearing to heart but tales of genocide, forced conversions of Christians to Islam, be-headings of children...it's incredibly horrible and sad to see the persecution of people who share my faith, and those who have beliefs that differ from my own in other parts of the world at the hands of those who refuse to allow beliefs that differ from their own. Back to the burning times and the Inquisition? My own faith has perpetrated its own evil on mankind but I'd prayed that this sort of bigotry and fanaticism was a thing of the past. Sadly, man's inhumanity to man is alive and well. Evil rears its ugly head and I watch our leaders going on vacation as churches are burned and atrocities are being shown on live TV.

And so, it's been difficult to write about day to day activities here at The Lake. I get up. I continue my exercise routines. I hike with Kylee to the road and back to collect the mail. I water my plants. I pick my raspberries. I dust my tomatoes which continue to ripen. I re-fill bird-feeders. And life goes on here at The Lake...and I find myself in near constant prayer for those who need help which only God can provide. HTP would tell me that I need to concentrate on that which I can do something about. Too bad there doesn't seem to be much I can do here, close to home, or there, across the world. But...I can pray. That I can do.

I had a dream last night. HTP and I were trying to pack our car. We were in a hotel garage and were trying to fit all our children, their spouses and our grandchildren and their friends into our car. We finally realized that there was no way that we could fit everyone and all their stuff, car-seats etc. into our one car. We'd need at least two cars. Thinking back on the dream (after waking up), there would be no way that we could fit everyone and everything in two cars or three or four. *sigh* And then, after getting all the stuff packed as best as I could, I found myself alone in the hotel garage (where did HTP and the kids go?), trying to make my way up to our hotel room and I woke up with the realization in my mind that I'd never find that room because I never found out what our room number was or even where to start looking as I tried to make my way through crowds of people and incredible groupings of hotel furnishings that seemed to block any of my attempts to find our room.

Random Quote of the Day

If you can't do what you want, do what you can.

- Lois McMaster Bujold

My Own Tomatoes

Word of the Day

Caukern - A popcorn kernel that is stuck in one's teeth.

Woodtick Count - 8

I picked my first cherry and yellow plum tomatoes while my friends were here. We enjoyed them in a caprese salad. Yesterday, I had my second picking of cherry and yellow plum tomatoes and, surprise, surprise, I discovered two ripe Jet-Star tomatoes hiding in the foliage of the surrounding vines. I made up a nice caprese salad for dinner last night. And, today, I cooked up some bacon and made myself a bacon, tomato, and lettuce sandwich, using one of my first tomatoes and some freshly picked lettuce from my garden. YUM!

I'm trying to get back into a routine with my exercise programs. This morning, I enjoyed an hour of yoga. What a boost yoga gives me! I've been missing that boost.

Today is laundry day....of course. In progress. The garbage and re-cycling is out at the road. I treated the ground around both barrels with diesel fuel. HATE that child-guard container that I bought to hold the diesel fuel. I ended up dumping fuel on my feet. HATE! However, even with the bungee cords that I used to keep the bear out of the barrels, a bear REALLY tried to get into the other day (and this time the barrel was empty). The bungee cords did the trick but the whole top of the barrel was twisted and warped. Something BIG was after whatever it thought might be in that barrel. Thankfully, the bungee cords held and the barrel is strong enough not to have broken. I'm hoping that the liberal splashing of diesel fuel around the barrels (can't use bungee cords on garbage night)will keep the bear away. Keeping my fingers crossed.

While I was in town today to check the mail, I noticed that one of the local farmers had a vegetable stand set out. I wandered over and purchased three nice cucumbers (I didn't grow any this year). Yes, I could have purchased cucumbers at the grocery store but those are all waxy and have to be peeled. I love farm-fresh produce. So much better than store bought. I've already got them sliced up with onion and salted down...the start of a nice cucumber salad which I can enjoy in the coming days.

It looks like I need to re-fill the birdseed feeders. And, I have to water all my plants again. We really could use the rain. We've got heat and humidity and haze. Those hazy, crazy, lazy days of summer.

Random Quote of the Day

When I am attacked by gloomy thoughts, nothing helps me so much as running to my books. They quickly absorb me and banish the clouds from my mind.

- Michel de Montaigne (1533 - 1592)

Logasaurus

Word of the Day

Bifocalitis - A condition that afflicts wearers of bifocals that causes them to think they are reading a line of text or row of data straight across, when in actuality they are seeing a different line or row or a combination of different lines or rows. This often results in a mismatch between intent, information, and/or action.

Woodtick Count - 8


Trying to get back into a routine. I plugged in a 3 Mile aerobic program that requires two pound weights. I was hoping that it would jump start my day. Some days it's just difficult to move but I did get the tomatoes and zucchini dusted. My poor tomatoes are starting to blight. I fertilized them last week and dusted them today. The humidity hasn't been helping. Some recommendations say that I should just let the plants be, aside from dusting and fertilizing. There are LOTS of tomatoes on all of my plants. If the ones that are on, ripen, I'll have more than enough to enjoy and preserve for future use.

I hauled up all the equipment that I'll need to bottle my white wine. *sigh* I still don't have any labels. I ordered labels but....they've never arrived. I'll have to call the people that I ordered the labels from tomorrow. They aren't open today. It might just be a case that our credit card had problems about that time. I'm hoping that I can still get the labels this week. I don't want to bottle wine and then have it sit unlabeled for too long.

The forester stopped by today. I swear that the guy NEVER cracks a smile. At first I was concerned that there were problems but it turns out that he wanted to know if I'd had any problems. None. The loggers are staying out of my way and I'm staying out of their way. I've take a few pictures of their equipment which all looks like it's related to some futuristic dinosaurs. I know that my son, when he was little, would have been fascinated. I imagine that my grandchildren would love seeing these huge machines.

Random Quote of the Day

Paradise is exactly like where you are right now... only much, much better.

- Laurie Anderson

The Bug Zappers - BFF1, Mr. Fix-It, and the Cheese Scientist

Mr. Fix-It and BFF1 - Cleaning up my Viewing Corridor

Word of the Day

Allergize - To cause your allergies to act up.


Woodtick Count - 8

I had an enjoyable few days with BFF1 and her family. They arrived on Wednesday and left on Saturday morning after breakfast. The quiet this morning is deafening. I miss them already.

It became immediately apparent that BFF1 has let the book The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet by Nina Teicholz affect here a LOT. I probably should have taken this into account when I purchased what I remembered that used to like to eat. She has changed her whole outlook when it comes to eating "healthy". I started reading the book and ACK! She's right. I've actually ordered a hard copy of the book so I can more easily read it with all the footnotes. My Kindle isn't too friendly to this sort of book. However, my menu choices for while my friends were here had to be totally re-vamped, adding a LOT more fat into the cooking choices...or...rather, not eliminating the fat as we've been taught. As we munched on cheese and crackers and sipped on wine, I made spaghetti and meatballs, cheese and crackers, and salad, with full fat dressing.

Every time my friends come to visit, I've been advised to make sure that I have projects lined up for Mr. Fix-it. Although, their stay was a short one, Mr. Fix-it (BFF1's husband) really put in full days of work. Mr. Fix-it LOVES to keep busy tdoing stuff and here at The Lake there's LOTS of stuff that needs doing.

Thursday morning, after breakfasting on a pound of bacon, eggs, and squash blossoms, Mr. Fix-it, using our chainsaw (which he had to fix...several times because the chain kept coming off), cleared out a large sumac tree that had died near my driveway along with a lot of younger sumac that decided to block my view of the ravine, hauling off the debris into the nearby forest. Then...he fired up our weed-whacker that hadn't been used for several years. This too had to be fixed. It needed a new spark plug and new gas. We would need to make a run into the city before he could move to the next project....clearing brush so my viewing corridor. That project would have to wait until Friday. Dinner time had arrived and we enjoyed beer brats, green beans with bacon dressing, and raspberry sundaes for dessert. Oh...and we watched the movie Ironman 3.

I made fresh blueberry muffins for breakfast and fried up the last of my eggs for Mr. Fix-it. After that, we piled into my car and headed to the city to do some shopping. I NEEDED some more groceries. I didn't plan on the change in diet. Since they'd never been to Bargain Bill's, and it was right there, I pulled in and we toured the store. Both BBF1 and The Chemist found items that they had to have and, of course, I never can go into the store without picking up a few items. However, I was good and only purchased some drill bits which Mr. Fix-it would need for yet another project on my list.

After our visit to Bargain Bill's, we swung over to visit with my folks for a while. And then, it was lunch time. I had a coupon for Norske Nook, and it was Friday! We enjoyed a HUGE lunch...Lefse wraps all round. The Chemist and I enjoyed beer-battered cod wraps while BFF1 and Mr. Fix-it enjoyed Meal Wraps made with roast pork, mashed potatoes and gravy. AND....they ordered PIE! Double ACK! I told you that my friend had TOTALLY changed her diet but...dang! No...I didn't eat any pie. I was stuffed from the cod wrap....which was EXCELLENT but I was getting worried because we had a huge dinner planned for that night. Anyway, after lunch, we picked up more groceries (eggs, spinach, and blueberries) and then continued onto Farm and Fleet to pick up what Mr. Fix-it needed to fix our weed-whacker....then...home. At this point, I needed to start getting supper put together while...Mr. Fix-it fixed the whacker and then started whacking, and whacking, and whacking.... Meanwhile, The Chemist and BFF1 headed off on a hike while I made some mushrooms in wine sauce and got potatoes washed, salted and shoved into a hot oven.

My sister, BW Babe and JC joined us for dinner that night but I still managed to join my friends for a walk with Kylee before dinner and before BW Babe and JC arrived. The mosquitoes were awful but last year I'd purchased this weird tennis racket-shaped bug-zapper and since it worked so well, I bought two more. We took those on our hike and it made a LOT of difference. The smell of burning mosquitoes was thick but...we didn't get any bites. Yeah!

Dinner that night? Steaks on the grill, mushrooms in wine sauce (flavored with bacon grease instead of butter), fresh salad and baked potatoes with all the fixings, AND grilled corn on the cob. Again, raspberry sundaes for dessert. It was so nice outside that we had our appetizer (fresh Caprese salad) out on the deck as we chatted before dinner and while dinner was cooked. We moved inside for dinner but than dessert back on the deck. My Thermocell mosquito lamps kept the bugs at bay so we stayed out well after dark on the deck.

Saturday? My friends were packing up and getting ready to leave. I made French toast with fresh blueberries for breakfast. Maple syrup and blueberry syrup. Butter. Mr. Fix-it decided that he just could leave until he finished up one more item on my list. I now have a small table installed on my deck...portable...it's especially designed so I can sit out on my rocking chair and have my wine glass in a reachable location...secure from being knocked over by my darling Kylee.

From all that I've written, I imagine that you're wondering what BFF1, The Chemist, and I were doing while Mr. Fix-it was killing himself, sweating and working. Aside from our time watching him work, we spent a lot of time talking, hiking, picking fresh raspberries and just talking. It was nice.

After my friends drove off, promising to visit me again next summer, I decided to give myself a bit of a break...from eating, from thinking, from everything. I curled up on my bed with Kylee and read two books. Supper? In the past days I'd eaten so much food that and fatty food and drank so much wine that my stomach has been acting up. I've been on a low-fat, low calorie "healthy" diet so long that my stomach was in shock. Kylee and I sat out on the deck for a while as I tried out my new table with a small glass of red wine...one small glass...before we both headed to bed...earlier than I had been to bed since my friends had arrived. I am sooo not used to staying up past 10 PM. Several days of falling into bed at midnight took its toll on my body.

Today? I'm dressed in my workout clothes but I've decided to give myself one more day before continuing with my workouts and yoga....though I have been using a yoga nidra routine to see if I can get rid of my insomnia (stress, event, and tinnitus-related). It gets me to sleep but the dreams have been really weird. My hummingbird feeders need to be re-filled. I need to pick and clean the raspberries. I need to bring bottles up from the basement to wash and sanitize...wine-bottling, Part I (a chore for tomorrow).

Random Quote of the Day

The greatest conflicts are not between two people but between one person and himself.

- Garth Brooks