Wednesday turned out to be a cold and windy day. At least it was dry except for the early morning rain shower before daylight. The roosters had me awake at the usual 5:30 hour so I layed there until 6:30 as the heat came on several times during the night. What happened to the windows being open the day before and me running around in a t-shirt and shorts? After my cup of hot green tea and a few quiet moments I had a lite breakfast then pedalled out to the rec for a couple hours of pickle ball and what will be the last play for this week as the whole facility will be closed due to Pow Wow(festival).
We had a small number of players as several were visiting another club of pickle ballers up in Clearwater but we still had 2 courts going most of the morning. I stopped off at the library before heading home. It had warmed up a little from my early morning ride but the wind was still very strong and kept the temps down all day. We may have reached the high 50's but it sure felt colder than that. We spoke with our "mountain mom" Helen and she was freezing there with a wind chill down in the single digits. At least they never got the huge snow fall that was being predicted for the mountains. My home town of Winchester, Va. got a nice snow with several inches.
I managed to get the well pump primed again so I could water my gardens. I changed out some worn out parts on the outside spigot and now for some reason the pump will not hold its prime. It primes back up after attaching another hose but its getting to be annoying as it loses it prime overnight. I will have to ask someone who is familiar with these shallow well pumps what I'm doing wrong, oh well!!
Amy and Sam came for lunch and we spent these early afternoon in the house as it was too chilly to venture outside after lunch. After they left we made a run to Aldi's for some goodies before coming back to read until supper time. I made a guacamole to go along with our deer burritos, Yeow was that ever delicious with fresh cilantro, garlic, tomato's, onions and of course some hot peppers all fresh from the garden. Venison is so great for you and nary a bit of fat as we add some olive oil to its preparations so it won't stick in the skillet.
Well after the cleanup we settled into FOX News then I headed for the showers as Nancy flipped to the IDOL. I like to watch Mr. Bill O'Reilly and caught some of the contestants during commercials. Today(Thursday) I'm heading down to the VA to get some help with straightening out my DD Form 214(discharge from the USAF). I have received 5 letters from different guys I flew with stating they can verify and attest to me flying into Vietnam during the years 1966-1970. Several of these buddy's have some severe disabilities from the exposure we had to Agent Orange which was used to defoliate the jungles of Vietnam. We carried that chemical on our aircraft into many different bases through out our 4 year tenures plus just being on the ground while loading and unloading cargo and soldiers in country. Hopefully I can get this noted on my discharge(DD214) in case I should develop some of these same health disabilities.
Well that's about it for Wednesday and the plan for today. I learned that we are keeping Annsley and Gabe overnight on Friday and that we are having the Ross family for supper that evening as well. The kids will have fun playing together and that should be a busy evening, LATER
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Wednesday Morning
Well Tuesday turned out to be just beautiful with temps getting into the middle 70's, no humidity with bright sunshine skies after a cold start. There was frost everywhere out by the open fields near the library and rec center and on just a couple roof tops in the hood. After my usual wake up around 5:30 by Sam's buddies next door I felt the heat come on then had my cup of green tea, spent a few quiet moments and then had a lite breakfast before pedalling out to the rec for some 2 plus hours of pickle ball.
The play was good today with 8 guys going at it for over an hour and a half before a couple decided to leave early which left two guys coming in about every 10 minutes. The winners always stay on the court but switch partners so the two same guys don't dominate. We had the same group for two sets to seven of play using the PB scoring, which means you only score when serving. It was a good day of exercise and workout and wet shirts despite the gym being rather chilly inside.
When I left the rec at 10 the sun had warmed the air and made it very pleasant to be outside; what a change from the rather chilly start at 7:30. I spent the next hour or so watering the garden and cutting and cleaning lettuces for a salad for lunch. Amy, GG and Sam were coming to eat. Nancy got back from her 2 hour dental appointment where she had 3 teeth restored that set me back over a $1k, yeow this dentist is good but you pay for it. Nancy was still somewhat numb so she had a wrap while the rest of us had salad and I cleaned up the last of the collards and Cole slaw with a little of the smoked pork in the collards. These were just a tasty as they were on Saturday at Amy and Tyler's.
Everyone headed outdoors after lunch to set in sun as the house was around 70 degrees, GG said she was cold so out they went and I had to close the windows as I was airing it out after being closed up from the cold of the past couple days. They stayed outside watching Sam play with the chickens next door and he and Nancy were digging earthworms from my garden and he was feeding them to his chicken buddies until around 2 then Amy took GG home and headed over to pick up Ava from school. I cut her a nice head of cabbage for stuffed cabbage rolls for her supper as we used her cabbage for the Cole slaw on Saturday. Nancy headed out to the rec for her workout and I read The O'Reilly Factor The good, bad and completely ridiculous in American Life. It's a good read and he is quite writer with tons of facts and examples.
I headed out to hand water the front yard flowers and grass as its really dried up. I had picked a nice mess of 1/2 runner beans from the garden and I had them snapped and washed and ready to cook so Nancy put Salmon patties together and along with that we had a fresh garden salad for supper; time to start eating right after this weekend of some very rich and belly busting eats. Oh but it was fun!!! After the clean up it was FOX News then Nancy watched her dance moms and I tuned into the other talk shows on Fox, Later
The play was good today with 8 guys going at it for over an hour and a half before a couple decided to leave early which left two guys coming in about every 10 minutes. The winners always stay on the court but switch partners so the two same guys don't dominate. We had the same group for two sets to seven of play using the PB scoring, which means you only score when serving. It was a good day of exercise and workout and wet shirts despite the gym being rather chilly inside.
When I left the rec at 10 the sun had warmed the air and made it very pleasant to be outside; what a change from the rather chilly start at 7:30. I spent the next hour or so watering the garden and cutting and cleaning lettuces for a salad for lunch. Amy, GG and Sam were coming to eat. Nancy got back from her 2 hour dental appointment where she had 3 teeth restored that set me back over a $1k, yeow this dentist is good but you pay for it. Nancy was still somewhat numb so she had a wrap while the rest of us had salad and I cleaned up the last of the collards and Cole slaw with a little of the smoked pork in the collards. These were just a tasty as they were on Saturday at Amy and Tyler's.
Everyone headed outdoors after lunch to set in sun as the house was around 70 degrees, GG said she was cold so out they went and I had to close the windows as I was airing it out after being closed up from the cold of the past couple days. They stayed outside watching Sam play with the chickens next door and he and Nancy were digging earthworms from my garden and he was feeding them to his chicken buddies until around 2 then Amy took GG home and headed over to pick up Ava from school. I cut her a nice head of cabbage for stuffed cabbage rolls for her supper as we used her cabbage for the Cole slaw on Saturday. Nancy headed out to the rec for her workout and I read The O'Reilly Factor The good, bad and completely ridiculous in American Life. It's a good read and he is quite writer with tons of facts and examples.
I headed out to hand water the front yard flowers and grass as its really dried up. I had picked a nice mess of 1/2 runner beans from the garden and I had them snapped and washed and ready to cook so Nancy put Salmon patties together and along with that we had a fresh garden salad for supper; time to start eating right after this weekend of some very rich and belly busting eats. Oh but it was fun!!! After the clean up it was FOX News then Nancy watched her dance moms and I tuned into the other talk shows on Fox, Later
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Tuesday Morning
Well Monday started out cold for us down in the low 40's and no frost. The skies were clear and yet a breeze out of the northwest kept it chilly most all day. We did see some low 60's by late afternoon. The morning started much the usual with a 5:30 wake up from the dueling roosters next door. After my cup of hot green tea, a few quiet moments and a lite breakfast I pedalled out to the rec for a couple hours of pickle ball.
We had a large gang today with 3 courts going and a couple folks waiting to get on to play. The gym was rather cool inside all morning and despite the play I never did soak my shirt but I felt like I had a good workout. One of our better players twisted his knee and fell trying to retrieve a drop shot thus he was out the rest of the period and maybe out for a while as he already has a zipper on both knees. I headed for home and temperature had risen a little by 10 AM.
I spent the next hour or so watering the gardens, cutting lettuces and picking tomato's. We were heading over to Riverview later in the afternoon so I took Bobby a nice bunch of lettuce and a spaghetti squash plant. Nancy was making her second chocolate birthday cake in 3 days to take with us as well as we are once more celebrating her birthday and daughter-in-law Jill's. Jill's is on Tuesday(today). We headed out around 2:30 as we were picking up GG and bringing her with us as well. Her plans changed from visiting with her older sister and hubby down on Long Boat Key for a week as he fell and hurt his knee, Uncle Warnie is in his 90's. I hung GG's new clock for her before we headed to Tampa.
We met up with Jill and Annsley at the Golden City Gymnastics in east Tampa around 4 PM to watch Annsley perform with her gymnastics group. She is coming along quite nicely and some of those young teen age girls are Olympic prospects for sure. What a busy place with kids running around everywhere doing all kinds of flips, dances and somersaults, yeow I was thoroughly impressed with some of the talent on display there. We headed back to Bob and Jill's for supper as Bob was preparing a gourmet meal.
Their new puppy "Sugar" is a sweetie no pun intended and just so playful with the kids. Amy and Tyler came shortly thereafter and the kids were in their own little world playing together. Sam and Gabe had a few altercations but Ava and Annsley where great together. Bob fixed a meal of grilled marinated skirt steak and brown rice also he roasted beets and carrots and put them over a bed of beet greens with a homemade dressing and of course crusty bread. The chocolate cake was very good as well and we left the rest of the cake there when we headed for home after the kids all took baths.
Well it was after 9 before we pulled out for Seminole and the temps were starting to drop again; already it was down in the 50's. We dropped GG off then headed home for the shower. It wasn't long afterwards I called it a day and hit the sack watching some news before lights out. Boy the spare tire has been inflated since Friday night with 3 pieces of chocolate cake, crusty bread, potato's and rice. All the stuff that will add to the tire but they tasted good, Oh well!!! LATER
We had a large gang today with 3 courts going and a couple folks waiting to get on to play. The gym was rather cool inside all morning and despite the play I never did soak my shirt but I felt like I had a good workout. One of our better players twisted his knee and fell trying to retrieve a drop shot thus he was out the rest of the period and maybe out for a while as he already has a zipper on both knees. I headed for home and temperature had risen a little by 10 AM.
I spent the next hour or so watering the gardens, cutting lettuces and picking tomato's. We were heading over to Riverview later in the afternoon so I took Bobby a nice bunch of lettuce and a spaghetti squash plant. Nancy was making her second chocolate birthday cake in 3 days to take with us as well as we are once more celebrating her birthday and daughter-in-law Jill's. Jill's is on Tuesday(today). We headed out around 2:30 as we were picking up GG and bringing her with us as well. Her plans changed from visiting with her older sister and hubby down on Long Boat Key for a week as he fell and hurt his knee, Uncle Warnie is in his 90's. I hung GG's new clock for her before we headed to Tampa.
We met up with Jill and Annsley at the Golden City Gymnastics in east Tampa around 4 PM to watch Annsley perform with her gymnastics group. She is coming along quite nicely and some of those young teen age girls are Olympic prospects for sure. What a busy place with kids running around everywhere doing all kinds of flips, dances and somersaults, yeow I was thoroughly impressed with some of the talent on display there. We headed back to Bob and Jill's for supper as Bob was preparing a gourmet meal.
Well it was after 9 before we pulled out for Seminole and the temps were starting to drop again; already it was down in the 50's. We dropped GG off then headed home for the shower. It wasn't long afterwards I called it a day and hit the sack watching some news before lights out. Boy the spare tire has been inflated since Friday night with 3 pieces of chocolate cake, crusty bread, potato's and rice. All the stuff that will add to the tire but they tasted good, Oh well!!! LATER
Monday, March 4, 2013
Monday Morning
Brr it has turned cold here once again for a couple days, especially with the strong wind around 15-20 mph. Yikes I even wore a coat to church yesterday. It did warm up to the low 50's but the wind chill kept it somewhere in the 40's. Our heat has been on for 2 days now and we are ready for it to warm up. I think the forecast is to be back in the 70's by Tuesday. I sure hope the frost stayed away last night.
Well Sunday started out with once again the feathered fowl next door crowing at 5:30 in the AM; boy would he look good in a roaster at 325 degrees for a couple hours especially at that time in the morning. We got ready after our quiet time and a light breakfast for our ride to Tampa at Element Church with Dan and Carole for worship. The wind in the bay waters had white caps on all the waves and the air was just plumb cold. Seems the more humid it is the cold goes right through your clothing to the bone. There was a nice crowd with several new faces and tons of little ones. Bob had a nice message once again on our perception of getting to know just who GOD is and how we can get to know HIM. The music was awesome as well and then we all took communion together with the loaves of bread and wine(grape juice).
After the service Dan who is an elder had a join meeting with the church council so Carol, Nancy and myself went to the Brandon Mall for lunch. We had a great soup and sandwich at Panera Bread then checked out the Disney Store for a doll for Ava on her birthday in April before heading back to pick up Dan and then head home. It got the warmest for the day at 53 so I headed out to hand water the gardens as the wind has just dried everything out plus the moisture at the roots of plants seems to help with keeping damage to a minimum when it gets close to freezing or with cold temps. We sat around and read the rest of the afternoon until it was time to pick up GG. I'm reading a new book, its a novel GG was reading she said I would like it and I do. It's titled GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn. Different but a real page turner.
Well we were taking GG with us to celebrate Nancy's birthday again with a dinner out at the Bone Fish Grille. Betsy(sister) and Braden(cousin) were to join us but somehow they were nearly an hour late. She is always late but that is her trademark, anyhow we had a delicious meal with 2 shrimp appetizers and crusty bread dipped in herbs and oil. We even had a glass of vino as well. Nancy had the pecan crusted rainbow trout and I had shrimp and scallops and GG had the salmon. All of the meals were tasty and we licked the platters clean. I don't believe we have ever had a bad meal there and so do a lot of other folks there as well, as the place was jumping(busy) all evening. We left there just as darkness was falling and drove GG home.
The temperature was starting to drop once again but they weren't predicting a freeze for us and with the wind I wasn't to afraid of frost; anyhow I will know in a few minutes as daylight approaches. Well I just checked and none of the neighbors roof tops are covered in the white stuff and the local temp says it's 42. Looks like the garden survived another cold snap as today its back to the 60's and tomorrow its back to the 70's. Well I better git out of here and get ready for the rec and a some pickle ball. Only 3 days this weeks as a local festival takes over the rec for 3 days and the gym will be closed, LATER
Well Sunday started out with once again the feathered fowl next door crowing at 5:30 in the AM; boy would he look good in a roaster at 325 degrees for a couple hours especially at that time in the morning. We got ready after our quiet time and a light breakfast for our ride to Tampa at Element Church with Dan and Carole for worship. The wind in the bay waters had white caps on all the waves and the air was just plumb cold. Seems the more humid it is the cold goes right through your clothing to the bone. There was a nice crowd with several new faces and tons of little ones. Bob had a nice message once again on our perception of getting to know just who GOD is and how we can get to know HIM. The music was awesome as well and then we all took communion together with the loaves of bread and wine(grape juice).
After the service Dan who is an elder had a join meeting with the church council so Carol, Nancy and myself went to the Brandon Mall for lunch. We had a great soup and sandwich at Panera Bread then checked out the Disney Store for a doll for Ava on her birthday in April before heading back to pick up Dan and then head home. It got the warmest for the day at 53 so I headed out to hand water the gardens as the wind has just dried everything out plus the moisture at the roots of plants seems to help with keeping damage to a minimum when it gets close to freezing or with cold temps. We sat around and read the rest of the afternoon until it was time to pick up GG. I'm reading a new book, its a novel GG was reading she said I would like it and I do. It's titled GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn. Different but a real page turner.
Well we were taking GG with us to celebrate Nancy's birthday again with a dinner out at the Bone Fish Grille. Betsy(sister) and Braden(cousin) were to join us but somehow they were nearly an hour late. She is always late but that is her trademark, anyhow we had a delicious meal with 2 shrimp appetizers and crusty bread dipped in herbs and oil. We even had a glass of vino as well. Nancy had the pecan crusted rainbow trout and I had shrimp and scallops and GG had the salmon. All of the meals were tasty and we licked the platters clean. I don't believe we have ever had a bad meal there and so do a lot of other folks there as well, as the place was jumping(busy) all evening. We left there just as darkness was falling and drove GG home.
The temperature was starting to drop once again but they weren't predicting a freeze for us and with the wind I wasn't to afraid of frost; anyhow I will know in a few minutes as daylight approaches. Well I just checked and none of the neighbors roof tops are covered in the white stuff and the local temp says it's 42. Looks like the garden survived another cold snap as today its back to the 60's and tomorrow its back to the 70's. Well I better git out of here and get ready for the rec and a some pickle ball. Only 3 days this weeks as a local festival takes over the rec for 3 days and the gym will be closed, LATER
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Sunday Morning
Well Saturday the weather cooled down considerable with strong gusty winds that made it feel even colder. The morning started early with the feathered guys next door crowing their fowl heads off. I was awake and up much like the week day morning as I had a friend coming down from Jacksonville to visit his widowed mother and he was into pickle ball. Luckily this was the last Saturday for PB play at the rec as the junior basketball league was to start so we got in a good hour or so before we were kicked out of the gym.
After my usual cup of green tea, a few quiet moments and a lite breakfast I pedalled out into a dark rain cloud hovering over the area. It did open up with a hard down pour for about 30 minutes and by the time I exited the gym a little after nine the sun was shining. I had Mike follow me home and I loaded him up with a big mess of collard greens. I use to give his folks and still do his mom as his dad passed away in November collards greens as they grew up in the Va./N.C. area. We visited for awhile and promised to keep more in touch.
I put a load of clothes in the laundry then Nancy fixed us some left over taters and eggs for breakfast that held me until supper. I then worked on changing out some hardware on the well pump after making a trip to Home Depot after picking up GG from her hairdresser and taking her home. We were going to Amy and Tyler for pulled pork, mac and cheese, Cole slaw, collard greens and chocolate cake around 6 PM. Tyler had a 10 pound Boston butt on the smoker since 6 AM with hickory and apple wood for the smoke. Yeow was it ever delicious. Sam opened our presents for him as we won't see them today and he was delighted with his monster truck and buzz light year toys plus clothes and books. His other grand parents and aunts sent presents from Kansas as well so it looked like Christmas around the living room. We stayed until after 9 PM when everyone was starting to yawn.
Well today is church day at Element in Tampa so we will ride with Dan and Carol and also today is Nancy's birthday. We talking this morning and it was also the day I enlisted in the Air Force 47 years ago and flew out of Charlotte, N.C. to Lackland AFB in Texas. I was 20 and Nancy was 9. Well that's a scary thought and we laughed about it. It's 45 degrees outside here in usually sunny warm Florida according to the Internet with overcast skies and if it were a 10-15 degrees colder I believe we would see some snow flakes. I remember one year while I was still on Patrol the snow flakes were falling, citrus froze on the trees and my tomatoes were frozen hard as a baseball. That is not a common occurrence here in central Florida.
Well once again this evening we are celebrating Nancys birthday at the Bone Fish Grille with GG, Betsy and her son Braden. There goes the spare tire and then again tomorrow we will travel to Riverview where son Bobby will make a meal for Nancy and once again another chocolate cake as his family was unable to attend the dinner last night at Amy and Tyler's, LATER
After my usual cup of green tea, a few quiet moments and a lite breakfast I pedalled out into a dark rain cloud hovering over the area. It did open up with a hard down pour for about 30 minutes and by the time I exited the gym a little after nine the sun was shining. I had Mike follow me home and I loaded him up with a big mess of collard greens. I use to give his folks and still do his mom as his dad passed away in November collards greens as they grew up in the Va./N.C. area. We visited for awhile and promised to keep more in touch.
I put a load of clothes in the laundry then Nancy fixed us some left over taters and eggs for breakfast that held me until supper. I then worked on changing out some hardware on the well pump after making a trip to Home Depot after picking up GG from her hairdresser and taking her home. We were going to Amy and Tyler for pulled pork, mac and cheese, Cole slaw, collard greens and chocolate cake around 6 PM. Tyler had a 10 pound Boston butt on the smoker since 6 AM with hickory and apple wood for the smoke. Yeow was it ever delicious. Sam opened our presents for him as we won't see them today and he was delighted with his monster truck and buzz light year toys plus clothes and books. His other grand parents and aunts sent presents from Kansas as well so it looked like Christmas around the living room. We stayed until after 9 PM when everyone was starting to yawn.
Well today is church day at Element in Tampa so we will ride with Dan and Carol and also today is Nancy's birthday. We talking this morning and it was also the day I enlisted in the Air Force 47 years ago and flew out of Charlotte, N.C. to Lackland AFB in Texas. I was 20 and Nancy was 9. Well that's a scary thought and we laughed about it. It's 45 degrees outside here in usually sunny warm Florida according to the Internet with overcast skies and if it were a 10-15 degrees colder I believe we would see some snow flakes. I remember one year while I was still on Patrol the snow flakes were falling, citrus froze on the trees and my tomatoes were frozen hard as a baseball. That is not a common occurrence here in central Florida.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Saturday Morning
Well Friday turned out to be just a little cooler with the need to wear a long sleeve shirt or sweater. I opted for shorts and a sweater while working outside in the yard and garden after my workout on the pickle ball courts. The first day of March was really a busy one with some fine eatin' for supper; I will explain later.
The morning started much the usual way with an early wake up by the feathered fowls next door around 5:30. I stayed in the sack until 6 then I no longer could remain horizontal. The cup of hot green tea brought me to life along with my quiet time and a grapefruit with blueberries for breakfast before pedalling out to the rec for a couple hours of pickle ball. We had a nice crowd that provided plenty of action and thus some really wet shirts, mine included. I had to skip out about 15 minutes early as I needed to be home to watch Sam while Amy and Nancy attended their weekly Bible study which was just minutes away at our old church.
Sam and I spent the rest of the morning outside; he playing with the chickens next door through the chain link fence and me with the garden chores. Finally around 11:30 he needed a snack so I washed him off then we came in to get him some cookies and I then cleaned lettuce and made a huge salad using some new lettuce for the first time. I had red leaf and ice burg lettuces I had planted a couple weeks ago and wow did they ever look and taste good in the salad along with some black seeded Simpson and kale. The bib is gone for a couple weeks until it grows a little more. Well Sam climbed up on a chair beside me while I used a salad spinner to get the excess water off of the leaves and he found that very interesting. Well after breaking up all the lettuces we headed into the reading room where he plied me with lots of books to read. He loves his books and by then it was a little after noon so the girls came back then Amy and Sam headed for home. Nancy and I had a nice salad for lunch alone.
After lunch Nancy took off to the rec for her workout and I took the smoker along with some hickory and apple wood over to Amy' so Tyler could get the pork butts on early Saturday morning. We are celebrating Sam and Nancy's birthday this evening(Sat) with a family meal at their house. I stopped at the Auto store and replaced the wipers on the truck before heading back to the house. I then vacuumed the house and did some honey do jobs while Nancy cleaned and dusted as we were celebrating her and Carol's birthday tonight at our house. Carol's birthday is one day before Nancy's today and Nancy's tomorrow(Sunday).
Well the supper was awesome as I cooked bacon on the grill and then wrapped marinated in Italian dressing shrimp and put them in a skewer. We added to the huge salad bowl and then I cleaned and scrubbed golden spuds and got them ready for the pot. Dan and Carole were bringing grass fed filet's so while they grilled to medium rare we had the shrimp kabobs and a glass of "fruit of the vine". Carol also brought sauteed mushrooms and a to die for store bought chocolate cake. I don't remember the name of the cake but it was awesome with dark chocolate slices on top with some kind of filing in the middle that was like foam. Yeow it was great and not real sweet. I'm surprised I really enjoyed that dessert for a change.
Well after the meal and the cleanup we played a game of double 12 domino's and Dan and Carole were within 1 point of each other at the end and she prevailed. We had a fun evening and the eats were excellent and by 9:30 we were all yawning. We have to do this birthday eatin' again at Amy and Tyler's this evening and again on Sunday at the Bonefish grille with GG and again on Monday at Bob and Jill's as we celebrate Nancy's birthday again and daughter-in-law Jill's birthday as well. The first days in March are tough on the spare tire; but it's worth it with all of the family fun. The girls(Nancy and Carol) had us take pictures of them before we ate but somehow they didn't like the outcome so you will just have to imagine what the birthday gals look like, LATER
The morning started much the usual way with an early wake up by the feathered fowls next door around 5:30. I stayed in the sack until 6 then I no longer could remain horizontal. The cup of hot green tea brought me to life along with my quiet time and a grapefruit with blueberries for breakfast before pedalling out to the rec for a couple hours of pickle ball. We had a nice crowd that provided plenty of action and thus some really wet shirts, mine included. I had to skip out about 15 minutes early as I needed to be home to watch Sam while Amy and Nancy attended their weekly Bible study which was just minutes away at our old church.
Sam and I spent the rest of the morning outside; he playing with the chickens next door through the chain link fence and me with the garden chores. Finally around 11:30 he needed a snack so I washed him off then we came in to get him some cookies and I then cleaned lettuce and made a huge salad using some new lettuce for the first time. I had red leaf and ice burg lettuces I had planted a couple weeks ago and wow did they ever look and taste good in the salad along with some black seeded Simpson and kale. The bib is gone for a couple weeks until it grows a little more. Well Sam climbed up on a chair beside me while I used a salad spinner to get the excess water off of the leaves and he found that very interesting. Well after breaking up all the lettuces we headed into the reading room where he plied me with lots of books to read. He loves his books and by then it was a little after noon so the girls came back then Amy and Sam headed for home. Nancy and I had a nice salad for lunch alone.
After lunch Nancy took off to the rec for her workout and I took the smoker along with some hickory and apple wood over to Amy' so Tyler could get the pork butts on early Saturday morning. We are celebrating Sam and Nancy's birthday this evening(Sat) with a family meal at their house. I stopped at the Auto store and replaced the wipers on the truck before heading back to the house. I then vacuumed the house and did some honey do jobs while Nancy cleaned and dusted as we were celebrating her and Carol's birthday tonight at our house. Carol's birthday is one day before Nancy's today and Nancy's tomorrow(Sunday).
Well the supper was awesome as I cooked bacon on the grill and then wrapped marinated in Italian dressing shrimp and put them in a skewer. We added to the huge salad bowl and then I cleaned and scrubbed golden spuds and got them ready for the pot. Dan and Carole were bringing grass fed filet's so while they grilled to medium rare we had the shrimp kabobs and a glass of "fruit of the vine". Carol also brought sauteed mushrooms and a to die for store bought chocolate cake. I don't remember the name of the cake but it was awesome with dark chocolate slices on top with some kind of filing in the middle that was like foam. Yeow it was great and not real sweet. I'm surprised I really enjoyed that dessert for a change.
Well after the meal and the cleanup we played a game of double 12 domino's and Dan and Carole were within 1 point of each other at the end and she prevailed. We had a fun evening and the eats were excellent and by 9:30 we were all yawning. We have to do this birthday eatin' again at Amy and Tyler's this evening and again on Sunday at the Bonefish grille with GG and again on Monday at Bob and Jill's as we celebrate Nancy's birthday again and daughter-in-law Jill's birthday as well. The first days in March are tough on the spare tire; but it's worth it with all of the family fun. The girls(Nancy and Carol) had us take pictures of them before we ate but somehow they didn't like the outcome so you will just have to imagine what the birthday gals look like, LATER
Friday, March 1, 2013
Friday Morning
Well Thursday turned out to be another busy day with beautiful weather. The humidity has pulled out of the area and been replaced with spring like temps. Just enough coolness in the air to require a sweater the first thing; but by mid-morning it's t-shirt and shorts. I started the day way before daylight as the crowing began sometime around 5:30. After my quiet time, cup of hot green tea and a lite breakfast of grapefruit and blueberries I pedalled out to the rec for a couple hours of pickle ball.
The early gang of players were late today but by 8 AM we managed 4 players and then eventually more arrived to finally have 2 courts going with a few players waiting. There finally was a few wet shirts so the work out was good. I pedalled home to spend the rest of the morning outside in the yard and garden. Nancy's clothesline was leaning badly so I dug out the one post and used 80 lbs. of concrete to once again anchor it in the ground. These steel posts have been in the ground for over 30 years and have surely been used. I replaced the lines as well. It's amazing how much fresher your clothes smell when dried outside plus I know I save lots by not using the drier, except for on rainy days.
I then mowed up all the old leaves and fuzzes from the new leaf formations and mulched them. The earthworms love mulched oak leaves and they will add great compost to the soil as well and faster than just leaving the leaves whole. By this time it was after noon so Amy, Sam, GG and Nancy returned from the errands and we had a bite of lunch. After lunch I took Sam outside to play while I changed out a hose bib to the well. Sam loves to feed those chickens next door hibiscus flowers. I have a large tree next to the fence where he plays and he keeps all the chickens fed with all the flowers he can reach. They love for Sam to come around and they will not leave the fence when he's there.
Well I picked another bucket of sugar peas as well as green beans and several tomato's. The new lettuce seedlings are doing well except for a couple the squirrels dug up. I did find one in my rat trap when I got home from pickle ball. One less nuisance I will have to contend with; while I was hoping for a rat as they have been munching on my egg plants and tomato's. The squirrels are out of control here as there are no predators to keep them in check; except for the few we see squashed in the road. I tied up my cauliflower leaves around the head of the plant which help to bleach the head white. Some old farmer told me about doing that and it works or else the head turns a yellow and looks bad. Amy said they cut their head and it was bitter while still somewhat green.
I took a couple hours while Nancy took her mother to the grocery and then home to sit outside in the partially shaded back yard and read. It was just beautiful outside. When she got home I snapped fresh garden grown green beans and she baked a couple sweet taters and I grilled a couple Salmon steaks loaded with fresh dill, Yeow was that ever delicious. After the clean-up we headed for the couch to watch FOX News before the Idol came on. I then headed to the bedroom to watch Lightning hockey and they got whupped again in New York. Well that was about it for Thursday the last day in February. We are or I am getting antsy about heading north to the mountains in just a little over 3 months. Hopefully our little cabin made it through this cold, snowy winter. I gave my uncle Junior a call who had triple by-pass surgery on Monday and he is leaving the hospital today; amazing recovery for a 77 year old feller, LATER
The early gang of players were late today but by 8 AM we managed 4 players and then eventually more arrived to finally have 2 courts going with a few players waiting. There finally was a few wet shirts so the work out was good. I pedalled home to spend the rest of the morning outside in the yard and garden. Nancy's clothesline was leaning badly so I dug out the one post and used 80 lbs. of concrete to once again anchor it in the ground. These steel posts have been in the ground for over 30 years and have surely been used. I replaced the lines as well. It's amazing how much fresher your clothes smell when dried outside plus I know I save lots by not using the drier, except for on rainy days.
I then mowed up all the old leaves and fuzzes from the new leaf formations and mulched them. The earthworms love mulched oak leaves and they will add great compost to the soil as well and faster than just leaving the leaves whole. By this time it was after noon so Amy, Sam, GG and Nancy returned from the errands and we had a bite of lunch. After lunch I took Sam outside to play while I changed out a hose bib to the well. Sam loves to feed those chickens next door hibiscus flowers. I have a large tree next to the fence where he plays and he keeps all the chickens fed with all the flowers he can reach. They love for Sam to come around and they will not leave the fence when he's there.
Well I picked another bucket of sugar peas as well as green beans and several tomato's. The new lettuce seedlings are doing well except for a couple the squirrels dug up. I did find one in my rat trap when I got home from pickle ball. One less nuisance I will have to contend with; while I was hoping for a rat as they have been munching on my egg plants and tomato's. The squirrels are out of control here as there are no predators to keep them in check; except for the few we see squashed in the road. I tied up my cauliflower leaves around the head of the plant which help to bleach the head white. Some old farmer told me about doing that and it works or else the head turns a yellow and looks bad. Amy said they cut their head and it was bitter while still somewhat green.
I took a couple hours while Nancy took her mother to the grocery and then home to sit outside in the partially shaded back yard and read. It was just beautiful outside. When she got home I snapped fresh garden grown green beans and she baked a couple sweet taters and I grilled a couple Salmon steaks loaded with fresh dill, Yeow was that ever delicious. After the clean-up we headed for the couch to watch FOX News before the Idol came on. I then headed to the bedroom to watch Lightning hockey and they got whupped again in New York. Well that was about it for Thursday the last day in February. We are or I am getting antsy about heading north to the mountains in just a little over 3 months. Hopefully our little cabin made it through this cold, snowy winter. I gave my uncle Junior a call who had triple by-pass surgery on Monday and he is leaving the hospital today; amazing recovery for a 77 year old feller, LATER
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