Monday, Monday, Monday

Well, what a weekend it was. NO, I didn't get to plant my tomatoes because it rained all day Saturday and the menonite store is closed on Sunday. I did, however, get to unpack a whole bunch of boxes. I found two so far that belong to Rebecca and Jarrett - had I been there to help, these wouldn't have made the trip because now they just have to go back. Some things didn't have to be unpacked, they just had to go in the trailer for storage so they were easy.

The cookbooks are out on the bookshelf along with the Dick and Jane series Neccy bought me. The "Gone With the Wind" novel has assumed its place on the top shelf with my dried hydrangea flowers in their vase. Looks like it did in FL with the exception of the bottles. The bottles went to the AmVets. My little (Partylight) rabbits adorn the middle shelf with a picture of Dougy, I think it's from 9th grade and a baby picture of Rachel Daugherty. Rebecca's senior picture is up there too.

I finally found my little white lamp with the rose painted on it. It's going upstairs on the nightstand beside my bed so guests will have a light to assist in crossing over the bridge. Deb, no more feeling your way on hands and knees! LOL, don't feel bad, you're not the only one. We've seen people cross it on hands and knees in the daytime when they weren't even drinking.

My scarred kitchen table has a table cloth on it, the one that's a patchwork design - very "Springy" looking. My bright yellow sunflower candle holders (one has a lady bug on it, the other has a dragonfly on it) are on the table and as soon as I find the darn box with all the candles it it, I'll fill them and light them. LOL my luck it'll be the last box I get to.

I unpacked my juicer and my meat grinder so I'll be busy with those before too long. The juicer might not be as worked as it was in FL since I don't have a ruby red grapefruit tree hanging over the back fence anymore. I'll find something to juice though - rest assured.

Beverly bought us an electric skillet so I got that out this weeked. We had bacon and eggs cooked in that skillet and I'll tell you what, the clean-up was the simplest I've had in a long time. Next item for the electric skillet will be pork chops. Kelly made some for her son's birthday dinner one night and they cooked up so easily and were just as crunchy as if they were done in a cast iron skillet. Thank you again Bev, I'll be sure to cook something in it for you when you come to visit.

My back started bothering me with all that unpacking and trailer loading so I took one of Wally's arthritis pills, diclofinac I believe it's called, anyway it made me feel better. It also makes me loopy if I'm not going to sleep after taking it. I guess I was wandering aimlessly for a while there and couldn't really focus on what I was doing (I know - lightweight - whatever). I took a break and watched the weather, which had some pretty bad elements but all in all we did just fine. I took some pictures but they haven't come to my phone yet so I can't post them. We didn't see the horses or the turkeys, even the crows failed to make an appearance. I guess they all knew the weather was going to be bad at some point.

I put a pot roast in the slow cooker with carrots, onions and celery. I was out of French Onion soup mix so I sprinkled the roast with some steak seasoning and it came out really flavorful. We both thought it tasted good but the meat was dry. I'm not sure why since I've done it this way a bazillion times and it's never happened before. Oh well - better luck next time. The vegetables were delicious! Of course I saved the juice for another time...

I got to hear a whippoorwill for the first time ever. He/she was just singing his/her heart out for the longest time Friday evening going from tree to tree. No matter where I stood on the porch, I could hear the song. If you haven't ever heard one, it really does sound like they are calling their name. They simply couldn't be called anything else! Wally just laughs at me and says how cute I am standing out there on the front porch with my beer, listening to the whippoorwill sing and watching the trees blowing in the wind. He tries to see things from my perspective but like he said, he was raised here so it's nothing new to him. It's all new to me :)

I have 2 bags to drop off at the Thrift Store or the Goodwill, whichever is open on my way home. I have to still get the rest of the Christmas stuff in the trailer. I did 4 loads of laundry - none of which could go on the line because of the stupid rain and Wally worked on the black truck. He finally got it to the cabin and parked it along with my car under the deck. We were supposed to get hail but it never showed up.

We had to leave the truck at the gate Friday night. When I got home the gate was closed which meant Wally wasn't home. I didn't know if the horses were out so I closed it behind me. Well, he came up from the holler and had to turn the truck off to open the gate and then it wouldn't start again.

Sunday, he tricked me awake. I had taken another arthritis pill the night before so my back wouldn't hurt when I went to bed. I had a few beers before I took it so when we did go to bed I was sleeping like a baby in no time... and sawing logs according to Wally. Well, he knows how I like to watch those shows that tell you how food gets from the farm to your plate so when he woke up, he put on the History channel and they were showing a documentary on Eggland's Best Eggs and Orange Juice. He's just laying there waiting for me to hear it in my sleep because he knows it'll wake me up. Sure enough, I guess he turned up the volume or something because I woke up and heard it and couldn't go back to sleep. Now, here he is looking at me knowing that I won't be able to go back to sleep and fessed up he did it on purpose. He was hungry and knew a food show would get me up and cooking.... huh! I had to laugh - it was funny afterall. Normally he wouldn't watch something like that but a hungry man will go to great lengths apparently.

The weather was so nice Sunday (after all that rain on Saturday) that we decided to head out on the motorcycle. I hung a load of clothes on the line (got my fix!) and he washed off the bike. We set out some shrimp to thaw for dinner (thank you Sandy and Don!) and we were off and riding. Unfortunately, as with all Harley's, we had a problem right out of the gate. The kickstand wasn't staying up. How annoying. We go back to the cabin and Wally fixes it, of course (that man can fix just about anything), and in about 30 minutes we headed back out again.

We stopped at a couple of auto parts places so he could get a starter for the black truck, then we stopped at Food Lion to get beer and tomato paste. We went by this one bar called Cody's and had a couple beers there then headed to Pee Wee's to watch the rest of the race. GO KEVIN HARVICK!!! I know Ricky was excited, I'm pretty sure I could hear him yelling all the way up here. LOL. Pee Wee's was actually crowded! I guess everyone in the race pool wanted to see who won - just like being at the club :)  It was fun but since it was Sunday, we wanted to get home at a decent time as one of us has to go to work.

I made shrimp creole for dinner last night and instead of serving it over rice (since Wally can't have rice - diabetic) I served it over spaghetti squash. Oh My Goodness was it ever good this way. We absolutely loved it and can't wait to have it again. It was very simple to make and very, very tasty - just a little bite in it from the cayenne pepper and hot sauce but you could make it hotter or not as you prefer. This one goes in the recipe book I'm putting together. It's really just my favorites so I have a quick reference.

This morning I didn't want to get out of bed. It was sprinkling rain on the tin roof of the cabin and the owl was hooting off in the woods somewhere. I got up a little before 5 am and got ready for work. I have a salad for lunch again - the red lettuce, by the way, tastes the same as the iceburg. I couldn't tell the difference.

I forgot to take meat out of the freezer so we'll likely have leftovers. Sweaty chicken was Friday night's dinner so I'm thinking that'll be the easiest. I know it sounds bad but it tastes really good. It's a spanish dish my girlfriends in the Orlando office shared with me. You sweat the chicken thighs or legs or both until it's done in a comination of water, beer and seasonings. Once it's done, you take it off the bone (I do anyway, they don't) and put it back in the broth with orange, red and green peppers. You add some onion, garlic and some jalapenos (if you like) and let it stew. If you have sofrito, you can eliminate the onion and garlic because it's already in there.

The girls at work serve it over rice but we just ate it out of a bowl. It was really good. I can't find my skimmer which drives me crazy because I just bought it from Pampered Chef and brought it up with me at Christmastime. I'll keep searching for it because I won't be able to not. LOL.

It was cloudy and 58 degrees when I left this morning. They say it's going to be like this tomorrow too and then clear up for Wednesday and Thursday. It doesn't matter to me - springtime is pretty no matter where I am. Come see me and you'll see why...

I'm planting daffodil bulbs by the flag pole at the point where the driveway splits off. You'll see them next year if you're here in time and I do so hope you will be. 

"He who cultivates the earth are its most valued citizens" - Thomas Jefferson