A loud thunderstorm woke us up around 3 a.m. this morning, and we had trouble going back to sleep once it passed. So we didn't get up until after 8 a.m. We tried a new cold cereal with bananas for breakfast, and then I exercised on the treadmill and worked out with weights.
Mother came over while I was getting ready for the day and worked on her jigsaw puzzle. I spent the rest of the morning doing household chores. Hubbie made a trip to pick up the lawn mower from the repair shop, though the yard is way too wet to mow yet.
For lunch, Hubbie and Mother had plates of leftover macaroni and cheese and veggies, and I had egg substitute scrambled with fresh mushrooms, green onions from the garden, and bell pepper. After lunch, Mother resumed her puzzle, and Hubbie baked a recipe of dog biscuits for Shih Tzu, while I organized as yet untried heart-healthy recipes that we've accumulated from the Internet and Weight Watchers.
I was getting tired of sorting through that big stack every time we wanted to try a new dish. Now, the loose recipes are sorted by file folder into the broad categories of main dishes and soups, desserts and muffins, veggie dishes, and Mexican dishes. Once we try recipes and decide we like them, I'll add them to a three-ring binder under specific category tabs.
Nothing much else happened the rest of the afternoon. Supper was an improvised Chinese soup...boiled chicken and broth seasoned with fresh ginger and soy sauce, with shredded cabbage, green onions, sliced lengthwise, and pasta. It was yummy and warming on this rain-cooled evening.
Tonight, Hubbie and I watched "The Great Debaters," a PG-13 movie starring Denzel Washington, and Forest Whitaker. This excellent film, inspired by real events, is about a 1935 debate team from a small African-American college in Texas that goes on to defeat the Harvard debate team.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
Friday, May 8
Once again, because swimming competitions are being held at the college, the water in the pool is being kept very chilly, so it was uncomfortable this morning. Of course, after I'm in the water for a while, it becomes tolerable. But I sure would enjoy it more if it was warmer.
Besides the pool being chilly, the female competitors left the ladies room in a mess...puddles of water all over the floor, and wet toilet paper all over the bathroom stalls. Yuk.
Even though it was warm and muggy when I went to the pool this morning, I was chilled when I got back. So it felt good to warm up in a hot shower.
I didn't accomplish much for the rest of the morning. Mother came over just before noon, and we each had different things for lunch. Mother opted for scrambled egg substitute and toast, Hubbie had a PB&J sandwich, and I had a lettuce, tomato, and Vidalia onion sandwich, with light salad dressing, and cottage cheese served on the side. I know it sounds like a strange sandwich, but it's good. Of course, I needed plenty of mouthwash, toothpaste, and breath fresheners afterwards.
After lunch, Mother set up a jigsaw puzzle, and Hubbie and I ran errands...to the greeting card store, where I used a $3 coupon that was due to expire at the end of this month; to the everything's a dollar store, where I got more greeting cards; and to the WDCS for incidentals and groceries.
Nothing important happened for the rest of the afternoon. For supper, we had Parmesan talapia fish, with macaroni and cheese, and whole kernel corn. Mother went home after supper, and Hubbie and I spent the evening, as usual, watching TV.
It was a pretty ordinary and dull day, which was just fine with us.
Besides the pool being chilly, the female competitors left the ladies room in a mess...puddles of water all over the floor, and wet toilet paper all over the bathroom stalls. Yuk.
Even though it was warm and muggy when I went to the pool this morning, I was chilled when I got back. So it felt good to warm up in a hot shower.
I didn't accomplish much for the rest of the morning. Mother came over just before noon, and we each had different things for lunch. Mother opted for scrambled egg substitute and toast, Hubbie had a PB&J sandwich, and I had a lettuce, tomato, and Vidalia onion sandwich, with light salad dressing, and cottage cheese served on the side. I know it sounds like a strange sandwich, but it's good. Of course, I needed plenty of mouthwash, toothpaste, and breath fresheners afterwards.
After lunch, Mother set up a jigsaw puzzle, and Hubbie and I ran errands...to the greeting card store, where I used a $3 coupon that was due to expire at the end of this month; to the everything's a dollar store, where I got more greeting cards; and to the WDCS for incidentals and groceries.
Nothing important happened for the rest of the afternoon. For supper, we had Parmesan talapia fish, with macaroni and cheese, and whole kernel corn. Mother went home after supper, and Hubbie and I spent the evening, as usual, watching TV.
It was a pretty ordinary and dull day, which was just fine with us.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Thursday, May 7
We were up by 7:30 this morning, so Hubbie could get ready by 9 a.m. to go help the Master Gardeners work on one of the public gardens that are the organization's responsibility. I did a session on the treadmill while he was gone, and then occupied myself with a couple of projects I'd been putting off.
Later, after a chef's salad lunch, we ran a few errands...to the WDCS to pick up photographs and a couple of grocery items; to the store that has a sale every weekend, where I applied a $10 coupon toward the purchase of an on-sale belted khaki jacket and a knit shirt; to a big, new drugstore that just opened today; and to our personal pharmacy. Re: the photographs: something went wrong with the film from Hubbie's camera, so there was only one snapshot in the package. I suspect this was a processing error.
The new drugstore is very nice and carries a large variety of products, but the items seem to be priced higher than at the WDCS, so we probably won't shop there often. But we did register for a couple of prizes to be given away next week...a large picnic table canopy, and a boy's bicycle. We could use either one or both.
We got back home around 4 p.m., and soon after, I put leftover Swiss steak, potato wedges, and a can of turnip greens in the oven to heat for Hubbie's and my supper. Mother opted to stay home today.
She did come over around 6:30, though, to go to a meeting sponsored by the Master Gardeners to hear a proposal for a community garden. The group hopes to get enough community interest to construct several raised beds for people to use. Participants would pay a yearly fee for general upkeep of the area (water, electric bills, etc.), and they'd get a raised bed to use all through the growing season. There would even be a bed raised high enough to accommodate a wheelchair. The area would be fenced, and have a night watch light. A group (probably the Master Gardeners) would oversee the project, select participants, mediate disputes, etc.
After we got home, we watched a few favorite one-hour shows on TV. Around 9 p.m., a guy, maybe in his 30s, stopped by to borrow a gallon of gas. We don't keep containers of gasoline on hand, so Hubbie took the guy (and one of our gas cans) to a filling station. Our house seems to be a magnet for folks with auto problems, just as the highway in front of our house seems to be a magnet for auto accidents.
Phew! It has been a really humid, very warm, mostly sunny day today. As we were traveling to the Master Gardener meeting this evening, though, the setting sun so dramatically radiated from around the clouds that it was easy to imagine that an angel might descend from them.
Later, after a chef's salad lunch, we ran a few errands...to the WDCS to pick up photographs and a couple of grocery items; to the store that has a sale every weekend, where I applied a $10 coupon toward the purchase of an on-sale belted khaki jacket and a knit shirt; to a big, new drugstore that just opened today; and to our personal pharmacy. Re: the photographs: something went wrong with the film from Hubbie's camera, so there was only one snapshot in the package. I suspect this was a processing error.
The new drugstore is very nice and carries a large variety of products, but the items seem to be priced higher than at the WDCS, so we probably won't shop there often. But we did register for a couple of prizes to be given away next week...a large picnic table canopy, and a boy's bicycle. We could use either one or both.
We got back home around 4 p.m., and soon after, I put leftover Swiss steak, potato wedges, and a can of turnip greens in the oven to heat for Hubbie's and my supper. Mother opted to stay home today.
She did come over around 6:30, though, to go to a meeting sponsored by the Master Gardeners to hear a proposal for a community garden. The group hopes to get enough community interest to construct several raised beds for people to use. Participants would pay a yearly fee for general upkeep of the area (water, electric bills, etc.), and they'd get a raised bed to use all through the growing season. There would even be a bed raised high enough to accommodate a wheelchair. The area would be fenced, and have a night watch light. A group (probably the Master Gardeners) would oversee the project, select participants, mediate disputes, etc.
After we got home, we watched a few favorite one-hour shows on TV. Around 9 p.m., a guy, maybe in his 30s, stopped by to borrow a gallon of gas. We don't keep containers of gasoline on hand, so Hubbie took the guy (and one of our gas cans) to a filling station. Our house seems to be a magnet for folks with auto problems, just as the highway in front of our house seems to be a magnet for auto accidents.
Phew! It has been a really humid, very warm, mostly sunny day today. As we were traveling to the Master Gardener meeting this evening, though, the setting sun so dramatically radiated from around the clouds that it was easy to imagine that an angel might descend from them.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Wednesday, May 6
Around midnight last night, there was a brief thunderstorm, but during the day today, there was sunshine...finally! More rain is predicted for this weekend, though.
The swimming pool was really chilly this morning. There are only four more days of water aerobics left before the May 15 to June 15 break. I hope that on at least one of those days, the pool will be warm.
We didn't accomplish much today. At 3:30, Mother and I went to visit our friends, and we were there for a couple of hours...longer than we meant to stay. But our friend's niece and her daughter dropped by to bring our friend a Mother's Day gift, and their car was parked behind mine, so I was unable to get out of the driveway. I thought it would seem impolite to ask the niece to move her car, so we just waited for her to get up to leave, and then we followed suit.
We usually serve supper at 5 p.m., but tonight it was 6:30 before we could get it on the table. We had boiled chicken (prepared before we left for our visit), served with a choice of leftover mashed potatoes or leftover rice, gravy, and green beans. Bless leftovers.
Afterwards, Hubbie and I, in the mood for period movies, watched two tonight. The first was "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," a 2007 PG-13 film starring Cate Blanchett, which traces the queen's relationship with Sir Walter Raleigh, and England's defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.
The second film was "The Last Legion," also a 2007 PG-13 film, starring Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley, which is the story of the last emperor of Rome, a 12-year-old boy and a descendant of Julius Caesar.
The swimming pool was really chilly this morning. There are only four more days of water aerobics left before the May 15 to June 15 break. I hope that on at least one of those days, the pool will be warm.
We didn't accomplish much today. At 3:30, Mother and I went to visit our friends, and we were there for a couple of hours...longer than we meant to stay. But our friend's niece and her daughter dropped by to bring our friend a Mother's Day gift, and their car was parked behind mine, so I was unable to get out of the driveway. I thought it would seem impolite to ask the niece to move her car, so we just waited for her to get up to leave, and then we followed suit.
We usually serve supper at 5 p.m., but tonight it was 6:30 before we could get it on the table. We had boiled chicken (prepared before we left for our visit), served with a choice of leftover mashed potatoes or leftover rice, gravy, and green beans. Bless leftovers.
Afterwards, Hubbie and I, in the mood for period movies, watched two tonight. The first was "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," a 2007 PG-13 film starring Cate Blanchett, which traces the queen's relationship with Sir Walter Raleigh, and England's defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588.
The second film was "The Last Legion," also a 2007 PG-13 film, starring Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley, which is the story of the last emperor of Rome, a 12-year-old boy and a descendant of Julius Caesar.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Tuesday, April 5
The sun came out today, but only briefly. Most of the day has been dreary cloudy. Our yard is already saturated and puddled, but more rain is predicted for this week. The grass needs to be mowed, but the ground is just too wet for the riding mower.
We got up around 7:30 this morning, and after breakfast, I exercised on the treadmill. Later, Hubbie and I ran errands...to the WDCS to get a mop bucket for Mother, to the health store for vitamins and 8-grain cereal for me, to the greeting card shop to get a little book about cats to give to Mother for Mother's Day, and to a roadside market to get strawberries.
The strawberries at this market are from a town northwest of us. So far we've bought strawberries that have come from five different towns around the state. I can't remember them coming from so many different places before. In years past, the vendors brought them up from a couple of towns south of us. But now, they're getting them from growers who farm within the county, I suppose because it's less expensive to haul them shorter distances, and therefore keeps the cost to the consumer a little lower. Even so, strawberries this year cost a lot more than ever before. I don't like paying the high price, but I'm so crazy about them that I do it anyway.
Otherwise today, a friend who lives in a town east of us called this afternoon to say she is in town visiting another mutual friend, and Mother and I are invited to visit at the mutual friend's home tomorrow afternoon. We'll be glad to see both of them.
Mother came over after lunch, and since we didn't have anything planned for the afternoon, we watched "King Lear," by William Shakespeare, that I'd recorded several weeks ago on DVR, and which was about to be automatically deleted to make room for other movies. I video taped the three-hour PBS offering as we were watching it. It's a 2007 production of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Hubbie, not a fan of Shakespeare, opted to groom Shih Tzu for a bath. For the grooming procedure, he put Shih Tzu on a table in the sunroom. But at one point, when he turned away, for a moment, Shih Tzu shook herself and skidded off the table onto the floor. Since then, she has been limping slightly on her right front leg. I hope she hasn't sprained it.
For supper tonight, we had turkey burger patty melts on rye bread, with seasoned and baked potato wedges, and kidney bean/cucumber salad. Then Hubbie and I spent our quiet hour in separate pursuits.
Later, we watched TV, as usual, including a two-hour episode of "Medium," and this week's second episode of "Dancing with the Stars."
We got up around 7:30 this morning, and after breakfast, I exercised on the treadmill. Later, Hubbie and I ran errands...to the WDCS to get a mop bucket for Mother, to the health store for vitamins and 8-grain cereal for me, to the greeting card shop to get a little book about cats to give to Mother for Mother's Day, and to a roadside market to get strawberries.
The strawberries at this market are from a town northwest of us. So far we've bought strawberries that have come from five different towns around the state. I can't remember them coming from so many different places before. In years past, the vendors brought them up from a couple of towns south of us. But now, they're getting them from growers who farm within the county, I suppose because it's less expensive to haul them shorter distances, and therefore keeps the cost to the consumer a little lower. Even so, strawberries this year cost a lot more than ever before. I don't like paying the high price, but I'm so crazy about them that I do it anyway.
Otherwise today, a friend who lives in a town east of us called this afternoon to say she is in town visiting another mutual friend, and Mother and I are invited to visit at the mutual friend's home tomorrow afternoon. We'll be glad to see both of them.
Mother came over after lunch, and since we didn't have anything planned for the afternoon, we watched "King Lear," by William Shakespeare, that I'd recorded several weeks ago on DVR, and which was about to be automatically deleted to make room for other movies. I video taped the three-hour PBS offering as we were watching it. It's a 2007 production of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Hubbie, not a fan of Shakespeare, opted to groom Shih Tzu for a bath. For the grooming procedure, he put Shih Tzu on a table in the sunroom. But at one point, when he turned away, for a moment, Shih Tzu shook herself and skidded off the table onto the floor. Since then, she has been limping slightly on her right front leg. I hope she hasn't sprained it.
For supper tonight, we had turkey burger patty melts on rye bread, with seasoned and baked potato wedges, and kidney bean/cucumber salad. Then Hubbie and I spent our quiet hour in separate pursuits.
Later, we watched TV, as usual, including a two-hour episode of "Medium," and this week's second episode of "Dancing with the Stars."
Monday, May 4, 2009
Monday, May 4
After a restless night, Hubbie and I got up at 6:30 a.m., so I could get ready to go to water aerobics. It was chilly this morning, and cloudy, but it didn't rain for a change The pool was equally chilly. The reason it is staying so cool is that the college is hosting swim competitions, and of course swimmers like cool water. We senior ladies, however, do not.
I didn't accomplish much for the rest of the morning after I got home other than answering e-mails, uploading snapshots to be printed at the one-hour service, reading the Sunday newspaper that I neglected yesterday, and washing a couple of loads of clothes.
Each of us had a different leftovers lunch...Hubbie had beef strips with bell peppers and onions, rice, and whole kernel corn; Mother had, you guessed it, ramen noodle soup; and I had the last of the white chili, with a BLT sandwich. Dessert was angel food cake and strawberries.
After lunch, Hubbie and I ran errands...to the greeting card shop, the store that has a sale every weekend, the book and video store, the bank, the WDCS, and the other discount store. We got back home around 3 p.m. After that, we just did this and that around the house until suppertime.
Supper was Swiss steak, with mashed potatoes and green beans, after which we spent our quiet hour reading. Then we watched TV, as usual, starting with "Dancing with the Stars."
Note: this morning, Hubbie discovered that the black kitten from mama cat's last litter has had three kittens of her own overnight, but two of them died. We don't know if the remaining one will survive with no litter mates to help keep it warm when the mama is away from it. This friendly little cat is so small that we're surprised she didn't lose all three kittens. If the kitten survives, maybe we can handle it a lot and make it tame. And maybe Sis might want both the black kitty and her baby. The kitten, also black, will be several weeks old by the time we see Sis later this month.
I didn't accomplish much for the rest of the morning after I got home other than answering e-mails, uploading snapshots to be printed at the one-hour service, reading the Sunday newspaper that I neglected yesterday, and washing a couple of loads of clothes.
Each of us had a different leftovers lunch...Hubbie had beef strips with bell peppers and onions, rice, and whole kernel corn; Mother had, you guessed it, ramen noodle soup; and I had the last of the white chili, with a BLT sandwich. Dessert was angel food cake and strawberries.
After lunch, Hubbie and I ran errands...to the greeting card shop, the store that has a sale every weekend, the book and video store, the bank, the WDCS, and the other discount store. We got back home around 3 p.m. After that, we just did this and that around the house until suppertime.
Supper was Swiss steak, with mashed potatoes and green beans, after which we spent our quiet hour reading. Then we watched TV, as usual, starting with "Dancing with the Stars."
Note: this morning, Hubbie discovered that the black kitten from mama cat's last litter has had three kittens of her own overnight, but two of them died. We don't know if the remaining one will survive with no litter mates to help keep it warm when the mama is away from it. This friendly little cat is so small that we're surprised she didn't lose all three kittens. If the kitten survives, maybe we can handle it a lot and make it tame. And maybe Sis might want both the black kitty and her baby. The kitten, also black, will be several weeks old by the time we see Sis later this month.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Sunday, May 3
We were up by 7:30 this cool and rainy morning, and after breakfast, I exercised on the treadmill. Later in the morning, Hubbie and I went to the WDCS to shop for groceries to satisfy this week's menu, and to pick up a deli chicken for lunch. While we were gone, Mother finished working the jigsaw puzzle.
We had the chicken with leftover steamed veggies. Dessert was angel food cake with fresh strawberries...yum! For dinner music, we listened to "Lark in the Twilight," a CD of folk music played on dulcimer, guitar, violin, and various percussion instruments. The CD is the one I bought for fifty cents at the yard sale yesterday. It's very nice, and we enjoyed it.
After lunch, Hubbie and I watched two more episodes of "Little Dorrit." At 3:30, Mother came over, and we went to the museum to hear two older gentlemen...retired businessmen of the community...talk about fishing in the area. They had agreed 40 years ago to try to fish every river, stream and lake within 50 miles before they died. But today, they admitted that there is no possible way for them to do this, since there are so many more still remaining after all these years.
They told several humorous fishing tales, but the remarks by one of them about how plentiful fish were in the local river before construction of the dams was disturbing as another reminder of how we are, in the name of progress, destroying our environment.
Back home, we resumed watching "Little Dorrit." There are five episodes of this PBS Masterpiece presentation, and we watched the last of them tonight.
We had the chicken with leftover steamed veggies. Dessert was angel food cake with fresh strawberries...yum! For dinner music, we listened to "Lark in the Twilight," a CD of folk music played on dulcimer, guitar, violin, and various percussion instruments. The CD is the one I bought for fifty cents at the yard sale yesterday. It's very nice, and we enjoyed it.
After lunch, Hubbie and I watched two more episodes of "Little Dorrit." At 3:30, Mother came over, and we went to the museum to hear two older gentlemen...retired businessmen of the community...talk about fishing in the area. They had agreed 40 years ago to try to fish every river, stream and lake within 50 miles before they died. But today, they admitted that there is no possible way for them to do this, since there are so many more still remaining after all these years.
They told several humorous fishing tales, but the remarks by one of them about how plentiful fish were in the local river before construction of the dams was disturbing as another reminder of how we are, in the name of progress, destroying our environment.
Back home, we resumed watching "Little Dorrit." There are five episodes of this PBS Masterpiece presentation, and we watched the last of them tonight.
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