Saturday, October 16, 2010

Saturday, Oct. 16

Had trouble going to sleep last night, so I slept late this morning, until around 7:30. Did a treadmill session and resistance exercises after breakfast (breaking my resistance band in the process...it just snapped in two like a rubber band, whacking me on both arms).



Didn't do much else for the rest of the morning, except play on my office computer. Mother came over around 11 a.m. and prepared two baking dishes of Parmesan potatoes for the oven. While she did that, I prepared a beef roast to marinate all day and overnight. The recipe called for slitting the roast and inserting garlic and onions, and then pouring vinegar over it. It will then be cooked in a broth of strong coffee.



After a lunch of leftovers, Mother and I watched the 1950s version of "War of the Worlds" on DVD. Then, she went home to dress for a Master Gardener indoor picnic this evening. I put the Parmesan potatoes in the oven around 3:45, so they'd be ready by the time we left for the picnic at 4:45. Each Master Gardener was assigned a specific dish to bring to the picnic, according to the first letter of their last name. We fell into the veggie assignment.

The Master Gardener at whose home we met has a mansion of a house (tall columns on the porch and all). To get there, we traveled on a narrow country lane (paved), past a privacy gate, and up the winding road to the house.

The house stands on a hill overlooking a large lawn and acres of wooded areas, in autumn colors. Two sisters and their husbands (all retired school administrators and teachers) actually share the house, which is amply large for the two couples.

The sisters are the Master Gardeners, but as with all of us, not much is growing at this time of the year under the drought conditions our state is experiencing. But there were some plants, and I took a leisurely stroll on the grounds taking pictures before the picnic began.

The meal included pulled pork (prepared by the hostesses), two potato dishes, including ours, green beans, black eyed pea salad, a spicy rice dish, and two Jell-o salads. Only one person brought a dessert...Karo pecan squares.

The hostess had set up tables on the front porch, and though several people took their meals to the indoor tables, we chose to dine outside, where groupings of plants, pumpkins, and baskets made for a pretty fall setting.

The food was served buffet style on a large granite topped kitchen island. A huge ceramic turkey, pumpkins, baskets, leaves, etc., adorned the center of the island. Colorful fall motif paper plates and napkins added to the festive mood.

During the meal, we were told that one of the hostesses and her husband had recently gone on an African safari, where the husband killed 30 trophy animals. So after the meal, we were invited to visit their trophy room. It's a relatively small room, no bigger than our den. But in it, the walls are hung with the heads of various exotic deer, a water buffalo, and a zebra, to name a few. On stands, whole mounted animals silently snarl at visitors. Included here was a huge baboon.

This man has also killed domestic animals, like a buffalo, and a couple of varieties of hogs, as well as a cougar and a mountain lion, and a couple of bears. Leaning up against one wall were several high-powered rifles, including an AK 47. Raised the hair on my arms.

By 7 p.m., we were ready to thank our hostesses and come home. I'd recorded our favorite football team in play while we were gone, and we watched the game as soon as we got back. Unfortunately, an injury that took our main quarterback out of the picture, several crucial turnovers, a couple of iffy touchdown calls in favor of the opposing team, and a weak defense on our part, all contributed to a significant loss.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Friday, Oct. 15

Meant to get up earlier this morning, because we were scheduled to leave around 9 a.m. to go pick up the camper, but Hubbie let me sleep until around 8 a.m. So I hurried around and managed to be ready shortly after nine.

About 11 a.m., we met Hubbie's sister for lunch at a popular Italian restaurant in a town about 30 miles from the camper repair shop. Hubbie's sis, Mother, and I had the chicken scampi, with angel hair pasta. Mother had a creamy soup with hers, and the rest of us had salad. Hubbie ordered all-you-can-eat soup and salad for his lunch.

Shortly after noon, we were ready to travel to the other town to pick up the camper. On the way out of the restaurant, we met a woman we know from our town, so we stopped to chat for a few minutes. Small world.

Re: camper: it could be that the mishap Hubbie had in attempting to pull the camper into our driveway around a stalled truck, which dented the side of the camper and bent one of the jacks, could have been providence, because when the repair guy removed the siding, he found that the wood underneath was rotted. The only thing holding the refrigerator and the heating unit up was the siding itself. I cringe to think what might have happened if those two units had dropped while we were on the road!

We speculate that when the camper was damaged in a wind storm months ago, which required repair to the slide-out, that the other side of the camper was damaged too, creating a leak that rotted the wood. We'd been noticing a leak coming from under the heating unit, but couldn't figure out where it was coming from.

Besides the good fortune of having the problem discovered, we were also thrilled to learn that our insurance covered the repair expense.

We arrived home around 4 p.m. At 6 p.m., we went to a local math and science magnet school for their fall festival. The school served barbecue sandwiches, chips, and cookies for supper. I only had appetite for part of my sandwich, with bottled water.

After we'd eaten, we checked out the silent auction. The auction ended at 7:30, and I think the only things we got were $155 worth of biodiesel for $30, and $70 worth of colored pencils (several hundred different colored pencils) for $21. We should never go for want of the right shade of colored pencil now.

We were home from the festival around 8 p.m., and finished the evening watching TV.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Thursday, Oct. 14

Up around 7:30 this morning, and did a treadmill session and weights exercises after breakfast. Hubbie had a Master Gardener meeting at 10 a.m., but before he went to the meeting, he took our male juvenile kitten to the vet to be neutered. We'll be taking him on an upcoming trip, along with the juvenile female, and we didn't want him to get any ideas while we're gone. The female will be spayed in mid-November.



The kitten was ready to be brought back home by 1 p.m. He did fine upon his return, but he was wobbly from the drugs, so he fell over every few steps. He finally decided to sleep it off. The female didn't know quite what to make of it, but she let him rest and didn't pester him to play.



I spent the morning while Hubbie was away uploading the images I'd taken of former President Clinton yesterday, and ordering prints at a one-hour service, and then running a computer update.



Hubbie returned around noon, and we had a lunch of leftover soup. Other than washing a load of laundry and doing a couple of other household chores, it was a slow afternoon. So Hubbie and I decided to watch a couple of one-hour shows I'd recorded on DVR.



Later, we went to a Cajun chicken restaurant to use a couple of certificates for free dinners that Hubbie had won at our county fair last July. Mother stayed home today, so she didn't go with us to the restaurant.

I was hoping for grilled chicken, but all that was offered in the combo dinners was deep fried, so we ordered two take out boxes of those. Before we left to pick up the chicken, I had the presence of mind to put a few small sweet potatoes in the oven to bake.

By the time we stopped by the WDCS to pick up my one-hour photos, filled the truck with diesel, then picked up the chicken and came back home, the potatoes were ready.

I ate a couple of pieces of the meatiest chicken portions, so that I could remove the breading and still have meat left. It was apparent to me, once I'd peeled the chicken, that folks are paying a steep price for deep fried breading, because I had a mighty pile of it on my plate.

Each combo order came with a side and a biscuit, so I ordered coleslaw, and Hubbie ordered red beans and rice. We shared the veggies, but I gave him my biscuit.

This restaurant has been in our town for a couple of years, but we've never visited it before tonight. And now we know we probably won't be going there again.

After supper, we continued to watch TV.

Funny: I forgot to mention that at the community theater board meeting Tuesday night, a couple of wasps began flying around the living room of the member at whose home we meet. Just after the meeting began, one of the wasps swooped down and landed in a private part of my lap. I shot out of the chair and batted at the beastie with my copies of the meeting agenda and financial report. The wasp flew out a door leading to the sun porch.

"Well," said one of the board members, "that was our entertainment for the night."

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Wednesday, Oct. 11

Up at 6:30 this morning to go to water aerobics. Nature's show this morning was an apricot colored sky, as the sun shown through haze. The trees are showing autumn colors, too, and because there was a brisk breeze this morning, and it has been so dry, leaves were falling like rain.

I was a little late getting around this morning, so by the time I arrived at the college, parking was at a premium. There were only a couple of spaces left way up on the hill. It was 8:15 before I finally hiked down the hill to the gym, and got in the pool. Aerobics start at 8:30, but I usually like to have thirty minutes of swim time in the deep end beforehand. The pool was a wee tad chilly today, because water had been added to it that didn't have time to heat since Monday. But it was fine once I got used to it.

Monday, I noticed that the door leading out to back side of the gym was broken. I asked today how it had happened, and the lifeguard (who is also a coach at the college) said a three-year-old boy had chucked a rock at it, breaking it. "We're going to press charges," he joked.

Back home, once I was ready for the day, I didn't do much before lunch beyond playing on my office computer.

This afternoon at 2 p.m., we went to the college that is about a mile away from our house, to hear former President Clinton stump for a congressional candidate. We found a parking space conveniently located adjacent to the auditorium, but on the way in, a couple of ladies alerted me that I couldn't take my purse, so Hubbie whisked it back to the van, while I held our place in line.

We stood in line until 2:30, when the doors were finally opened. While we were in line, a young woman came by to inform me that I couldn't carry my jacket into the auditorium over my arm...I would have to wear it.

In the auditorium, we were able to find seats about midway to the stage...just perfect for getting snapshots (it was okay to take cameras into the auditorium).

I'd had the presence of mind to take electronic games, so that Hubbie and I could entertain ourselves while we waited. The program wasn't scheduled to begin until 3:15 p.m., and anyone who knows Clinton knows that he is notoriously late. Today was no exception. Clinton arrived around 4 p.m. to a standing ovation and roaring applause.

Before he arrived, though, our local mayor spoke, a student from the college sang the National Anthem, and a minister offered a prayer.

Then Clinton and the candidate arrived. The candidate spoke first, with Clinton listening respectfully. Then Clinton took the podium and, as usual, charmed and mesmerized the crowd. The man is a consummate politician and brillant orator.

It was 5 p.m. before we got back home. Mother had heated leftover soup and oatmeal muffins for our supper. She went home afterward, and Hubbie and I watched TV, as usual.

Note: as we left the house this afternoon to go to the college, we noticed that a couple of our cats had a garden snake held captive on the porch. We gave the cats and the snake a wide berth as we went to the van. The snake was gone when we got back home. I know that garden snakes are harmless, but I also know that cats don't take kindly to anyone trying to rescue prey from them.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Tuesday, Oct. 12

Up at 7:30 this morning, and did a treadmill session and resistance exercises after breakfast. Once I was ready for the day, Hubbie and I spruced the house in anticipation of a quarterly visit from the pest control guy.



Mother came over mid-morning and finished a couple of the flower angels we'd begun a week or so ago. I took those with me to an arts council meeting later, as our contribution to a Christmas tree of homemade ornaments for sale during the season. I also took a couple of bags of Halloween candy as our contribution to the trick or treat event downtown later this month.



After a lunch of leftovers, we did this and that as we awaited the pest control guy, who arrived around 1:30. Things are fine, except yikes!!, he found two baby snakes in sticky traps in the sun room. I wonder how they got into that room.

Shortly after 3 p.m., Hubbie took sixteen-year-old Shih Tzu to the vet to be checked for a chronic cough and skin disorder. The vet prescribed an antibiotic, and suggested we use medicated powder on her skin to dry it.



Since my arts council meeting was at 5 p.m., we didn't have supper until around 6:15. Tonight we had bean and macaroni soup, with muffins, which was very good.



Afterward, I went to a 7 p.m. community theater board meeting. I took a small bag of fabrics with me to be donated to the theater for costumes. Sis contributed the fabric.

We always meet at the home of one of the members, and tonight she announced that today was her 78th birthday. Before the meeting began, a couple of members brought a bottle of champagne in so that we could toast her health.

It was a short meeting, so I was back home shortly after 8 p.m.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Columbus Day

Happy Columbus Day! In recognition of the day, we hung the American flag on the well house.

Up at 6:30 to get ready for water aerobics. Saw a beautiful sunrise on the way to the college. ..gray clouds, like jigsaw puzzle pieces, with the sun casting a pink glow behind and around them.

The pool was pleasant this morning, and I enjoyed my swim and workout after missing two days last week. There will be only two days of aerobics this week, since the pool will be closed Friday for the college's fall break.

Back home, after I was ready for the day, I spent some time on the computer. Mother came over and joined us for lunch, after which Hubbie and I ran errands...to the WDCS for groceries for this week's meals, and then to a grocery store/pharmacy.

Back home again, we stored the groceries, and then we all went to the clinic to get our flu shots. This evening, my arm is sore, though Mother and Hubbie haven't complained. Guess the nurse must have hit a muscle with the needle.

This afternoon, Hubbie occupied himself in the yard, repotting plants to be brought back into the sunroom, while Mother and I watched, "War of the Worlds," on DVD. This is the more current movie, with Tom Cruise. I also have the 1950s version, which we'll watch sometime before Halloween.

The movie ended at suppertime. For supper, we had leftovers from yesterday. Afterward, Mother went home, and Hubbie and I watched TV...a couple of one-hour shows on DVD, and then "Dancing with the Stars."

Dahlia


Adding to the colors of fall this year is this giant dahlia blossom on a plant Hubbie grew in a pot. The bloom is about the size of a large dinner plate.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Sunday, October 10

10-10-10.....a double digit day/month/year that will not occur again for a thousand years. I'll take note of where I am on the 10th minute of the 10th hour of the 10th day of the 10th month of the 10th year tonight.



Slept late, until around 7:30, then did a treadmill session and resistance exercises after breakfast.



After that, it was Sunday as usual...programming the DVR, reading the Sunday newspaper, doing laundry. Also, added information to the family tree.



Mother came over mid-morning and started a recipe of fricassee chicken for lunch. We had that with mashed potatoes, honey glazed carrots, and English peas. Mother went home afterward.



Hubbie went outdoors to work in the yard, and I watched a modernized version of William Shakespeare's "Hamlet." This version takes place during WWII, with the characters dressed in the garb of the 1940s. It stars Patrick Stewart. I really enjoyed it, and I taped it for Mother. It's three hours long.



I was not too far into the movie before Hubbie returned and promptly declared he didn't understand what was going on in the play. I tried to explain, but he soon just drifted off in a snooze. After a while, he decided to go back out into the yard.



Later, around 7:30 p.m., we went to the last in a series of summer outdoor movies, sponsored by the local arts council. We weren't able to attend any of the others. It was a mild evening for seeing, "Wallace and Gromit - The Curse of the Were Rabbit."

There is a series of these British movies, created from stop-motion clay animation. They are all humorous, including this one. It's amazing how the creators got such wonderful facial expressions and fluid body motions with these clay figures that had to be painstakingly moved bit by bit and then photographed to simulate continuous motion. The movies are worth watching if for no other reason than to marvel at these clay figures.

There were only eight of us to see the free movie, but we all enjoyed it. The weather was pleasantly mild when we arrived, but turned cooler as the evening wore on. Mother and I were glad to have jackets with us.

Yesterday, Hubbie had to borrow a wheelchair for Mother to use tonight, because we unwittingly left hers in the camper when we took it to be repaired. Fortunately, we have a neighbor who repairs wheelchairs, and he usually has one available. We worked with this man years ago, before we all retired, and I currently serve with him on a home medical service advisory board, so we felt comfortable in borrowing the wheelchair from him.