Saturday, June 2, 2012

Saturday, June 2

Slept late, until around 8 a.m. After breakfast, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, and then, since it was a lovely cool morning, he and I went for a bicycle ride. When we got back, I washed blackberries, and Mother bagged them for the freezer. Then I gathered what we'd need for making muscadine grape jelly.

By then, it was already lunchtime. I fixed Ramen Noodle for Mother, raisin bran cereal and toast for myself, while Hubbie finished the pimento cheese. Hubbie went out to work in the yard after that, and Mother and I made the jelly. We got four more pretty jars of it, plus almost a half pint to enjoy right away.

Since we had nothing of importance scheduled for the afternoon, we watched a movie from the DVR: the 2003 "Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World," starring Russell Crowe. This excellent historical movie is about a tough and demanding captain of a British ship, who, during the Napoleonic Wars, dares to go up against a formidable French war ship.

We followed that movie with a classic: Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo," starring Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak. All the main characters in this 1958 film, except Novak, are gone now.

Supper tonight was the remainder of the leftovers from Memorial Day. I accompanied Mother home afterward. Then Hubbie and I watched the 2011 movie, "Adjustment Bureau," starring Matt Damon. This is a sci-fi thriller in which a politician and a dancer fall in love, but forces that guide human action try to keep them apart.





Friday, June 1, 2012

Friday, June 1

Today is the first day of June, and Granddaughter's Birthday. Happy Birthday, Grandddaugther.

Up late, around 8 a.m. on this unseasonably cool morning. After breakfast, I did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house early, and before I got ready for the day, I gathered everything we'd need to make a batch of muscadine grape jelly.

As soon as I was dressed and ready, we started the jelly-making process. We finished just before noon, and got four beautiful jars, with a little left over for us to sample. While we did this, Hubbie went to the farmer's market to pick up another gallon of blackberries.

After lunch, Hubbie and I ran errands. But first, we went to the river, so I could snap pictures of the lock and dam. Because of a dredging operation, the river was too low to flow over the dam as it usually does. A large sign warns against walking on the dam, but that didn't stop several men from doing it anyway. And one person was fishing from some rocks out in the river. Another guy was out on an egg-shaped island created by the low water. He soon entered the water and swam back to the bank.

From the river, we went to the WDCS for a few groceries; to another grocery store for cobbler mixes; and to another farmer's market for tomatoes grown in the south part of the state, locally-grown yellow squash, and a loaf of homemade yeast bread sold by a Mennonite woman, who had an array of baked goods for sale.

Back home, Mother diced onions from the garden, mushrooms, and bell peppers, which I sauteed. Later, I used the veggies, and shredded Monterey Jack cheese, to make Ziplock bag omelets for supper, which we had with sliced tomatoes topped with cottage cheese, and slices of the yeast bread, with margarine and muscadine jelly. Very satisfying breakfast-for-supper meal.

Afterward, I accompanied Mother back to her house, helped her take a shower, and then threw a load of laundry in the washer. At home, Hubbie and I watched TV, including the 2006 LMN movie, "Cheater's Club." A nymphomaniac psychologist recommends adultry to a group of women. The plan backfires, though, when the psychologist is murdered and three women who, at the psychologist's urging, become involved outside of marriage are stalked.

Note: Hubbie seems to be in injury mode, because yesterday, while he was trying to pound a stake in the ground to use in tying up a tall tomato plant, the hammer slipped, and he sort of mangled the top of his hand. Today, in an effort to be friendly with Mother's cat, he went face-to-face with her. The cat batted him, getting her claw stuck in his lower lip.


Thursday, May 31, 2012

Thursday, May 31

Today is the last day of May. Another month has flown by!

Slept late, until nearly 8 a.m. Right after breakfast, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house. Before I got on the treadmill, Hubbie found all the cherry tomatoes we'd put in the freezer last summer...five quarts...and I simmered them until the skins released. While I did a treadmill session and resistance exercises, Mother removed the tomato skins. Then we bagged the tomatoes for the freezer again. The five quarts were reduced to one quart, which I'll use in the next batch of dragon soup.

After that, I retrieved two gallons of muscadine grapes from the freezer, and simmered them in two batches until the skins released. I set them aside to cool, while I got ready for the day. Back downstairs, I found that Mother had already squeezed juice from one batch.

After lunch, I helped squeeze the second batch of grapes. We got almost a gallon of juice for making jelly. If nothing comes up, we plan to make at least one recipe of jelly tomorrow.

While we were occupied with these projects, Hubbie worked in the yard, including planting a rose bush that Sis brought to Mother recently for a Mother's Day gift. He also called the plumber, because the water was draining slowly at her house. At least once a year, we have to take care of this problem.

Mother and I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in front of TV. Supper was leftover chicken noodle soup from last night, with biscuits and a choice of honey or jelly. I accompanied Mother to her house afterward, and then Hubbie and I wasted time in front of TV.

Tonight, we watched another LMN movie: the 2005 "Forbidden Secrets." A woman separated from her husband moves back to the family home, where her aunt died tragically, and where she almost drowned at the age of six, when her mentally disturbed mother jumped into the swimming pool while clutching her.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Wednesday, May 30

Today is Granddaughter's birthday. Happy Birthday, Granddaughter! It is also Niece's birthday. Happy Birthday, Niece!

Slept late, until around 8 a.m., on this rather dark morning that soon produced thunderstorms. I waited for a while to see if the thunder would stop so I could get on the treadmill. In the meantime, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, before it began raining again.

I washed a couple of quarts of blueberries, which Mother sorted for the freezer. While she did that, I did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises, and Hubbie went to the farmer's market to pick up a gallon of blackberries.

The owner of the market had called earlier to say they had only one gallon today, and if we wanted them, she'd set them aside. Yesterday, while we were at the market, she said she expected berries to arrive sometime later in the afternoon, but all of those were bought by a customer as soon as they arrived.

Once I was ready for the day, I washed the rest of the blueberries, and helped Mother sort them and bag them for the freezer. After lunch, I washed the blackberries, and we bagged three quarts for the freezer. I sugared the other quart to have with ice cream later.

Our next project was to start a pot of chicken simmering for soup later. Mother diced carrots, onions, and celery for this.

Our last kitchen project was cleaning onions from the garden...these were the larger bulbs of the green onions. Hubbie helped with this. I boiled the onions until tender. I plan to use these to make creamed onions for an upcoming meal.

After this, we relaxed and watched a Lifetime Movie Network 2006 film called, "Black Widower." Based on a true story about a charming man who is so well liked that no one suspects him of murder until the mother of his third wife alerts the authorities of her suspicions. Turns out he killed not only this wife, but two others, as well as his mother.

We followed this with another LMN movie, "Lethal Seduction," starring Melanie Griffith. A heartless attorney (Griffith) engages in immigration fraud. A journalist sets out to expose her, but gets more than he bargained for.

Later, when I got ready to finish the chicken noodle soup, I discovered we didn't have any noodles...so it was off to the grocery store for Hubbie. The soup, served with slices of sourdough bread with butter, was delicious, and hit the spot on this rain-cooled evening.

Accompanied Mother home afterward, and helped her take a shower, then threw a load of laundry in the washer. Then Hubbie and I continued watching LMN. This time it was the 2002 movie, "Video Voyeur: The Susan Wilson Story," starring Angie Harmon. Based on a true story, a family moves to Louisiana, and later find that a trusted neigbor has installed video surveillance equipment in their home and is spying on them. The real-life Susan Wilson subsequently fought to make video voyeurism a felony. It's creepy to think that this could actually happen.

Finished our movie marathon with another LMN movie: the 2007 "Tipping Point." A medical student with controlled schizophrenia thinks a patient has been murdered by a doctor, her uncle. She conducted an MRI on the patient and found nothing amiss, but the doctor claims he had a brain tumor that killed him. The doctor tries to cover up by making it appear her schizophrenia has recurred.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Tuesday, May 29

Up around 7:30, and did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises after breakfast. Did this and that around the house after that until around 11 a.m., when I accompanied Mother to our house.

Hubbie went to the garden and pulled all the green onions, which he cleaned in preparation for putting them in the freezer. After lunch, while Hubbie and I ran errands, Mother chopped the onions and bagged them.

Our errands included going to the farmer's market to pick up four more quarts of blueberries for the freezer; to the newspaper office to pick up last week's Thursday and Friday issues; to the greeting card shop for a retirement card and a Father's Day card (Hubbie waited in the car and read the newspapers while I shopped for these); to the pharmacy; to the bank; to a grocery store to pick up cottage cheese; and to another pharmacy store to return the movies we rented yesterday.

In reading one of the newspapers, Hubbie noticed a front page story announcing that our town's former coronor and owner of a funeral home, who was recently shot in the back as he slept, died. The death is under investigation. A few weeks ago, some of the ladies at the pool speculated that he might have accidently shot himself, since he slept with a shotgun. If this unlikely scenario doesn't prove true, then authorities will be looking for a murder suspect.

Later, we had leftovers from last night for supper, and then I accompanied Mother back to her house. Spent the rest of the evening watching TV, including a 2003 Movie Network feature called, "Wall of Secrets." A newlywed couple move into a big city apartment, and soon discover they are being watched by a stranger.





Monday, May 28, 2012

Monday, May 28

Today is Memorial Day. Hope everyone has had a safe holiday. We observed the day by hanging our flag on the well house, and Mother's on her porch.

We were up around 7:30, and I did a treadmill session and resistance exercises after breakfast. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, where we watched a Memorial Day concert on PBS, hosted by Joe Montegna and Gary Sinise. Unfortunately, the concert was cut short by a thunderstorm.

We spent a leisurely morning doing this and that. Mother worked on her jigsaw puzzle, and I threw a load in the washing machine, and then made a peach cobbler to go with our holiday meal, while Hubbie ran errands.

After lunch, Hubbie and I rented a couple of movies that we've been wanting to see..."The Iron Lady," (PG-13) starring Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher; and "War Horse," (PG-13) a WWI war epic, based on a 1982 children's novel by British author Michael Morpurgo, and directed by Steven Spielberg. We also tried to rent "Albert Nobb," starring Glenn Close, but the machine shot out "New Years Eve" instead.

Before we came back home, we stopped at a fast food restaurant to get a couple of free fruity-frosty drinks, which were very tasty.

At home, we watched two of the movies, beginning with "The Iron Lady."

Around 3:30, I started supper cooking...country ribs cooked in a bag in the oven, with new potatoes, and California mix, cooked in the steamer. We enjoyed the meal, served with slices of sourdough bread, while we watched "War Horse."

Both of the movies are excellent, and I recommend them.

After supper, I accompanied Mother to her house, where I helped her take a shower, and then threw a load of laundry in the washer. Back home, Hubbie and I watched the 2011, PG-13, romantic comedy movie, "New Years Eve," starring Michelle Phiffer, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Biel, Ashton Kutcher, Halle Berry, and Robert De Nero. On New Years Eve in New York, the lives of couples and singles intertwine.

An odd movie to watch on Memorial Day, but oh well.

A pleasant day, if not terribly exciting.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Sunday, May 27

Woke up at 6:30, but stayed in bed until Hubbie woke up near 7:30. Once up, I spent some time doing a few things before breakfast, like starting country ribs marinating until tomorrow, and programming the DVR. After breakfast, we got ready to go to a town about 45 minutes away, to visit Hubbie's family at their lake house.

Before we left at 10 a.m., Hubbie hung our American flag on the well house, and Mother's on her porch, in early remembrance of Memorial Day.

There weren't as many family gathered at the lake house as usual...just his daughter and her husband, his granddaughter and her two children, along with her new friend and his two children, plus a nephew and his daughter. Granddaughter's new friend slept most of the afternoon, so we only briefly met him before we had to leave.

Lunch today was deli meat sandwiches, south-of-the-border dip, which I couldn't eat because of the yellow cheese it was made with, avacado dip, salsa and chips, steamed squash, coleslaw, and fruit. Dessert was homemade ice cream that nephew had made, which we had with brownies that Hubbie made last night as our contribution to the meal.

Afterward, we had a good visit until time to head home around 3 p.m. We were back before 5 p.m. I accompanied Mother to her house, and then Hubbie and I settled in to watch TV, including "The Beautiful Country," a four-star, 2004 movie. This excellent film is about a young Vietnamese man, who, because he is of mixed race, is not welcome in his hometown, and is forced to leave. His father was a GI who, for mysterious reasons, abandoned him and his mother. He sets out on a harrowing journey to the U.S., and then to Texas in search of the father. The movie is subtitled in the beginning, but eases into English after awhile.