Wednesday, April 24

Something happened with my blog last night...when I tried to post it, the whole thing deleted. So here goes again:

We were up at 6:30, so I could get ready for water aerobics. Br-r-r, really cold morning requiring a fleece outfit and fleece hoodie, as well as a jacket, hat, and gloves. The pool was reasonably warm, though, and about fifteen of us enjoyed the session.

I talked with our neighbor lady, who recently joined aerobics, to tell her that I was nearly hit by an oncoming car when I tried to exit the driveway this morning, because I absolutely can't see cars coming around the curve with all that undergrowth and a fallen tree in the lot to the right of our property.

She said she is perfectly willing for us to remove the obstruction, but that she doesn't have anyone to do it. We can't do it alone, either, so we'll probably have to hire someone to do it. I really think it should be her responsibility, but I guess she just doesn't feel compelled to do it. Maybe she's not legally responsible. But if we are to preserve life and limb, I guess we'll have to deal with it ourselves...because I don't really want to come close to being smashed again like I was this morning.

Back home, I relaxed with a cup of coffee. In the meantime, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house. She was gung-ho to get started in the kitchen, so Hubbie gathered ingredients for her to make pimento cheese. Hubbie wanted a job to do, too, so I asked him to peel potatoes.

I really meant to shower and dress before I did kitchen duty, but since things were underway, I quartered the potatoes and set them to boiling. Boiled several eggs, too. These were to be cooled overnight for making potato salad tomorrow.

Once the food was cooked, I finally headed upstairs. By the time I was ready for the day, it was already noon. After lunch, I decided we should go to another town about 40 minutes away to buy strawberries. Our favorite roadside vendor had called this morning to let us know she wouldn't have berries until Saturday, and I wanted some for the weekend.

I phoned ahead to make sure berries were plentiful in the other town, and then we headed out. Mother went along for the ride, since it was such a nice sunny day. It was a pleasant trip past pastures of cattle, horses, ponies, donkeys, and goats, and fields spread with red clover, and yellow and blue wildflowers.

We were back home around 3 p.m. The plumber was here, hard at work unclogging Mother's sewer line. We were already down the road to the other town before we remembered that Hubbie had called him this morning after Mother complained that when she used the washer, the water backed up in the sinks, etc. It has only been a month or so since the plumber was here last for that same problem. This time, he said the fitting at the unit itself had not been glued when the mobile home was installed, so it had slid apart, leaving only a small opening for waste to travel. What was not going into the line was landing on the ground. He fixed that, but the line still needs to be replaced, and he's to return soon to do that.

Mother and I relaxed for a few minutes, and I read last night's local newspaper. The lead story was about the incident that was going on at the motel yesterday as we were on our way to town:

We noticed eight or ten sheriff's vehicles there, and we wondered what was happening (suspected a drug bust), and tonight's newspaper explained it: seems there was a standoff as a man in a vehicle held a gun to his head and threatened to kill himself. It took a hostage negotiator over an hour to talk him out of the locked car (which he is suspected of stealing). Earlier, a portion of the road had been blocked, and spectators at a nearby convenience store had been warned to stay inside the store. A church school across the street was in lockdown. By the time we passed the scene, I guess officers had the situation in hand.

Right up the road, there were a couple of other sheriff's cars, with officers working an accident. We were routed around a truck with the front end smashed, but we didn't see the other vehicle. No story in the paper about it, though.

Later, Mother and I headed to the kitchen to prepare supper. She diced onions and bell peppers, and I browned pork chops for about fifteen minutes, then added spices (chili powder, no-salt seasoning, paprika, and pepper), the onions and peppers, long-grain rice, and canned diced tomatoes. Topped the mixture with Monterey Jack cheese after it cooked. We had the meal with a side of whole kernel corn, and biscuits leftover from last night's supper.

Hubbie accompanied Mother home afterward, and then he and I watched TV until bedtime.