Saturday, June 1

Today is Granddaughter's birthday. Happy Birthday, Granddaughter!

The first day of a new month...and what a rainy one. If it doesn't stop soon, I'm going to mildew.

We were up around 8 a.m., but it took a while for me get in the mood to exercise, since it was dark and stormy outside. I finally did an abbreviated session of just stair stepping, and then got ready for the day.

Once the rain had stopped, and Hubbie had cleared a path for Mother to walk on, he accompanied her to our house.

This morning, I decided to rescue some items from the refrigerator, before they went completely south. First, I put prunes and orange slices in a jar and poured hot water over them to hydrate and soften them. I remember Mother doing this when I was younger.

Then, I mixed sour milk and soured cottage cheese together and blended them in the blender. I used this to make a ginger cake (which calls for sour milk, anyway. It turned out very well. There's enough of the milk/cottage cheese mixture to make another cake, which I'll do tomorrow or Monday. The cake will go into the freezer for future use. Mother, of course, helped with this project.

After that, we had lunch, and then Mother went to her jigsaw puzzle, and Hubbie and I went downtown to the library to exchange DVDs.

Back home, I accomplished nothing but playing games on my e-tablet. The game that has captured my imagination right now is called "Word," which asks the player to find a word that describes four different pictures. Some of the puzzles are extremely easy, but others are challenging. Moving from level to level earns the player gold coins that can be exchanged for other game apps. I earned a game playing last night. If I don't be careful, I'll waste too much time with this game.

Later, I changed clothes, and we all went down the road to a Master Gardener's farm place for the group's annual picnic. About 30 of us gathered, and of course there was more food than could be consumed.

My potato salad was a good complement to the meal of barbecue, baked beans, and other salads, like carrot, macaroni, and broccoli. There was also a cheesy potato dish, but I avoided that one. There were also all sorts of desserts...a dark chocolate cake, brownies, and another chocolate layer cake, as well as cheesecake, and a frozen cherry dessert.

I got Mother a plate first, and by the time I delivered it to her, I ended up at the back of the line. By the time I got my food, she'd already finished hers. We shared helpings of three kinds of dessert. The only thing lacking at the picnic was coffee. If I'd been thinking, I could have brought a pump pot of it. It sure would have been good on this rain-cooled evening.

The farm house where the picnic was held is a very pleasant place to meet. It is furnished with antique pieces that, while they are suited to the house, are not very comfortable to sit on. There are two polished wood picnic tables in the dining room, and that's where Hubbie had his meal.

The tables crowd the dining room a bit, especially when the benches are pulled out, so in squeezing around them to get into the kitchen, I managed to introduce my face to the antique wall phone, which resulted in a nice bump on my cheekbone near my temple. I expect I'll have a bruise on my face tomorrow.

After everyone had eaten, and we'd visited for a while, the chairman of the food committee announced that there were several cartons of unopened barbecue left over, so she proposed having a drawing for them. Hubbie won one. There were two one-pound Ziplock bags in the carton, so I plan to serve one, along with potato salad for lunch tomorrow. Hubbie also got an unopened package of buns, so Sunday dinner is covered.

As soon as we got home, I accompanied Mother home, and then Hubbie and I finished the evening watching TV.












 

Friday, May 31

Another month gone. They roll by fast these days.

We were awakened a couple of times last night to strong storms, with scary lightning and thunder, and drenching rain. Later, we learned that since Thursday our town has received about 8.50 inches of rain, a record rainfall for this time of the month.

In fact, I think that our county received the most rainfall for the state, though we didn't get the devastating flooding that a county south of us did, where people were killed, and several were injured.

We were up around 8 a.m., and I did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises after breakfast. Before Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, he had to scrape mud off the front porch and hose the porch down, so Mother wouldn't have to walk through it. The downpour and wind last night drove the mud onto the porch.

Once I finished my exercises, I gathered veggies for Mother to dice for making potato salad, and then I went upstairs and got ready for the day. Back downstairs, Mother had just about finished her task, so I began putting together the salad. Got a large and a small bowl of the salad, so I hope folks will eat generous portions tomorrow.

Hubbie indulged in some of it for lunch, but I opted for a fried egg sandwich. Mother had her usual Ramen noodle soup. After lunch, Mother went to her jigsaw puzzle, Hubbie ran errands, and I played on my laptop.

I had $5 in coins from an online bookstore to spend on game apps for my e-tablet, so I spent quite a bit of time choosing some that I think I'll enjoy playing. I didn't spend them all, and will search for more apps another time. I'm interested in trying not only familiar games, but ones that are new to me.

Later, I put together a breakfast casserole for supper...leftover over fired potatoes, egg substitute, a couple of Sis's homemade bread, crumbled, topped with shredded Monterey Jack cheese.

The casserole was baked by 5 p.m., and I served it with canned biscuits and a choice of honey, blueberry jelly, or peach jelly. It was very tasty, and we all enjoyed it.

Hubbie accompanied Mother home afterward, and then we watched TV, including British mysteries on DVD borrowed from the library.

Thursday, May 30

Today is Granddaughter's and Niece's birthday. Happy Birthday to both!

Up around 8 a.m., and did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises after breakfast. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house mid-morning, and she went directly to her puzzle. Hubbie went into the yard to get things done before it started raining.

Once I was ready for the day, I checked the blueberry jelly we made yesterday. As I suspected it would, it failed. I think I know what the problem is. The blueberry juice I bought is not 100% juice, but is a cocktail with the first ingredient listed as water. I'm disappointed that it didn't work, but at least I know now to look for only 100% juices.

I didn't do anything important before lunch. After lunch, Hubbie peeled potatoes, which I boiled. I also boiled several eggs. These will be used to make potato salad tomorrow for a Master Gardener picnic Saturday. While the potatoes and eggs cooked, I made a recipe of spaghetti sauce to simmer for a few hours.

When the potatoes and eggs were cooked and cooling, I went shopping. I wanted to find a couple of pairs of denim Capri pants. I succeeded in finding what I wanted at the first store I stopped at. One pair has rhinestone detailing on the back pockets, which I could do without, but I guess I can live with it. I just hope it doesn't draw too much attention to my ample backside.

While I was at the store, the sky opened up and it poured rain for about fifteen minutes. Naturally, I stayed in the store until it stopped. I kept browsing the clothes, but found nothing else I wanted.

From there, I went to the greeting card shop, where I bought a Father's Day card for Hubbie, as well as a birthday card for Mother to give to him. Tomorrow, I hope to go to a farm supply store, and a home improvement store, to buy gift cards for Hubbie's birthday/Father's Day. I never know what to get for Hubbie, so gift cards are the safest bet.

Not long after I got back home, the sky opened up again. We got about two inches of rain in this storm. Fortunately, we only got rain, with a little thunder and lightning, unlike town in the south part of the state that got tornadoes causing some injuries, quite a bit of property damage, and power outages.

Later, for supper, we had spaghetti and sauce, with a side of green beans. Hubbie accompanied Mother home afterward, and then he and I changed into suitable clothes and attended the visitation for the lady from water aerobics who died on Monday.

We thought the visitation was to be held at a funeral home downtown, but when we arrived, we were told that it was actually in a town about twenty minutes away. So we hurried there. As I expected, there was a long line at the funeral home, because this lady was very well known.

We knew only a few people in attendance, and I was surprised that there weren't more there from water aerobics. Of course, the visitation was scheduled from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., so others we know might have come early, or arrived after we left. Others might have decided to go to the funeral, rather than the visitation.

If I hadn't known the deceased, I certainly wouldn't have recognized her remains. She looked nothing like herself. A few of us speculated on what might have happened to her. One lady said the deceased's husband remarked she had said she wasn't feeling good on Monday, and decided to lie on the couch for a while. In the meantime, he went outdoors to do things. When he returned, he found her dead.

One of the water aerobics members...a nurse...thought that she might have died from a pulmonary embolism, since she had recently had foot problems related to her diabetes. Whatever it was, her death came as a complete shock to us all.

As we were leaving the funeral home, it began raining again, and poured all the way home. It stopped as we got to the driveway, though.

Spent the rest of the evening watching TV, including British mystery movies on DVDs borrowed from the library.

Wednesday, May 29

Up at 8 a.m., and did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises after breakfast. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house mid-morning. She completed a jigsaw puzzle yesterday, so I located another one for her to start. Then I went upstairs to get ready for the day.

Back downstairs, I did this and that around the house, including laundry. Hubbie spent his morning outdoors.

At lunch, Hubbie did the honors of making French toast, which we topped with the blueberry jelly that didn't jell when we made it last week.

After lunch, Mother and I made another batch of blueberry jelly in the automatic jelly/jam maker, this time using lemon juice in the mixture to add acidity. We'll know tomorrow if it worked, but I'm not very hopeful. A partial jar that I did not process in the water bath does not seem to be jelling.

Mother returned to her puzzle after that, and I spent the rest of the afternoon getting summer clothes out of storage, and storing winter clothing. Part of the task was trying on items to see what I can still wear, and what I need to shop for. I found that I need denim crop pants, and I'll shop for some tomorrow.

Once I'd gotten my closet back in order, it was around 3:30, so I relaxed and played with my e-tablet. In checking my social network site, I realized that another of my great-grandchildren graduated from kindergarten recently, so I hurried and made a congratulations greeting card for him.

Later, for supper, we had leftovers again...this time the rest of the barbecued country ribs, macaroni salad, and veggies.

Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house afterward, and then we watched TV, including British comedies on DVD, borrowed from the library.

Tuesday, May 28

Up around 8 a.m., and did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises after breakfast. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house at the regular time, and she worked on a jigsaw puzzle.

Once I was ready for the day, I spent some time text-chatting with Daughter, and then doing this and that around the house.

While I was upstairs, one of the Master Gardeners left a message on the land line asking if I would share photos I'd taken at a recent garden tour. Her camera battery was dead when she went on the tour, and she wanted to take garden photos with her to a plant society meeting tonight. So I hurried to place an order online with the photo center at the WDCS.

For lunch, Mother had her usual Ramen noodle soup, and Hubbie and I settled for PB&J sandwiches, since I couldn't think of anything else. Afterward, Mother went back to her puzzle, and Hubbie and I ran errands.

First stop, the bank, then on to the library to exchange DVD movies, and finally to the WDCS for groceries and other supplies. One thing I wanted to get there was a new canning jar lifter, since I nearly dropped a jar using the old one while making jelly last Friday. I also wanted to pick up the garden photos.

Back home, Hubbie got a call from the dentist's office saying that someone had cancelled their appointment for today, and they could move his appointment up if he wanted to go in shortly after 2 p.m. Hubbie agreed to do that. Before he went to the appointment, he dropped the photos off at the Master Gardener's house.

I whiled the afternoon away reading newspapers, completing this week's word search puzzle contest, and playing on my laptop.

Later, I put leftovers in the oven for our supper...a strange combination of beef stroganoff, oven fried potatoes, and canned spinach and green beans.

Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house after supper, and then around 6:45, we went to a plant society meeting. Hubbie usually doesn't attend these meetings, but the Master Gardener to whom he delivered the photos said that she didn't expect a lot of members to be at the meeting, so she was afraid of a poor showing for a lady who was to travel an hour to speak to the group. Would we agree to go and help fill out the audience?

As it happened, nearly 25 folks did show up. Among them was a lady who has been very ill, and who was supposed to go to a nursing home. She has a large mass in her colon, and tonight, she looked very ill, indeed. But I was glad her friend had brought her to the meeting tonight.

Before the meeting began, we were served refreshments, including strawberry shortcake. I opted for strawberries and topping only, of course.  There were other choices of desserts, too, but they all looked like they had yellow dye in them, so I avoided them. Decaf coffee was the drink, and I had a cup, but wish I'd stuck with water, because the taste of the coffee was ruined by the taste of city water chlorine. Yuk.

The speaker presented a slide program on hydrangeas. She spoke for over an hour, and I learned more than I ever wanted to know about these flowering bushes.

One variety is, interestingly, called a  schizophragma hydrangeoides "Moonlight." Sounds so much like the mental disorder, schizophrenia, that when we returned home, I looked it up. The name comes from the Greek, meaning split walls of the fruit. Schizophrenia is "a splitting of mental functions."

 Spent the rest of the evening watching one-hour shows that I'd recorded on DVD.

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Notes:

Sad: an obituary in tonight's local newspaper announced the death of one of our water aerobics members. The last time I saw her was three weeks ago at the pool. Hubbie saw her two days ago. She was 77 years old, obese, and diabetic. She'd suffered a minor stroke a few years ago, and I wonder if she had a major one that carried her off. Though she was diabetic, she seemed unable to change her eating habits.

We've known this lady for many years. She retired after 35 years working as a cashier at a local grocery store, so she knew just about everybody in our small town.

We'll attend the visitation Thursday evening, though I know it will be crowded.

Note 2: While Hubbie was at the dentist's office, he learned that our hygienist is battling breast cancer. She was diagnosed in February, and has been taking treatments since then. She said she is doing very well.

Note 3: The hygienist told Hubbie that Mother's and my friend, who recently gave me three bags of silk flowers, has somehow ruptured two disks in her back. She is incapacitated and being cared for by her daughter. I don't know how she sustained this injury, so I'll phone her tomorrow for details.

Monday, May 27

Today is Memorial Day. Hope everyone had a safe and happy one, and that we all remembered what the day is really all about.

We started the day by hanging the flag on the well house, as we've done for the past three days in honor of Memorial Day.

We slept late this morning, until after 8 a.m., but after breakfast I did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises. I was ready for the day by around 10 a.m.

Hubbie had accompanied Mother to our house by that time, and I found a couple of jigsaw puzzles for her to work on.

While she did that, I made a congratulations greeting card for a great-grandson who graduated from kindergarten last week.

Later, for lunch, Mother had her usual Ramen noodle soup, and Hubbie and I had leftover burritos, with helpings of macaroni salad.

Mother went back to her puzzle after that, and Hubbie and I watched the 2013 Memorial Day Concert on PBS channel. This was a very moving concert that included a segment on twin brothers who served in Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Upon return from service, one marries and has two kids, while the other does another tour, where he is severely injured. The story is hugely moving, and has a sad ending.

It also includes a segment narrated by the late Charles Durning, recorded last year, in which he relates his experiences serving during World War II. He was highly decorated, though he never mentioned that, of course. But the hosts of the show, Joe Montegna, and Gary Sinese (who narrated the story of the twins), noted that he received a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts.

The program also featured Katherine Jenkins, Alfie Boe (from "Les Miserable"), and Chris Mann, whose beautiful voices were so stirring they brought tears.

Afterward, Hubbie went to the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions, and I read both the Sunday and Monday editions of the state newspaper. When Hubbie returned, he brought with him three cups of frosty ice cream. It was delicious, but after I'd eaten mine, I was chilled to the bone and shivering. A hot cup of coffee, and a long-sleeve shirt warmed me up.

Later, Mother helped me put country ribs in an oven bag, which I put in the oven around 3:30. The ribs had marinated overnight in a mixture made with a cup of crushed pineapple, a third cup of soy sauce, a third cup of honey, a quarter cup of vinegar, two teaspoons of jar garlic, a teaspoon of ground ginger , and a quarter teaspoon of ground cloves.

We removed the ribs from the marinade, put them in the oven bag, and added barbecue sauce. They cooked at 350 degrees for about two hours, until they were tender.They were very good, served with macaroni salad, and corn-on-the-cob leftover from yesterday's lunch.

Afterward, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house, and then we watched mystery movies on DVD's borrowed from the library.

Sunday, May 26

I woke up really early this morning, around 5:30 a.m. Rather than stay in bed until Hubbie woke up, I decided to get up, shower, and get ready for the day. Downstairs,  I spent a quiet couple of hours reading yesterday's state newspaper, and my novel.

Hubbie finally woke up at 8:30. He said he'd had problems going back to sleep after he awoke around 2 a.m.

Sis accompanied Mother to our house early, so we could begin lunch preparations. Hubbie helped, too, by defatting chicken breasts, and then peeling potatoes.

I seasoned the chicken and put it in the slow cooker, and Mother and Sis fixed two large dishes of diced potatoes with onions and spices for the oven. Mother also made coleslaw. After that, all that remained was to wait for the meal to cook.

Before family arrived, I boiled corn-on-the-cob, and Sis sliced her homemade white and wheat breads. At noon, everyone was here, and eight of us, plus a one-year-old baby, sat down to eat. The meal was a hit, obviously, because the ladies asked for the recipes.

For dessert, we had the pineapple/angel food cake I made yesterday, with whipped topping. The ladies had seen the recipe for this on their social network pages, as I did, so they were interested in sampling it to see if they'd like to make it. It was a success.

Family didn't linger after lunch, since they wanted to get back to Niece's house to continue putting things away and getting organized.

After they left, Hubbie, Mother, Sis, and I watched a PG movie I picked up for a dollar at the local book/movie store..."Life of Pi." This wonderful story is about a young man from India, whose father decides to move the family to Canada after the city closes the zoo that the family runs. The animals belong to the family, but are to be sold in Canada.

They board a Japanese cargo ship that encounters a storm at sea, becomes disabled, and sinks. The main character, Pi, is the only one to survive, besides a few of the zoo animals. The plot revolves around the relationship between Pi and a Bengal tiger on a lifeboat. The premise is improbable of course, but the story is so well told that it's very easy to suspend disbelief. The effects in this movie are spectacular. It's a very moving tale, and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.

Not long after the movie, Sis was ready to hit the road to her house. Around 5 p.m., Mother was ready for a bite of supper, so I heated Ramen noodle soup for her, and Hubbie and I had chicken salad sandwiches.

TV fare tonight was one-hour crime shows.