Up at 7:30, but postponed my exercises after breakfast so that Hubbie and I could take the truck downtown to claim a parking space on Main Street, the river water carnival parade route later. Actually, I thought the parade was at 10 a.m., but discovered when we got back home that it was at 2 p.m. I don't know why I made that mistake, since the correct time was clearly recorded on my calendar.
Anyway, Hubbie drove the truck, and I drove the van downtown, and when he'd parked the truck in a parking lot space closest to Main Street, we rode back home in the van. The game plan was for all of us to ride in the van this afternoon, and then Hubbie would back the truck out of the space, and I would pull into it. Later, the plan went off without a hitch, and Mother had an unobstructed view of the parade.
Back home, I changed into exercise clothes and did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises. In the meantime, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house, and she went to her puzzle.
By the time I was ready for the day, it was near noon, so I heated the remainder of the New England stew and biscuits.
Goofed off until 1:30, and then went to the parade. What a glorious day for it...cool, with low humidity. The parade, which featured the usual complement of emergency vehicles, police cars, fire trucks, beauty queens, politicians, antique cars, horses and riders, etc.
A couple of floats cleverly interpreted the parade theme of "Remember the Magic." One, sponsored by a bank, featured a huge replica of Superman, with other folks dressed in favorite super hero costumes.
The local community theater mounted a dramatic float of colorful costumed characters from their various productions over the years...Beauty and the Beast, The Wizard of Oz, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, etc. The float itself was covered in black, so the characters stood out against it. Music from the productions played, and as each song came on, the characters from that production got up and performed. It was very well done, and I hope it's this year's winning float.
One of the bands got into the spirit of things by performing the Batman theme.
We chose a good spot from which to watch the parade, because the dance studio students performed there, and high school stepper groups went though their routines. I'm thinking a judge or two might have been in the area.
The parade lasted about 45 minutes, including delays for performances. As soon as it was over, we made good our escape. Hubbie went to the parked truck, and I was one of the first to exit the parking lot. We were back home by 3 p.m.
Hubbie drove the truck to a filling station before coming home. Then shortly after he arrived, he decided to go grocery shopping. I didn't want to go, since I would soon need to start supper.
While he was gone, I gathered onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms for Mother to dice. I sauteed them for omelets, while Mother shredded cheese.
Hubbie returned about 4:30, and by that time, I had the omelets in Ziplock bags and on the stove in boiling water.
Near suppertime, I made toast, which Mother buttered. We had the omelets with garden tomatoes topped with cottage cheese. The cottage cheese that Hubbie brought home is not our favorite brand, but it's passable. It tastes fine, though I'm not crazy about the consistency.
While we enjoyed supper, we watched our favorite college football team play. I'd recorded the game on DVR. Once supper was over, though, Mother was ready to go home, so Hubbie accompanied her.
He didn't miss any of the game, because in the middle of it, cable went out for a couple of minutes, and I had to fast-forward through quite a bit of the game. No sooner had I come to the point where we left off then the cable went off again, and I had to fast-forward through all of it again.
Our team did great right up to the final quarter, when it all went south, and we lost. Phooey.
After that, we watched episodes of "One Tree Hill."
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Friday, September 20, 2013
Friday, Sept. 20
Up at 7 a.m., because we were expecting a lady to come by at 10 a.m. to look at and measure the stairwell, the upstairs bathroom, and the kitchen for painting. We've had trouble finding anyone willing to remove wall paper, but this lady will do it.
I skipped my exercises and just went ahead got dressed and cleaned the bathroom. Downstairs, Around 9:30, though, the lady called to say she'd been delayed and it would be around 2 p.m. before she could come.
Hubbie accompanied Mother our house, and she worked on her puzzle, while Hubbie and I went to the paint store to look at samples. I brought some home and chose colors for the three areas. I hate doing this, since I'm always afraid I'll hate my choices once they are on the wall. But paint is sale priced at 40% off for the next few days, so I felt like I had to hurry and choose colors.
Back home, I fixed lunch, and afterward we all relaxed for the afternoon until the lady came to look at the wall paper and measure the walls.
Didn't do much after that for the rest of the afternoon, except run a couple of errands.
Later for supper we had leftover New England stew, with a choice of cornbread or biscuits. Got a call from Grandson afterward. We had a nice chat about his new baby, my newest great-granddaughter. Grandson plans to bring his family for a visit in a couple of weeks, when the baby's mother is up to it, and when his mom and dad, both of whom are ailing right now, begin feeling better.
Also got a call from our water aerobics leader, who said that the pool will be closed again next week, while the powers that be at the college decide whether or not to re-open the pool at all again. Seems they think maintaining it is a drain on finances. Drat it! I'm going to be mighty downhearted if I can't go swimming anymore.
Our town is in the process of building a community center and recreation complex that will include a therapy pool, as well as a regular pool, but they aren't projected to be completed for another year or so.
Mother was ready to go home around 7 p.m., so Hubbie accompanied her. Then we watched episodes of "One Tree Hill."
I skipped my exercises and just went ahead got dressed and cleaned the bathroom. Downstairs, Around 9:30, though, the lady called to say she'd been delayed and it would be around 2 p.m. before she could come.
Hubbie accompanied Mother our house, and she worked on her puzzle, while Hubbie and I went to the paint store to look at samples. I brought some home and chose colors for the three areas. I hate doing this, since I'm always afraid I'll hate my choices once they are on the wall. But paint is sale priced at 40% off for the next few days, so I felt like I had to hurry and choose colors.
Back home, I fixed lunch, and afterward we all relaxed for the afternoon until the lady came to look at the wall paper and measure the walls.
Didn't do much after that for the rest of the afternoon, except run a couple of errands.
Later for supper we had leftover New England stew, with a choice of cornbread or biscuits. Got a call from Grandson afterward. We had a nice chat about his new baby, my newest great-granddaughter. Grandson plans to bring his family for a visit in a couple of weeks, when the baby's mother is up to it, and when his mom and dad, both of whom are ailing right now, begin feeling better.
Also got a call from our water aerobics leader, who said that the pool will be closed again next week, while the powers that be at the college decide whether or not to re-open the pool at all again. Seems they think maintaining it is a drain on finances. Drat it! I'm going to be mighty downhearted if I can't go swimming anymore.
Our town is in the process of building a community center and recreation complex that will include a therapy pool, as well as a regular pool, but they aren't projected to be completed for another year or so.
Mother was ready to go home around 7 p.m., so Hubbie accompanied her. Then we watched episodes of "One Tree Hill."
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Thursday, Sept. 19
Up around 8 a.m. I didn't immediately exercise after breakfast, but lazed for a while. In the meantime, Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house. She was in a mood to get right in the kitchen and go to work, so I gathered veggies for making my version of New England stew.
While she prepared carrots, celery, onions, and banana peppers, I sauteed stew beef in olive oil and spices, and Hubbie quartered a head of cabbage and peeled potatoes.
I put all the ingredients in the large slow cooker, layering them first with the beef, then the veggies Mother prepared, then the potatoes (quartered), and then the cabbage. Poured cans of low-sodium beef and chickens broths over all, and let the meal cook all day.
After that, I washed green beans from the garden, and Mother snapped them. I seasoned them and set them to simmering. These are probably the last of the beans from the garden. The okra has slowed down, too, but the banana peppers are still coming on strong.
While this was going on, a young lady knocked on the door. Her car had run out of gas, and she was parked in our driveway. She needed to get to class at the college down the road, so Hubbie drove her. After her class, she walked back to our house (less than a mile), and Hubbie put lawn mower gas in her car, so she could get to the nearest gas station. He also gave her a little money to put enough gas in her car to get home.
She told him she was divorced, with three kids, and she's studying to become a psychologist. She assured Hubbie that she would get paid tomorrow and would come by our house again tomorrow to repay the money, but Hubbie told her to forget it. Her car's tires are bald, so he said to apply the money toward getting new tires.
Finally, I got around to doing stair stepping exercises, though I skipped the resistance and weights session. It was lunch time by the time I came back downstairs. Before I went up, I put potatoes in the oven to bake. These were some that were about to go south, so to keep from throwing them away, I decided they'd make a good lunch. And they did.
Mother went back to her puzzle afterward, Hubbie ran errands, and I did this and that around the house, and then settled in to read newspapers.
Later, I put a recipe of cornbread and a can of biscuits in the oven, and served supper at the usual 5 p.m. hour. The stew is a favorite and was delicious tonight. There's enough for supper tomorrow night, too.
Hubbie accompanied Mother home afterward, and then around 7:15, we went to the college where I swim to attend a lecture program. The speaker, a digital artist, presented a program about his life and work. In 2002, he was mistakenly put on a terror watch list due to racial profiling, even though he is an American citizen.
After that, he made his life an open book, reporting his every move in minute detail, through postings and photos (to the point of comedy), to an FBI agent he kept in contact with. He has based some of his artistic installations on this incident.
He also spoke about how art has translated into practical applications. One example he noted was an artist who decided to go around his town with a camera mounted on a tripod on top of his van and photograph streets. This exhibit was later applied to Google maps.
Another artist studied the elements of hazardous waste dumps, and discovered that a type of sunflower has the ability to absorb lead. So he and his helpers donned protective suits and created an art project at a toxic waste dump using the plants. Now, this type of sunflower is used to make lead-contaminated soil safe.
He also spoke of artists who create camouflage for the military. For the Vietnam war, camouflage was of course in colors of green and beige to match the terrain. For the war in Afghanistan, though, artists created a two-color grid "desert night camouflage," in order to fool night vision goggles.
So often these days, art is at the whim of the economy and is one of the first things to be cut or diminished in schools. But this speaker confirmed my belief that the arts are essential. From great artistic creations come great advances for humankind.
Back home afterward, we watched a couple of episodes of "One Tree Hill."
While she prepared carrots, celery, onions, and banana peppers, I sauteed stew beef in olive oil and spices, and Hubbie quartered a head of cabbage and peeled potatoes.
I put all the ingredients in the large slow cooker, layering them first with the beef, then the veggies Mother prepared, then the potatoes (quartered), and then the cabbage. Poured cans of low-sodium beef and chickens broths over all, and let the meal cook all day.
After that, I washed green beans from the garden, and Mother snapped them. I seasoned them and set them to simmering. These are probably the last of the beans from the garden. The okra has slowed down, too, but the banana peppers are still coming on strong.
While this was going on, a young lady knocked on the door. Her car had run out of gas, and she was parked in our driveway. She needed to get to class at the college down the road, so Hubbie drove her. After her class, she walked back to our house (less than a mile), and Hubbie put lawn mower gas in her car, so she could get to the nearest gas station. He also gave her a little money to put enough gas in her car to get home.
She told him she was divorced, with three kids, and she's studying to become a psychologist. She assured Hubbie that she would get paid tomorrow and would come by our house again tomorrow to repay the money, but Hubbie told her to forget it. Her car's tires are bald, so he said to apply the money toward getting new tires.
Finally, I got around to doing stair stepping exercises, though I skipped the resistance and weights session. It was lunch time by the time I came back downstairs. Before I went up, I put potatoes in the oven to bake. These were some that were about to go south, so to keep from throwing them away, I decided they'd make a good lunch. And they did.
Mother went back to her puzzle afterward, Hubbie ran errands, and I did this and that around the house, and then settled in to read newspapers.
Later, I put a recipe of cornbread and a can of biscuits in the oven, and served supper at the usual 5 p.m. hour. The stew is a favorite and was delicious tonight. There's enough for supper tomorrow night, too.
Hubbie accompanied Mother home afterward, and then around 7:15, we went to the college where I swim to attend a lecture program. The speaker, a digital artist, presented a program about his life and work. In 2002, he was mistakenly put on a terror watch list due to racial profiling, even though he is an American citizen.
After that, he made his life an open book, reporting his every move in minute detail, through postings and photos (to the point of comedy), to an FBI agent he kept in contact with. He has based some of his artistic installations on this incident.
He also spoke about how art has translated into practical applications. One example he noted was an artist who decided to go around his town with a camera mounted on a tripod on top of his van and photograph streets. This exhibit was later applied to Google maps.
Another artist studied the elements of hazardous waste dumps, and discovered that a type of sunflower has the ability to absorb lead. So he and his helpers donned protective suits and created an art project at a toxic waste dump using the plants. Now, this type of sunflower is used to make lead-contaminated soil safe.
He also spoke of artists who create camouflage for the military. For the Vietnam war, camouflage was of course in colors of green and beige to match the terrain. For the war in Afghanistan, though, artists created a two-color grid "desert night camouflage," in order to fool night vision goggles.
So often these days, art is at the whim of the economy and is one of the first things to be cut or diminished in schools. But this speaker confirmed my belief that the arts are essential. From great artistic creations come great advances for humankind.
Back home afterward, we watched a couple of episodes of "One Tree Hill."
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Wednesday, Sept. 18
Up at 7:30, and did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises after breakfast. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house around 9:30, and she went to her jigsaw puzzle.
Niece called around that time, so I spent a long time chatting with her before getting ready for the day. By the time I was dressed, it was noon.
We had various leftovers for lunch, and then Mother went back to her jigsaw puzzle, I worked at my office computer, and Hubbie occupied himself downstairs.
Shortly after 2 p.m., Mother and I went to our friend's house to visit with her and another friend who is visiting for a few days from a town about an hour and a half away. Since both ladies have recently had birthdays (I sent handmade cards to them), I gifted each of them with jars of wine jelly.
When these two friends get together, they entertain themselves with a movie marathon, so tonight they'll try the wine jelly with cream cheese on crackers, as well as glasses of wine. Hope they like the jelly.
Back home, Mother made salads, while I heated the leftover spaghetti and sauce. The meal was just as good tonight as it was last night.
Afterward, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house, and then he and I watched episodes of "One Tree Hill."
Niece called around that time, so I spent a long time chatting with her before getting ready for the day. By the time I was dressed, it was noon.
We had various leftovers for lunch, and then Mother went back to her jigsaw puzzle, I worked at my office computer, and Hubbie occupied himself downstairs.
Shortly after 2 p.m., Mother and I went to our friend's house to visit with her and another friend who is visiting for a few days from a town about an hour and a half away. Since both ladies have recently had birthdays (I sent handmade cards to them), I gifted each of them with jars of wine jelly.
When these two friends get together, they entertain themselves with a movie marathon, so tonight they'll try the wine jelly with cream cheese on crackers, as well as glasses of wine. Hope they like the jelly.
Back home, Mother made salads, while I heated the leftover spaghetti and sauce. The meal was just as good tonight as it was last night.
Afterward, Hubbie accompanied Mother to her house, and then he and I watched episodes of "One Tree Hill."
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Tuesday, Sept. 17
Up around 8 a.m., and did stair stepping exercises after breakfast. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house around 9:30.
Once I was ready for the day, I did this and that until lunch time. Lunch today was leftover chicken and dumplings, with fresh pineapple for dessert.
After lunch, I started a pot of spaghetti sauce simmering, and then Hubbie and I went to the college where I swim to attend a drop-in cake and coffee event, sponsored by the friends of the library, honoring the head librarian's 25th year there.
While I was at the library, I browsed the DVD section and saw several movies we'd like to see. When we finish the "One Tree Hill" series, I think we'll take advantage of the college library movies.
Back home, I called one of the scrapbook members to let her know that the other member will not be able to come to the scheduled meeting Thursday. That means this lady will have no transportation to our house. So I decided to cancel the meeting for this month, which is just as well, since there are other things I need to be doing this week.
Soon after I talked to this lady, the doctor's office called to say that Mother's lab tests were good, except that she has a slight kidney problem. It's suspected that she is dehydrated (so what's new...I can't seem to get her to drink enough water). Her doctor would like her to hydrate a lot and then return to the clinic in a couple of months for another lab test.
Learned from my social network page that a new great-grandbaby will join the family tonight or tomorrow. It's a girl, with the beautiful name of Lilly Carlene.
Spent the rest of the afternoon on the computer and reading newspapers.
Later, Mother cut up lettuce and veggies for salads, and I cooked spaghetti. Served the meal with cottage cheese, bread and butter.
Hubbie accompanied Mother home afterward, and then he and I went to the college library again for another Friends of the Library event: a professor of the college, who lectured on Nordic detective fiction.
This talk had nothing to do with Vikings, but rather about the dark and brooding contemporary detective fiction from Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, that is finding an audience in America. I'm unfamiliar with most of that genre, except for the BBC mystery series, "Wallender."
An American mystery series that is similar is "The Killing." Hubbie and I watched a few episodes of that, but couldn't get into it. It was eventually cancelled, so I guess it didn't resonate with other viewers, either.
The one thing that these types of detective stories have in common is the bleakness of the weather...dark and rainy. "Wallender," stories, for instance, seems always to be in a permanent twilight. The speaker pointed to the very dark, rainy opening scenes of "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," a 2011 film.
After the talk, there was a reception, with fresh fruit and the remainder of the cake from this afternoon. There was also a drawing for door prizes. I won a college logo key chain. I would have liked the $20 gift certificate to a local cafe' or even the college logo mug, but the key chain is nice, too.
Embarrassing: we've always been annoyed by folks who fail to silence their cell phones at events. This time, it was Hubble who didn't, so of course it rang right in the middle of speaker's talk. His sister had chosen that time to call.
Back home, we watched episodes of "One Tree Hill."
Once I was ready for the day, I did this and that until lunch time. Lunch today was leftover chicken and dumplings, with fresh pineapple for dessert.
After lunch, I started a pot of spaghetti sauce simmering, and then Hubbie and I went to the college where I swim to attend a drop-in cake and coffee event, sponsored by the friends of the library, honoring the head librarian's 25th year there.
While I was at the library, I browsed the DVD section and saw several movies we'd like to see. When we finish the "One Tree Hill" series, I think we'll take advantage of the college library movies.
Back home, I called one of the scrapbook members to let her know that the other member will not be able to come to the scheduled meeting Thursday. That means this lady will have no transportation to our house. So I decided to cancel the meeting for this month, which is just as well, since there are other things I need to be doing this week.
Soon after I talked to this lady, the doctor's office called to say that Mother's lab tests were good, except that she has a slight kidney problem. It's suspected that she is dehydrated (so what's new...I can't seem to get her to drink enough water). Her doctor would like her to hydrate a lot and then return to the clinic in a couple of months for another lab test.
Learned from my social network page that a new great-grandbaby will join the family tonight or tomorrow. It's a girl, with the beautiful name of Lilly Carlene.
Spent the rest of the afternoon on the computer and reading newspapers.
Later, Mother cut up lettuce and veggies for salads, and I cooked spaghetti. Served the meal with cottage cheese, bread and butter.
Hubbie accompanied Mother home afterward, and then he and I went to the college library again for another Friends of the Library event: a professor of the college, who lectured on Nordic detective fiction.
This talk had nothing to do with Vikings, but rather about the dark and brooding contemporary detective fiction from Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, that is finding an audience in America. I'm unfamiliar with most of that genre, except for the BBC mystery series, "Wallender."
An American mystery series that is similar is "The Killing." Hubbie and I watched a few episodes of that, but couldn't get into it. It was eventually cancelled, so I guess it didn't resonate with other viewers, either.
The one thing that these types of detective stories have in common is the bleakness of the weather...dark and rainy. "Wallender," stories, for instance, seems always to be in a permanent twilight. The speaker pointed to the very dark, rainy opening scenes of "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," a 2011 film.
After the talk, there was a reception, with fresh fruit and the remainder of the cake from this afternoon. There was also a drawing for door prizes. I won a college logo key chain. I would have liked the $20 gift certificate to a local cafe' or even the college logo mug, but the key chain is nice, too.
Embarrassing: we've always been annoyed by folks who fail to silence their cell phones at events. This time, it was Hubble who didn't, so of course it rang right in the middle of speaker's talk. His sister had chosen that time to call.
Back home, we watched episodes of "One Tree Hill."
Monday, September 16, 2013
Monday, Sept. 16
Up around 7:30, and did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises after breakfast. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house around 9:30, then he went out to the garden to pick the remainder of the green tomatoes.
The tomatoes are very small, so I decided they should be cubed and put into the freezer. Mother wanted to do that job, so while she worked, I got ready for the day. Then she went to her jigsaw puzzle.
Back downstairs, I did this and that around the house, including a couple of loads of laundry, and then fixed a lunch of Ramen noodle soup for Mother, and chicken sandwiches, served with cheese dip and chips for Hubbie and me.
Afterward, I spent time preparing snail-mail (a birthday card for a great-granddaughter, a memorial gift to a local organization, coupons to a granddaughter), answering e-mails, making phone calls, working at the office computer upstairs, etc. Downstairs, I read today's newspapers, and relaxed until time to prepare supper.
Supper was leftover chicken and dumplings, and squash casserole, plus canned English peas, and slices of homemade bread.
Hubbie accompanied Mother home afterward, and then he and I watched episodes of "One Tree Hill."
The tomatoes are very small, so I decided they should be cubed and put into the freezer. Mother wanted to do that job, so while she worked, I got ready for the day. Then she went to her jigsaw puzzle.
Back downstairs, I did this and that around the house, including a couple of loads of laundry, and then fixed a lunch of Ramen noodle soup for Mother, and chicken sandwiches, served with cheese dip and chips for Hubbie and me.
Afterward, I spent time preparing snail-mail (a birthday card for a great-granddaughter, a memorial gift to a local organization, coupons to a granddaughter), answering e-mails, making phone calls, working at the office computer upstairs, etc. Downstairs, I read today's newspapers, and relaxed until time to prepare supper.
Supper was leftover chicken and dumplings, and squash casserole, plus canned English peas, and slices of homemade bread.
Hubbie accompanied Mother home afterward, and then he and I watched episodes of "One Tree Hill."
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Sunday, Sept. 15
Slept late, until 8 a.m. Skipped my exercises after breakfast, as usual on Sunday. Hubbie accompanied Mother to our house around 9 a.m., and she diced veggies for chicken. I added broth and spices and started the chicken simmering.
I wanted to use three yellow squashes and one zucchini, so Mother sliced them, and diced an onion, and we put together a casserole. The casserole uses an egg, crushed crackers, and spices, including garlic powder, plus shredded cheese (we used Monterey Jack). The whole recipe is guesswork, and depends on the number of squashes used. I boiled the squash until they were tender, then Mother mashed them. For that amount of squash, we used a dozen no-salt crackers. The other ingredients are "to taste" (garlic powder, no salt seasoning, pepper, and paprika, and about a cup of shredded cheese). Mix all ingredients, except the cheese, and put in a Pam sprayed two quart casserole. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 35-45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.
When the casserole was ready for the oven, I went upstairs and got ready for the day. It was after 11 a.m. by the time I came back downstairs. So I put the casserole in the oven, then gathered ingredients for making dumplings. Once I had the dough ready, Mother rolled it out and cut it into bite-size dumplings.
Hubbie had peeled potatoes, and I set them to boiling, and then removed the chicken from the pot, and began cooking the dumplings. It takes a while to do this, since I only put a few in the broth at a time (to keep them from sticking together, and then cook them for five minutes.
The potatoes were cooked by the time the dumplings were done, so I mashed them, and set the table. In the meantime, Mother sliced Sis's homemade bread. This carb-loaded meal was so yummy. Mother even asked for more dumplings. In fact, we all ate a few more.
The casserole was delicious, too. It's been a long time since I've thought to make it, so we really enjoyed it. For some reason, Sis doesn't like this dish, but we think it's awesome.
After lunch, we decided an outing was in order. Our library DVDs were due, so we took them back and got two more seasons of "One Tree Hill." Then we stopped by the greeting card shop, where there was a trunk show going on.
We could see without getting out of the van that there was nothing of interest there, so we didn't bother to get Mother into her wheelchair. But Hubbie and I walked by the booths, where vendors were selling jewelry, totes, and beauty products.
Five minutes later, we were on our way. We decided a treat would be nice, so we went to a fast food restaurant to get cups of soft serve ice cream. Hubbie drove to the river, where we enjoyed the ice cream and watched folks fishing, playing with their children on the sand bar, or just watching the river flow over the dam, like we were doing.
From there, we stopped by the grocery store to buy cartons of yogurt for Mother. Came back home after that and watched a Hallmark movie, a couple of one-hour shows, and the news. Mother was ready to go home after that, so Hubbie accompanied her.
Then he and I spent the evening watching episodes of "One Tree Hill."
I wanted to use three yellow squashes and one zucchini, so Mother sliced them, and diced an onion, and we put together a casserole. The casserole uses an egg, crushed crackers, and spices, including garlic powder, plus shredded cheese (we used Monterey Jack). The whole recipe is guesswork, and depends on the number of squashes used. I boiled the squash until they were tender, then Mother mashed them. For that amount of squash, we used a dozen no-salt crackers. The other ingredients are "to taste" (garlic powder, no salt seasoning, pepper, and paprika, and about a cup of shredded cheese). Mix all ingredients, except the cheese, and put in a Pam sprayed two quart casserole. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 35-45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.
When the casserole was ready for the oven, I went upstairs and got ready for the day. It was after 11 a.m. by the time I came back downstairs. So I put the casserole in the oven, then gathered ingredients for making dumplings. Once I had the dough ready, Mother rolled it out and cut it into bite-size dumplings.
Hubbie had peeled potatoes, and I set them to boiling, and then removed the chicken from the pot, and began cooking the dumplings. It takes a while to do this, since I only put a few in the broth at a time (to keep them from sticking together, and then cook them for five minutes.
The potatoes were cooked by the time the dumplings were done, so I mashed them, and set the table. In the meantime, Mother sliced Sis's homemade bread. This carb-loaded meal was so yummy. Mother even asked for more dumplings. In fact, we all ate a few more.
The casserole was delicious, too. It's been a long time since I've thought to make it, so we really enjoyed it. For some reason, Sis doesn't like this dish, but we think it's awesome.
After lunch, we decided an outing was in order. Our library DVDs were due, so we took them back and got two more seasons of "One Tree Hill." Then we stopped by the greeting card shop, where there was a trunk show going on.
We could see without getting out of the van that there was nothing of interest there, so we didn't bother to get Mother into her wheelchair. But Hubbie and I walked by the booths, where vendors were selling jewelry, totes, and beauty products.
Five minutes later, we were on our way. We decided a treat would be nice, so we went to a fast food restaurant to get cups of soft serve ice cream. Hubbie drove to the river, where we enjoyed the ice cream and watched folks fishing, playing with their children on the sand bar, or just watching the river flow over the dam, like we were doing.
From there, we stopped by the grocery store to buy cartons of yogurt for Mother. Came back home after that and watched a Hallmark movie, a couple of one-hour shows, and the news. Mother was ready to go home after that, so Hubbie accompanied her.
Then he and I spent the evening watching episodes of "One Tree Hill."
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