The Journey Continues...Fishing & Gardening, May 24-30

Monday, May 24

We started the day with kayaks.  We were on the water at 8:15 am for a little fishing expedition.  At Orange Beach we go for the BIG redfish. On Melton Hill Lake we go for the LITTLE bluegills.  We paddles across the lake and fished the north bank.  I always like to paddle at least as far as the first cove just to see what I can see.  Not much stirring this Monday morning, but I was serenaded by many birds.  I caught 4 little bluegills and Bill caught 3, nothing keeper size.  I guess we won't be having fresh fish for supper tonight.

Ready for the day's adventure

I love this beautiful lake on a quiet weekday morning

Bill enjoys fishing, for bigs or littles

The water was very clear this morning

Six of our catch looked just like this one.  One was even smaller

Deep in the cove

I planned on making strawberry jam in the afternoon. However, I discovered that the berries that I bought on Saturday had molded.  After culling and trimming, I didn't have enough for jam.  I put them in the freezer stead, reserving a few for cereal this week.

Since I was set on fish for supper, I found some tuna steaks in the freezer.  I marinated them in my favorite dressing, sauted them and served them with new potatoes & salad.

Tuesday, May 28

Back to the garden this morning, or rather, the flower beds. Bill continued his pallet by pallet cleaning and repainting the deck.  Each afternoon, he scrubs 3 pallets. The next morning, he paints those and then cleans 3 more.

This short 8 sec video is of my garden companion. You can hear the cicadas singing.  https://youtu.be/ib3kob1eFTY

Cicadas are everywhere, singing loudly

I met Bonnie for lunch at Ruby T's and then went to the grocery.  The last errand was to pick up LeRoy from the vet.  We will keep him until the Matzeks return from vacation on Saturday.  I came home with chicken thighs, so that what we had for supper, air-fried, served with the last of the purple hull peas from last summer and salad from our garden lettuce.

Wednesday, May 26

I more or less finished weeding the flower bed this morning while Bill continued his work on the deck.  After lunch I made some progress cleaning off my desk, filing and tossing papers.

For supper we had Ruby's Salmon.

View from my garden bench

Rosemary enough for the county and beyond

Herbs -Purple sage, Parsley, Thai basil, Holy basil, St. John's Wort

Thursday, May 27

I went back to the garden this morning for a couple of hours of odd jobs. After cleaning up, I went to town for groceries and errands.  I needed to buy supplies for a mission food bucket and deliver them to the church.  These buckets are shipped to Africa to support a children's school ministry.  

After lunch, Bill took the boat for a spin up the lake to make sure it was in good running order for summer.  I enjoyed the ride-along on a hot afternoon.

Every day for the last week, afternoon highs have been 90+, more like mid-summer than late spring.  No rain for more than 2 weeks, but it's in the forecast for tomorrow.

The SEC Baseball tournament started yesterday with Vols losing to Alabama after a controversial call.  If it had gone differently, we would have won. This morning, we beat Mississippi State by 10 on a run-rule call.  I heard the game off & on on the radio.

Fried rice with chicken and pork loin was tonight's supper choice.

Lettuce & spinach.  A bell pepper is near the stick

Friday, May 28

The day started just a bit cooler and cloudy, with a cold front on the  way. Rain is predicted and badly needed.  We had made plans with Bonnie for streaks on the grill and Vol baseball later this afternoon.  Because of predicted storms, the game was moved up to 11 am.  Accordingly, we moved our steak dinner up to lunch and Bonnie came out for the game.  Bols had a great win over Alabama to revenge Wednesday's loss. The game ended by run-rule after 7 innings.  As soon as the game was over, Bill put the steaks on the grill.  I had new potatoes and salad ready.  We enjoyed the game, the meal, and visiting with Bonnie.

No need for much supper after that big lunch.  We got some much needed rain late in the afternoon and overnight.

Saturday, May 29

Overnight rain brought an end to the heat wave and drought.  Today's high will barely break 60, as low as recent overnight lows.  We average low 80s this time of year, so we've been +10 and now -10, right on average! We didn't plan any outdoor work for the day.  Watched another mid-day baseball game.  This one was a victory over Florida.  We move on to the championship game tomorrw.

I had a recipe for Crock Pot Carnitas that I've been wanting to try.  That is a dish I've never made.  Earlier this week I bought a whole port shoulder roast. This morning, I cut and trimmed it and started the crock pot with onions, lime & orange peel and juice, garlic, oregano and cumin. By the end of the day, the port was tender and delicious.  I shredded it and served it on corn tortillas with fresh pico-de-gallo. The pork shoulder made enough for me to put 3 packages in the freezer for future meals.

Sunday, May 30

I led Sunday School again.  Today's topic was the Trinity and I also talked about the Nicene creed, its history and relevance.  I gave a sermon on Trinity Sunday back in 2013 that was relevant. I used it as the basis of today's discussion.  If you are interested, it is called "In for a Penny" on this blog https://flowersandfeathers.blogspot.com/p/in-for-penny.html

Mid-afternoon brought another baseball game for the SEC Championship. Unfortunately, the #2 Vols lost to #1 Arkansas.  Nevertheless, both teams will play again and host NCAA Regional tournaments.

We had air-fried catfish for supper.  It didn't brown as nicely this time. Maybe I didn't use enough spray oil.  It was good, though, with sweet potatoes and purple-hull peas.