Monday, May 17 - Travel Day
I got away from Melanie's before 9 am but not before having a good egg & toast breakfast. Thankfully, the drive was uneventful and I made good time, getting home before 5. I'm always excited to go on a trip and always glad to be home.
The catfish travelled well, too, and was not thawed. We repacked it, 3 filets (3-5 oz) per quart ziplock. Fifteen pounds made 18 packages plus 3 filets to cook for supper. I tried a new technique. I soaked the filets in a milk & hot sauce mixture before dredging lightly in cornmeal mix and cooked it in the air-fryer for 16 minutes. It was served with steamed spinach and new potatoes. YUM!!
Tuesday, May 18
With hot dry weather predicted all week, I decided I should get my soaker hoses laid and vegetable beds mulched. I know that my Mississippi people think upper 80s is not THAT hot, but for East Tenn in May, we will be 5-10 degrees above average.
I had one soaker hose left from prior years and had bought 3 new 50 ft hoses. After getting the old hose laid out, I decided that it was not working well enough. I ended up taking it out and then did not have enough new hose to finish the work. I had to buy 3 more hoses. Working with these hoses is harder than it seems. Enough outdoor work for one day!
I found two already cooked boneless chicken breasts in the freezer. I made a gravy and served them over rice, with leftover spinach.
Wednesday, May 19 - Happy Birthday Heather
I started the day in the garden. First, I got all the soaker hoses laid. Using a leftover bale of straw, I was able to mulch the tomato row. It doesn't sound like much, but before putting down the straw, I put down back landscape fabric. Otherwise, grass grows up through the straw. It is upside down work and time-consuming. I worked about 2 1/2 hours with ample water breaks.
Ruby Tuesday has the BOGO offer only on Wednesdays now, so we are changing our practice, too. We each had a salmon dinner and each of us had a small amount of fish leftover.
After an early supper, I had a Zoom Loudon County Democrat Exec Committee meeting. I will have to decide in the next couple of months as to whether I want to continue to serve on the County Committee.
Thursday, May 20
Amanda had a 9:15 hair cut appointment in Turkey Creek so her driver (me) was out early. I used the wait time to go to the grocery. When she was finished, we went to Panera for a breakfast treat. We each had a cinnamon bagel with cream cheese and tea. We found a table outside to enjoy our treats. Of course, we took a bagel home to Claire who doesn't work on Thursdays. Her summer job is child care at a gym that offers the service for their morning classes.
We were home in plenty of time for me to make a salad and go to Kathy's for lunch. This is the 3rd Thursday, reserved for our little group of neighbor friends. It is always a pleasure to gather, catch up on news and share ideas, observations and talk about books we've read since we gathered last.
I actually had some chicken left from last night and about 1/2 cup of rice. I used it to make enchiladas. Surprisingly, there was enough for 6 enchiladas, my usual recipe. We had 2 apiece and one left for lunch. Those 2 chicken breasts stretched a long way. We are enjoying salads from the beautiful buttercrunch lettuce in the garden. We better eat it quickly considering this heat.
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Friday, May 21
Back to the garden this morning to mulch the last bed. I had plenty of landscape fabric to lay between the peas, squash and peppers. I finish out the bale of straw but was just short of completing the row. I knew that by the time I got back from Home Depot with another bale of straw it would be too late (hot) to finish the job.
I spent most of the afternoon researching Pentecost and the Wesley Brothers to prepare for leading Sunday School this week.
On Friday, Papa Murphy's has a $5 special on single topping pizza, We got a pepperoni and dressed it with our favorite toppings for a Friday night treat.
Laura, Mike, Claire and Amanda left this afternoon for a week's vacation in Orlando. They have tickets for some of the Disney attractions and have booked a condo on or near the attractions. LeRoy will be at the vets until we pick him up on Tuesday.
Saturday, May 22
I finished the last of the mulching this morning - an easy task compared to previous days. I probably used only 1/4 of the bale, so I have lots of straw on hand for the next job. I also weeded the green beans row. It is too closely spaced to mulch. I'll have early peas in a couple of weeks. I was through early and went to the farmer's market in search of strawberries. I didn't find them there, but bought some at Pope's at the junction. I hope to make some jam.
Back in the house, I made 2 loaves of banana bread and 2 foccacia loaves. The baking took all afternoon. In between risings, I had a long phone visit with Anna. The cicadas were singing loudly from my right and the katydids were buzzing loudly from my left. A battle of bug bands. I was quite loud.
Sunday, May 23
We both woke up early - 6:30 seems to be it these days, as soon as the light filters in through the blinds. We had time for a walk before I had to get ready for Sunday School and church. Since I was leading the class, I could skip! The lesson went well and church is getting back to normal.
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| For a few weeks, I'll just watch it grow and pull the occasional weed. |
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