The Journey Continues... June 7 - 13

Monday, June 7 - Happy Birthday, David!

We made an early birthday call to David this morning and learned that his planned trip here later in the week is in doubt.  Little John has been sick with a bad cold and unless he is better, they will not be able to travel. 

We hoped we would be able to get in a walk before the rain started but that didn't happen.  I baked the bread that had proofed overnight.  I don't think that the overnight proof producing as good "oven-spring" as the shorted 4-6 hour rise.  the batches I've done overnight are a little flatter.  I'll go back to the original timing on the next batch. They taste just as good but making a sandwich can be challenging.

Bonnie, Judith, Susan and I met at Lakeside Grill for Happy Hour.  We always have fun and delicious appetizers.

Tuesday, June 8

Weeds are growing fast in the garden, but so are the begetable plants.  The deer guard seems to be working.  Nothing, however, deters the cicadas.  They have damaged the fruit trees but nothing in the garden.  They seem to stick to the trees (literally)

Tomatoes look good but I won't have any ripe before the 4th.

Cicadas everywhere!

Most of the pears look like this.  I presume it is also cicada damage, but it might be from the late frost that nipped all my apples buds

Love the little frogs at the pond.

Wednesday, June 9

Again we tried to get in a walk before the rain resumed this morning.  We made it up to the overlook and back down before the drops started.  I clocked a mile by the time we got to the house.  

Raindrops are starting to fall

Heavy cicada damage

I had an 11 am meeting with Pastor Kristie - sort of a going away, good-bye meeting.  After a quick lunch and grocery shopping, I met Sandra G to go for a visit with Judy S at Deane Hill Apts in Knoxville.

No Ruby BOGO offer today, so I had to actually cook salmon for our dinner.  It was very good.

Thursday, June 10

We learned that David and the kids will not be coming for a visit this week.  A summer cold/respiratory virus has hit them one by one.  They aren't very sick, but not up for travel or visiting grandparents. Of course, we are disappointed that we won't seem them and have a long weekend together, but they made the right call. Nothing to be done and now we have a couple of unscheduled days ahead.

In anticipation, we have clean sheets, clean bathrooms and sort of clean floors!

Fried Rice for supper.

Friday, June 11

Rain, rain, all day, accompanied by thunder and lightning?  We are glad that we are not trying to entertain four kids indoors who would be disappointed that they couldn't do all they planned.  This was a good day for study and reading.  For supper, I pan-sauted catfish filets. YUM!

Saturday, June 12

Rain continued through the night, but by mid-morning it had cleared out and we had an unexpectedly nice day.  The ground was too wet for weeding or any other garden work.  I went to the Farmer's Market and the produce market Dixie-Lee Jct in search of peaches.  Strawberries are done and only cling peaches from South Carolina were available.  I bought a small container and one for Kathy along with a few other items.

The new ice-cream maker I ordered came yesterday and I am hoping to make some peach sorbet.

I had planned to fix ribs while David was here, so I proceeded but only cooked a large half-rack of St. Louis style ribs.  These are larger, not baby-back ribs.  I applied my favorite rub early in the day and wrapped them in aluminum foil  Later in the afternoon, we put them, still wrapped in foil, in the outdoor grill to cook on medium heat for a couple of hours.  To finish them, we took them out of the foil, bathed them in Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet & Spicy BBQ sauce and cooked over direct heat until they were glazed.  Served with corn on the cob.  I can't believe I forgot to take a picture.  They were succulent and falling-off-the-bone tender.

Memphis-Style Barbeque Rub

1 1/4 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup kosher or sea salt
1/4 granulated garlic
1/4 cup paprika (I use half smoked paprika)
1 Tbs ground red pepper
1 Tbs ground cumin
1 Tbs onion powder
2 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cinnamon

Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container. Makes about 3 cups.  This is a good rub for any kind of meat, but especially pork. Use with a Boston butt to make pulled pork.

Sunday, June 13

For Pastor Kristie's last Sunday we had a nice turn-out at church.  

UT Men were playing in the super-regional championship at 2 pm.  We went to the Brocks for the game.  We made game-day snacks instead of a meal but we had enough for a meal.  UT won and will move on to the College World Series next weekend.  We snacked enough that we didn't need to fix a meal, just a salad.