The Journey Continues, July 19-25

 Monday, July 19

Amanda does not have golf today, so I have a day off from being her driver.  I set up the sourdough starter last night so that I could bake today.  The odd looking loaf was an experiment.  My refrigerator was very crowded with accumulated garden produce, so I did not have room for all four loaves to rise there for 4-5 hours.  I left one loaf on the counter to rise and baked it first.  Of course, at warm room temperature it had risen quite a bit. The soft mound collapsed when I scored it and did not rise again in the oven.  I baked at the recommended time and temperature, but you can tell by looking that the baking time was too long.  I cut back the time on the rest of the loaves.  

In addition to the sourdough loaves, I make a 2-loaf recipe of zucchini blueberry bread.  Among the vegetables that I picked on Saturday was enough zucchini to grate 3 cups for the recipe and I had blueberries in the freezer. This recipe is definitely a keeper for breakfast sweet bread.  It has enough sugar and oil that it can't be considered "healthy." I reduced the sugar, used some pear butter to sub for some of the oil and used 20% whole wheat flour.  The bread is moist and delicious with a generous portion of blueberries.  The zucchini disappears as it bakes .

I prepared an all-garden supper with Margaurite's Summer Squash Casserole, peas, green beans and fried okra.  Living right and eating good! 

Tuesday, July 20

Bill and I did something very unusual for us - we went shopping.  We made an outing to Sevierville to the Outlet Mall so Bill could look for shoes at the Clark's factory store.  On the way, we stopped at the Lodge Cast Iron outlet and I bought a couple of loaf pans that I will try on the next baking day.  Bill found a pair of shoes he liked and I bought a summer white cotton sweater at the Ann Taylor outlet next door.  We decide to drive home by way of Townsend and Maryville, rather than go back to the interstate.  We haven't made that scenic drive through Wear's Valley in a long time.  We hoped to eat in Townsend, but the restaurant that we were interested in is only open Wednesday - Sunday.  We ended up at a local Mexican restaurant in Maryville that we have enjoyed in the past.  It was a full day outing and a pleasant change for us.  Don't want to do it again any time soon, though.

Wednesday,  July 21

Back to driving Miss Amanda, or rather, she drives and I ride shotgun.  She is ready to get her license! After dropping her off, I went to Lenoir City for a meeting at church.  Before coming home, I stopped to check on Jim and get him some groceries.

Mid-after, I picked up Amanda for a haircut at Turkey Creek and from their to golf practice at Avalon.  I drove this time.  I will miss spending this time with her.

Thursday, July 22

Good morning, East Tennessee
Smoke from the western wildfires is tinting our sunrise and sunset.

I was up before the sunrise this morning to take Sandra for her second cataract surgery.  She had another 5:45 appointment.  We were finished in plenty of time for me to pick up Amanda at 8:30 for the trip to Fox Den.

It wasn't too hot when I got home and I knew that there were vegetables that needed to be picked.  I got quite a haul.  No problem about what to do with the rest of my day!

Today's harvest: 1/2 lb okra; 1 3/4 lb cucumbers; 1/2 lb green beans; 5+ lbs tomatoes; 3+ lbs purple hull peas; 3 lbs zucchini; 4 Jalapeno, 4 ?UK and 3 green bell peppers. I'm still trying to figure out what this unknown pepper could be, like a banana pepper but not yellow.

I shelled the peas for the freezer and grated the zucchini for more bread, put tomatoes out on the counter and the rest in the refrigerator to deal with later.  I got 3 pints of peas and 2 1/2 recipes portions of grated zucchini.

Friday, July 23

This is Amanda's last day as golf clinic assistant.  I picked Sandra up at 10 for her follow-up appointment and was back home before lunch.  At 2, I went back into town to meet Jim's brother-in-law and sister at Jim's house.  It looks like the work will be completed except for the separate job of restoring the bathroom which will begin on Monday.  

Then there were those tomatoes that have been ripening on counter.  The quickest way to preserve them seemed to be juice and can them.  A gallon of tomatoes that had been quartered and cored produced just 4 pints of juice which I will use in soups or stews.

Bill has been working on two outdoor projects in this awful heat, in addition to mowing.  He has trimmed fox grape vines out of the wisteria and pine. And he is working on a project to get an electrical outlet to the power pole or shed to use for charging the boat batteries.  Today he picked up the boat from the mechanic who has installed our new trolling motor and two marine batteries to power it.  The motor is GPS controlled and will eliminate the need for anchoring when we are fishing.

We decided on a Friday night fish fry, with Southern-style catfish and fried okra instead of "chips," served with a simple salad. 

The Tokyo Summer Olympics officially began, with opening ceremonies on TV.  The olympics had been postponed a year because of Covid travel restrictions.  There is still a lot of controversy about holding the games because Covid is widespread in Japan.  There are no spectators at any events, except a few VIPs and other athletes. No family members were allowed to travel to the games.

Saturday, July 24

It got hot quickly today, so I mostly stayed in and stayed cool.  I spent a lot of time working on this blog. We cooked hamburgers for supper with sweet potato fries in the air fryer.

Sunday, July 25

Today's SS lesson was a discussion on a passage from Ephesians about how we honor God by loving one another.  What would our church and our life be like if we really practiced what we taught and preached. After church, I visited Jim and shopped for a few groceries for him and for us. He is now scheduled to get back into his house on Tuesday.  Frank, the contractor we met here at the motel should have his toilet useable by then.  Late afternoon, before supper, we went to the Matzeks so Bill could challenge Amanda in a game of ping-pong.

Ribs from a previous Ruby BoGo which were in the freezer were the main course, with purple-hull peas, green beans and fresh corn.

The Journey Continues... Golfing with Amanda + Kathy's birthday July 12-18

 Monday, July 12

Amanda began a two-day golf tournament in Jefferson City this morning.  This is the East Tennessee Regional Championship of the Sneds tour that she had been playing all summer.  A 10:45 tee-time required us to leave about 8:45 to allow for an hour+ drive, Knoxville traffic and warm-up time.  We had no traffic delays, so we got to the exit with time enough to get some McDonald's fortification. Amanda got a smoothie and I chose ice-tea and egg-mcmuffin.

Rain and storms threatened all day, but held off until the 11th hole.  A fierce but brief downpour soaked us pretty good.  It also cooled us down for a little while.  It was a very hot day! I had a cart, so had a little bit of protection.  

This is the only picture I took.  Amanda is on the far right.  This shot shows the young golfers scattered across the course.

Amanda did ok, but not her best day but she finished strong with 2 pars and a birdie on the last hole. We were on the road before 4 pm and got home shortly after 5.  In time for me to get to make a 6 pm church meeting.  Bill had a roasted chicken from the grocery ready for us which we served with rice and green peas.

Tuesday, July 13

Day 2 of the tournament with 10:15 tee-time.  We left at 8:30 and again had a problem-free drive through Knoxville and time for a visit to Micky D's.  Amanda scored better today, but not well enough to place in the top 3.  She made par on quite a few holes. All-together, she considered it a good experience.  

Waiting their turn.  Amanda on the left.

That ball is on its way to the hole.

Wednesday, July 14

For the rest of this week and most of next week, Amanda is assisting her golf coach with a clinic for younger kids.  I picked her up at 8:30 and let her drive to Fox Den for the job.  Claire will pick her up as it's on the way home from Claire's job.  She is working about 2 1/2 hours in the morning doing child-care at a work-out gym in Farragut.

I was home a little after 9 and had time to pick some vegetables before heading off to lunch with our church Energizers group. This is the first outing since last March. We met at Lakeside Tavern in Farragut and were seating on the "porch."  It is fully enclosed but has enormous windows that can be opened.  When they opened them, the breeze was delightful.  Food was good and the company was, too.

Joe, new pastor Linda Bass, Sandra, JoLynn, Joel, me, Steve, Terri, Margaret, Charlotte, Bob, Walter (Mike taking the picture)

Thursday, July 15

Another day began with taking Amanda to her job at the golf clinic.  Came home to catch up on some regular chores before it was time to head up to Connie Green's for our neighbor lunch.  Just the four of us today.  It is always a please to be on the Green's hill and enjoy their beautiful view of the Cumberland Mountain Ridge.

After lunch, I made a quick trip to town to check on Jim A. He is still at the motel and probably in need of groceries.

I am still a member of the Loudon County Democratic Executive Committee and tonight was our monthly Zoom meeting.  I suppose I will continue to serve on this committee as it keeps me connected with what's happening in state and local politics. I'm trying to keep a low profile and not be too involved.

Friday, July 16

I saw a Whole Foods ad in my email feed for a good sale on Salmon and seafood.  After I dropped off Amanda, I continued into Knoxville to Whole Foods and purchased 3 salmon filets (whole side, wild). I also bought a half pound of scallops and some nice frozen wild-caught shrimp.  I'm planning a birthday party for Kathy on Sunday, so I continued on to Costco where I got some beautiful beef tenderloin, then to Shrimp Dock in Farragut where I bought 3 lobster tails.  The basic ingredients, along with lettuce and fresh corn are in my now very crowded refrigerator waiting for Sunday.

The scallops are for tonight's supper, wrapped in bacon, skewered along with shrimp and cooked on the grill.  Served with coconut rice and braised spinach. I had some fresh peaches which I subbed for the mango in the rice dish.  A Friday night feast!

Saturday, July 17

The garden needed me and I needed the garden this morning.  We have had several hard afternoon rains earlier this week that, along with Amanda's golf schedule, have kept me out of the garden. This morning was warm and muggy.  

After picking, I cleared out the bush beans that were deer-damaged.  I picked a few beans but they weren't making much of a come-back.  I replanted the row with more beans and pruned the tomatoes.  Today's harvest: almost 4 lbs purple-hull peas; almost 4 pounds tomatoes; okra - 3 oz, barely enough for a meal; green beans, 6 oz, a small serving for each of us.  I had picked about 4 3/4 pounds of tomatoes earlier in the week. I'm also getting a few cucumbers and squash.

I spent the afternoon processing and ended up with 4 cups of crushed tomatoes in the freezer, plus more for eating and some still ripening; and 3 pints of shelled peas in the freezer.

Vertical cucumbers

Okra is just beginning.  With luck, it will produce until frost

I don't remember this pepper variety and can't find it written.  Maybe banana peppers.  I'll try pickling them.

Beautiful purple hull peas ready to harvest

Purple Hull Peas

Tomatoes are slowly ripening

Today's harvest

Ready for the freezer

Sunday, July 18 - Happy Birthday Kathy Brock!

Sunday morning began with Sunday School and Worship.  I am leading the SS class for now.  I found that the UMC Worship planning has a small group lesson based on one of the week's lectionary scriptures.  It is really just a discussion guide.

After church, I stopped in the check on Jim and got him some groceries.  He is doing better and hopes to get back into his house in later this week.

My birthday gift to Kathy was to prepare her a steak and lobster dinner.  The plan was to prepare it at my house and take it hot to their house where we would be ready to eat.  I cooked 3 tenderloins in my cast iron skillet on the stovetop, wrapped them in aluminum foil to transport.  I boiled the corn in my large pot in 2 bathes and held it in the warm oven. Then in the same hot water, I boiled the lobster tails, timing them to come out just after the steaks. I also wrapped them in foil.  Salad toppings of garden fresh tomatoes and cucumbers and sliced red onions were prepared ahead of time.  Two bottles of champagne chilled in the freezer.  We were ready to go!

We had fun enjoying this special meal honoring a very dear friend.  Kathy made fresh peach cobble for her birthday dessert.

We didn't get any good pictures because we were anxious to dig in while the food was still warm.  The meal did not make a pretty plate, but it was pretty good to eat!

Not shown, but there was plenty of butter for the lobster and corn.

The Journey Continues...High Summer, July 5 - July 11

Monday, July 5

I begin this first week of the 2nd half of summer with a clear calendar for a few day.  Morning in the garden, pulling weeds and other assorted tasks.  I found a few green beans, squash and tomatoes. The pace today is pleasant enough for me to notice my little pond frog and a companion on the deck.

Tuesday, July 6

Back to the garden this morning.  I discovered right away that the deer have been in again.   They nibbled some of the new green beans and ate the hearts out of all the remaining lettuce that I was planning to harvest today.   The only place that they might have come in is over the gate.  See my solution below, using some old fiberglass poles from a tent we had 40 years ago.  I draped some netting over this section in hopes of keeping the animals out.

I pulled up the remains of the lettuce and planted more bush beans

Green beans are sad looking, but are trying hard to reproduce

I love these summer meals featuring garden produce.  Tomato slices, topped with Sweetwater Valley Italian Pesto cheese, on sourdough slices and toasted, with a side of marinated cucumbers and red onion.  I don't grow the onion.

Supper was garden vegetables and catfish fillets both cooked on the grill.  I was in too much of a hurry to stop and take a picture of the finished meal, but it was pretty and good.

Wednesday, July 7

This morning, while I was in the garden Pastor Linda called me and told me that our parishioner and and friend Jim Anderson had been discharged from the hospital yesterday and she had to pick him up and take him back to the motel in Loudon where he has been staying since he suffered a house fire almost 6 weeks ago.  Furthermore, the insurance company would no longer pay for the hotel after tomorrow.  I already had a scheduled "get acquainted" lunch with her for 11:30, so I sent in early to meet with her so we could discuss the situation.  Jim, age 86, has very limited means and very little support system outside the church, although he has a sister and brother-in-law in Knoxville.

After a productive discussion and a delightful lunch, I went to Loudon to see Jim and assess the situation.  He is still not well.  After some time on the phone with the insurance company and Service Master who is doing the fire-damage repair, we worked out the beginning of a plan.  The mortgage company who holds a reverse mortgage on the property had issued a foreclosure notice and locked the contractor and everyone else out of the house.  That has been resolved by the contractor and they say that his house will not be ready for two more weeks.  They will pay for an additional two weeks stay at a motel and he will move to one in Lenoir City.  I arranged for his friend and Sunday School teacher to pick him up tomorrow and take him to Inn of Lenoir tomorrow.  This is how I spent my whole afternoon - worthwhile, productive, exhausting. 
When I got home I was able to reach his brother-in-law and give him a report.  I hope to get him more involved in overseeing Jim's care.

Thursday, July 8

I was up and out at 5:15 am to take Sandra for cataract surgery this morning.  All went well and I was home by 8 am.  Since I was up and going, I decided to pick blueberries.  I have been wanting to do that for a couple of weeks. The season can come and go if I don't pay attention.  With these hot days, morning is the best time to pick.  So despite rain late yesterday, I headed to Honey's Blueberry Farm this morning, about 15 minutes down the road by way of the Cross-eyed Cricket.  I love picking berries there in the cool hours of the morning.  The ownership has changed and the weighing and paying is set up on a honor system.  I picked almost 7 pounds and bought a quart jar of local honey.  The 7 pounds yielded 8 pints for the freezer and one for eating fresh.  Where is the picture? I'm really slipping.  I did take a few in the field and of the charming little cabin that services as the "office." I though of my reflection last summer that I ended up making into a sermon: Holy Encounters

Mid-afternoon, I went to see if Jim was settled in the Inn of Lenoir.  I found that he had not food at all in the rood and no way to go out for food.  We talked at length about his situation.  I discovered that he had been discharged with Home Care, so we made some calls to get his address changed to the motel and to make sure the visits would begin immediately.  He also learned, while I was there, that he has an appointment with his primary care doc on Monday.  We arranged for his friend and neighbor Deloris to take him.  I drove by his house to see for myself where the repair stands.  Looks like very little has been done in 6 weeks.

We also made a grocery list and I shopped for him, food that he can eat cold (sandwich makings, fruit) or heat in the microwave.  I believe that a great deal of progress has been made since yesterday. He has enough food to get through the weekend.

His brother-in-law has taken responsibility for following up with the insurance company and Service-Master and also with Home Care.

Friday, July 9

I was out early again, but not until 8 am today, to take Sandra for her cataract follow-up.  After that, today was just an ordinary day with no other special activities, projects or events.  However, I did prepare a special dish for our supper, Cod Baked in Foil with Leeks and Carrots.  Of course, deviated a little, using Vidalia onion slices in place of leeks and adding red & yellow bell peppers which I had on hand.  Fresh thyme and parsley from the garden make the topping along with lemon zest, white wine and butter.  We "baked" in on the grill, indirect heat.  WoW! It only needed a salad to go along.

Saturday, July 10

I try to visit the garden every morning that my schedule and weather permit.  It in July, I have to be finished with garden projects by 10 am.  I can't take much heat.  This morning, I pruned tomatoes and thinned the okra. Later, I made a pasta salad for tomorrow's church pot luck dinner.

Park had texted me earlier in the week that some of the Sunflower folks are putting together a Sunflower Cookbook and were asking for recipes from mother and Nannie.  I went through my family recipe book and picked out a few.  I decided to type them up rather than just take a snapshot.  The writing is barely legible on most.  For years, I've said I wanted to organize family favorite and heritage recipes, so this is giving me a start. I selected 10 traditional family favorites. 

We invited Bonnie over for a steak supper and a movie.  We ate the last of the tenderloins that she had put in our freezer last summer.  She brought more from her freezer that she had also bought last year.  Bill always does a great job grilling the steaks, using his trusty digital thermometer to know when they are just like we like them - cooked rare.  We had smashed new potatoes and a salad of just tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden.  

Sunday, July 11

After church we had a pot-luck dinner to welcome and get to know Pastor Linda and her husband Allen.  Meatloaf was the main course and everyone brought side dishes.  After the dinner, I made a to-go plate and took it to Jim.  He seems to be doing better.  

I was ready for some R&R when I got home.  It has been a busy week.  I worked a little more on the recipe project and got it ready to send to Park. One of our favorites is Nannie's Chicken Spaghetti. It starts with "boil a hen."  I'm just glad it didn't start with "select a hen and wring its neck!"  I'll have to make this soon.

I made BiBimBap for our supper, using the trimmings from last night's tenderloin. I've made it enough now that it doesn't seem like such a difficult production.

The Journey Continues...Back to "normal," June 29 - July 4

 Tuesday, June 29

After breakfast we took the bicycles across the river for a walk/ride. It was already getting hot by the time we got started.  Owen rode the whole road from parking lot to parking lot, about 2 miles round trip. Needless to say, nobody kept up with him. We strolled along with the younger kids until they were ready to turn around.  Unfortunately, the eagles did not make an appearance and I did not get any pictures.

David is a masterful packer.  He had everything packed and ready to go shortly after 11.  I fixed more quesadillas for their early lunch because that was all I had on hand.  They were on the road by 11:45.

I was scheduled to meet Bonnie, Mary Ann and Mary M for lunch at noon.  We went to Casa Fiesta in Lenoir City.  We haven't been together in over a year, so it was great seeing them and catching up on our lives.  I hope we can do it again before summer is over.

When I got home, Bill had already made some progress on cleaning up.  We got our room back and the priority was to get those sheets turned around.  We had an easy supper of left-over catfish with left-over corn and a salad. We enjoying watching Miss State win the 2nd game in CWS in a big way, 13-2!

Wednesday, June 30

More sheets and towels to wash today.  Bill helped with vacuuming.  A quick survey of the garden showed that things are progressing well.  I harvested Swiss chard for supper. 

Cucumbers

Tomatoes look good, but might not be ready by July 4

Zucchini is over-achieving

Purple-Hull Peas

I had a noon lunch with Marie.  We met at Pei Wei in Turkey Creek and had lettuce wraps.  Afterward, I did a little shopping for myself before coming home.

I felt like cooking, so I made Air-fryer fried chicken thighs, braised swiss chard from the garden and served the corn and black bean salsa again.

We ended the day watching Miss. State beat Vandy again to the it all in the CWS.  This is the 1st national championship for any Miss State team.  It was exciting!

Thursday, July 1

New pastor, Rev. Linda Bass, starts today.  I met with Sandra, Ed and her to discuss tech/media for worship.  We also discussed some of the mechanics of order of worship and communion.  It was a good session. I think we will be very pleased with Pastor Linda.

I spent the afternoon working on this blog.  The promised rain finally came late in the afternoon and continued during the night. Supper was reheated chicken with brown rice, gravy and peas.

Friday, July 2

The overnight rain cooled the air and we expect a couple of days of nice weather with below average heat and humidity.  It was a good morning for a stroll through the park.  It was too wet to work in the garden.  I enjoying a relaxing day of not doing much. The Matzeks left early in the afternoon for a long weekend with Park and family at Wolf Lake (near Yazoo City, MS).  We went over later in the afternoon to get LeRoy who will have a sleep-over with us while they are gone. 

We decided to try grilling catfish again.  This time I used my old cast iron griddle on the grill.  That worked much better than the wire rack we used last time. We had a completely grilled supper - catfish, grilled summer squash from the garden and boiled new potatoes finished on the grill.  It was a beautiful afternoon and evening to enjoy deck-sitting and wine-sipping.

Saturday, July 3

We slept with the window open and woke up to a cool 60 degrees.  After breakfast we walked, this time down the road by the dam.  Since late spring, construction has been underway to repair/replace the 50+ year-old turbines.  We had an up-close look at the old turbines.  I wish we had taken the time to show this to Owen.  We were privileged to see an eagle flying over the river today.

Turbine blades

Interior view of the turbine hub

In the garden, the zucchini is producing well and I found an almost ripe tomato.  It was close to the ground, so I picked it.  I was afraid that the bunnies who get inside the fence would take a bite.

I had two pieces of left-over fried chicken and some brown rice that needed to be used. I used that as the basis of a bowl meal, with sauteed green beans and water chestnuts, garnished with mandarin oranges and cashews.

July 4 - Independence Day Holiday

We had a good crowd at church to welcome Pastor Linda to Trinity - 73 in attendance.  There were about a dozen Sproul family members to help the total.  Pastor Linda had a good beginning!

I worked on ribs off and on during the afternoon.  I had a rack and half to cook for a shared holiday supper with the Brocks.  Once again, I was too busy to remember a picture, but they were picture-perfect good!  Kathy fixed our old favorite French Potato Salad and a cold cucumber salad.  We watched the Capitol Steps on PBS until 9.

When we got home, we took our garden chairs next door to watch the Bolt family fireworks.  They did a great job.  We could also see fireworks from a couple of other neighbors.  I like seeing the neighborhood displays more than seeing a big production with all the crowds.