Stuff. And Things. May 17, 2013
Posted by Toy Lady in random stuff.8 comments
Gosh what a week. What’s today? Thursday? Friday?
Something with a “day” in it, anyway – I know that.
You’d never know I took a couple of vacation days this week, would you? I mean, I should have the house spotless, fancy meals, flowers planted, and, of course, blog posts written. Quality blog posts, even.
Of course, Sunday was Mother’s Day, and I started my day with a text message to the Boy:
Hey, where’s my flowers at???
I like to try to be hip when I talk to the younger generation, you know?
Of course, the fact that I didn’t even attempt to phone MY mother until later in the afternoon is completely irrelevant. I just assumed she was busy, what with 3 other kids AND several grandchildren . . .
And then, when I DID remember plan to call her, well, the phone rang and it was Peeps’s mom calling me.
See, Peeps’s mom was scheduled for surgery this week, and she’s been gradually getting more and more freaked out about it. It seems that, just because something’s “routine surgery” – well, that doesn’t mean it’s routine for the person getting cut open. By the time I got off the phone, I guess I’d had enough mothers for one day.
That, and I completely forgot to call my own mother. On Mother’s Day.
I did call her the next day, explained WHY I hadn’t called, and apologized profusely. But still.
So, I took a couple of days off so I could take my time planting the garden, rather than trying to get it all in the ground at once.
And all weekend, through Monday, it was cold and rainy, and I was NOT about to play around out in the dirt in that kind of weather.
Then we woke up Tuesday morning to a nice, sparkly frost. Dandy.
Fortunately, though, I hadn’t actually planted anything finicky yet, so the tomatoes, basil, and green beans were all safe, so I spent the better part of Tuesday morning planting the entire garden in one day. We’d better not get any more frost, that’s all I’m saying.
Peeps’s mom had her surgery, and she came through it just fine, though she’s pretty uncomfortable – between the stitches and the fact that, as of last night she still had to be escorted to the bathroom, well, let’s just say that she’s NOT a happy camper.
At all.
Oh, and speaking of bathrooms.
Yikes – the the Big Lug seems to have picked up some sort of stomach bug or something. We typically go through this once or twice a year. I guess that’s what happens when he’s such a delicate little flower, huh? We had him at the vet’s office last week, and all was well, then we started him back on his flea treatment (which he gets every month during the warmer months, so I doubt it’s that) and we changed his antihistamines (poor thing, he’s a mess in the spring!), but THAT shouldn’t have anything to do with anything. And I know he hasn’t eaten any dead things on our walks, because we’ve gotten the “drop it” cue down. He “drops it” like a pro now – even squirrel jerky!
Or course, that’s not to say he didn’t grab something small and single-bite-sized at some point, or even find a stashed bone in the back yard that might have been a little past its prime. . . regardless, after Peeps came home from visiting his mom in the hospital on his way home from work to find an “accident” – well, after that, we decided that he could fast last night.
Do you know difficult it is to fast a dog when it’s dinnertime and he’s following you around the house pointing at the clock and reminding you that he hasn’t eaten? So he got a piece of bread, soaked in chicken broth, and THAT was IT. And this morning, he got half kibble, half plain white rice.
So far so good. . .
Oh, and speaking of fasting, I’m back on the weight-loss thing. I was doing so well before, and, I don’t know, I guess I lost momentum.
What really happened was that I got darn sick and tired of tracking every stupid bite of food.
But anyway, I’m back, and I’ve been losing about 2 pounds a week for the past, er, two weeks.
It’s something. My doctor set me up with an appointment with a nutritionist next week – oh goody.
Oh, and speaking of doctors.
My mother has an appointment at the hospital here in town tomorrow, and she may or may not end up being admitted. Hopefully not, because it’s not even the same hospital that Peeps’s mom is in, and I’m sorry, but I’ve got to draw the line somewhere – I am NOT visiting TWO mothers in TWO different hospitals in the same day.
Of course, you know I will if I have to, but I won’t like it.
So . . what’ve you all been up to?
Monday Musings: 05.13.2013 Edition May 13, 2013
Posted by Toy Lady in meal plan monday, Musings, random stuff.4 comments
Since I’m actually writing this on Sunday, I want say “happy Mothers Day” - at least to anyone to whom it applies!
Remember how we bought that little live Christmas tree last year? Well, the weather finally got nice enough that Peeps put it in the ground last week – it’s been close to a week, and it seems to be adjusting nicely! I’ll probably prune it next year, once it’s had a chance to get used to its new home.
Have I mentioned that that silly cat comes scooting out to the living room almost the minute the dog goes out on his afternoon walks?
It’s almost like she’s staking out her territory – either that, or checking to make sure he hasn’t hurt anything.
The other day, I actually caught her on the bookshelf!
I wasn’t sure if she was planning to start poking around in my sock yarn, but then, when I caught her trying to drink out of my water glass, I knew what she was up to.
Just so you know, it’s not like she doesn’t have her own fresh water – apparently she prefers people water. Iced people water.
So we went to the pubic market this weekend – it’s the first week of Flower City Sundays. Rather than produce and other foodibles, the vendors during this time have plants and flowers.
Although I wanted some nice perennials and some pretty annuals for the window boxes, I didn’t really see anything that struck my fancy. Except hostas – I found a great deal on some hostas, so I grabbed them. I’ll get flowers next week.
However, flowers aside, the REAL main reason I was at the market this weekend was to finish getting plants for the garden.
I got plenty of tomatoes – my Beloved JetStars, a few heirlooms, some cherry tomatoes, and a few Romas, as well as basil, parsley and marjoram.
Now I just need it to stop raining and get warm again so I can get them all in the ground!
And once again, it’s time for the weekly menu plan.
Well, I guess, here in upstate New York, when it comes to nice weather, it’s easy come easy go, huh? The past couple of weeks have been warm and sunny – and now we’ve got some chilly, rainy weather to look forward to, at least for the first part of the week, and, as always, we plan our menu with one eye on the forecast.
Monday - Chilly and rainy – plus the last of our leek sausage, some fresh leeks, and a new pressure cooker cookbook. We’re going to try risotto in the pressure cooker. . . .wish us luck!
Tuesday - I’m hoping it’s going to clear up enough to fire up the grill – the newest Cook’s Country came last week, and we thought the grilled meatloaf burgers sounded good. Don’t they? And as long as the grill is going, we can grill some potatoes and either toss a salad steam some broccoli.
Wednesday - We also just got the newest Cooking Light magazine – and we have leftover roasted chicken to use. The Peanut Chicken Soup sounded quite nice – light and flavorful AND different and exiting.
Thursday - While digging around in the archives looking for something meatless (we DO try to do meatless once a week!), I found the Chef Mom’s falafel. If I remember, I may make some kind of yogurt-tahini sauce or something for it. And what, salad?
Friday - Ah, the end of the week, and it’s Kong and pizza night. Not sure, yet, what we’ll do. Can you tell I’m starting to get a little anxious for my garden? Boy, once those tomatoes come in, it’s all tomatoes all the time! For now, though, I guess I’ll go with maybe cheese and whatever fresh herbs I can scrounge out of the garden at this point. It’ll work.
Be sure to click on over to The Organizing Junkie’s Monday Menu Plan post for loads and loads of other ideas.
Monday Musings: 05.06.2013 Edition May 6, 2013
Posted by Toy Lady in Food, meal plan monday, Musings, random stuff.8 comments
Ah, a glorious weekend, with a wonderful trip to the Public Market!
Although I’d planned to wait a week or two to start filling the garden, I did pick up the seed potatoes I’d ordered a couple of months ago – and then I could not resist a couple of plants for the herb garden – but the bulk of my garden plant buying will take place next weekend.
One thing I was THRILLED to find was fresh, local asparagus! I’ve been seeing it for several weeks, but it’s all been shipped in. I prefer to wait for the local stuff that was picked the day before I bought it – and who can blame me?
Yay – roasted asparagus this weekend!
Well, I had a bit of a lull at work, so I took a couple of days of vacation time – goodness knows I’ve needed it!
I mostly puttered around, got my hair cut, had a doctor’s appointment, that sort of thing.
But, with the absolutely stellar weather we’ve been enjoying, I did make time each day to pour myself a frosty beverage (usually icewater) and sit out on the deck for a while and just knit. Although those Christmas socks aren’t going to knit themselves, I’ve got half a year for that. For now, I’m working on a pair for myself.
Judy, aren’t you proud of me?
The kale and lettuce that I planted last week? Yup, it’s up.
I started some celery seeds, too, in the house, but I’m not so sure about them. They’re up, but I think I was a bit late starting them – like a couple of months. And I think celery takes a little more fussing than I realized. I don’t know what they’re going to do.
Anyone out there ever (successfully) grow celery? Or should I just put peppers in instead?
Several years ago, a friend gave me a few ferns that she’d dug out of her back yard.
All I really know about ferns is that they like shady, damp spots, so I planted them along the edge of under the deck, the idea being that, eventually they’d spread and fill in that area, and we’d remove the skirting. (The operative word being “eventually.”)
Well, they spread all right – right into the herb garden! I have no idea how they got there, or WHY they thought they wanted to live with the tarragon, but we dug two baby ferns up and transplanted them back to their under-the-deck home.
They survived the night, anyway. I do think they’ll be much happier there, too.
Minerva Kitty had herself quite the adventure this weekend!
Peeps had the back door open, and she scooted out and made a run for it! She does that about once a year – I think she goes out, plays Jungle Kitty for an hour or so, then has enough and hangs around until someone lets her in, though we do worry about her while she’s gone – she’s not as young as she once was, you know!
So anyway, she ran outside, hung around underneath the neighbors’ camper playing Jungle Kitty for a bit, and came back in.
Whew!
I spent a bit of time imposing order on the herb garden this weekend, too. I finally dug up about half of the oregano and moved it over to the other side of the yard. Basically, I don’t care what it does over there – if it survives (as if anything will kill it!) it’ll make a perfectly fine (and fragrant) ground cover around the holly bush. And meanwhile, the remaining oregano now has room to grow again.
I thinned out the thyme, too, and trimmed the sage. I also gave the mint a good warning.
And I put four (FOUR!) dill plants in (they came in a 4-pack, so why not) and a couple of rosemary plants. Still to go – 4 more parsley plants, a few basils, and a couple of marjoram plants. That should do it for this year..
A couple of years ago, I picked up this cute little chest at a fundraiser. I think it was supposed to be a toy chest, but, well, I really don’t need a place for toys, and I’d planned to use it to store hats and gloves and such in the front entry.
Well, I never got around to finishing it, and with the new bathroom and closet out there, there’s just not a good spot for it.
So I’ve decided that Jar needs a new elevated feeder. His current one, well, I hate it. It’s ugly, it’s not sturdy, and have I mentioned that I don’t like it? So I cut a couple of dish-sized holes in the lid, and over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be sanding (a LOT), priming, painting, then polyurethaning this little chest.
I can’t wait to get it done!
And once again, it’s time for the weekly menu plan. After the chilly, lame spring we’ve had, we are LOVING this gorgeous stretch! I mean, will you LOOK at this? Truly, does it get any better?
Monday - We watched a recent episode of America’s Test Kitchen, where they grilled a turkey. On the actual grill! When we saw that, we had to ask – how easy would it be to grill a chicken the same way? (Answer: I’ll let you know!) A little steamed broccoli, and some sweet potatoes that we have hanging around in the freezer, and we should be set!
Tuesday - Jar’s got a vet’s appointment so we want dinner to be reasonably quick. I picked up some nice whole wheat rolls at the public market, so we put together a small batch of Italian sausage – and I think there’s some provolone in the fridge, which will be perfect. We also made some coleslaw with some cabbage that was knocking around and the last of the mayo.
And because I can’t get the Tuesday Afternoon appointment out of my mind:
Wednesday - Since we were making sausage, we took the rest of the pork shoulder and hacked it up, some of which will go to make souvlaki. I’m going to try pan-braising some potatoes with lemon and herbs – I’ll let you know on that, too. We are also going try making some pitas with Peeps’s baguette dough. Fingers crossed.
Thursday - Have I mentioned that one of the things I do on our morning walks is listen to podcasts? Yeah, and one of them is The Splendid Table. One of the guests discussed Indian food, specifically dal, which is, apparently, not just lentils! This particular recipe sounded really good (and easy!) and call for split peas, which we happen have a surplus of from last fall. I also hope to get ambitious enough to make some naan.
Friday - As always, Friday night is pizza night - if there’s something leftover that will go nicely on pizza, it’ll be on mine, otherwise I think I’ll go with roasted artichokes and provolone. Peeps and his mom usually opt for the basic pepperoni and cheese.
Be sure to click on over to The Organizing Junkie’s Monday Menu Plan post for loads and loads of other ideas.
Shrödinger’s Cookie Sheets April 19, 2013
Posted by Toy Lady in Family, Musings, random stuff.1 comment so far
Ya’ll know about Shrödinger’s Cat, right? Of course you do.
See, here’s the thing.
Remember how, a couple of years back, Peeps’s mom finally decided to sell the old homestead and move north?
And how between Peeps and me, we made multiple trips to Jersey to help her sort and pack and get ready to make the move?
And how finally, more than two years after the closing on the new house, we finally got her in the new house permanently?
She was in that old house a LONG time. And in that time, she’d acquired an awful LOT of stuff.
During the packing and moving process, Mom decided to rent a portable storage container. Not the name-brand ones we see all over the place – some company that had a full-page ad in her local phone book. She spent the better part of her first fall and winter after buying the new house filling that container with miscellaneous and sundry, uh, stuff.
Well, by the next fall, we all agreed that, since she OWNED the two houses, and neither of us was excited about driving back and forth to Jersey all winter, she’d be better off all around if she spent the winter in Rochester, then went back south in the spring to finish the packing job. So she put in the call to the Pod People and directed them to deliver her container to the new house bright and early one fall day, which they did.
Only . . . when they opened the unit, it wasn’t her stuff. They’d sent some random person’s stuff. And her stuff was nowhere to be found.
The company looked – or at least they said they did, but somehow, there was some sort of glitch, and they had NO IDEA where the storage container with her number on it had ended up.
So. It’s six months later, and it’s time to get serious about moving her. She went back “home” to finish packing, and by “finish packing” I mean, well, I’m not really sure what she was doing, but I’m pretty sure that there was very little actual packing involved.
Keeping in mind that this was a very difficult move for her – she was leaving her home of nearly 35 years to move to New York State, of all places. But still – that house wasn’t going to pack itself.
And again, with near-constant encouragement from both Peeps and me, she finally decided to hire a moving company – this time, she went with a company she’d heard of (rather than some random company that advertised in the yellow pages and now no longer has an ad!), and she scheduled a weekend in late October for them to come, pack her house, and move the contents to Rochester, for which event I was the lucky winner of the coin toss. Actually, I had the vacation time available to spend the week, that’s all.
They needed to use a BIG moving truck.
And when they got here, they completely filled the garage with boxes. And the basement. The attic too. And that’s not even counting furniture.
“Yes, yes,” you ask, “but what about the cat guy?”
Well, you see, now that she’s in her own little house, with a nice, roomy kitchen, she’s been hankering to do some baking.
Unfortunately, given her penchant for procrastination, she hasn’t stumbled upon any bakeware yet. In fact, I’m not even sure she’s come across any “kitchen” boxes.
So I proposed my own thought experiment: Shrödinger’s Cookie Sheets.
The baking sheets are either:
- In the erstwhile pod, and thus, lost forever, OR
- In one of the eleventy-thousand boxes still left to unpack, OR
- They never made it to Rochester and the moving guys are enjoying fresh-baked cookies even as we speak.
And there is no way to know – until every one of the boxes has been opened – and, ideally unpacked.
The real question, though, is how badly does she want to bake her cookes?
Monday Musings: 04.15.2013 Edition April 15, 2013
Posted by Toy Lady in meal plan monday, Musings, random stuff.5 comments
Well, another week (and weekend) has passed, and I’ve got a lot of “not much” to show for it!
Been busy at work playing catchup – that’s when you’re BEEN busy, but now you’re not quite so much, so you grab the opportunity to catch up on stuff that should have gotten done long before now.
Gosh, I love that.
I did finally get a set of valances done for the front entry – I’ve spent the past few weeks painting off and on, and now that that’s mostly done, well, it was time to do something about the windows. It was echo-y in there!
As you’ll recall, I’d spent HOURS and HOURS on a set of Roman blinds for those very same windows not even two years ago, and then, when we had the bathroom put in, well, that just screwed up everything - I had to take the blinds down in order to have the windows moved (and removed), and, well, I realized then that I didn’t really love them enough to want to put them back up.
I had some older drapes, though, that I LOVED, so I re-purposed them into pretty valances.
We’re getting there.
I did a little experimenting this weekend – I made a small batch of hollandaise sauce for eggs benedict for Sunday breakfast.
Would you believe I’ve never made eggs benedict? I’ve never-ever made from-scratch hollandaise, either, so there’s that too.
Well, as it happens, The Jar is a big fan of eggs benedict. I’m not sure if it was the buttery sauce or the leftover egg yolk on the plates, but he was a dish-licking fool!
Does anyone else let your dog help “rinse” the dishes?
And once again, it’s time for the weekly menu plan. We are (still!) working very hard to get the freezers emptied – while it’s been GREAT for the grocery budget, it’s starting to feel a little un-inspired some days. I mean, there’s probably a reason some of that stuff is still in the freezer, you know? Besides the fact that it’s been forgotten, that is.
Monday - With the temperature forcasted to reach 70 (yay!) we’re of course going to fire up the grill. And I believe this grilled tilapia with parmesan polenta should finish off our tilapia stash. I think.
Tuesday - We’ve still got some of Peeps’s pastrami safely vacuum-sealed in the freezer, so we’ll break some of that out. I even made a batch of potato salad this weekend that’ll go nicely. Spring is HERE people!
Wednesday - Remember how last week, we had enchiladas with the last of the green enchilada sauce we’d stashed in the freezer? Well, it was still more sauce then we were able to use in one meal, so we used it for some soup. It’s super simple – saute an onion, and add the rest of the enchilada filling (smoked pork mixed with sauce), a quart of chicken stock, a couple of cups of cooked pinto beans, and a good couple of handfuls of frozen corn. It should be fantastic with a little cheese quesadilla on the side. . .
Thursday -The last of the Cincinnati chili is coming out of the freezer – we prefer to do something easy on Thursdays. After all, it’s getting toward the end of the work week, and we’re tired. I don’t know about anyone else, but by Thursday evening, I’m not up to too much effort!
Friday - Of course, there’s not a lot of effort involved (for me, anyway) on pizza night - Peeps does most of the work, while I try to keep the dog out from under his feet. Seems like a fair deal, right?
Be sure to click on over to The Organizing Junkie’s Monday Menu Plan post for loads and loads of other ideas.
