Food – Page 8 – Hatchetation

Fire Lily Poppa

Posted on June 30, 2019June 30, 2019 by Markman

I noticed this morning that the first “fire lily” finally opened, after budding for about a week. We planted these, oh it must have been, about 3 or more years ago. I don’t think when we first planted them what they would exactly turn out to be, but to say we are pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. Surrounded by the pale blue hydrangeas as a background also provides a nice touch, although to be honest, that was purely coincidence. Now I’m just waiting for the Star Gazer lilies to bloom out back.

We are finding out that redecorating is a lot of freaking work. I’m leaving most of that to the Ladydoc. Figuring out the rug and placement (it was a sight watching me carry a 10′ rolled up rug throughout the Home Depot I am sure, like a fireman carrying a hose to the fire), and figuring out what artworks and photos to hang. It’s currently sitting rolled up in the sitting room until we can get the rug pad (who knew we needed that?) I’m learning that there’s actually I don’t know about basic home decorating. I suppose it’s just a topic that I never really explored before, or maybe even cared about.

Just finished mowing the lawn (front and back) in between bouts of rainfall (it’s the kind of day that really annoys me, either rain or stay sunny, not this off and on bullcrap). Also dug out the edger and went to town with that too. Now I’m a sweaty mess so I’ll be headed for the shower soon. Just sitting here I can feel the beads of sweat trickle down my head and sides. I was hoping to maybe fire up the grill this afternoon but the skies are getting darker now so I may need to put that on hold until another day. In the meantime I finished Invisible Man (to be honest, I found it to be bit outside my understanding) but am looking forward to starting my next read, The Collected Schizophrenias. We actually know a woman who’s son appears to have this condition so it might be educational for me to learn about it a bit more.

Today’s also the 2nd year anniversary of Angel’s passing (a cat that was really special to us). I’ve written about her before but with the redesign of the site and starting over I’ll have to dig it up and repost and update it at another time. I want to mention that she and her brother are always and will always be in our hearts.

What is this little guy doing in the Raised Box!?

Later in the afternoon, after discovering this little guy in one of the raised boxes, we set about to make dinner for tonight. Earlier I had done up a tofu with pepper, zucchini and spinach dish for LDs lunches, but for tonight’s dinner it was some scallops and salmon done over with some Romano cheese, so as to be slightly cassarole-ish, and then with a side of sauteed broccoli. Not bad.

Sunday Routines

Posted on June 23, 2019June 23, 2019 by Markman

Today was somewhat of a typical Sunday, finished reading a book I’ve been cranking on (I love reading out back under this patio umbrella I got at Xmas Tree Shop), wrapped up some text on the proposal, pulled out the grill for future summer cooking, and spent some time down at the Sanctuary (Ladydoc has to get her goat brushing time in!). It really is a peaceful place. We managed to hit a Little Library on the way back to return some read books. Crap shoot on what you’ll find – I might read Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. I remember having to read it in high school but that was long ago, back then I didn’t want to read, and I retained practically nothing of it, so it might be good to reacquaint myself. I grabbed it anyways just in case.

One of our Sunday routines these days is the food prep for the week. I actually don’t mind doing the chopping and slicing of all the vegetables and fruits and such. Tonight we made salmon on top of a bed of lettuce from the garden, along with pieces of peach, watermelon, cucumber, tomato, and roasted corn with a balsamic glaze. Pretty easy to make actually, which I put together while also making LD’s go to dish of tofu with red peppers, zucchini and spinach for her lunches. Then after eating I had to go water all the plants, which actually takes quite a bit of time to give them all the attention they require. What can I say? I do it all! (not really). LD supervised while watching endless repeats of Beverly Hills 90210.

I feel Sundays these days pretty much move too fast. Before you know it it’s 8:53 pm and we’ll have to start getting ready for bed in order to get up early enough on Monday so as not to be late and let the realization set in that another week is on the horizon. When you feel the dread of this thought, is when the ‘Sunday Scaries’ set in. I used to get those all the time – then I got comfortable in my place and projects and it wasn’t bad for me. I think that’s why winning this proposal would be so important for me – it would give me a sense of security and allow me to continue to be my own boss. Losing it would mean having to find other stuff to do which possibly might not make me happy. I’ve come to realize I can’t really control what the future holds, so I’ll just do the best I can, put one foot before the other, say a little prayer, and get on with come what may. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself now.

Grads to a New Career

Posted on June 22, 2019June 22, 2019 by Markman

Ugh… good night but probably drank a little too much. Anyways, on with the show. Our friends are in the process of getting out of their current careers and heading for a brand new direction – starting a gym of all things. The current fields they’re in either isn’t doing well in his case, and in her case she’s just fried, burnt out, and done and needs a change. Nice thing is, if it all works out it won’t be all that far from us – same town! Anyways, to celebrate this occasion of ‘graduating’ to the next challenge, LD themed the house party around graduation themes. There’s more to the reasoning but I’ll just leave it at that.

This is what we drank our spiked punch out of

It was a fun night, learned a lot of new things, and had a lot of laughs. We also made some turkey sliders with home cut potato fries and panko chicken, they brought a salad. Nothing too difficult. I think they had a good time.