Mother Nature went on a rant...

...and all because I asked for a little rain.

 Whew.  It was a thunder and lightning extravaganza in the wee hours of the morning. Hey--isn't that a song ??    "In the wee small hours...of the morning...when the whole wide world is fast asleep...." Johnny Hartman...I tried to find a You tube of this incredible man's silky voice, but they've all been removed due to copyright infringement.  A shame...I love him, ever since I was introduced to him by Chris  at Abruzzi, back in my misspent youth. 

 Anyway...

  It rocked and rolled around here baby--waking us up. Sounded like the lightning was right on top of us, and I expected the giant tulip poplar in the front yard to come crashing down on the house at any minute. It didn't and eventually we went back to sleep. But the rain really revitalized the gardens. I swear the okra plants are at least 4 inches taller than they were yesterday.

  The Irishman is home from work today, sick with a sore throat. Poor baby. I made him a lovely watermelon smoothie for breakfast and brewed him a nice cup of throat coat tea. Now he needs to leave me alone and let me get to my work.  lol  I went out and let the chickens out around 6:30...he slept until after 8.  Ever since he got up he's kinda been following me around. I cleaned up the kitchen and he hovered around sounding all pitiful.  I went out and cleaned the chicken coop, and he found his way out there. I sat in the shade in a lawn chair and he came and sat with me.

  I'm going to have to arrange for his death before he can retire, aren't I ??

  (Kidding)

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  Cooked a nice pork roast in the oven last night. It will make some lunchtime lettuce wraps as well as tonight's supper.  Last night we had a brown rice pasta and turkey sausage skillet dinner that was really good. The leftovers from that will be today's lunch.  Supper will be the pork with broccoli and pineapple. All part of the food plan. With snacks in between. (For an idea of what I'm talking about, see :  /www.dragonwomansmysticalmeals.blogspot.com/

  So far, so good.  The only problem with cooking a roast in the slow cooker overnight is that you wake up hungry from the smells that have permeated your house.  lol  So, I fixed (for the first time) an oatmeal and fruit smoothie for our breakfasts.  His was better (made later) because I blended it longer. I was trying to keep the noise at a minimum when I made mine, because himself was sleeping. But it was surprisingly good. You pulverize the dry raw oats in the blender, add fruit, some Stevia, a little cinnamon and a few ice cubes.  Voila !


  Training myself to eat 5 times a day is hard. I'm really bad about skipping meals. But I'm doing it. This is week 2. I've lost a grand total of 6 pounds so far.  And feeling better (I think).  At least that's what I'm going to keep telling myself. lol  It's about time for my midmorning snack...1 cup of cantaloupe cubes. And I bought 2 yesterday that are absolutely fabulous.  Really sweet. I might go back and get 3 more...

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  So...it's Tuesday and I have a few chores to do. Nothing big on the agenda today. Yesterday I went out and went to town, picked up some groceries, hit a thrift store. And then came back home. But the important thing is that I went out.  Sometimes I hang out here for stretches at a time...

  Strolled through the garden this morning./ Lots of green tomatoes and looking good.  Some baby okra showing up and lots of flowers. Saw the first bell pepper and those plants are amazingly tall this year. Have had a couple of jalapenos already, but no bell peppers.  Until today. woohoo

  Made a pitcher of flavored water a bit ago. Trying to wean the hubster off the sugary koolaid type stuff he likes to drink.  He got pretty cranky for a few days, but seems to be levelling out.  The first pitcher or 2 that I made was simply 3 tea bags of Mint Medley tea (a blend of spearmint and peppermint) with some Stevia and sprigs of spearmint from my herb pot.  Today's pitcher is watermelon and rosemary and a tiny bit of Stevia.  It's in the fridge now, infusing.  It will be ready in a few hours. Next time I'm going to try blackberry and sage, as I grow both of those.  For right now though, I made us both tall glasses of water with a wedge of lemon squeezed in it.  I'm thinking lemon and basil might be good...or lemon balm and lemon. ooo...the possibilities are endless.  I need to pick up some Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger tea too...we've always liked that iced.

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  Okay, enough jibber-jabber for one day.  I have a few things to do, but nothing big.  Looking at real estate again last night and found a 15 acre place for under 70K...but it's 52 miles from the hub of industry in those parts. sigh...it's always something...lol  Taking it slow and when the right place shows itself, we'll know.  


  Everyone have a happy Tuesday, and say a prayer for Beth (of Day by Day with Beth Marie) as she goes into surgery today for the cancer.  All my love and prayers are with her, for a good and positive outcome.


Namaste.