Muddling through a Monday...

 For all you have and all you don't....

  It's been an interesting Monday to muddle through. First, the Irishman had to call in sick to work because he has been sick since before supper last night. A stomach bug.  Hurting and vomiting and laying around all day. Bless his heart...I brought him Ginger Ale and Pepto Bismol, offered him dandelion and violet leaves, and waited on him a lot.  He's been really tired all day and on the sofa, between icky bouts. I had a moment of nausea, but ate some dandelion leaves and it pretty much went away.

  Made a healthy version of sweet and sour chicken to take to my friends house since I couldn't bake a pot pie.  No--the oven hasn't healed itself yet.  But I fixed the dish, cooked some Jasmine rice and took it all over where we sat and laughed our fool heads off for about 3 hours. Then I headed home.

  I made a funky version of  garlic naan with some of the bread dough. and it turned out really good. I could have rolled it a lot thinner, that would have made it even better. As it was, it came out more like a flatbread.  I'd do it again...it was that good.

  I am so tired. I probably didn't get 3 hours of sleep last night...and as soon as I finish this, I am headed for the bed.

  My son's truck is not running right, so he's going to take my car for the rest of the week to go to work. That means I'll be firmly ensconced at Honeysuckle Hill....maybe I can get something done. I may be sitting with my neighbors husband on Friday and then that night we have a graduation to go to and a pizza party afterwards that I organized for my friend.  She's graduated from a technical school and i am so proud of her!

  We finally got rain today...and got quite a bit. Thank goodness--it has been so dry. After the rain, the peas exploded into blooms!!  It was an amazing sight...

  Alright...I have to go to bed....I hurt everywhere.  lol

  Sweet dreams, muchachas !!

OMG!! It might be winter!!

  But I'm not gonna get too excited yet.  The weather has taken a turn for the nasty....43 degrees and rainy.and almost 11 AM, so I think we can be pretty sure it won't get much warmer. Although the rain is supposed to stop. 

  Just for today, for right now, I am content to be in my warm homey house, surrounded by yapping dogs and trying to figure out if I can get my bread starter made. I have to go to town early today, and that always messes up my schedule.

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  My son came today and took my car in for a new front tire. He's buddies with the guys at the used tire place. They got him a really nice tire and it only cost me 30 dollars.  The front end on the car was shimmying so bad I could barely hold the wheel. See, we live out on a county road and they never have the money to properly repair the roads.  Potholes and washboards are the order of the day, and this mess EATS tires. So I never buy new ones anymore, it isn't worth it. I do get gently used ones that come off wrecked cars. The Irishman was worried that it was the tie rods, but number one son says it rides smooth as glass now. Thank goodness--the car repair gods have already punished me enough for one year.  lol

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  I'm going to start a batch of the artisan bread here in a minute, altering the recipe slightly. I'm adding a half cup of Bob's Red Mill 6 grain cereal to the mix. I had some of my friends bread made this way and it was awesome. She told me today that she just made some with raw quinoa added to it and that I should really try it--it was great.  Maybe next time.  When I stopped to buy the cereal last night, I also picked up a bag of flax seed and a bag of corn grits for making polenta. I love polenta...

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  Not much going on around these parts. I did just get a call from my neighbor telling me that the church's pecan sale started and that pecans were up to 9.00/lb this year. I think that's still cheaper than the stores.  And they're beautiful nuts, I bought some last year.  So, I ordered 3 pounds. That might get me through the winter. I'm going to talk to my brother in Georgia too...maybe his wife can get me some nice ones (she owns a restaurant there). Pecans are my favorite--a versatile nut that can be used in a thousand different ways. I'm on the verge of needing walnuts too...

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  I am lazy today. Not really doing much of anything besides the bread dough, which I only have to stir together and leave out on the counter until tonight.  Thought maybe I'd vacuum, but....maybe not. Going in to MissB's early today, and not looking forward to that. She is keeping her house at about 84 degrees all the time since it got cool. We all go in and change it and she goes back and changes it again. I keep mine at 69. I can barely breathe in her house, it's so hot. It makes me sluggish and tired and cranky. She is 82 and refuses to wear anything on her feet or a sweater. sigh...I'm going to be as stubborn as she is when I'm that old, I just know it.  lol

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 Okay. I'm off to make bread and then go shower. Or...maybe a little nap.....I only got 5 hours sleep again last night and I'm suddenly pooped....

  It's all about priorities, right??

Namaste.

Rainy days and Mondays...

Any more rain around here and I'll be building an ark...lol...that's what some of my sponslings call my house...Annie's Ark...

 We have had serious thunderstorms all weekend off and on...very limited computer access, naturally.  maybe God is trying to tell me something by weaning me off this idiot box slowly and surely ????  LOL

  It was a busy weekend too...Friday nights celebration was great and the Italian Creme Cake turned out beautifully.

I also made some cream cheese brownies to take. Between the Friday night and the Saturday morning meeting, every crumb was devoured. There was another cake there too, so there was more than enough of everything.  Had a nice Chinese lunch with a good friend on Saturday and then came home and took it easy the rest of the day. We watched Lady and the Tramp that we had picked up at a yard sale (I had never seen the whole movie...this was beautiful!!).  Sunday was a full day as well, went to a church service that I had to leave in the middle of, then to a meeting to , then to lunch with hubby and friends and then to a District meeting. Finally got home around 4 and ran up to Pappy's Market (in the rain, of course) and picked up some Terro for ants, a small pack of zucchini plants (I don't know why...I just cannot seem to NOT plant those dang things!!!) and some celery.  Came home and made a lovely chicken pot pie. The Irishman had gone to the watershed trail for a nice long hike and got home around 5:30. We settled in , had a nice supper of comforting tasty chicken pie and watched Adaptation, with Nick Cage, Chris Cooper and Meryl Streep.

  It stormed like crazy most of the night, and is raining off and on still. Feels like I live in a rainforest.

  Early Friday morning, I went to a garage sale and picked up a nice little tabletop food dehydrator for my son. He has been using mine, drying apples and pineapples and bananas.  I got this one for 5 bucks...and it has one more tray than mine does!  I think the Irishman paid close to 60 bucks for mine for a Xmas present.  They actually had 2 of them, and I bought the better (I thought) of the 2. Kinda wish I'd gotten them both now...He was thrilled. Called me up Saturday morning and said it works like a dream. He was already unloading the batch of dried banana planks.  Maybe I'll get mine back now ??  I think it's great...he's asking about making the dried fruit rolls that I made when he was little...thinking maybe his kids might actually try those.  lol

  Have to make some kind of a potluck dish for Pat to take to the meeting tonight.  I've decided not to participate this time...a weekly book meeting feels like too much to me right now. If it was once a month, or even every other week, I might consider it....but not weekly. Not now. Too much work to do this time of year.

  The chooks are out in the general milieu of the chicken run now. All fences are down and they are warily eyeing each other, lol. I need to get out and check on them this morning...

  Alrighty. let's see if the computer connection holds long enough to post this...

Namaste.