Another Sunday Morning

I like Sundays. I like being off work on Sundays but I don't mind working on Sundays either. Sunday is just a great day. This is probably true because people are just more laid back on Sunday, period. You know I just don't know but that's what it seems like.

 This Sunday morning is cool and Sunny; a great weather morning. I've been up since 05:45 when I turned on the coffee-maker. Truth...I went back to bed but didn't fall back to sleep. I listened to the BBC until 10:00 GMT (06:00 local) and finally climbed out of bed for good. The coffee was great. Added a little heavy cream and it was good to go.

I read the Times. There wasn't really a lot of things to interest me this morning but I did skim most of the features and read a few things of interest. As usual it led me to read a few more things and now I'm thinking about what to do with the rest of the day.

So, more later....

Now, just a little more. Linda and I went off on a nice, leisurely drive down Rt. 8 for a visit to McGlasson Family Farm to get another supply of peaches. I think I've bought a bushel of them over the past week and a half. Unlike apples you have to buy peaches in small lots and eat them quickly before they spoil. These peaches aren't like the grocery store varieties because they were picked off the trees and placed on the stand for sale within 24hrs. They are incredibly sweet. Why you would even want to put sugar on them I don't know. I wanted to buy some fresh, ripe Gala apples but Linda wouldn't let me buy any more apples until  I finish the Paula Reds I already have in the 'fridge. I did buy one, though, and ate it on the drive home. We also bought some slicing tomatoes; ours just haven't ripened despite the work we put into them.

We left McGlasson's and did a little exploring. We drove out Rt.8 until it dead-ends with a small enclave of homes. I guess it's about another 5 miles or so. There's quite a lot of interesting properties as you meander catching glimpses of the mighty Ohio through the trees.

Lunch was tomatoes, basel, mozzarella, and avocado drizzled in balsamic vinegar and EVOO. We're going to have baked curried chicken (pasture raised and locally purchased at the farmers' market) over spaghetti squash. We might have some fresh tomatoes too!

Ciara, Matt and Aiden were off to Lake Norman to "swim with the fishies" so I'm waiting for a full report.

I haven't heard from Aiden and that's disappointing but I did want to post just a bit about dinner. It was fantastic! I guess I should really start keeping track of what I add and don't add and the amounts. All I can say is that I used the clay roaster, cut up the chicken and arranged it nicely in the bottom, added salt, pepper, yellow curry, red pepper powder, cumin and doused it with coconut milk; then, into the oven at 225 for about 2hrs and finished out at 350 for another hour or so. We had roasted spaghetti squash and tomatoes as an accompaniment that was really terrific. We topped it all off with my homemade vanilla almond icecream and peaches. It doesn't get much better.

Tuesday Morning Ramble

It's getting hot already and it's only half-passed eight! Humid too. At least there's a breeze. I believe we're supposed to top out at a high of 94 today. Ian says Little Rock has been and will be over 100 today and tomorrow; in fact I think it's supposed to be over 104. That's HOT! (actually miserable is a better word). As I look out on the deck the sun's up there's a light breeze and it's very hazy. It's days like this that I wish I had a pool!

I'm working on several new books. The one I started last night is The Passage by Justin Cronin. He's a Professor of English at Rice U. in Houston, TX. I bought the kindle version last night after reading the cover jacket at Barnes and Nobles. Further investigation reveals it to be the first book in a trilogy about vampires. I'm going to reserve judgment at this point but the reviews I've read are excellent.

Getting back to the weather thing; my trees look spectacular they've really grown in big spurts. My 3 pin oaks have grown at  least two feet. The maples have grown 3 feet. It's really quite amazing. Having said that my garden has been pathetic. Our squash and zucchini plants have shriveled up and died. My tomato plants have grown quite well but the fruit has been very slow to ripen.

More later...

Well, it didn't get quite as hot as predicted but the humidity made things very challenging. I believe the ambient air high was 90. Much hotter with the index.

Walked twice. Once late this morning for about 75 minutes and again this evening. By myself this morning with Linda tonight. I'll see how my right knee feels in the morning.

Hot and Humid Weekend

Heat indexes hovering near 100 degrees on both Friday and Saturday. Fortunately there has always been a stiff breeze to take the edge off of things even though it's reminiscent of a dragon's breath. Friday we didn't do much at all as I recall but yesterday we floated away the hottest part of the day in the lake at Ryland courtesy of my aunt and uncle. It was a wonderful afternoon. I think we spent the better part of two hours just floating.

Back to Normal

I'm not really sure what normal is but Buzzy's back in NC and my life is now self-centered, again. Not too happy about that. He called last night and talked about his dog and cat before going off to bed and getting back on "schedule."

Ate well yesterday. Lots of water, fruit, veggies some coffee a little chicken and almonds and coconut oil. Slept well. Long day again today. Hot. Was supposed to rain last night but I don't think it did.

Coffee and heavy cream this morning tastes great.

Grateful for the past two weeks and looking to make today a great day.

Buzzy Goes Home Today

Aiden and Family leave to return to Charlotte this morning. I believe they want to get an early start but not this early (05:00). They have two weeks of Buzzy's things to find and pack in order to get on the road. I'm sure Linda and I will find several things left behind. It was a good visit; I'm grateful that we got to enjoy Aiden's company. We had a lot of fun. He talks almost nonstop (except when he's playing the Wii or watching Dora and Diego's exploits on NetFlix). Today Linda and I return to work and begin planning our next adventure. Hopefully something over the Labor Day weekend.

Gratitude

“In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but the gratefulness that makes us happy.” -Albert Clarke

Sunny, Hazy Sunday in Independence

Aiden has spent the past two weeks with Mimi and Papaw. We managed to get in the zoo and swimming at Ryland Lakes but really the most fun was had watching the airplanes at CVG and Lunken Airfield as well as catching a few freight trains as they rumbled by the neighborhood. He managed to con us into buying some new games for the Wii but he usually went back to playing the Wii Sports. He especially likes to Bowl and play Baseball. The weather cooperated for the most part. It's been very hot and sunny most days with some thunder showers mixed in here and there. However, Mimi and PP didn't plan things too well because there were only a few days when we were both off together. That's OK because in the long run we still had fun.