I got up at 6 a.m. this morning trying to beat the heat. The low for the night was 76 degrees. Sigh. First thing...I saw a baby bird on the porch. He wasn't developed enough to fly yet. With my gloved hands, I scooped him up and put him back in the fern. He was so excited and upset - he jumped out again. (Our porch is concrete!) I took the fern off the hook to verify that babies #2 and #3 were still there. They were. So I scooped up the escapee and placed him right on top of the nest. He realized that he was 'home,' so settled down. I put the planter back on the hook.I got up and moving that early to spread mulch. The bluebonnets have finally dried and seeded. I'd pulled the plants up out of the flower bed and moved them down by the bigger patch of bluebonnets down between the crepe myrtles and the driveway. So...time to spread 60 cubic feet of cypress mulch. The big bed took 13 bags. Isn't this just the prettiest hosta you've ever seen - in MY garden?
Time for a break with a glass of iced tea now that the temperature has climbed to 86 degrees at 10 a.m. This is what I see from the 'park' bench on the porch. Doesn't it look like a cool oasis?

I bought a couple of wind chimes the other day. This is a rooster. I love the colored glass and just the least little breeze sets him to 'crowing.'This little fellow hardly sings at all...even hung from a slender branch. I am so glad I got the rooster too!

This fellow perched on the staff that the hummingbird feeder hangs from. At first I thought it might be a parent bird...but it's not. The babies in the nest are bluebirds. I spied the mama bird with a worm in her beak waiting for me to leave. Which I did...
See the empty spot in the middle? I dug out the mountain laurel. It just doesn't belong in this acidic soil in northeast Texas. I put it in a pot. Perhaps it will grow in it. I have to decide what to put into the empty spot.
After spreading mulch, I poured stuff around the azaleas to make the soil in this bed more acidic. I've been putting lime around the laurel...and this stuff (whatever it is, it also has iron and other stuff for azaleas, camelias, and a host of other plants) around the azaleas. Nothing but the nandinas have been doing much good. So eliminating the laurel can do nothing but help the azaleas.

Then, as if I hadn't done enough already...just spent four hours...WHAT?! FOUR hours sweating. That is sooo unlike me! ;o) After my shower, I made an apron. I saw a regular bbq apron at a ...surprise!!! bbq place... It was a regular chef-style apron with ruffles. Sam didn't like it, but I looked it over real close from afar.

I laid my old reliable apron out and got into my scraps. That is a piece of baby blue eyelet for the body of the apron and just strips of whatever for ruffles. Even though some of the fabrics look the same, they aren't. Perhaps I need to just lay it down on the bed or try hanging it and take a regular photo...not the reflection of some poor bloated woman in a mirror. That's just so not fair! And 'they' lied! Humphf...'They' say that the camera adds only ten pounds to your figure. That is so not true. I bet in reality it's really twen...I mean thirty pounds! Betcha!!!

Are you counting down to my giveaway? Information will be in the very next post!

Whose Idea Was This Anyway?

I had a hotdog for lunch. Complete with mustard, sweet relish, and Cheetos. The only thing that kept lunch from being a balanced meal...no chocolate. So, yogurt was on the menu for me this evening, and I intended for Sam to raid the refrigerator...there's one delicious serving of a hamburger and rice dish I've thrown together...since forever. That with salad was going to be the offering for Sam.

THIS is what happened. Carol is out of town. Elton was going to be in our neck of the woods checking on supplies at the local lumber/hardware store to compare prices with one of the big stores. He called Sam. Sam and I were in the same room and could very easily make eye contact. Sam asked him when Carol would be home. Got the answer. Looked at me and asked, "What's for supper?" I shrugged, looked at him (NOTHING was between us to block his view), and said, "Not much." He told Elton, "Sherry said to come on over, that she'd fix supper. Bye."

I am flabbergasted. I said, "That is NOT what I said. I am having yogurt and you are having the last of the hamburger and rice and there's not enough for you and Elton." It was his turn to shrug his shoulders. Left the room with the lame excuse that he needed to go to the bathroom.

Humphf.

Just as Elton got here, I was putting chicken breasts - that I intended to cook tomorrow - in the oven to roast. If it hadn't been for them, I would've sent the guys to town to eat and I would've had my yogurt.

Would you believe that I really and truly did forget to cook rice? Tomorrow's menu was going to be:
Roasted Chicken Breasts
Buttermilk Gravy
Rice
Salad

We had:
Roasted Chicken Breasts
Broccoli with Cheese Sauce
A hastily opened can of hominy
Salad (overkill on the greens, but remember I was going to eat yogurt so left the cheese stuff alone)
Ice cream

Oh! And a loaf of homemade bread fresh from the machine. ;o) Can't forget that. I really, really shot the planned yogurt supper!

How about some recipes?! I haven't posted any in a while.

Someone gave this recipe to Mama many years ago. We thought it sounded good, but had never really done much cooking with thyme. We're country people and don't hold to them fancy herbs. ;o) It was decided that I would cook it first. If Ron, my first husband, would eat it...it would pass. His name should've been Mikey...He liked it!

Hamburger and Rice with a Little Thyme

1 pound ground beef...not fatty but not too lean...you'll want some flavor!
1 chopped onion
1 or 2 cloves of minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
2 or 3 pinches of thyme
1 can tomatoes, drained but reserve juice
1 cup rice
Enough water added to tomato juice to make 2 cups

Brown ground beef with onions and garlic. Season to taste. Stir in tomatoes. Add the 2 cups of liquid and stir. When it simmers, cover with a lid, turn heat down as low as it'll go and cook for 20 minutes. Don't peek! IF you must, wait at least 15 minutes. And if you do peek, you might as well give it a quick stir.

I looked at my earlier posts and can't beiieve I haven't posted this delicious gravy recipe! The only time I make it is when we have roasted chicken and rice.

Buttermilk Gravy

1 cup chicken broth (I pour 1 cup water in the roasting pan to make certain I have broth for this. Sometimes I have to add a bit of water to get the 1 cup back.)
1/4 cup buttermilk
3-4 tablespoons flour
salt and pepper to taste

Heat chicken broth. Whisk flour into buttermilk and whisk into chicken broth. Season. Heat until thickened...just barely simmer. DO NOT BOIL THIS! It will not get thicker but seems to break down the buttermilk and it's not as good. If it doesn't get as thick as you want, dip out a small amount of the thin gravy and whisk in another tablespoon of flour. Pour that into your gravy and heat until thick.

Take notice!!!! This is my 198th post. I will be having a giveaway for the 200th post. And I know exactly what it will be! Just two posts to go before the announcement.

The giveaway for my 100th post was a patch for a motorcycle vest like this:

You have sooooo much to look forward to! Bwahahahha

Have You Ever Wanted to....

........................
This too shall pass. Thank GOD!
........

Ah! Life's trials and tribulations. The difference one day makes. No. Problem not resolved, but it's one of those things happening to someone else. It affects me indirectly...because I know part of what's going on...and someone has tried to drag me into the middle of it... Sigh. Some people make living life so hard.

To those of you who read the original post and have been praying for me...why don't you continue to do so. ;o) And throw in the others I didn't mention.

Building to Date

It's at a stopping point. Doors are ordered. Electric service is ordered. Sam's been making a few purchases to get things ready for the electricity. Elton is doing the same on his building.

The pile of leftover insulation in the back is sitting on top of the bathroom. It will be used to insulate the bathroom. Two windows in the building. The other side will house the camper.

Four skylights will help with lighting.

I Got to Thinking...

Mama watched one of Sam Elliot's early movies and talked about how cute he was. (IS!) He is one of my all-time favorite actors...mainly because of his voice.

And, what about...

James Earl Jones - edited He's alive and still acting! I thought so too, but in Wikipedia I saw the 2006 death date. That was his dad. Thanks Shogun for setting me straight.

James Garner - Murphy's Romance with Sally Field was one of my favorites.

Tom Selleck - who can forget those Magnum, PI legs?! And he wasn't bad at all in Quigley Down Under. He also played in a few movies based on Louis L'Amour's Sacket family books with Sam Elliot.

And last, but definitely not least - Sean Connery. ANYTHING he does is...

Is anyone else getting hot in here?

My Opinion Exactly!

I agree with Holee!

http://beashive-bea.blogspot.com/2009/06/dear-president-obama.html

Except I would never leave my credit card with my son...at any age!

Cookie Day!

Sam's favorite cookie - next to Snicker Doodles - is oatmeal. I found the best recipe on the inside lid of the Old Fashion Quaker Oats canister.

See those two pretty brown eggs? Fresh. From one of my neighbors. Isn't she sweet?! Now I know that there's no nutritional difference in a brown shelled egg and a white shelled egg...but don't the brown shells just remind you of your grandparents' place? Not really for me. My grandparents had Banty hens. I don't know why. Their eggs were much smaller. Don't care. I like the brown shells. Not one logical reason. Back when I had chickens I had Rhode Island Reds and Dominikers.

I was disappointed in this white parchment paper. The cookies stuck a bit on it. But not on the brown parchment paper below. shoulder shrug Go figure. First pans coming out of the oven.

Quality control!

Second batch ready to cook.

Yummy!

Gotta do QC on each batch fresh out of the oven!

Um....love fuzzy photos. No wrinkles. No makeup! (Don't look at the neck!!) DO look at the hair! I may have that fiber optic thing going on when the sun roof on the car is open, but I've got a lot of pepper left!!

Finally decided that the cookies were good enough for Sam and Elton so put a dozen in a container and carried it along with a jug of Gatorade to them.

Oops!

Starting off with an "oops" is indicative of something gone wrong. I pulled out the bread machine yesterday. Contrary to the directions, the first thing I do when I slip the loaf out of the pan is to take a bread knife and slice a good thick slice of the top...butter it...yeah, yeah, yeah...cut it in half and share with Sam. BUT!!! I do get the first bite. Oops. No salt. We have to salt the bread before we can eat it. It is still delicious!

We had a bit of a storm last night. Lightning and really heavy rain for 30 minutes or so. Then it settled down. We got about 1 1/3 " overnight. Cooled the temps down a bit, but this afternoon, it was definitely warmer and humid.

Here are the blooms fully open on one of the mother-in-law's tongue. I am always surprised at the sweet, sweet perfume that comes from these small blossoms.
Look! Three little hairless babies! Okay!! Featherless! The mama really got fracious waiting for me to get the photo and leave her brood alone.

Ta-da! My sweater back is finished! Um...I thought I purchased one dye lot. The middle section sure has more red/orange in it. Laura (friend who taught me to knit) and Carol both said that that sometimes happens with variegated yarns. CAN'T SEE THE CABLES! All that work and they just fade away. Last night I cast on and knitted a couple of rows of ribbing for the front. Knitted more today watching a couple of movies.

I am so excited about this new digital television broadcasting. At first I wasn't, but we've gained a few channels. One of which is THIS. "Classic" television shows and old movies! I wanted one The Earthling with William Holden and little Ricky Schroeder...filmed in Australia. Very good! Tonight I finished up Dancing With Wolves. I don't normally watch that much television in one day.

Photos of the building on Wednesday.

Before lunch - no roof. Roof went on after lunch. Crew decided to head home leaving the job unfinished.

This morning Elton arrived. He and Sam put the trim and gutters up on the front. Tomorrow, they will continue around the sides and back of the building.

Sam

Can you believe he turned down a job?! Wasn't even looking for one. Was offered a job out of the blue. AND TURNED IT DOWN?! ;o)

He had the opportunity to meet the couple who own the local motel. (Small town. One motel.) The wife asked if he was retired. "Yes." "Would you like a job?" He asked, "Doing what?" "Running the office part time." "No thank you."

Like, why did he even ask "Doing what?" LOL

I don't know why he turned it down. tongue-in-cheek Money had nothing to do with it even though I'm certain it would've been minimum wage. I get the feeling that he would've turned down $20 an hour too. Ah, to be 73 and at the age where he can do anything he wants...or nothing at all...

Grilling Ribs

Sorry. No photos of this because I had witnesses and I've already been through that with husband Sam...

Saturday, while Sam and Elton were working on the building and Carol went to a native plant meeting (she's going to be putting in gardens eventually...I'm just about through), I put a rack of ribs (short ribs) on the grill. I haven't grilled anything since marrying Sam nearly 12 years ago - he's our griller. But I do remember how.

Oh! And this was the second time I've grilled since they started working on our building. I did steaks a few days before that. Only problem was that Sam normally reports when we are low on charcoal...and he didn't. Imagine my surprise when I looked in the sack and there wasn't many briquets. Too late to make a dash to the store, so I settled for them figuring that if the steaks didn't get cooked enough that I could put Carol's and mine under the broiler in the house. Everything worked out fine though...just had to bring the vegetables in to finish (yellow squash and zucchini...I forgot the onions).

In addition to the Weber grill the steaks were cooked on, we have a New Braunfels smoker/grill. I built a charcoal fire in the remote firebox. After the briquets turned white, I added some live oak wood chips that had been soaked in water to get a smoke going. I also put a pan of water under the rack the ribs would be cooked on. Put the seasoned ribs on the grill...kept the temp between 225 and 250 and left them alone. (Sam asked once if I'd checked on them. NO! Don't open the grill because the temperature cools too much and has to start all over.)

In the meantime, Carol arrived and watched the last of a movie with me...I started it over again for her while I boiled eggs (fresh from a wonderful neighbor and friend!) and Yukon gold potatoes. I opened a can of Bush's baked beans and doctored them with onions sauteed with four strips of bacon...lifted the bacon out of the cast iron skillet and poured the beans in. Stirred in some mustard and brown sugar. Got everything hot on the stove, laid the bacon slices on top of the beans then put the whole shebang on the grill beside the ribs.

Made the potato salad and refrigerated it.

The movie Carol and I watched? Disney's Song of the South. I love it. It's part of my childhood and just imagine my surprise when I read online that it's considered racist. Of course the article I read was written by an immigrant from Trinidad... When that little boy placed his little white hand in Uncle Remus' big black hand...tell me what's racist about that?! Before anyone does holler "racist," let's remember that this film was made in 1946. Back in the 50s when I first saw it, I wished that I knew someone just like Uncle Remus...an adult (black or white) who really had time for small children and loved them...regardless!

Watch a good movie (while the guys work). Grilled ribs we each dipped in bbq sauce - or not. Potato salad, smokey beans, buttered and toasted sour dough bread. Glasses of iced tea. Um-um! Finished with watermelon.