Monday

The Last of the Tomatoes from the Garden

Monday morning I woke up from a dream that began in the front yard of my current home and ended in the back yard of my childhood home!  LOL.  Every now and then, I have these dreams where the past and present environments merge into one.  The last time I visited my childhood home was over 30 years ago, but, everything was so vivid in my dream!  What woke me up from that dream was a text from a friend saying that her younger daughter had gone into labor with her first child.  The baby, a boy, was born later in the afternoon.  

The morning was spent responding to blog comments (thank you, all, for your kind comments on all my posts), reading and commenting on some other blogs, doing a load of laundry, and practicing the piano before the afternoon lesson.  Neighbor T called and we chatted a bit and then, I had half a pastrami sandwich before the piano lesson.

The piano lesson went well, I think.  I was awarded an A+ for my playing, mistakes and all!  LOL.  I am happily thumping my way through very simplified versions of Für Elise, La bohème, and an Armenian song "Ktor me yerkinq" (by Tigran Mansuryan; neighbor S did the arrangement that I am learning to play).  I have a tendency to play unevenly, speeding up the tempo in the bits and parts that I know, slowing down when I get to the the other sections, and forget my key signatures and accidentals from one playing to another!  But, S is very patient and encouraging.  Today, we added the pedals to the first two pieces!  Progress!

After the piano lesson, I had the other half of my sandwich, put the laundry to dry, read a few more blogs, and watched my new programs.  I watch local news, network news, and international news from Japan, Germany, France and Britain.  

In the evening, I called my aunt for her birthday, cleaned the fridge, took the trash cans to the curb, and harvested the last of the tomatoes from my volunteer plant.  They are shown in the photo at the top.  The plate they are on is a bread and butter plate, about 6 inches in diameter.  The biggest of the tomatoes is about the size of my still swollen toe!  LOL!

After that, I cooked.  I made spicy potatoes and the shredded chicken with the thawed rotisserie chicken (the package I defrosted contained half a chicken breast and a thigh):

First, I sauteed some cut up onion, tomato, and curry leaves in a little oil:

Sauteing Onions, Tomato, and Curry Leaves

Then, I shredded the chicken and added that, along with a spoonful of dark roasted curry powder, some chili powder, and salt to taste:

Shredded Chicken

The spicy sauteed potatoes were made in a similar manner, with sauteed onions, curry leaves, cut up boiled potatoes, curry powder, chili powder and chili flakes, etc.  But, no tomatoes!

Spicy Sauteed Potatoes (Ala Thel Dala)

I decided to have cucumber slices with it, instead of a green salad:

Cucumber Slices

Today, I am grateful for:

• My friend's daughter had a safe delivery and a healthy baby
• Being able to have piano lessons
• Washing machines (and electricity to run them)
• Tomato harvest from the volunteer plant
• A playful Dancer (he had been sleeping a lot, the past couple of days and I was a bit concerned; but, he seems fine, now)

 Today's joyful activity was playing the piano.

Monday's To Do List:

- Piano lesson - DONE

- Change bed sheets - DONE

- Load of laundry (bed sheets/towels) - DONE

- Dust living room & dining area - DONE

- Clean the fridge - DONE

- Take trash cans to the curb for Tuesday trash pick up - DONE

Tuesday's To Do List:

- Dust family room and my bedroom

- Water the garden, front and back

- Bring the trash cans in

- Water the house plants

- Practice the piano

How was your Monday?  What are your plans for Tuesday?