Rain on Monday

The forecasted rain arrived early in the morning.  It was already raining when I woke up at 7:00 a.m.  A slow, steady rain, not the powerful downpour that was experienced in northern California.  It continued to rain all day, but, it stopped around 5:30 p.m. and the sun peeked through while it set.  I was grateful for the slow rain which soaked into the garden without causing floods (other than a few flooded intersections).  We have had the second driest summer on record and the rain we received, at least here in my area of southern California, has been a blessing!

This morning, when I opened the sliding glass door to feed the garden cats, a certain Bun Bun was also waiting, with the cats, for his breakfast!  I think I've acquired myself a garden rabbit!  Since the cardboard is not preventing him from coming in, I think I will surrender gracefully and accept Bun Bun into my back garden menagerie!  

We left the house at 8:15 a.m., with me driving us to the clinic.  The freeway wasn't too congested and everyone was keeping to the speed limits.  The first proper rain of the season always leaves the roads slick as all the motor oils that have spilled over the summer starts to float above the water on the roads.  Often, there are accidents due to cars skidding on rain slick roads; today, we heard and saw one car skid as it took a turn too fast, but, luckily, no accidents.  We got to the clinic by 9:15 a.m.; my appointment was for 9:30 a.m.

The waiting room wasn't crowded, but there were people there who weren't wearing their masks properly!  One couple had their masks pulled well under their chins while they conversed with each other and my daughter and I felt very uncomfortable sitting in the same room with them.  Then, another man walked in and, although he was wearing a mask, it kept coming down as he first spoke to the receptionist and then, spoke on his cell phone.  I heard the receptionist tell him at least three times to wear his mask properly and another medical assistant also spoke to him and said if he didn't wear his mask properly, he will have to wait outside.  I felt encouraged by that to alert the receptionist that the other couple in the waiting room also had their masks completely down.  Once I pointed it out to her, she spoke to them in Spanish and asked them to pull up their masks.  Then, they were called inside and after a few minutes, I was called inside, too.  My daughter remained in the waiting room.

Once inside, I had my eyes dilated and checked; the doctor said that everything seemed fine.  Such a blessing!  I do have the beginnings of cataracts (and have had them for a few years now), but, I was told that they were still at the beginning stages and nothing to worry about for now.  I have another appointment in one year's time!  We parked in the medical building and parking cost $10 for the time we were there (maximum parking rate at that particular building was $18 for the day). 

Daughter drove us back and we had a good drive back, too.  Daughter had taken a few hours off from work in the morning to go with me to the eye exam.  But that did not prevent her supervisor from calling her about a work related matter before we had returned home!  She returned to work as soon as we got home! 

I rested for a couple of hours until my eyes returned to normal and I could remove my dark glasses.

Then, I made a pot of chicken and vegetable soup for lunch, using the bones from three of the chicken breast halves and the meat that was left on them, along with some vegetables I had on hand, including half a can of cut green beans that was approaching its expiration date.  Soup, made this way with what I have on hand, is a very frugal meal, I think.  I had the soup as it was; my daughter thought it was too bland and doctored it up with some additional ingredients to suit her taste!   

Then, I replied to blog comments and read a few blogs.  On one of the blogs, I saw a picture of American style biscuits the blogger had made and I asked for the recipe.  In the meantime, I decided to try my hand at making drop biscuits, adapting a recipe I found online (I substituted some half and half that was starting to turn sour - not so good for drinking, but fine for baking - for the milk called for in the recipe).

Drop Biscuits

With Butter

I think they turned out well, especially for a first try.  My daughter loved them and we ate several of them, while still warm from the oven!  She ate them plain, I tried mine with butter; they were pretty good with butter and my homemade strawberry jam, too!

After tea, I took the trash cans to the curb for pick up in the morning, practiced the piano for a bit, and spoke on the phone with friend R and aunt C.  Daughter ate some of the Korean food she cooked for her dinner; I had another bowl of my chicken and vegetable soup to warm me up from the inside out!  

Today, I am grateful for:

- A safe drive in the rain to the eye appointment and back
- My daughter was available to drive me back
- A good eye appointment
- The rain we received - a slow rain which soaked the garden and didn't cause any damage in my area
- Chicken soup and drop biscuits!

Today's joyful activity was making drop biscuits.

Plans for tomorrow include doing some tidying up and sewing.

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