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| Broccoli |
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| Snow Peas |
Here we are, in the middle of February, already! In fact, already started on the second half of February!
Hope everyone had a lovely St. Valentine's Day, yesterday. It is not a holiday I grew up celebrating and haven't really observed in recent years, either. But, any holiday that features chocolate as part of the celebrations has to be a good holiday, I'm sure!
We had a sunny and warm day (79F), yesterday. I did a couple of loads of laundry in the morning and considered vacuuming, but, I didn't want to disturb my daughter who was working; at least, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! LOL.
In the early afternoon, I took a container of pork roast and vegetables (and a chocolate) to friend R and she gave me a packet of dried chickpeas and a ready-made pizza base! It was a quick curb-side visit, but, it was nice to see her again and wish her for St. Valentine's Day. On the way back, I picked up some hamburgers and fries as a celebratory lunch for my daughter and myself. She had already eaten some leftover kuftha, earlier, and was in one of her online meetings when I got home, so, I had my hamburger then and she ate hers, later.
Later in the afternoon, I walked a bit in the driveway and greeted neighbor S who was walking in front of her house. We had a brief conversation across the street and she asked me if I had liked the cinnamon rolls her daughter had made. I said yes, they were delicious. A short time later, she brought me two more cinnamon rolls, along with some madeleine cookies, and chocolates! How lovely is that?
In the evening, I tried to switch on the TV to watch the news and discovered that the TV box (or whatever the devise that enables me to receive the TV signals is called) had stopped working! All I could see was a red X on the TV screen! Well, at least it didn't stop working until I had watched most of the Olympics games and the Super Bowl on Sunday! LOL. Daughter spoke with the customer service rep/tech support for the phone company (I have my TV/cable, internet, and phones all bundled together), unplugged and plugged the devise three times as instructed without any results, and it was agreed that they will send us a new devise, free of charge, to replace our current devise, which is at least 10 years old. We do have to send the old devise back to them, but, they will send us the return label, etc. and then, we'll take it to be shipped back. While daughter was on the phone with them, they also noted that our computer modem was also an old model and will be sending a new free replacement for that, too. We do not have to return the old modem to them. Both packages will be delivered on Wednesday, so, until then, we are without TV service. Not a hardship, really. I will miss watching news, but, I can access news on the internet, so, that's not a problem! I'm just glad that my daughter is here to figure out what to do to uninstall and install these devises because I'm sure I wouldn't have known what to do!
I had kept a tray (family pack, as it is called) of chicken thighs to thaw, yesterday. In the evening, I took half of the pack (5 chicken thighs) and sauteed them with onions and tomatoes and kept the other 5 chicken thighs (still semi-frozen) in the fridge to be made into a chicken curry, later. And, although I had listed leftover pork roast for our dinner on Monday night, daughter and I both ate the sauteed chicken, instead! I also baked some peach muffins, last night, using a packet of peaches I had cut up and frozen, last summer.
Today (Tuesday), we had a very light shower of rain in the morning. Any rain is a blessing over here, so very welcome!
Later, I brought in the trash cans from the curb. (I had taken them out, last night.) The blue bin with the recyclables hadn't been collected by the City yet when I brought the other trash cans in, but, scavengers had come by and taken every single can and bottle from the bin! I added three more grocery bags full of papers and other recyclables to the cardboard and other papers left at the bottom of the bin and daughter brought that bin in later, when it had been emptied. Afterwards, I took the kitchen composting bits to the garden, and picked another handful of snow peas. The broccoli and the peas are growing in the same planting bed; the peas are doing well, but, it looks like the recent warm temperatures caused the broccoli to mature too quickly! Each broccoli head is about an inch and a half across! I'm leaving them on the plants to see if they will grow more, but, M said another client of his had said that their broccoli, too, didn't grow more than an inch or so across. That's a little disappointing, but, broccoli leaves are edible, too, so I'll leave the plants in place and harvest the leaves for as long as I can!
It started to rain, again, in the afternoon, but, it cleared up after a few minutes.
Later, after she finished her work for the day, my daughter took over a plate of the muffins I baked over to neighbor S and came back with a plate of homemade Armenian cookies (gata) and bite-sized cupcakes! LOL. We enjoyed a cookie each (I was good and took only half of one) with our evening tea/coffee.
Today's mail included this week's grocery ads (prices effective tomorrow/Wednesday). Apples are on sale for $.99/lb., eggs for $1.79/doz. with a coupon, Bacon is on sale for $4.97/lb. with a coupon, beef for $4.99/lb. or $5.99/lb. depending on the cut, and pork shoulder roast is $1.99/lb. (which is what I paid for the pork I roasted over the weekend). A 5 lb. bag of potatoes is selling for $2.99 this week, and the 3 lb. bag of onions is also $2.99. Meanwhile at the nearby ethnic store, a 10 lb. bag of potatoes is selling for $2.99 this week and their 3 lb. bag of onions is $.99, but, they don't offer curbside pick up and I am not comfortable enough to go grocery shopping in person, yet. Effective today, our state's indoor mask mandate has been lifted, although, my county has not lifted it, yet.
Today, I am grateful for:
- Any rain that we receive
- Neighbors such as S who spoil us with lovely treats
- Daughter being here to attend to the TV receiver box and computer modem
- Garden harvests
- Working appliances
Today's joyful activity was picking peapods from the garden. I think today's harvest of 30 peapods has been the biggest harvest to date!
Plans for tomorrow include having M tend to the garden and hopefully clearing out the rest of the recyclables from the garden shed!
How was your day? What are your plans for tomorrow?
Sounds like a lovely warm day. We will have a (rare) day above freezing tomorrow and it will rain and then it will all freeze and turn to snow. I am not looking forward to the next few days of weather.
ReplyDeleteI hope the television box arrives as planned and you can get back to normal. I must say that we are going to get rid of our television box. I don't watch it enough to pay the cost of what they charge. You used to be able to call them and they would lower the cost but apparently they don't do that any more. If you are a new customer you'll get a great rate, but not so if you're a loyal customer!
Oh, I hope your weather won't cause too much of a mess with rain and snow and ice! Be careful if you are out and about, driving, etc.
DeleteThe phone/TV/internet charges are quite high, but, so far, I haven't decided to do away with the TV services. Might be something to consider, although, I do enjoy watching the news and some cooking shows, etc.
I got rid of cable TV about a year ago. It had gotten expensive and the channels I mostly watched i can get over the air with a digital antenna. When I called to cancel I expected to get arguments and lower price offer, but the person I spoke to just said ok and arranged for me to return the box. But now I've started getting mail offers to subscribe again! Celie
ReplyDeleteI get offers from various other providers, but, I just have every bundled with one company and it seemed like a good thing at the time. I think I will keep it as it is for now and then, reconsider things a bit later.
DeleteFebruary is going by so fast. I'm not complaining, as I'm looking forward to spring.
ReplyDeleteI hope your new TV arrives quickly. X
Yes, it is going fast - it'll soon be spring! :) Thank you, Jules; the new TV box is supposed to arrive tomorrow. :)
DeleteI hope the TV is fixed soon - but as you say, you can access news on the Internet. Do you listen to the radio? I spend a lot of time listening to dramas, quiz shows, documentaries and music, whilst I'm pottering around the house.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Angela. I don't listen to the radio that much, anymore. I seem to prefer watching news on TV to listening to it on the radio, although, often, it is just going on in the background while I do stuff.
DeleteIt's hard to keep up with all of the food exchanges that go on between you and your friends. It sounds like you had a very sweet Valentine's Day. :)
ReplyDeleteLOL, there is a lot of plates being sent back and forth, isn't there? But, yes, it was a very sweet Valentine's Day! :D
DeleteNew phone, new TV box, new modem ... I bet you're glad your daughter is home to set all this up for you 😂
ReplyDeleteIt's a shame you don't have TV for the next few days but at least you got to see the Super Bowl and can follow the news via the internet until it's all sorted.
Oh, I am so glad that my daughter is here to set it all up for me! Had it been left to me, I would have asked them to send a technician out or, I might have had to go across the street to my neighbor's and asked for help! :D
DeleteI will survive being without the TV for a couple of days. The new box is supposed to arrive, today, and depending on when my daughter can set it up, I should be able to watch news again, later in the week. :)
That is a nuisance about the broccoli. I love hearing about the food you get from the garden and the way that you have friendship with food.
ReplyDeleteIt must be a nuisance about the tv, but I hardly ever watch the actual tv itself these days. I watch everything on my laptop. But I like having access to the news.
I'm glad that you're staying safe and getting roadside pick up. Take care.
I'm disappointed about the broccoli - I was anticipating having 6 heads of broccoli instead of 6 florets which will be enough for one meal! But, that's the joy of gardening, I suppose. :)
DeleteI grew up without TV, but, I've got accustomed to having it available any time I want! But, I could probably do without it, too. It's something to think about.
Thank you, Lyssa. I'm grateful that I have the privilege of being able to take advantage of roadside pick up or delivery services. Hope you are having a good day and all is well with you and yours.
Thankfully between TheHub and me we can figure how to install things, but we never get it right the first time!
ReplyDeleteYou have some wonderful neighbors!
I used to be able to do these things, once upon a time, but, these days, I tend to get very flustered and stressed when I try to do them. By the time I read every word in the instructions manual and figure out what is A and what is B, my daughter will have everything set up and running!
DeleteI do have some lovely neighbors! Whatever happened to the white house behind your house? Do you have new neighbors now?
I think you have got your phone camera working, as the photos are good and the one of the broccoli is rather attractive. I wonder if it will fit a category in a photo contest? That is great that you will get the new TV box and modem. We are into hooking up of devices too, now that the floor is finished, and some electronics have to be connected before the wall unit can be pushed into place.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bushlady. I need to remember to not get too close to what I am trying to photograph! Hope you have some help with getting the bigger pieces of furniture back in place! I imagine the new floors look lovely and they'll be easier to clean than carpets.
DeleteA blessing for you to have your daughter to set up and sort out those problems, I'd be clueless too. I hope your TV box and modem arrive on time, thank goodness for the internet.
ReplyDeleteIt is a blessing to have her home to help me set up the new equipment! The TV box arrived and my daughter set it up; she showed me how to hook it up, but, then, she had to go online to trouble shoot something before the TV would work! It is working well, now. Hopefully, the modem will arrive today.
DeleteI hope the new box and modem were delivered yesterday. It doesn't sound like it's been a problem for you to not have television but still, it will be nice to be all set up again with things the way you like them.
ReplyDeleteI cancelled cable quite a few years back but I still pay for tv with Youtube streaming service. What I also did was buy a small inexpensive indoor antenna for when the internet goes out.
I tell you Bless, that antenna is marvelous. It's flat and about the size of a notebook piece of paper. The signal is beautiful and I get all the normal broadcast channels. If it wasn't for my husband who enjoys ESPN etc, I probably would just go with the antenna alone. Although I do like cable news - CNN, MSNBC so maybe not. lol
I was surprised to see the broccoli plants already flowering. I hope they straighten themselves out and will end up being productive for you. But if not, like you said, there are always the leaves - just ask Dancer!
The TV box arrived and my daughter hooked it up (and showed me how to do it, so I know, too). But, she still had to go online and trouble shoot because hooking up the new box didn't get the TV working! Apparently, she also had to press a certain button on the modem (still the old one) and then, press an "OK" button on the TV (within 2 minutes of pressing the button on the modem) to get the TV to work, but, it is working well, now! :) I was very happy to be able to watch some of the Olympics games coverage in the evening. :)
DeleteI didn't have cable for the longest time. It was my daughter's one complaint when she was growing up! Eventually, I gave in and got cable, mostly for her benefit. Then, she went off to Berkeley and I just kept the cable. I seem to get a lot of channels I don't watch, with my cable package, but, I do enjoy the ones I do watch - they are mostly public television channels.
I think I'll harvest the broccoli florets this weekend and see what happens - there are already some side florets on one or two of the plants! Yes, Dancer does like his greens! :D