 |
| Banana Nut Muffins |
Thank you, everyone, for the very kind comments about the garden. I'm hopeful that the little fruit trees will grow and produce well.
Today (Sunday) was a sunny day, but, cooler than it had been on Saturday. Even a longer than usual hot shower didn't warm me up, so, I kept the heater on.
I had another rather relaxed day. I started the car since it hadn't been driven all week, picked a few more snow peas, called and wished my half-sister for her birthday, watched a few online videos on a variety of topics (ancient Christianity, the rising prices of groceries in different stores, some cooking videos, etc.) and continued to repair the quilt.
Later in the evening, I took the last two bananas that had turned quite brown and made a batch of banana walnut muffins. While they were baking, I did the dishes and cleaned the kitchen counters. As I mentioned to one of my friends, one of the problems with brining in a bunch of lettuce from the garden is creepy crawlies sometimes hitch a ride and come into the kitchen along with the lettuce! Although I wash the leaves carefully, first soaking them in a bowl of water and then, rinsing them in a mixture of vinegar and water, sometimes a creepy crawly will, you guessed it, creep and crawl out! I didn't notice it, on Saturday, but, today, I suddenly noticed an earwig (the insect, not a song that you keep hearing over and over in your head) crawling on my kitchen counter! By the time I went to get a piece of paper towel to gather the insect and take it outside, it had crawled into the crevice between the counter and the stove! Fortunately, I'm not creeped out by the sight of creepy crawlies and other such insects, but, I gave the kitchen counters a good wipe down and made sure everything was clean before I kept the muffins to cool on the wire rack!
Brunch had been a frozen burrito (reheated in the microwave, of course). I didn't feel like cooking a big meal for dinner, so, I made spicy sauteed chick peas from the leftover canned chick peas and had some of that for dinner, followed by two banana muffins.
Today, I am grateful for:
- Another sunny day
- Hot water on tap
- A working heater
- Chatting with family and friends
- The car started without any problem
Today's joyful activities included video chatting with my daughter and baking banana muffins.
Plans for tomorrow include the appointment with the tax accountant in the afternoon and taking the trash cans out to the end of the driveway for pick up on Tuesday morning. I might also give the newly planted loquat seedlings a drink of water as the forecast says the expected rain won't arrive until Wednesday.
How was your Sunday? What are your plans for Monday?
Edited - a song that keeps playing in your head is an "earworm" not an earwig! I shouldn't write blog posts at 3:00 a.m.!
Glad to read that your daughter & you could video chat again & that power was restored in her area. Your garden does look like it is thriving with the rain. Mr Man has to eat a banana a day because of a medication he's on, so I often have bananas turning too quickly - I donate to my friend for her baking adventures. For us it is the spiders that are waking up after the winter snooze. I wipe my window & door frames with peppermint oil to keep them out - I dislike spiders because they bite & I have terrible reactions to the bites. Good luck with the tax accountant, hopefully no surprise bites from that visit (col).
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mary-Lou. The garden is enjoying getting all the water it needs! That's nice of you to donate the ripe bananas to your friend for her baking. In the summer, when it is too warm to bake, I will freeze the bananas for smoothies, etc.
DeleteI must try that peppermint oil trick for the spiders - I've some resident spiders that seem to refuse to leave! Every so often, I brush down their webs with a broom and two days later, they are back!
Ha, ha, thank you! The tax accountant is lovely, it's the taxes that are vicious! I go in prepared to pay!
We have earwigs sometimes in the house, usually in the basement. Creepy-crawlies usually don't bother me, either.
ReplyDeleteI find them coming into the house more often in the summer. I've learned to closely inspect any roses I bring inside!
DeleteI hope your drive to and from the tax accountant goes without a hitch.
ReplyDeleteI'm reorganising a couple of rooms in the house, moving stuff from a downstairs room to an upstairs room. I think all the boxes I am moving contain items to be decluttered but I need the music room (downstairs) to be cleared out. It was starting to get me down so I'm taking action to resolve that. The constant up and down the stairs is tiring me out though so I won't finish today. xx
Thank you, Eileen; the visit to the tax accountant went well.
DeleteSounds like you are busy reorganizing! Lots of good exercise, too, going up and down the stairs, but, yes, do take it easy and don't get too tired or overwork your knee!
Ugh a creepy crawlies in the kitchen not nice, I hope it doesn't find it's way back out of the crevice. Your banana muffins look very tasty.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen it, again, Eileen; I hope it found its way back outside! The banana muffins turned out well and I took some of them to my tax accountant, today. :)
DeleteYour banana muffins look very good. I imagine they were a good accompaniment to your chick peas.
ReplyDeleteI saw a chicken cacciatore recipe online this morning that appealed to me so I am making that for tonight's dinner with some broccoli on the side probably. And then some fresh cantaloupe. One of our stores had cantaloupe for .97 this week which was a super deal.
It is so good - nice and sweet. I was surprised how tasty it is.
My chimney guy finished up this morning. Another job checked off the list.
Thank you, Debra; the muffins turned out well and I took some to my tax accountant. :)
DeleteYour dinner sounds good. That's a very good price for cantaloupe!
Yay! Your chimney is fixed! Well done! :)
Yes to gardening with draught resistance plants. I assume, but do you know if the plants you use are native to the area? I will look up what loquat is.
ReplyDeleteI chatted yesterday with my sun and daughter in law and today with my older sister. Yes i too live a solitaire life, saturday a neighbour came over and yesterday i met the doglady on the trails, busy weekend!
Thank you, Jozien. I have only a few native plants, including a California white sage (Salvia apiana) and some yucca plants (don't know the species name). Other draught resistant plants include succulents such as various species of euphorbias, agave, aloes, and herbs like rosemary. But, my fruit trees aren't drought tolerant.
DeleteSounds like you had a busy weekend connecting with family and friends. :)
Ha. I was wondering whether an American earworm was an earwig but couldn't decide whether asking might have sounded impertinent! Now I see you have edited. I don't really like earwigs, but an old man I knew used to trap them in rolls of cardboard on his dahlias and feed them to his goldfish. (Now I need to ask Dad if it was dahlias - but something like that anyway.) Today was the first properly springlike day. And our clocks have changed so I was able to factor in a little time outside. I had been in an awful mood the last while so I was glad I made the time and had a chat with M. The rest of the week is forecast wet so ... carpe diem and all that!
ReplyDeleteElla
I had a feeling, last night (or, rather, very early this morning) when I was typing it that I was making a mistake, but, couldn't quite figure out what I was getting wrong! Maybe I am starting to show signs of dementia! They say that forgetting the correct words is one of the signs! Earwigs tend to hide in roses, too, so I can fully imagine they'd hide in dahlias, too!
DeleteI'm glad you were able to enjoy a nice, spring day before the weather changes again. I'm sorry you've been in an awful mood; I hope the chat with M helped.
I hate creepy crawlies! I woke very early today, and a centipede was crawling on the wall across from the bed. I dealt with it with extreme prejudice! Your muffins look yummy, and I'd deal with those as well but with joy!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't want to see a centipede crawling on my walls, either, Celie, and I'd probably deal with it the same way you did! LOL. I will capture spiders in a container and transfer them outside when possible, but, I'm not as tolerant of cockroaches!
DeleteI shared some of the banana muffins with my tax accountant and I've made good inroads on the rest of the muffins! :D
Your muffins look yummy, as usual. I've just made a 13x9 pan of squares with chocolate chips. Some will go into the freezer.
ReplyDeleteHow unfortunate to find an earwig hitchhiking into your kitchen!
Today the temperature went way up and DH and his pals have collected a lot of sap. There are now 3 pans heating up on the evaporator!
Yum! I'll trade you some of my banana muffins for your chocolate chip squares, Bushlady! :D
DeleteYes, the earwig was a bit of a surprise, but, I often find them on roses and the leafy greens.
Glad the rising temperature helped with the sap collecting. Warm days and cool nights are the right combination to make the sap run, I've heard. You'll soon be busy bottling up all that syrup!
The muffins look delicious. Xx
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jules; they were rather tasty! :)
Delete