Mid-Week on Wednesday

 

Sunset

After relaxing over Sunday, I had a fairly productive day on Monday.  It was another hot day.  The temperature was already 91F at 9:00 a.m. after I fed the chickens.  I let them out of the enclosure and allowed them to explore the garden while I watered the backyard before it got too hot.  The temperature went up to 100F later in the afternoon.  Daughter cleaned the chicken coop and put bottles of frozen water in their water dish to keep the water cool for them.

I watered the indoor plants, too, and picked moringa pods for daughter to take to Berkeley with her to give one of her colleagues.  This colleague had offered her parents' vacant house (they were away on vacation) to my daughter to stay in during her visit to Berkeley, which was very kind of her.  Daughter had booked two nights at a hotel, but, cancelled that booking and stayed at her colleague's parents' house, instead.  Her colleague is married to a Sri Lankan who accepted the offer of moringa pods with pleasure and daughter also took them a packet of our favorite Sri Lankan tea as a thank you gift.  

I cooked a pot of rice and some broccoli and packed a dinner for daughter to take with her, along with a packet of frozen chicken curry and some tangerines.  She had also packed some coffee and creamer to take with her (but, later, realized that she had forgotten to take some sugar with her, so she used some of the sugar that was there in the house in which she was staying).  

I drove daughter to the airport after she had finished her work for the day, came home and took the trash cans to the curb for pick up on Tuesday morning, and let the chickens out.  They enjoyed being in the garden and Henny Penny made her way into the raised beds that were planted with kale and Japanese mugwort even though there was chicken wire around them!  But, the chicken wire had been put up to keep the cats out and apparently, not chickens!  Or, at least, one particular chicken!  LOL!  She's the adventurous one.  

Eventually, I persuaded them to go back into their coop.  They love moringa leaves, especially Henny Penny, so, a moringa leaf is my "carrot"!  I wave it at them and call them and they follow me to the coop enclosure without any trouble (for the most part) and a handful of dried mealworms scattered inside the coop get them to go all the way in so I can lock them inside for the night.  I leave it up to them to sort out who gets the top rung of the two-rung ladder we have put inside the coop as their perch; usually, it is Niwatori.  

I video chatted with daughter after she got to the house she was staying at.  Berkeley was having their version of a "heat wave" but,  their high was about 20 degrees cooler than ours!  LOL. 

I also watched a news conference held by the Mayor about the city's emergency preparations being put in place for the anticipated El Nino weather this winter, especially in areas prone to flooding and landslides.  

I decided not to do a meal plan options post this week because I have a lot of leftover pancit and adobo chicken, as well as the rice, chicken curry, and broccoli I cooked.  It's a leftovers kind of week.

On Tuesday, Niwatori was in the egg box when I went to feed them in the morning, so I didn't let them out into the garden while it was still cool (as in 85F at 8:30 a.m.) as I had planned.  Instead, I had a cup of tea and did a load of laundry which I hung up inside the house to dry.  Tuesday's high was only 99F, not that it made much of a difference!  I brought the emptied trash cans in and checked the mail.  I made myself pancakes for brunch.

In the afternoon, I took a dishpan full of water into the chicken coop and put in three bottles of frozen water in it so the chickens could have some cool water.  I let them out to run around in the garden for a bit and then, used the moringa leaf trick to get them back in.  Later in the evening, I let them out again for a longer time and then, put them in for the night.  Dinner was pancit and adobo chicken.

Daughter said she had a full day of meetings and lunch was provided.  In the evening, the director of the department hosted a dinner for everyone and daughter got a ride back to where she was staying.  

Today is Wednesday.  I fed the chickens, put away some laundry. and checked the grocery deals for the week.  I took some leftover rice and leftover coconut milk and made myself some milkrice for brunch.

M was here in the early afternoon to tend to the garden and he also cleaned the chicken coop for me.  I let the chickens out while he did that and this time, Niwatori didn't want to go back into the enclosure and had to be carried back in.  I made more calamondinade and gave M a glass of it.  He told me I should bottle it and sell!  LOL.  It was a cool, refreshing drink on a hot day (the high was 95F).

I took a nap later in the afternoon then, let the chickens out, again.  Once again, I bribed them with moringa leaves and dried mealworms to get them to go into the coop and, once again, Niwatori had to be carried in as she didn't want to get down from the arm of the garden chair she was perched on!  

Daughter came home later in the evening, around 9:00 p.m.  It's good to have her back home, again. I had cooked rice and she had that for dinner, with adobo chicken and broccoli.  I ate some leftover milkrice and chicken curry.

This week, I am grateful for:

- Daughter had a safe trip to Berkeley and back
- Daughter had a free place to stay during her trip
- M's help with the garden and the chickens, too
- Water for the garden
- Continuation of warm summer days into October (it's supposed to cool down to the 60s with rain in the forecast for next week!)

Joyful activities have included interacting with the chickens and the garden cats, texting with cousins V and N, and spending time in the garden.

Plans for Thursday include picking up a medication refill from the pharmacy and maybe going to one of the ethnic grocery stores.  They are having salmon steaks on sale for $7.99/lb.

How is your week coming along?  What are your plans for Thursday?