Problems Commenting on the Blog?

At least one regular reader has said that she had problems commenting on my blog and I know that some others have mentioned that they are unable to comment on some other blogs.  

I'm not sure what is going on or what I can do about it, but, I'm sorry if anyone is unable to comment on my blog. I do really look forward to your comments and try my best to reply to them all.

My email address is at the top of the blog, so, if anyone else is having trouble commenting, please send me an email so I know.  Thank you.

"No blog comments?"

Tuesday

 

Cherry Tomatoes

The volunteer cherry tomatoes are starting to ripen.  I picked four of them, today.  I haven't tried them yet, though.

Tuesday was a sunny day with temperatures in the mid 70s.  Cooler than normal for this time of the year and I am finding myself reaching for the long sleeved blouses, a scarf, and a pair of socks!   

I brought in the emptied trash bins in the morning, renewed one library book online, and put away the laundry I had washed and hung up to dry on Monday.  Then, I walked around the garden for a bit and walked up and down the driveway and the front of the house for a few minutes.  The water and electricity meter reader came by while I was outside and he read the meters; I suppose I will be getting my bill, soon!  Some other person came around in a truck, selling some fruit, but, I didn't buy any, although, one of the construction workers, next door, bought something from him.

The construction workers were busy all day with a jack-hammer at the back of the house and I am curious to see what they are doing!  So far, they've installed some nice lights in the front of the house and put in a new door on the side of the house, opening out to the driveway.  

Later, I cut up the passionfruit I had been gathering as they ripened and fell.  There were twelve fruits and I scooped out the pulp to freeze.  I will make a drink with the frozen pulp to share with my daughter when she comes home at Thanksgiving.  

I had leftover rice, beef curry, eggplant curry, and tomato chutney for a late lunch; dinner was leftover cheese burek.  

On Tuesday, I was grateful for:

- A sunny day
- Cherry tomatoes and passionfruit from the garden
- Weekly trash collection services
- Electricity and water on tap
- Being able to renew my library book online

Tuesday's joyful activity was chatting online with my daughter.

Plans for Wednesday include M tending to the garden and maybe some baking.

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

Meal Planning - September Week 2 Review and Week 3 Plan

This was the meal plan for September Week 2:

Brunches: Pancakes and mackerel curry (Monday), leftover pancakes and mackerel curry, French toast, scrambled egg, peanut butter and toast,  salads

Dinners: Smoked sausage stir fry and rice (Monday), chicken beef curry with rice, spicy potatoes, eggplant, cucumber, and tomato chutney, hamburgers, potatoes, green beans, and corn salad, leftovers 

Snacks: Yogurt, cereal, apples, crackers with cheese or peanut butter, granola bars, canned fruit, maybe muffins if I bake some

And here's how it worked out:

Monday:
Brunch: Pancakes and mackerel curry
Dinner: Smoked sausage stir fry and rice
Snacks/Desserts: Yogurt, apple slices, leftover pancakes with syrup (very late night snack)

Tuesday:
Brunch: Scrambled egg by itself (eaten after we got home from the vet clinic, around 4:00 p.m.); chocolate
Dinner: Leftover smoked sausage stir fry and rice
Snacks: Yogurt, apple slices, crackers, cheese and toast (another very late night snack)

Wednesday:
Breakfast - Peanut butter on a slice of toast
Lunch - Fried breaded shrimp
Dinner - Chicken sandwich roll
Snacks: Banana, ice cream

Thursday:
Brunch: Scrambled egg
Dinner: Rice, beef curry, tomato chutney, cucumber salad
Snacks - Banana, yogurt, canned peaches

Friday:
Brunch - Bread and beef curry
Dinner - Fried breaded shrimp with tomato chutney
Snacks -Peanuts, canned peaches 

Saturday:
Brunch - Pancakes and mackerel curry
Dinner - Hamburger patty, green beans, corn, potatoes, tomato chutney
Snacks - Blueberry pancake; canned peaches

Sunday:
Brunch - Pancakes and mackerel curry
Dinner - Cheese burek compliments of neighbor S
Snacks - Rice pudding, gata, apple

I think it worked out well, even with several changes.  I couldn't find the chicken curry in the freezer, so  I thawed a packet of beef curry, instead, and that worked out just as well.  I've since located the chicken curry, and have taken out a packet of 2 pieces to thaw for this week.  I have one more packet of beef curry and two packets of chicken curry, in the freezer.  That's at least 3 more weeks of chicken and beef curry before I need to make more (there's plenty of sauted or baked chicken in the freezer as well).

On to this week's meal plan:

Brunches: Leftover blueberry pancakes (Monday); French toast; scrambled eggs (with or without bacon and fried potatoes or toast); uppuma (Indian style cream of wheat); soup (?; it's supposed to rain on Thursday); leftovers

Dinners: Leftover beef curry with rice and eggplant curry; leftover cheese burek with salad; leftover hamburger patty with salad or cooked vegetables; chicken curry with rice and moringa curry (from the freezer); leftover chicken curry, moringa curry, and rice; gyoza (from the freezer); leftovers or a breakfast for dinner 

The theme for this week's dinners seems to be leftovers!  LOL.

Snacks/Desserts: Yogurt, cereal, apples, crackers with cheese or peanut butter, granola bars, canned fruit, maybe a peach dump cake with frozen peaches?

That is the plan, anyway.  While my meal plans are subject to change, I've some leftovers in the fridge that I need to finish up!  

How about you?  Are you making a meal plan this week?  If so, would you care to share in the comments?

The Last Sunday of Summer

 

"You woke me up from my nap to tell me that?"

It feel like fall, already!  Today's high was only 72F (our normal temperature for this time is 86F).  It was cloudy and overcast most of the day with just a little sunshine during the afternoon.  

I took a walk around the garden in the early afternoon and the roses are enjoying the milder temperatures:

The last rose of summer?

Maybe not:

The Pink Roses

I walked up and down the drive way a few times.  I am starting back from square one, again, with my walking after my recent hip pains.  It isn't painful to walk now, unlike earlier, but, there is still some soreness in my hip, so I am taking it very easy, gradually increasing the number of times I walk up and down.

Construction workers were busy with the renovations, next door - they seem to be working seven days a week!  I tried to speak with two of the construction workers who were standing outside and talking, but, while they smiled and nodded, they didn't speak English.  So we waved at each other and I continued to walk for a bit more while they continued with their conversation.  Later in the evening, former neighbor T called for our weekly Sunday chat and I mentioned that the new neighbors haven't move in yet, but, they were doing some renovations.  She said she wouldn't be surprised if they broke down some walls to make the rooms a bit bigger.  

Brunch was two more pancakes with the last of the mackerel curry.  I was going to cook some rice for dinner, but, neighbor S called and brought me some cheese burek from a bakery (a bread version, as opposed to puff pastry), a cup of rice pudding her sister-in-law had made, and a gata (cookie) from a birthday celebration at her Church.

Sunday Dinner Compliments of S

Not the best picture; sorry.  Here's another picture of the burek:

Cheese Burek

S told me to warm it up before eating, as she had kept it in the fridge.  I did and it was very tasty.  There were two pieces of burek and I kept the other one in the fridge for next week. 

Today, I am grateful for:

- Late summer roses
- Afternoon sunshine
- Dinner compliments of neighbor S
- Being able to walk again without experiencing pain at every step
- Phone calls and emails from friends

Today's joyful activities included being in the garden and enjoying the dinner that S brought me.

Plans for tomorrow (Monday), include doing a load of laundry, some housework, some paperwork, and some reading.

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

Saturday

Serrano Chilies

Saturday was another cool and overcast day, although there was sunshine in the afternoon.  I walked around the garden and picked chilies from my Serrano chili plant.  I only have one chili plant, but, it has given me quite a few chilies.  I prefer to pick them while they are still green, but, I might let a few turn red.  I freeze them and use them in my cooking.

I had a rather relaxed day, although I accomplished a few household tasks and walked up and down the driveway a few times.  

I made pancakes for brunch and added the blueberries I've been picking to the last of the batter and made three blueberry pancakes, as well.

For dinner, I warmed up a hamburger patty I had previously cooked and frozen.  I cooked the few green beans I had picked from the garden and some of the potatoes I had grown, along with some frozen corn to have with the hamburger patty, and added a spoonful of my tomato chutney, too:

Dinner

I had some canned peaches for dessert.  

On Saturday, I was grateful for:

- Being able to have a relaxed day
- Homegrown vegetables
- Sunny afternoons
- Video chats with my daughter
- Dancer seems to be fully recovered

Today's joyful activity was spending time video chatting with my daughter - she had done some shopping at her favorite Japanese store and wanted to show me what she had bought.  

Cooler on Friday and Eggplant Curry

Friday's Harvest

Only one green bean plant is producing any green beans, but, I was able to pick five green beans, today, as well as five blueberries!  

It was cooler today, with a high of only 80F and the house stayed a cool 70F.  I know that's hot for some of you, but, for me, that was rather cool. 

Dancer was very well behaved today and didn't make any extra work for me!  I was thankful for that!

I did a little bit of kitchen cleaning, today, and ran the dishwasher after many weeks of not using the dishwasher at all.

Gardener friend M had given me an eggplant from his garden, about a week or so ago, and I decided to cook it, today, to share it with him.  I'm posting my "how to" here for anyone who wants to try it.  

First, I cut the eggplant into small pieces and sprinkled the cut pieces with salt and turmeric powder:

Cut Eggplant Pieces with Salt and Turmeric

 Then, I left it in a bowl for a couple of hours to allow the salt to draw out the water from the eggplant:

After A Couple of Hours

I drained out the water and then, fried the pieces of eggplant in oil:

Eggplant Pieces Being Deep Fried 

Afterwards, I drained the fried eggplant pieces on some paper towels.  The turmeric has colored the oil a bright yellow!

The Fried Eggplant Pieces Draining on Paper Towels

Once I had finished frying the pieces of eggplant, I sauted some sliced onions, a handful of fresh curry leaves, a few green chilies that I had cut in half, length-wise, and a handful of mustard seeds.  Then, added the fried eggplant, sprinkled a heaped teaspoon of curry powder and a little garlic powder, and added just a little bit of milk to it.  I didn't add any additional salt because the eggplant had been salted before and it was salty enough for me.  One could add a little lemon or lime juice, too, but, I didn't.

Eggplant Curry

We would serve this as a side dish to accompany rice and other curries.  I served a small amount for M to try and offered to serve more to a container to take home with him; he asked if he could just eat his portion right away and I said, "Of course!"  I am assuming he liked it!  LOL.

Pink Rose

Today, I am grateful for:

- Dancer seems fine and didn't make more work for me
- Whatever I am able to harvest from the garden
- M's help with the garden
- Working appliances
- Phone calls from friends and family

Today's joyful activity was spending time in the garden.

No special plans for the weekend.  Maybe I'll do some more tidying and cleaning; maybe not!  LOL.

How was your Friday?  What are your plans for the weekend?

Stick to Your Knitting and Patchwork, Bless!

A Crow's Nest of a Basket!  

Ever since M pruned some of the branches of the bottlebrush tree, I've been itching to try my hand at making a twig basket.  Unfortunately, one needs pliable material, either freshly cut twigs or ones have have been soaked in water.  Twigs that have been out in 95F heat for nearly a week are not the best material to use to make a basket.  Did that deter me from attempting to make a basket?  Of course not!  LOL!

I started out with eight fairly straight long twigs laid out in a cross shape and started weaving the bottom and experienced problems almost immediately as the rather brittle twigs began to break!  But, I persevered and managed to find some twigs that did not break as long as I didn't try to bend them too much.  Which meant the weave couldn't be as close as I wanted.  Then, at some point, I got tired of trying to strip all the leaves so I left them in place!  They helped to fill in the gaps!  LOL.  But, I admit that it would have looked a bit neater without the leaves!  Maybe I'll trim them off, tomorrow!

The resulting basket is rather flat, like a trug.  I was able to bend two of the branches, without breaking them, to make sort of handles, although they'll probably come out of the weave at the slightest tug!  Then, I "decorated" it with some of the seedheads stuck near one of the handles!

I've no idea what I'll do with this basket which looks a bit like a crow's nest and I don't mean the type that is high on the mast of an old sailing ship!  Maybe I'll ask M to buy me some coconut fiber or something to line it and grow something in it!  Maybe I'll just toss it in the compost pile!

Maybe I should have just made a wreath base with the twigs!  But, I already have a wreath that I made with some grapevines and don't really need another wreath!  Maybe I should have used strips of fabric to weave, instead of twigs.

However, I spent a lovely afternoon outside, on a sunny, but, cooler day, doing a fun project and enjoying myself.  That's what retirement life is supposed to be all about, isn't it?  

Maybe I will try again, when M cuts down a few more branches, and do so while the branches are still fresh and pliant!

Dancer is much better, today, although he still had a bit of an accident in the bathroom and I had to wash my bathroom mats.  Thank goodness for washing machines!

Today, I am grateful for:

- A sunny, cooler day
- A lovely afternoon spent outside
- A fun and frugal project
- M pruning the bottlebrush tree branches
- Leisure time!

Today's joyful activity was trying my hand at basketry!