A Retirement Gift

I had an annual Dr. appt. last week & since I had to put on 'real' clothes (opposed to workout clothes) & put on makeup (my new least favorite thing to do), I also arranged to have lunch with a friend from work.

She left the company several years ago but we were & continue to be friends outside of work. I've known her for well over 20+ years & have watched her kids grow up. Her youngest just turned 16. It was great to catch up with her & to hear all about the kids new adventures.

After lunch as we were saying goodbye she said that she had something for me in her car. It was in a Target shipment box & since she had to get to a conference call she just handed me the box to open later.

I ran a couple of errands & then went to Dr., which took almost 2 hours of wait time! That is most unusual & I had my Kindle to read but still ... He apologized & was done w/me in about 15 minutes, all's well.

By the time I got home I had completely forgotten about the box until later in the day. When I opened it here is what she gave me!

It's a Ninja power blender, the kind you see advertised & on infomercials. All I could say was WOW! This thing is very powerful. It came with the blender as well as the 2 different sized jars which are great for making smoothies.

I think the primary purpose of it is to incorporate veggies in order to be healthy but the 1st thing I made was a pineapple, strawberry, lime, coconut smoothie. Not dietetic at all but very delicious.

Today I made an avocado, pineapple, yogurt smoothie which was very thick so I put a few ice cubes in it to melt down so I could drink it through a straw. Very tasty. I'm going to venture into incorporating spinach & other greens soon. Maybe this will be the way that I can actually add Kale to my diet (not my favorite green!).

No venturing out for me this week it's supposed to be raining almost every day but should cool down a bit for the weekend which will be great as we have a family reunion to go to. I've got to decide what I'm making to eat. Thinking Old Settlers Baked Beans & a Key Lime Lasagna? I'll post about it next week.

Have a great week everyone!

The Country Trees - 2015

Nothing exciting to report. Should have taken these pics when we planted the trees back in March.

Pine Tree By Driveway (1 of 6)

Silver Maple in East Field

Oak 1 in East Field

Sycamore in East Field (a little sparse)

Oak 2 in NE Field

Oak 3 East Side of House

Lemon

Orange

Pine in South Field (aka Front Yard)

Oak Bush 1 in South Field

Oak Bush 2 in South Field

Magnolia or Bay Laurel in South Field

Red Maple in SW Field (planted 2 years ago)

Oak by Barn(s)

The Oak bushes were planted 2 years ago & were just twigs from acorns from the City House. I had planted about 10 but these 2 were the only ones that made it. Very sturdy little trunks. There is one other Red Maple planted this year that I don't think is going to make it. All but the oaks & Sycamore have grown about 3 inches this summer.

That's all, just wanted to get them documented in case they actually live. Will be putting straw around them the next time we go, to hopefully help with any freezing weather that may come our way this winter.

First Full Week of Retirement

Still walking most days, it was pouring this morning so only did a few stretches. Hey, I deserve a day off right? Oh, I have every day off, guess I shouldn't whine.

Monday I decided to clean, I mean really clean our master bath. Toilet scrubbed top to bottom, sinks, vanities, cabinets, floor, wash rugs, etc. 

I'm still sorting through work paperwork & need to nail down Insurance, 401k stuff, etc. Received the new TV HD hookup boxes but they aren't hooked up properly. TVs work but not as clear as I think they should be plus I cannot program the new remotes to save my life. And, they forgot to send 1 box. I spent several hours trying to figure it out & now I'm giving up. Called for service person, they are coming next week. I'm sure it will take them all of 30 minutes to do what I couldn't.

Had Lab work for upcoming Dr. appt. on Tuesday morning fairly early so since I had to shower & put on a bit of makeup I decided to run a few errands after taking Greg some breakfast. Wow, what a difference in going from place to place without having to rush back to work. Shopping is not a favorite thing of mine but it wasn't bad that day.

I have a baby shower to attend for one of my former co-workers. It's this coming Monday morning. Last weekend I looked at her registration list from Target & saw that her colors are grey & white. Hey, I just happened to have a stash of grey & white fabric. I think those in the know call it a "charm pack". Anyway, I decided to make her & her future little one a baby quilt. It rained several inches this week making it a great week to stay inside & make a quilt. 

I had to buy the inside & outside borders & binding (didn't know if I would have enough leftover fabric to make it, turns out I didn't). It's a bit wonk eyed but the colors are very pretty together. It measures about 45 x 55 so it's closer to a crib quilt that a baby quilt. I even tried my hand at fancy machine stitching on the borders. Probably shouldn't have done that but it does add a bit of homemade charm to it, plus there are plenty of mistakes. I'm not a perfectionist when it comes to quilting so it doesn't bother me, but I know they're there, but I doubt the baby will mind. I'm calling it my shabby chic style.

The quilt took up most of Wednesday, Thursday & just finished binding it today. Messed up on that too but I didn't notice until I was 1/2 way done & I had made the mitered corners perfect! No way was I going to rip it out & start over so I just made do & it still turned out ok. I needed to finish today as we are headed to the country this weekend & the shower is early on Monday.

Hubby went to the Dr. & got some meds & seems to be on the mend.

Meals this week consisted of pan fried Cod w/Quinoa & Squash Casserole (pulled from freezer), Lamb Sliders w/Baked Sweet Potato Fries, Pork Tenderloin w/leftover Quinoa & Casserole, Ham (pulled from freezer) & Brie Sandwiches. Greg is bringing home Italian takeout tonight.

Gotta go feed my worms & get quilt wrapped. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Pinterest Fail ... Not

At least in the taste dept. Last week I made one of the many chicken dishes featured on Pinterest these days ... Cream Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast Wrapped in Bacon.

It doesn't look too purty ..

But boy did it taste good! Here's the money shot ...

It was very good. Going to have the last of it for tomorrows lunch. The rest of the week consisted of meatloaf & mashed potatoes.

I still haven't had a full week of retirement due to the Labor Day Weekend & my Dad having to get another Heart Cath last Tuesday, where they did one more stint. He's on the way to recovery though with back surgery scheduled in the near future. He says he only has 5 or 6 things wrong w/his back. Only! But he's wanting to get it done so he isn't in any more pain from that.

Continuing to deal w/aging parents & trying to get into a routine. 

Did filing today so only have to make new files for what I brought home from work. 

Got my dining table cleared for a small baby quilt project for a girl at work for the following week. Will post pics if it turns out good.

Easy peasy dinner of store bought chicken pot pies tonight. Greg has been feeling a bit under the weather so have to curb my desire to try other new recipes until he feels better.

Watering & Persimmons

Went to the country house over Labor Day weekend. All of the trees are still alive although I think I might lose the Sycamore & one of the Maples. It is just too dry. Even when it rains it doesn't do it consistently enough so it dries out to brittle conditions. Each day while there, we got about 30 sprinkles & one very very quick soaker, maybe 1/25th of an inch? We have got to get a rain gauge, but I don't even think it was enough to be measured.

The pond is as low as we've seen it in years. Took the opportunity to mow grasses that are normally in the edge of the water line. Again, no pics I'll do better in the future.

I watered twice while there. Here's my watering 'system'.

A friend gave me a 55 gallon rain barrel complete with spigot. Greg cut me a water hose about 6' long. A full 25 feet didn't work, too hard to handle & it took forever for the water to come out. I fill the barrel with about 45 - 50 gallons which is just enough to water the 25 or so trees. Good exercise too as I have to get off & on the mule at each tree. It takes a little less than an hour to water, not counting the time to fill the barrel.

We also cleared out some of the driveway in the branch area. Beautiful weather all weekend long, could even almost, but not quite, feel a very slight touch of Fall in the air. Leaves were beginning to fall off pecan trees along the fence line but that is most likely due to the drought. We have a clump of pine trees near the gate that we also got cleared. I plan on putting a dogwood tree & some azaleas around them.

While driving back to the house I noticed some red fruit on a tree. Stopped & picked them, persimmons!

My Dad said he remembered that tree but only remembers them puckering him up when he ate them as a child. He must have picked them way under ripe because even though they are tiny they are very sweet.

The passion fruit still isn't ripe.

Trying to get into a retirement routine. I have been walking a mile or 2 most days but don't have a house routine yet. Still trying to get the boxes unpacked & some drawers organized.

Going to get dinner prepared for tonight. I've been wanting to make the cream cheese stuffed chicken, wrapped in bacon that I've been seeing all over Pinterest. My niece made it & said it was wonderful. The pounding of the breast is the hardest part. I'll update on how it turns out.

Officially Retired! My first day ...

Started out with me getting up at 6:30a, stretching for 20 minutes, then going for a 1 mile mini walk.

As I was leaving I decided to grab my house key which detaches from my car key. Locked door, put garage door down & realized I had grabbed my car key instead of the house key. Locked out! Oh well, I'll grab the hidden house key to let myself in when I get back. Walked .5 miles & then turned around to come home.

About 1/2 way home one of the neighbors door opens & out rushes their very unfriendly dog which came right at me. It's a medium sized dog & just stood their growling & barking at me but never lunged. Neighbor comes out to road to get dog which is sniffing me & decided I wasn't such a threat after all. Gave him a pat & continued on home.

The next house down, another very large black dog comes out barking but never left their driveway. I knew about the 1st house & their dog but the dog at the 2nd house is new. Will have to investigate if he is a permanent resident or just visiting.

Made it home, retrieved key & tried unlocking the door. It wouldn't work in the door I had left from. Go around to back patio to see if it will work on that door. Yep it did but because I came in a different door than I had left from the alarm goes off. Jeez, what a way to start the first day of the rest of my life.

Now it's on to technology world. New laptop wouldn't connect to internet. Tried a couple of things & it finally connects. Sign in to email to thank all my wonderful friends for the retirement presents & keep getting kicked offline. The connection is hit or miss.  It's disconnected twice while I'm typing this post. Will have to get on the phone with HP. My old laptop doesn't have this problem.

Now on to the new TVs we had to buy because we got hit by lightening a couple of weeks ago. Note: Several neighbors also lost TVs in the same storm - 10 in all. Got both connected but they aren't even half as clear as they were in the store. Called carrier & they said that my eqipment is old & they will have to send new boxes in order to get HD service. At least it wasn't something we did when installing them.

All in all a pretty rough start but I think it will only go uphill from here. Gotta go, I've got boxes to unpack.

I have Passion ... Updated

Fruit ....

I had to come to the Country House for a funeral for a family member that had been sick for quite some time. I drove up for the viewing last night & decided to get a head start on the grass cutting this morning before the funeral in the afternoon.

As I was cutting the lower east side by the branch, I first noticed the passion flowers scattered throughout the heavy brush.

 As I was cutting as close as I dared, something boinked me up against my head. It was this:

About the size of a large lemon.

I then noticed a whole bunch of them scattered around as well. Most are the size of oblong walnuts but many are the size of a large lemon. All are green.

After the funeral, I went down to get pics & to pick one of the smaller ones. There must be about 30 or 40 of them! I didn't dare go into the brush because I had flip flops on, it was hovering around 98 degrees so no boots this time of day.

Anyway, I picked a small one & brought it back to the house to cut into. Here is what I found. No fruit, just a bunch of seeds. Touched my tongue to one, they have a sweet taste.

Has anyone ever grown passion fruit? Will these eventually ripen & firm up to look like the passion star fruit I have purchased at the grocery store? I haven't had time to Google it yet but will definitely put it on my list.

And, I'll be picking Scuppernongs sometime this weekend as well. This pic was taken 2 weeks ago. Almost all are ripe now. I guess the birds left some for me after all.

Blurry, wind was blowing that day.

Update: Boy did I have my fruits wrong. I was thinking about star fruit. From the looks of things it appears as though I do indeed have passion fruit pods. They should turn yellow or purple when ripe. I think this the yellow variety which are a bit more acidic than the purple but still sweet

The next question, will I have enough nerve to actually extract the juice to eat, once ripe? Maybe.

Health benefits of passion fruit

• Delicious, passion fruit is rich source of antioxidants, minerals, vitamins, and fiber. 100 g fruit contains about 97 calories.
• The fruit is a very good source of dietary fiber. 100 g fruit pulp contains 10.4 g or 27% of fiber. Good fiber in the diet helps remove cholesterol from the body. Being a good bulk laxative, it also helps protect the colon mucous membrane by decreasing exposure time to toxic substances in the colon and wiping off cancer-causing toxic substances from the colon.
• Passion fruit is good in vitamin C, providing about 30 mg per 100 g. Vitamin-C (ascorbic acid) is a powerful water soluble anti-oxidant. Consumption of fruits rich in vitamin C helps the body develop resistance against flu-like infectious agents and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals.
• The fruit carry very good levels of vitamin-A (provides about 1274 IU per 100 g), and flavonoid antioxidants such as ß-carotene and cryptoxanthin-ß. Current research studies suggest that these compounds have antioxidant properties, and along with vitamin A are essential for good eye-sight.
• Vitamin A is also required for maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin. Consumption of natural fruits rich in vitamin-A, and flavonoids may helps to protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.
• Fresh granadilla is very rich in potassium. 100 g fruit pulp has about 348 mg of potassium. Potassium is an important component of cells and body fluids, and helps regulate heart rate and blood pressure.
• Furthermore, granadilla is a very good source of minerals. Iron, copper, magnesium and phosphorus are present in adequate amounts in the fruit.

Preparation and serving method

Cut section of passion-granadilla fruit. (Photo by geishaboy500)

Wash fruit in cold water, and pat-dry them using a soft cloth or paper. Cut the fruit lengthwise into two equal halves. Then, scoop out the juicy pulp with a spoon. Discard the tough shell.

Passion fruits have unique tart, and sweet-flavor and sweet taste. Purple passion fruits are generally smaller but more flavorful than yellow-golden passions.

Here are some serving tips:

• Passion fruit can be enjoyed fresh, especially when the fruit is well ripe. Just scoop out its juicy pulp using a spoon. Its tough shell, anyhow, is inedible.

• Their juicy pulp can also be enjoyed as a refreshing intra-day drink.
• Passions add distinct flavor to fruit salads.
• Passions are used in the preparation of sauce, jellies, and syrups.

• It is employed in various recipes like passion fruit mousse, ice-cream, pizza, desserts, cakes, mousse…etc.

My Zen Machine & July 4th Weekend

I've been busy with very little time to post. I'm off work today as tomorrow is my Birthday & I always treat myself to a day off at this time of the year.

Here's my Zen Machine. It's a 60" rear discharge mower. It's still new & a bit squirrelly but I think straight line are overrated anyway. And like 1st Man over at Two Men and a Little Farm I actually enjoy mowing & find it very calming. Greg was on his 72" machine & we got the whole place mowed in about 3 1/2 hours.

We had a long weekend in the Country over the July 4th weekend. The first day was spent getting the 9 acres mowed & trimmed & watering the new trees (I need to take pics for comparison, in case these actually live). The crepe myrtles are doing great. They were almost all flowering & should be in top form this weekend, but we won't be there. Hopefully they will hang on another week & I'll take a pic then. I did snap a pic of the wild gladiolas along the driveway. There are a bunch of them but only 1 or 2 flower at the same time. I'm going to put some fertilizer on them & hope we are there when more are in bloom next year.

The rest of the weekend was spent fishing, in the boat! IF we ever find time to fish it's usually just a few casts from the dock or the bank but we actually put the boat in the water on Thursday night & fished Friday afternoon & much of the day on Saturday.

The pond is filled with bass, bream & catfish. We mostly fish for bass because they are so much fun to catch. We like bass to eat as well. But it was all catch & release that weekend. Late afternoon fishing was the best, after supper it would cool down with a very light breeze & we would fish until almost dark. In laws were up as well & FIL got his fair share of fishing from the dock. All in all, it was a very relaxing weekend which was much needed by all.

I have some very exciting news to share in the next few weeks ......

Camping & Reading

Or rather, RVing. My sister & BIL took their new RV 5th wheel to a nearby lake for 3 weeks of living the lake life. I invited myself down last weekend for a 4 night stay. It's a very nice RV with 2 bedrooms & 2 baths, living, dining & kitchen. It even has an outdoor kitchen with small gas grill, sink & small fridge.

The lake is one from my childhood. At one point it housed 2 separate swim/camp parks, long gone now. My parents, aunts, uncles, cousins & myself spent many summer days at 1 of the parks. As a teenager I had a friend that had use of a family home on the lake. It was owned by her grandparents & each of the kids families had use of it for 2 weeks each summer. I learned to water ski on the lake. It took a full day of me trying over & over again but I finally got it. I remember the yelps from the end of the dock when I finally stayed up to ski around the lake. My 1st roomate's family used to camp at the same park & she & I would go down for the weekend for days of lounging around on the large dock & more water skiing.

About 1/3 of the lake has vacation homes scattered along the shore. The other 2/3 is owned by the military & is used as a training facility. They have cabins that military personnel can rent. They also have 2 full service camp grounds with concrete pads with water, electric & sewer hookups. However, you have to be a member to be able to camp there. And you have to be military or sponsored by someone that is or was military to become a member. My sister & BIL are sponsored by my BIL's uncle. They pay a small annual fee for the privilege.

The 2 public parks are long gone, bought by a developer, so the general public doesn't come anymore. There are several families of friends that all go at the same time. Their kids are all grown but they come & go while their parents are there. My BIL has 2 jet skis & one of their friends brings his motor boat & paddle boat. They anchor them just past the end of the dock so they are easily available. All the girlfriends bring various floats & tie them all together. They spend the days just floating, talking & gossiping.

Each family eats breakfast & lunch on their own but they all get together for dinner. My BIL brings his big charcoal grill & usually cooks the meat & the other families contribute sides & desserts. After dinner we either rode the golf carts around or went for a slow sunset boat ride.

I got up each morning around 6:00a & went for a brisk 1, 2 or 3 mile walk. I then sat down under the awning or went out to the end of the dock to read. After breakfast we usually went down to the floats to soak up some sunshine. I would then read some more usually while sitting in the shade on the dock. After lunch I read some more, floated some, went for paddle boat rides, jet ski rides or boat rides. As the afternoons turned hot I usually napped for about an hour. I'd then get up & read some more & then help prepare supper. Then just before bed, I'd read some more. I made it through 2 books! It was a wonderful way to spend a few days with people I love.

They Got Tied at the Hitchin Post (& a couple other things)

The past weekend another favorite cousin of mine got married. Z married the girl of his dreams P.

The ceremony was held in their back yard. The alter represents a hitching post, with hay bales for seating the wedding guests.

P & her Dad rode up to the ceremonial area on horseback. Yes, horseback.

It was a very simple but beautiful ceremony with the guys wearing khakis, white shirts & suspenders & the girls in simple dresses in various colors. P's little 3 year old daughter & Z's 7 year old step son also participated. Brother Jimmy married them. He performs most weddings & funerals for my family so he repeats himself a bit, which is ok. After announcing the couple husband & wife he always states "Now you can kiss your bride like your mama ain't watching".

At the end of the service the bride & groom rode off on horseback, into the sunset.

It was a lovely weekend with this obviously being the highlight.

In other news, the property got mowed & we actually fished from the boat on Sunday, catching our dinner for the night. Fried bass, coleslaw & broccoli salad, along with hush puppies made for a fine meal that the in-laws came over & shared.

I caught the big one & the little one!

And lastly, my niece got a new puppy. A silver lab. Isn't she precious?

Sadie