A Day in the Life...

To begin the week, it was a chilly morning upon my wake-up hour. But the sky was clear; cloudless. I really had no special plans to do much of anything...I was playing lazy. I even went back to take a nap, only a couple hours after I got up for the day!! And I slept! Now, I tellya, that respite  really ruined my mojo. I couldn't get going afterward. Okay, so for the slow start, I had an old power line, ceramic, very large, insulator that I picked up, that had fallen from the pole, on a deserted county road when I was out looking for hawks, etc. several days ago.

I wanted to clean it up and make a planter out of it eventually. So, I got started on it by taking it outdoors [it has been sitting in the garage for some time now], and took the power washer hose to it. Then, I took it indoors and made up a bleach and hot water solution to finish getting it ready for decoration. Trust me when I say it's HEAVY. I was really kinda afraid I'd drop it and crack it. I had an artificial ivy plant for some time now, and when the insulator dried, I stuck the ivy in the open area since there was absolutely no concept of being able to add potting soil, and voilà; an instant planter for our coffee table.

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Well, that little chore was done, now what do I do? By the time I finished, it was actually too late to drive anywhere, birding. Most often birds are more active; out and about, early. Then again late in the afternoon or dusk...by midmorning [in my experience, around the noon hour], they're well fed and resting somewhere and not too active 'til the urge to fill up for the long night ahead do they come back out for the hunt. I guess I could start another pencil sketch. But what could be the subject? At that time, Isaiah meowed at my foot and I had a sketch subject. As he sat and looked at me, I snapped a photo of him for a guide to draw him. I got to my desk and grabbed my pad of paper, and began. With my photo uploaded to the computer I then opened it and used it for my reference. The photo I took of him did NOT show his pretty raccoon tail and I wanted to add that to my drawing. Not sure if I have the tail positioned in the correct "spot" but it'll have to do.  That used up about three hours of my day...

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Overnight, I thawed a loaf of bread dough. [Rhoades, white french] to use as part of our dinner. I planned on making pizza pockets from scratch. Except for the dough of course. A few hours after our lunch of New England clam chowder and pineapple salad, I took the dough from the packaging, I then cut the loaf in quarters...flattened the dough into a nice rounded circle...added mozzarella cheese and sharp cheddar, a serving size of low fat turkey pepperoni...stretched the dough over the filling and pinched to seal it all...placed it on a cookie sheet to allow the pocket dough to rise in the warm kitchen...later, I baked them at 325° until well browned [desired color - about 30-35 minutes]...removed the sheet from oven and brushed melted butter atop the pockets. Then, I topped the sandwich with a "cross" [looking like a hot cross bun] of hot pizza sauce and also placed a dollop of sauce on the plate for dipping. It's very good. And a lot less costly than ordering a pizza delivered these days!! I served it with a tossed green salad, buttered corn, and for dessert we had frozen vanilla yogurt.

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I have four books that I am reading! Yes, four. Right now, I am "into" the heart of one book that Patti recommended. Since it is a subject of my generation, and I enjoy reading auto-biographies, I picked up my fourth book last week when I was at Target. "The Boys" by Ron and Clint Howard [of tv fame]. I'm really enjoying this one. Very much. It's a down to earth family history of Opie Taylor from the Andy Griffith Show and his brother from Gentle Ben...back in the late 50s early 60s and up to date [the nostalgic programs can still be viewed on tv reruns]. I say down to earth 'cause it's more or less what my family was like sans Hollywood. Family values, hard work, devoted parents, growing up in that era, and still having a 'regular' childhood. So far, excellent. Thanks Patti for the honest critique that inspired me to buy/read the book!

The other three books:
Love and Fury [about author Mary Shelly and her mother]
The Mystery of Charles Dickens [biography]
The Bridges of Maracoor [adult fantasy of the famed witch of OZ's offspring]

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