The 'wet' season has begun! Most days, I'm stuck at home because of the threat of rain. When it does rain here, it pours!! It's rarely a good kind of rainfall that is beneficial to the plants and lawns....most times, the clouds break open and we are in a flood within less than a hour! So, I tend to spend time trying to figure out what to do with my waking hours. In the morning it's pretty routine...wake up, pet Isaiah and feed him fresh canned food, fill his water and dried food dish...then, check the hurricane website [lots of them out in the Atlantic right now], check the baseball scores [Houston Astros are number one in their division/league...but only a few more weeks before playoff season! and world series - the Astros don't have THAT big of a lead!!!], check the weather, read texts from family, take my Rx heart meds for the day. After all that, I then play my games on my smartphone [one game each of scrabble, tri-peaks, and cribbage apps, playing against the computer -notice the game shown here from a screenshot!!! I spelled THREE 7-letter words and scored a lot. Never done that before]...by that time, Bud is usually waking up and brewing his coffee. [no, I'm not a coffee drinker...never was] While he's snorting and coughing and slowly waking up, I make my breakfast. Either oatmeal, grits, or boxed cereal....Honey Nut Oaks and Clusters. Once that's done, and dishes are washed, it's planning my day. Dang, rain in the forecast again, no birding. I'll get on my stationary bike and put the pedal to the metal.Off and on, I've recently been working on my mountain scene pastel work that I started some time ago. For weeks, I just cannot come to a happy conclusion on it, and I ended up 'scribbling grass blades at the bottom of the stream to get it 'finished' and stored in my sketch portfolio. "Out of sight, out of mind". I'll stick to birds or flowers. I can at least make them look somewhat 'real' compared to this mess of color that I so many times wanted to give up on...it's titled "Dallas Divide Autumn." And, happily, I'm stashing this one away for good.
For laughs, I bought the book of one of my favorite 'humorists'....Maxine!
When I finished reading this in its entirety, I am in the middle of two books. One I started long ago [it''s a big, hefty, long book], and then, from reading Florence's review on another book, Mozart's Starling, I ordered that one from Amazon and when it was delivered a few days ago, I started reading that one also...VERY GOOD. I'll do a review on it when I complete it...near done now.
One day, I spent a few hours cooking one of our favorite dishes. Chicken Teriyaki!
I brown on high heat with Extra Virgin Olive Oil, chopped chicken thigh meat [boneless]---nicely browned & crispy on the outside!
...stirring frequently.
When tender, I add Teriyaki Sauce [bottled - any preference]
and then add about a pound of mixed vegetables and steam while I cook long grain brown rice.
Serve over rice and our favoirte side dish ---chilled mandarin oranges.
Dessert Fortune Cookies [from Asian Store in town]
.....
That about does it for this post. Yep it rained while I was working on this for publishing. I'll get suited up in my gardening clothes and go pull some weeds in the back yard while the roots are soaked and easy pulling! Then, shower,...watch the news, serve up a bowl of chili con carne that has been cooking in the slow cooker. Toss salad and prepare some garlic toast. Watch a movie, go read and then .... lights out!!!! Zzzzz--zzz-zz-z