A Decent Grilling

The Pony came out for Memorial Day, and Farmer H grilled bratwursts, chicken, and pork steaks. I wish I could report that it was a delicious feast, but I cannot!

That is Farmer H's tray, in case you couldn't figure it out from his meaty paw grasping a BBQ chicken breast as if he'd never heard of a KNIFE and fork. He also has slaw, stuffing, a bratwurst, onion rings, potatoes/onions, and white cheddar mac and cheese.

This is The Pony's tray. With a slight view of the "Mexican Coke" as the beverage of choice. The Pony says this version of Coke is better, because I think it is sweetened with real sugar, and not corn syrup. I don't know for sure. Never tried it. And I thought the recipe was secret.

There's my tray. And my salad peeking out in the background. Which deserves a picture.

Isn't that a beautiful salad? I went for a raspberry vinaigrette dressing. So made my salad with romaine, onions, tomato, and grated Muenster. Gotta say, it was not as tasty as I had hoped. The cheese was too mild, or not enough. I didn't finish it. This salad seemed too salad-y. I prefer a boiled egg and sharp cheddar, but I didn't think that would go well with the raspberry vinaigrette. 

The lack of deliciousness of our feast was no fault of anybody. Unless it's ME! Which of course I will not admit to. I'm not taking the fall! The bratwursts were not well-liked. I got them at the Sis-Town Save A Lot, because our Hillmomba Save A Lot often runs out of brats, and has only the sausage patties. The only variety I had to choose from were cheddar, and BBQ cheddar. Both were surprisingly tasteless! None of us finished our brats!

The potatoes would have been better if I'd used russets instead of goldens. The goldens don't like to crisp up. I thought the mac and cheese was tasteless. It came from a box, with an herb packet, and The Pony and Farmer H enjoyed it well enough. I imagine the boxed stuffing was just fine, but I didn't have any. The onion rings were crispy enough, but it was like a tempura batter. I prefer more of a cornmeal batter.

Anyhoo... the chicken and the pork steaks were WONDERFUL! I didn't get a picture until later, and keep in mind they are cold, right out of FRIG II before I warmed them for future suppers.

The chicken was the boneless skinless breasts that come frozen in a bag. Farmer H did a fantastic job of grilling them. Juicy, but completely done in the middle. I had thawed them the day before cooking.

The pork steaks were also great. Farmer H knows his way around GassyG Jr. I will say that he skimped on the sauce this time. I like my pork steak coated with sauce, and grilled until it's a bit charred on the edges. Still, I just added sauce before warming in the oven, and it came out great. Of course I cut mine in half for two meals, but Farmer H eats a whole pork steak, with sides.

As usual, I forgot about the desserts. That happens when I don't eat them, heh, heh! It was cupcakes, both chocolate and vanilla, and some cookies that look like flat brownies with white icing. The Pony took half home, and Farmer H is still working his way through the rest.

I will adjust my potato choice next time, having only gotten the goldens because that's what The Pony likes. They don't work for everything. Farmer H will eventually eat up the onion rings, but I won't buy that version again. And I will go back to buying my bratwursts at the Hillmomba Save A Lot.

Still, it was a nice grilling, and nobody was left hungry.

It's Rainin', Men!

Last week I came out of 10Box as it started sprinkling. I knew there was rain coming, but I thought I might miss it. I DID! Mostly. I climbed into T-Hoe, hearing a weird noise. It was a steady sound. Like something hard hitting something hard.

"Oh," I thought. "I guess maybe there's some hail. Or just hard raindrops. Must be hitting those garden things over there." 

10Box had angered me of late, having a big display of plants sitting on metal racks, taking up FOUR parking spaces in front of the building. That meant the lazy ne'er-do-wells took advantage of my rightful handicap spaces. More than usual. Most had been sold, and the parking spaces opened up again. But a few racks remained on the sidewalk.

Anyhoo... I looked over that way, to see if hail was falling. I didn't see any. Just a few raindrops plinking onto T-Hoe's windshield. THEN a movement caught my eye! The reason for that sound:

ROOF MEN! Over on top of the mini-mall building that has my pharmacy at the far end, then a Chinese restaurant, then what used to be the urgent care clinic. Huh. I figured they must be putting up that sign. I thought it was there before, but maybe not. I think it's for the Chinese restaurant. That sure was a lot of men to put up a sign. I don't think they were taking it down, because of the noise. Which was more like hammering than prying.

All this time, I've thought those men were working on the sign. Until I tried to zoom in on my second picture:

That looks like some loose shingles there on the end. Maybe they were tearing out old shingles, and putting down new ones. That makes more sense than fiddling with a sign. 

I hope they didn't get too wet. The rain slacked off as I left town.

Not As Hard To Resist

The Pony has been making meals at home more, rather than ordering out. They're not all gourmet dinners. Sometimes you just want something filling. Something with flavors that appeal to you. And can use what you have in your freezer. Like chicken patties.

Those are the buns for two chicken patty sandwiches. The Pony says it was Munster cheese, which I'd sent home from one of our last meals here, which needed to be used. The sauce was mayo, ketchup, and mustard, I think. They look a little better with the chicken patties added, and all closed up.

The toasted buns were a nice touch. I'm not saying The Pony's chicken patties don't look good. Just that I would have chosen different toppings for mine. Like BBQ sauce and sliced Vidalia onion and dill pickle. Or some shredded lettuce with mayo. Or stone-ground mustard with a little hot Chinese mustard mixed in, and onion and pickles. Three varieties I would like better than The Pony's version. I don't much care for cheese on my chicken.

Chicken has me thinking about making myself some chicken nachos for supper...

It Doesn't Hurt To Look

The Pony went out for Chinese food a couple weeks ago. I think this was on actual Mother's Day. I'm not complaining. The Pony would have taken me out to eat if I would have gone. I don't like getting out much. Mainly because I don't like people!

Also because it's complicated if I haven't been somewhere before, and wonder if I can walk that far, and what kind of seating they will have. The chairs in the diner at the casino are SO LOW that I have problems getting up and down from them. Doesn't keep me from going to the casino, though! Or from eating while I'm there.

Anyhoo... for the past couple years, I've been making wise choices and cutting back. The scale has shown significant results, so YAY, ME! I would love to eat a meal like The Pony's picture, but I can control myself. Doesn't hurt to look, though!

I would love that Sweet & Sour Chicken. And a couple of crab rangoons. I don't have to have the fried rice. And the SUSHI doesn't tempt me at all! I don't know why a Chinese restaurant has sushi, but The Pony likes it. Better than buying it at Country Mart, I suppose. 

The Pony sent me the picture after eating. I was in town at the time, parked at the Gas Station Chicken Store. Another text followed, with The Pony's fortune:

My reply to the photos was: "Yum. I'm in town. Raging."

I think it's harder to resist the road rage than the Chinese food.

A Premature Swim In POOLIO

Thursday evening around 7:30, I was once again innernetting at the kitchen table. I noticed Pepper roaming around under the kitchen window between me and POOLIO. That's not unusual. The water dish is just around the corner.

Then I heard a THUMP. Or maybe a CRACK. It sounded like a block of wood falling onto the wooden porch boards. I turned to look, but didn't see anything out of place. However... Pepper poked his head through the porch rails, and started barking towards POOLIO. Or the woods behind POOLIO. I couldn't see Pepper's face.

Then something grabbed my attention. IN POOLIO! It was a squirrel. Floating. Slowly. A mere two days after Farmer H and Old Buddy took the cover off POOLIO.

"Hey! You've got a dead squirrel in POOLIO, and Pepper is barking his fool head off!"

"Huh. It must have got trapped in there, and can't get out because the water is so low now, and no ladder."

"I'm pretty sure he's dead. He's not moving like trying to swim. Just drifting."

"Well, I better come get him out."

Farmer H went down to the pool deck and used his net skimmer to dip out the squirrel. I didn't watch the whole operation. Farmer H said he threw the squirrel down in the woods. I don't think the skimmer could fling it in that direction from the deck. I have a sneaking suspicion that Farmer H pulled in the squirrel, and then picked it up and swung it across the yard into the treeline. He did NOT stop to wash his hands when he came in!

"You know those dogs will be on that squirrel in a couple minutes."

"Yeah. He must have been dead for a while. He didn't just now drown."

"I don't know why Pepper all at once started barking at it."

"Maybe it just now rose to the top."

That's even worse! Maybe it was there all winter! The water is murky. I can't believe Farmer H doesn't drain the water out and start fresh every summer!

It's A Good Job If You Can Get It

I was minding my own beeswax Tuesday morning around 9:30, innernetting at the kitchen table. Something caught my right eye in the POOLIO area. It was SilverRedO, driving into the back yard. I saw Farmer H and Old Buddy meander over to the woods side of POOLIO. 

I know Farmer H had been draining water off of POOLIO for a couple of nights. He's getting ready to open that cauldron of butt-water soup for another season of taking a couple dips here and there, all the while paying hundreds for chemicals to make the water less toxic.

Farmer H and Old Buddy started pulling on the black plastic cover. Yep. They were getting POOLIO ready. It's a two-man job. The cover is heavy and awkward. At least most of the water was off the top from the nine-month accumulation of rain and snow.

Once the job was done, Farmer H and Old Buddy just kept standing there. For no reason! Leaning with arms on top of POOLIO's side. Chewing the fat, apparently. As if they couldn't do that anywhere else. It was longer than just a brief rest. For 30 MINUTES they stood there, doing nothing. 

That better not be Old Buddy pay from Farmer H's cash expenditures! I will have to dock Farmer H for 30 minutes worth of reimbursement!

I Want Back In The Frying Pan

Woe was me. I whined because I had three rolls of elastic wraps wound around each lower leg... and then I met a woman who bound me with velcro from ankle to mid-thigh!

Sweet Gummi Mary! Now I feel even more restricted. Sure, it was a time-consuming task to peel off the elastic wraps and re-wrap them for a shower. But now I feel like I have casts on both legs. It's a mental thing, I'm sure. I'll have to adjust. This will be the Summer of Adjustment for Mrs. HM.

Let's back up a bit. Farmer H had volunteered to leave his precious store to meet me at therapy at 1:00 to carry in my 8-pound awkward box. I had opened it to see if I could put the stuff in a bag instead, but no. So I'd put my bag of wraps inside, and taped across the top of the box flaps. Just a single piece of tape, to hold the flaps down so they didn't pop up in my face as I carried the box.

Farmer H burst into the living room at 5:50 a.m., and picked up the box to move it from couch to coffee table, having said the night before that he would carry it out to T-Hoe. Instead of picking up the box by the bottom, as any normal person would have done, he stuck his fingers into the cracks at each end where the flaps were folded down across the top. Of course that ripped the tape loose, leaving the flaps flapping.

I told Farmer H that was a stupid way to move a box. He took offense, and stormed out, taking my flapping box with him. I said forget helping me, I'd find a way to get it inside the therapy building. When I got out to T-Hoe to leave, I tried to stick the snarled tape back down to hold the flaps. It kind of worked.

As I was getting out of T-Hoe at therapy, I got a call from Farmer H, saying he had just closed his SUS2.5, and was on his way to carry my box. It's less than 2 miles from there. He carried in the box and left it on a chair while I checked in. When OT came to get me, she saw me struggling to pick it up, and took the box to carry back to the therapy room.

That's when my world started swirling down the drain to Not-Heaven in a handbasket! OT took out the two see-through packs of beige rubbery folded flaps. There was also a box that she said she never ordered, and didn't know why it was in there. She told me to sit on the side of the hydraulic table/bed this time, which was still up against the wall. I soon learned why OT had said the wraps must be fitted before I could use them!

First OT unwrapped my wrappings. Then measured my ankle and calf with a tiny retractable metal yellow measuring tape. And progressed to marking one of those beige rubbery flaps with a black marker, drawing a line to connect marks, then CUTTING OFF about half of it with big metal scissors! She attached some white velcro thingies to join some pieces. Then added some black velcro flaps. "They always send way more than needed. And here are extra velcro patches."

But wait! There was no sock thingy to wear under. So OT raided that box, which had a single lower leg wrap, in a fixed size, but also a black past-knee support stocking. Two of them.

"These will work. That's a maintenance brace, which you might need when we're finished, or maybe not. But we can use these stockings."

Dang it! That's going to be hard for me to get on. And my feet are trapped! No open toe like with the elastic wraps. Anyhoo... she turned that stocking partway inside/out, then had it over my foot, and was peeling it up my leg in no time. 

THEN commenced the wrapping. From ankle to just below the knee. The velcro beige thingy has six "flaps," which are just part of the rubbery beige. They are pulled tight, each crossing oppositely below the other. So three going one way, and three going the other. OT says it's very important not to have any gaps between the flaps. It didn't feel too bad, other than my toes being crammed in the stocking. OT repeated the routine for my right leg.

Next came the measuring and trimming and fitting for the KNEE section. It is shorter, but also has six flaps. The two middle ones must be aligned across the kneecap. There's a mesh kind of tube sock thingy that goes on under this. The knee part makes me feel restricted. It's hard enough to bend my knees without such a pressure torture device!

OT decided that we could skip the upper thigh wrap. That area does not really seem to be an issue with me. It's mainly flabby skin, not circulatorily-challenged like the below-calf and above-knee area.

Anyhoo... I feel like I'm walking around with leg braces. I'm afraid to take them off, lest I can't get them back on correctly! Even though OT labeled them for me, L and R, and numbered the flaps in order. Of course I will remove them to shower before I go back on Tuesday. Here's hoping I get it right!