Thel, some of us Mumpers are not yet retired and ARE essential workers, so we must show up. Myself, I work in inventory management for a mobile device insurance company distribution center. There’s only so much of my job that I can do from home. We’re essential, especially right now, with everyone depending upon connectivity to work, go to school, order online, etc. Aside from that, I have gone to doctor’s appointments, the dog park (socially distanced), drive thru meals a couple of times a week and yesterday, for the first time since March, actually had a visitor at home. She stayed on the patio and I brought tea and lemon bars outside for our visit. We were on diagonal corners. Some of us have to get out so’s that the rest can stay home.
Up, caffeinating, breakfasted and fixing to do KP. Not a whole lot planned for today other than prepping the breakfasts/lunches for the week and making supper (salmon patties, slaw, colomorbus and turnip greens for those keeping track). I may mend a couple of clothing items this afternoon before playing around in the studio.
I haven’t had a cat since Shamus needed to be put down after a massive stroke at the very end of December. A house without a cat is too quiet…until there are weird noises and no one to blame them on. I’ll be happier when my new kitten Poe is old enough to bring home next month.
Random fireworks until after midnight kept me up late. Slept through the downpour between 3 and 6, and now (almost 5 pm) it’s raining again. Nice of the weather to cooperate and clean up the air.
Guess it got hot enough for the yellow jacket population to explode. So it’s warm enough to eat outside, but as soon as we get one yellow jacket we take our food inside. Not much fun.
Made progress on going through some boxes of papers, full of travel receipts, maps, etc. Sort of sad looking at all the things we used to do. 3-4 concerts per year, a few trips, etc. I’d really like to go to Prague again. Went in 2009 with my parents, so we also had to help shepherd them as well. However I’ve heard Prague has gotten overrun with hen and stag parties, so maybe we should go somewhere else in the Czech Republic when this is all done.
Have to call the bank tomorrow. They want to send a special code to our phone number. Except they don’t accept international phone numbers, so our phone number is my sister-in-law’s phone. They have an alternative, so I have to call. I can ask them what to do with this check as well. The Itunes store isn’t cooperating, so I can’t download the bank’s app, which supposedly will let me deposit the check from here. Technology is so much fun.
Speaking of which, we used Zoom for the first time with my parents. My dad’s microphone has a whistling tone, which would be much easier to diagnose if I could be there. Should have changed over before, I guess. More important that they stay safe. I can put up with the whistling, but I’ve given him some suggestions on how to fix it. Hopefully it can be improved.
Anyway, it’s almost 5pm, so I can find some alcohol. Not driving today. Or tomorrow. Or the day after, etc. Stay safe everybody.
Today I walked my entire neighborhood - 3.38 miles. Ignoring the curving streets, it’s roughly a rectangle, long side down, with 2 cul-de-sacs coming off the right end and 2 spurs to the main road coming off the bottom. I walked in and out of the cul-de-sacs and the spurs as well as around the entire rectangle, so that’s the max one can walk here without repeating. Add to that, a number of gentle hills with anywhere from 30’ to 60’ change in elevation - it’s a decent workout for my old bones. There was even a nice breeze at times today, and it was mostly overcast, so while humid, it wasn’t terribly hot.
Daughter and SIL have taken Roxy to spend the day with her other grandparents and some cousins. I don’t expect to see any of them till after supper tonight.
Last night while we were watching the news, Roxy pointed at the evening anchor and said “Uncle!” To her, any black man who isn’t her Papa or Yaya (paternal grandfather) is Uncle, because the only other black man regularly in her life is my SIL’s brother - her uncle. We see the logic there, but I expect she’ll be a bit confused when she starts spending time around Uncle Tim or Uncle Larry or Uncle Jay or Uncle Dennis! OK, technically, they’re all great-uncles - maybe she can call them Guncle?
Thanks for all the comments on my comment (this is my comment on those… uh… comments. Right). I don’t feel so odd now. Or rather, any odder. Just the amount of odd that I usually feel.
Went to Whole Foods early right after it opened. Plan to make half this recipe (that I got from reddit) in my Instant Pot. Should last me a few days.
Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli
1 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast sliced into thin strips
1 teaspoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup beef broth
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 pound broccoli cut into florets
3 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons cornstarch
INSTRUCTIONS
Put olive oil in the Instant Pot and select “Saute”.
When the oil is ready, brown the meat in batches.
Stir in the beef broth, garlic, soy sauce, brown sugar and sesame oil. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Lock the lid in place. Cook at high pressure for 10 minutes.
When the cooking time ends, do a quick pressure release.
Add the broccoli and stir a bit.
Cook at high pressure for 2 more minutes.
When the cooking time ends, do quick pressure release. Add the cornstarch and water mixture and stir until smooth.
Also, Alex CattGurthag The Destroyer is on THE LIST She threw her self on the spice rack, and smashed the coriander jar. Anybody want a felonious feline? I can get you a deal on shipping.
In case you’re interested, the new kitty update. Phoenix (first cat, henceforth P) and Frenchie (new cat, name to be determined, henceforth F) sort of met last night. P knew something was on the other side of that door so I opened it a little and tied its doorknob to a nearby doorknob so it could only be opened a couple of inches. F started hanging around her side and the two of them bumped fists, rubbed noses and hissed a few times. After a while, I carried P in and sat on a low stool and loved on her while F watched intently. When P started getting fussy, I took her out and went back in the room myself a while later to scoop litter, etc., at which time F came to me for attention.
This morning, I went in to tend to F and thought I had the door closed far enough but, next thing I knew, F was standing at my feet, then took off into my bedroom and went under the bed. I tried to entice her out so I could get her back in her own room but that wasn’t happening. After a while, I gave up and let P into my bedroom. She looked for F, spotted her under the bed, and just sat nicely and waited. They exchanged a few half-hearted hisses, and F continued to make an unhappy noise that sounded like she was grumbling (I’m pretty sure it wasn’t growling). F came out and roamed around the room, P followed her, F hid again. Repeat.
After a while, I decided to leave them to their own devices and went out and ran a few errands, not knowing if I’d find bloodshed or carnage when I returned. Instead, both are roaming the house, hissing a little, but giving each other a lot of space. When P was in the kitchen with me and F was in the hall, I got out the treat jar and gave P a few pieces. F took off down the hall and P just looked at her like “She’s handing out treats here, where the hell are you going?”
I hadn’t planned to put them together until tonight or tomorrow, but it seems to be working out reasonably well.
Only when it works! For me, that’s less than half the time. Virtually always operator error.
Pretty sure all the delivery services have rules against shipping dangerous exotic animals. Otherwise I would take him. No such thing as too many kitties.
Do you have any little tricks you use to remind yourself to do something–besides a note on paper or in your phone, I mean? Last night I remembered I have to find a stick to stake up my humongous geranium, so I did my usual and put my watch (which I wear to bed because I can’t read the alarm clock on my bedside table) on my right wrist. I was sleepy, and it was easier than typing a reminder into my phone. I once saw a guy on some TV show who tipped his sofa on its side as a reminder. That’d do it.
I get to hear from my kids today. Yay! And, of course, I have to fetch that stick.
doggio, it’s too hot to send a cat through the mail right now, but a better thyme is cumin.
OW, it sounds like the kittehs are starting to adjust to each other. Name to Be Determined sounds like a shy girl. It’ll be fun to watch her gain confidence and feel secure.
Moooom, I like the term “gunkle.” I’m a gaunt, myself. Hmmm. Maybe it doesn’t work for great-aunts.
What a gorgeous day outside. NOS and a projected high of 80º.
I bought a loaf of King’s Hawaiian Bread for The Missus. She asked me to make French toast for breakfast. I’m avoiding carbohydrates (still have the 20 extra pounds I put back on after my massive weight loss), but I couldn’t resist having some myself – with real maple syrup. I may have made French toast once in my life. It turned out well.
I knew she was shy but she loves other kitties. Right now, Phoenix seems vaguely amused by another feline presence, and I think New Kitty is just trying to figure out where she fits in around here. Phoenix isn’t real big (just over 8 lbs.) and New Kitty is even smaller. I’m going to leave them alone unless there’s some reason to intervene. I think that if she keeps seeing Phoenix enjoy attention, she’ll come around for her share.
She was a stray picked up by a shelter in WV, then came here to the HS, then went to a foster home, and now she’s here, all in less than 2 months. And before she got to the WV shelter, she’d had kittens but they apparently weren’t with her. She’s had a lot happen to her little kitty self and she’s not quite 2.
Morning. Well afternoon now I guess. I have a pot of collard greens cooking. Haven’t figured out what will accompany them.
Hubby is working on our front room A/C. He’s going to replace it and already has the new one but for today he’s just cleaning the old one. It still sort of works. He’s using compressed air to blow out the dust and poor Buddy is skeered of that.
i don’t know what else the day will bring beside allergies. We didn’t get much of anything from the storm. Looks like Dooggiioo May get a bunch of rain.
I have only been out a few times to the store for groceries and to irk where there is no one close by. Once to Miami to the Doctor for hubs. That’s it for me. I don’t mind staying home. I am going to irk tomorrow to finish EOM stuff. I’m gonna bring both my computers home and Irk from home the rest of the week. I have a webinar that I may or may not be able to do from home on Wednesday so I have to figure that out. It’s mandatory purchase card refresher training and there is no other one for stragglers. Can’t forget it. Maybe I’ll turn the couch over.
You can if you leave a space- like *ugh * -unless it’s on a new line, in which case it does this-
ugh* -as I just discovered.
Walkies achieved, despite the best efforts of a bunch of bitey horseflies to drive me mad. They’re everywhere around the countryside at the moment, maybe I should just start wearing a bee suit all the time. Nothing much else has been done today, not even the washing 'cos it was raining when I got up and it’s supposed to be sunny all day tomorrow, and I prefer to line dry the sheets. 'Course, once I’d made that decision it stopped raining and it stayed fine all day…
1 - they were all saucy and goopy. I would have ended up looking that kid in the old poster trying to eat spaghetti - it would’ve been all over me.
B - my cutlery is such that they, well, they kind of suck. I probably would have cut my thumbs off.
Lastly - the reason I usually buy boneless/skinless is because I don’t know a lot about butchery. It would’ve been waste at best and a spectacle at worst.
Nope, I’m putting Baked Teriyaki Chicken in the Rolodex.
Afternoon all. Woke up about 6:30am, decided to sleep a little longer and put on the sleep mask since it was light out…next thing I know it’s 9:45am in the morning. FCM, try buying a sleep mask, maybe you too can sleep in.
Anyway, immediately dressed and mowed the front yard (did the back last night), then came in and took a long bath (“a shower is just a shower, but a long hot bath is a soak”). Then went forth and ate out (Metro Diner, meatloaf with salad and fries) and now am back home where I plan to remain.
I have always been a bit of a loner, I like people just fine, just never been one for going out at night, so just doing grocery shopping and eating out 1 day a week (not counting carry-out) isn’t that different from my usual schedule. Do miss coaching soccer, they are planning to re-start in September, still debating in my mind if I want to coach or not.
Have read all but remember modest amounts, so hugs, cheers, tears, and laughter in measured doses for all.
Stay safe everybody.
