Purple Daylily and Fried Fish

 

Today, I finally took the cardinal wing pattern and one of the wings and delivered them to the guy who will cut them for me. The last place cut them wrong.

When I went to Lowe's for something I could not find, I went to the half-dead plant area and found a pot with daylilies--Purple D' Oro. There are several blossoms ready. Tommy watered it. Tomorrow, I will clean it up, riding it of dead matter.  The strawberry daylily I bought at the plant sale is read to bloom. 

Earlier in the afternoon, we went to see the church that burned here a few days ago. It was sad, appearing to be completely gutted. And Tommy showed me where he lived just before he bought this house. We were actually looking for a certain food truck. We knew where her commissary was, so went there. A cook was gathering the tables and chairs, taking them indoors. He told us where to find the food truck on FB, so we could find her. She lists her locations each day of the week. I asked the guy what kind of food they cook. He pointed to his food truck and said it was all soul food. In his restaurant I suppose it was different food. I asked him what he cooked today--fish and chicken. 

He obviously took a liking to me. I was talking to the older man, a cook, who said he was through cooking for the day. The owner came out with a styrofoam to go box and handed it to me. I was so surprised. He said it was fish. Well, I opened it and started eating with my hands, pinching off bites and devouring the fish. After I thanked him profusely, we drove off. Only then did I realize he had handed me a pack of utensils! I was sort of embarrassed. 

We will go back there to eat one day. I have not had hush puppies in years! Soul Food is notoriously unhealthy, but maybe this place is different.

I told Tommy we were eating purple cauliflower for dinner. He always turns up his nose. I handed him a small piece, about the size of the last joint in my little finger. He ate it without turning up his nose, making a face or spitting it out. We had plenty of protein today, so I am baking vegetables--purple cauliflower, carrots, and potatoes. I put them is a glass casserole with olive oil, garlic powder, and onion powder. They were delicious. He served his own plate. I noticed he had a generous helping of purple cauliflower. So, I suppose he has been converted. 

I have a whole chicken thawing. Tomorrow, I will bake it in the oven or put it in the crockpot. We have potatoes, purple cauliflower, and slaw. So, dinner will be easy. We did not have many carrots to have those leftover. NO! There is no more cauliflower for leftovers. Tommy ate it all! So, he really does like purple cauliflower...lol. 

For the last two or three days, he has been telling me about new flowers that grew from an empty container, asking me what they were. Finally, I stopped on the way to the car. I had bought a six-pack of pink Wave Petunias last summer. When I became ill, they burned up in the heat. Now, two of the tiny pots have a petunia each. I will put those in a hanging pot. 

I had a seed ball and a postcard with paper embedded with seed. Both went into identical pots. Both concepts were wildflowers. One of the pots has a plant with purple flowers. It is about 18 inches tall. I am quite sure these wildflowers would be labeled "weeds," We certainly are enjoying all the flowers even if they are weeds. 

I decided I will no longer buy Nature's Own Keto. It is too thick, hard to gnaw off a sandwich. From now on, I will buy Arnold's. It has three grams per slice, just one more gram than NO, but that is okay. 

The day went well, considering I only slept four hours! It was a good day with no frustrations or arguments with Tommy. No pushbacks, just cooperation. We enjoyed our impromptu ride, the flowers at home, and the birds flying around here. Of course, the fried fish was wonderful. 

Do you like fried fish? Not the Captain D kind. 

Are you surprised when flowers reseed so late? These pots of petunias have been out of the utility room for over two months. 

Has the smoke from Canada affected your skies? 

Thursday Relapse and a Bird

The doctor visits were cancelled. I had no sleep until about 10:30 am. It appears I had a slight fever last night. And, my congestion and cough were worse for about two hours this morning, So, I will have to try again.  

We went out for one thing--eyedrops. The retina specialist told me to get artificial tears with no preservatives for my eyes that get sticky along the lashes and make seeing difficult. Tommy went into Publix for them and could not find any without preservatives so decided we could go elsewhere. Since I could not imagine they had none, I told him to ask at pharmacy. Someone showed him. In his defense, he said these were separate from the other eyedrops. These drops sting and it takes about 30 minutes before I can see better. 

On the way home, we cross a creek right near his house. People fish from the banks. It looks so polluted I cannot imagine eating anything caught there. Tommy exclaimed, asking did I see the big white bird. As we drove along nearer the creek, we saw a beautiful, tall, white bird, a Great Egret. It was exciting as I cannot remember having seen a Great Egret. 

There were other pictures of the Great Egret, but the pose is like the one we saw. The all-white bird was majestic, about three-feet tall.

Tommy is watering. I think it rained everywhere else but here! I suppose with the forecast and recent past rain, it looks like this will be a three-week rainy period. I know some of you need rain, but I just don't like so much and especially when I need to go places. He is dead-heading flowers and will drag the garbage to the road. We do get an average of 58-60 inches of rain per year. But, I am ready for a little drought. 

There are so many little, piddling chores to do around here. I just don't feel like doing anything. Sooo, I took another nap...lol. Maybe I can get a few chores done after the nightly news...lol. 

On the news--Alabama is first in the nation in per capita deaths. Usually, we are dead last or next to last in measures.

What is happening at your house? Excess rain? Drought? Ever seen a Great Egret? Do you ever suffer from dry eyes? 

Midnight at the Oasis

 I awoke from a night's sleep or my version of a night at midnight. I had gone to sleep at 9 pm. But, do you think I could get  a good night's sleep? Well, no. Apparently, I am not meant to sleep ever again. 

A trip to the doctor confirmed I am going to live, that I survived the severe (bronchitis?) lung problem, the prednisone and Z pack. I feel really well. 

The seat pattern and 4 pieces of plywood are at my friend's house, awaiting his magic saw. Hopefully, he will get those done soon so that I can get Tommy's chairs upholstered and he will have something sturdy. He readily agreed to lose the old, metal and vinyl chairs when we rescued these. Actually, I put a "free" sign on them. Someone who was willing and able to do a bit of work picked them up. 

A piece of "free to me" plywood stayed propped against the mailbox post until someone rescued it.

My friend who died two weeks ago is having a virtual memorial with Zoom. Or, maybe it is a virtual funeral, not sure. 

Tommy really uses his bird book and cd lots. We saw a bird in my yard that neither of us recognized. He spent time looking it up while I was in the doctor's office. Apparently, it is a cowbird.

Wildlife is abundant when a person is looking for it and when  a person is not. We saw so many cows up close and personal. Well, they all seemed to be near to the highway where we cold get a good look as we zoomed by. I love cows!

Tommy often asks me "What is that flower?" Mostly, I only catch a blurry glimpse of color. Sometimes, I know; sometimes, I don't. Today, I ordered a seed catalogue and another for flowers. I guarantee he will enjoy these in the car and at home. 

It is now 1:30. Maybe I can get more sleep.

Birds Like Christmas Wreath

 

So this is the Pearls Galore Hat I love. 

This color is blush. I wish I had a scarf this color. Even though the weather is not cold enough for a hat, I am going to wear this one anyway. After Christmas I am sure I will need this for about a week. 

The watering can with holly looks fabulous. Tommy likes it. I haven't looked for the Christmas house, yet. I will. I was going to buy fake stuff and get it over with and save it for another year. All I could find had glitter on it. Knowingly bringing glitter into this house is not something I will do! 

Tuesday, I was going to move stuff from the dining room just because it has needed moving for months. Now, at least I can bend without feel so funny I have to hold onto things. Well, I managed to start spilling a bag of rice. I got most of it up before spilling the whole pound. 

And, the day after I finishe the Azithromycin, I started feel funny, like I was going to fall over. Walking is hard to do without wobbling.

Friday, I went back to Oral surgeon. He checked for food stuck in socket. Still wobbly. 

In my last house, I put a beautiful (to me) Christmas wreath on the side door, the door I entered. This porch had walls on three sides, so it was sheltered. 

One day, I came home, unlocked the door and swung it inward. A tiny bird had found the wreath, sat in it out of site and flew in and all around the house. With 10 ft ceilings, I was using a broom to try and "sweep" him out. this happened four times. The last time was when a delivery from a caterer was delivered. I had the young delivery boy help me get the bird out!

Has an animal ever taken refuge in your wreath or other Christmas display?