AROUND AND ABOUT FROM MONDAY 10-21-24 TO SUNDAY 10-27-24

This week's 10-day weather forecast.

Monday - 10/21/24: we drove over to the garden center and bought three pots of mums for the back deck. We also bought a planter for one (it is in the middle between the two yellow mums) and will get the others in a week or so. I chose two bright yellow mums, and one a reddish burgundy color. They are a pretty combination and I am enjoying them as I look through the patio door while I am typing this.

The deck was swept free of leaves a couple of days ago, but the trees are still full of them. I think they make everything look pretty, a glad tidings of the season. (Everyone in the neighborhood is sweeping up leaves.) We will get the broom out soon.

After doing a quick browse in the garden's gift shop, I chose something for a small fairy garden I'm planning, an impulse buy. Some call him The Green Man? Not sure if that’s right. I believe there are several names around the world. He came complete with a bird in a nest in the top of the tree, a squirrel at its base on one side, and two small mushrooms on the other. I could not resist. As I said, an impulse buy for my future fairy garden.

This has been put on the backburner for a while, but I add to it occasionally and store in a box. And the above is healthier than a chocolate brownie, but not as tasty and we won’t go down that road today. There is an interesting article about The Green Man, which I think this fellow may be. You can read it at this link.

These mums were huge and I chose three about a third of their size around the corner. After supervising Gregg in the placement of our new flowers (Where do you want these?), we spent the rest of the day quietly. I have also started feeding the birds and yes, the squirrels. The birds are slow to come back but there are a couple of squirrels tucking in, and also a chipmunk. That slightly sparkly look is because I am shooting through the glass and the screen.

Tuesday - 10/22/24: Gregg is on his way south to visit his brother and sister for a few days. He did the shopping yesterday and asked if there was anything special that he could get me. A couple of diamonds perhaps. No? Then I will take a small piece of salmon thank you very much. I have just baked it. Very simple and no fuss.  I put it on parchment paper sprayed with avocado oil, another quick spray on the top. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, and garlic powder. In a reheated oven on 450 degrees F. for 15 minutes, very yummy. Even with an oven that runs on the cooler side, it was cooked perfectly. You'll have to be the judge on the timing with your own oven temperature, and of course you probably have your favorite way of cooking fish. This is my favorite fish next to grilled rainbow trout, which I have never cooked before and only had on special occasions at a restaurant. My dear's favorite is cod. I bought a packet of frozen vegetables about a month ago and felt they needed to be eaten. They went very well as a side dish. I measured out a cup-and-a-half.

Just for the fun of it I wanted to find out all about its nutrition online and this is the first thing that popped up.

A serving of Wegmans Special Blends Broccoli Cauliflower and Pine Nuts in a Garlic Herb Sauce is 110 grams and contains 100 calories, with 60 calories coming from fat...

and then elsewhere I found this.

Vitamin C

Broccoli has more vitamin C than cauliflower; with 90% of the daily value (DV) in one cup of raw broccoli, compared to 57% in one cup of raw cauliflower.

Vitamin K

Broccoli has more vitamin K than cauliflower, with 77% of the DV in one cup of raw broccoli compared to 14% in one cup of raw cauliflower.

Fiber

Broccoli has more fiber than cauliflower, with 2.5 grams in one cup of raw broccoli compared to 2 grams in one cup of raw cauliflower.

Protein

Broccoli has the same amount of protein as cauliflower, with 2.5 grams in one cup of raw broccoli, compared to 2 grams in one cup of raw cauliflower.

Broccoli is also known to be good for eye health and contains more minerals than cauliflower.

And now I know!

If you care to, please share your own method of cooking salmon. It doesn't have to be salmon as I know not everyone likes it, hubby included. Even at this stage of my life, I am always looking for different ways, different seasonings I haven't thought of. Any favorite fish/non-fish are welcome.

• Wednesday, 10/23/24:

Our son came over for a while. He called and asked if I needed anything from the store. I was grateful as I had forgotten to put fruit on the list for my morning smoothie. He also stopped in and got me a coffee, all very welcomed, his company most of all. Son and dear daughter-in-law thoroughly enjoyed their trip to New York, and we have heard lots of wonderful stories about the people they met, and about the city itself. Son enjoys NY very much. He had to go into DC yesterday and to use up some time as he was early for a meet-up, he spent time at the National Art Gallery. I will have some photos later, ones he shared with me. Here is one of them.

This is Ginevra de' Benci by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1474/1478, Gallery 06 at the time of writing. Ginevra was the daughter of a Florentine banker. Her portrait was probably painted when she was married at the age of 16. It's incredible to see such a painting. I shared it a few years ago on a blog post. It wasn't enclosed in a glass case back then and was hanging on a wall with a permanent guard in the room. Standing several feet away I was mesmerized and not the only one. I remember this lady and she definitely looked awestruck. I watched as she slowly moved closer and her hand slowly went up to touch the painting, literally as though in a trance. She was so enthralled. A security guard quickly and firmly told her, "Ma'am, please don't touch the painting."  She jumped back and apologized, saying as I suspected, she felt the need to touch the painter’s brushstrokes. And that's why it is now under glass. I am sure she was not the only one. You can see Ginevra and other paintings from my post when we visited in 2016 if you click here.

I had texts and photos from my dear earlier in the day, and an evening phone call when everyone had gone to bed. He is having a good time with his brother and sister. They don't get together that often but when they do, they always have fun. My sister-in-law enjoys taking photos also, especially of birds in her area, and she takes great ones. Their mom always enjoyed watching birdlife in her own back yard, with binoculars always at her side. I remember many times going down to visit the family and sitting with her in their den. They had a big picture window with a lovely view of all feathered friends. Watching the birds with her was and is a very happy memory.

No fussing with the meals today. Weetabix for breakfast with a tablespoon each of dried cranberries, and warmed almond milk. Lunch was the leftover veggies from yesterday, the broccoli, cauliflower and pine nuts. I needed nothing else. Dinner was a Trader Joe's frozen Shepherd's Pie. All very tasty that didn't keep me on my feet for long in the kitchen. A freezer day more or less.

I enjoyed my evening and finished off another jigsaw puzzle. I have two Halloween ones to share, one was done last week.

Thursday, 10/24/24: it is already 3.53 p.m. I got up late, shocked that it was almost noon. Last night was another sleepless night so I was glad for the catch up. When I finally dropped off, I saw the light come into the windows. Breakfast was my usual Weetabix with the same fixings as yesterday. I haven't had lunch because I can say breakfast was my lunch because it was that time. Dinner will be something fast. I was going to make a cabbage potato soup but I think I will go the easy way out again, maybe the other shepherd's pie from yesterday. This would have been hubby's but he won’t mind and there are still two left as he bought four originally. I did some laundry, fed the birds (and squirrels and chipmunks apparently), the sun is shining and I am feeling good.

Joy! I just saw my first bird as he hopped on the bird feeder. No time for a photo as away it flew after seeing my movement. I actually clapped my hands, and it may have heard that too. It doesn't take much to keep me happy. I will try to do things in slow motion when I reach for my camera next time.

I had a call from my dear other half, to tell me he is starting out at 8.00 a.m. tomorrow. 

Friday, 10/25/24 - 9.29 a.m: he is on his way back. They have all had a great time and I am very happy they have been able to spend this time together.  

I woke up at 6.30 a.m. and the first thing I did was fill the bird feeders. I noticed yesterday that Big Bunny was on his side (if you look carefully at my first photo, on the right side of the bench, you will see him lying down). I was going to pick him up but got distracted, and didn't do that until today.  Bad news is his other ear has been broken off. I am not sure if I will be able to fix it as I found three jagged pieces under the table two or three feet away from his poor self. I am keeping fingers crossed the crazy glue will do its job. The culprit is indeed the squirrel, I am almost 100% certain. I have watched him use Big Bunny's ears as a springboard to get to the top level of the feeding table. When he did that, Big Bunny swayed violently from side to side, and on one other occasion was found toppled. At that time, a quick check of the ear that was previously broken, revealed it was still there. This time the other ear broke. If I buy anything for outside, it will be made out of a stronger stuff. Metal seems to be a good choice as the Kissing Bunnies are hanging in there. Even Froggies3 have been untouched since the first fiasco, and am keeping fingers crossed for them as they are ceramic and have had their run-in. All’s well since they were fixed (replaced actually because there was no way I could put all those pieces together - fortunately I found the exact same Froggies3 and ordered from the same company). Sophie Squirrel is thankful she has short ears! And I say to myself yet again, it’s a good job I love these furry little rascals, as I shake my head from side to side and roll my eyes. He just stares back at me and saying “What!”

On a good note, the birds are coming back and I have enjoyed them immensely.  I have seen a female Cardinal, North Carolina Black-capped Chickadee, Blue Jay, Tufted Titmouse and our winter bird, the Gray-slated Junco.  

5.56 p.m: Weetabix was the breakfast of the day again. I haven't made my smoothie yet. Everything these last few days have been ‘throw-together-fast’ meals. For lunch I went to the freezer and picked out a serving of miniature chicken and cilantro dumplings, the kind you cook in boiling water and when they float to the top, they are cooked. We have a large bag in there from CostCo. They always taste yummy and no energy needed and again, not on my feet too long. Tonight, another freezer dive. This time I heated one of the two Trader Joe’s Green Chicken Thai Curries. The dear man found them originally and has bought them on each trip to Trader Joe’s. Very tasty and the portion control is great. Always delicious but very spicy and made my eyes water and I gasped a little as the heat hit my tonsils. Yes, another great image I know. It wasn’t enough to stop us and we both enjoyed our easy meal very much. It’s on the list for the next Trader Joe’s run. Could be a while, the store is on our rotation but not regularly, we don’t go often. It is a very popular place and is always packed. 

Gregg was home for dinner. He walked in the door at 3.30 p.m. He said it was a good drive and he kept to the freeways for the fastest route home (six hours). The traffic was fairly light. I had fun listening to what he did. Lots of walking involved around pretty scenery, eating at fun restaurants and generally catching up with his siblings. 

Son called as he knew his Dad would probably be home and we had a nice long chat. A quiet day for him as he had caught up on all his work. 

Saturday, 10/26/24 - 7.16 a.m -1.53 p.m: I am sitting on the sofa, drinking a cup of tea, watching the leaves fall down like rain. So peaceful!  The deck is covered but we are in no rush to sweep them up. It looks like Fall out there and I love it! 

5.50 p.m: we finally made the cabbage and potato soup this afternoon (I posted it yesterday.) It was excellent. No problem having this over the next few days, and if we do get a bit tired of it, there is always my friend the freezer. Another quiet, peaceful day. 

Sunday, October 27th, 2024 at 11.39 p.m: It is late and I am in bed. Not sure how much I will write. Son came over for his usual morning with mom and dad. The time went fast before he left to pick up our daughter-in-law. We always without fail take selfies, sharing one below. The day was chilly but we most always step outside, until it gets bitterly cold. The sun warmed us up and it was lovely. Mid-morning he was very amused to see a squirrel come up to the window, put his paws up on the glass and stare in at us for several seconds. He's never seen one do that before. We were late putting seed out and I asked son if he would do that for me. The squirrels disappeared for a while but the staring one arrived and said thank you. I have great conversations with those rascals in my head, as you know! 

After he left, my dear went to CostCo. He loves to shop, I do not at the best of times, especially not on a Sunday when it’s absolute bedlam. I am not good with crowds, never have been. Sundays seems to be the day when people get out. I’m thinking they are people that work during the week. Saturday they have fun free time, Sundays they shop. Let me know if you think differently, but crowds in the food stores seem to be very heavy around here. Anyhow, the dear man bought all kinds of goodies, mostly snacks.  It’s too late for me to remember everything but he did return with the biggest bag of popcorn I have ever seen, and a rotisserie chicken. The popcorn is organic and good for you - with a touch of sea salt. He gave me a small cupful to try mid-evening, and it was very good. He likes to look at Instagram and got the idea from one of the videos where a person goes shopping at CostCo, and other places, and shows you all the healthy things you can buy. They go through all the good ingredients but also shows the bad ingredients that we shouldn’t buy. I actually like these videos and find them interesting. So, we now have a gigantic bag of popcorn from CostCo. We will have the chicken for dinner tomorrow, as dinner is over today. 

While he was gone the phone went and it was my brother-in-law from across the pond on FaceTime. Had a lovely chitchat about this and that, and caught up on what our families have been doing, and what we have both been doing. After about half-an-hour Gregg arrived home and he joined in. I think of my b-in-l as more like a real brother as I have known him since I was 13. After another half an hour it was time to hang up until next time.  

For the rest of the day we pottered around. And that’s it for this week. 

I hope you are having a nice start to your week, and wish you all a great day.