AROUND AND ABOUTS - OLD RECIPES MADE

 I had intended to post this for tomorrow but accidentally put it up now. I'll just leave it as it is. There will be no new post at midnight. One of those times my finger-pusher was faster than my brain this evening.

I haven't been around and about too much this week so far, or the last for that matter. Hoping to rectify that tomorrow. I can't go on any of my long walks but a ride in the car will be nice.

Today we made our daughter-in-law's recipe. She shared this a couple of years ago and it is a favorite, real easy and fast to put it together, Lemon Spaghetti with Spinach. I covered mine liberally with hot pepper flakes, freshly ground black pepper, sliced green onions and grated Parmesan. We also added extra lemon juice which we love. You can add your own favorites. We thought sliced mushroom might be nice, and sweet red pepper. 

We took a drive over to Manassas National Battlefield Park on Thursday, 1/8/26, to see the sunset and enjoy a walk. Unfortunately the sun dipped below a wide cloud bank - no spectacular sunset but the skies were beautiful. There were about a dozen cars in the parking lot but there are enough wide, open spaces that we were in our own space all the time we were there.  I need my walker but as this is one area where there are hardly any benches, its seat comes in handy. The visitor center is equipped with great ramps for people with disabilities. I just read that there are benches around, but we looked and couldn’t find any. I will ask people at the visitor center next time. The building looked like it was closing. We asked someone bringing the flag down, at the beginning of our walk, when did we have to leave the parking lot. I was concerned that the barriers would be locked preventing us from getting our car out. She told us this was done half-an-hour after sunset. We made it in good time. 

We went to Santini’s on our way home and shared a steak and cheese sub, plus a packet of steak fries. We were going somewhere else but it was rush hour and it was impossible to change lanes in the direction we needed to go - no gaps - and the cars were zipping along. Before we knew it we were on the freeway heading in the direction of home, and not wanting to deal with u-turns, Santini’s it was. We each had a cream soda which is the only soda I will ever drink. It was a tasty meal and a real nice treat. It is not one of our regular drop-in places, but we enjoy it when we go. Santini’s is a sports bar/restaurant but I noticed all the TV screens were frozen. No doubt they will be fixed before the weekend crowd arrives.

I seem to be talking about food a lot but here is something else we made today Saturday, 1/10/26, Chicken and Dumplings. 

This is my dear other half’s favorite meal since childhood. The link to the recipe on my blog is here.

The Christmas Tree is still up! I am slower getting it down this year but still enjoying the lights at night. I have been watching Grantchester. It’s about a vicar and policeman who solve crimes in a post-war English village. It’s very well done but let’s just say it’s not like the Hallmark movie channel. I am on the 4th, or maybe the 5th season now and we have our second vicar. Some seasons have been better than others. They are not like my village vicar who used to come around for tea every Thursday night. My mum would cook him a hot meal and dad would give him a tot of whisky later, after his cup of tea. The vicarage was just up the road from where we lived. The church, where Gregg and I were eventually married, was down in the valley. He would always walk home, stopping in for dinner with various parishioners. We took care of him on Thursday evenings and always enjoyed his company. Nice young chap! As for Grantchester, this seems to be a good season and I am totally invested in all the characters. 

I see the star is leaning over. I will get the tall one to straighten it for me tomorrow. He will be over for his usual Sunday visit. Then next week I will start taking the ornaments down. I will miss them!

We had a lovely chat with my brother-in-law in Germany today (Saturday, 1/10/26). Never get off the phone in under an hour and we always enjoy our chats. I see you over there have had a lot of bad weather. Brother-in-law told me that Cornwall has had a bit of a time of it. Anyhow, I hope wherever you live, that all is well.

Thanks for visiting, thanks for reading and I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday.

SON AND DAUGHTER-IN-LAW'S TRIP TO SAN DIEGO COMIC CON, AND MEETING THE STAR TREK CAST

Our son and daughter-in-law have just returned from their annual trip to Comic Con in San Diego.  They always have a great time, attend  Comic Con and then have a few days to look around San Diego and Los Angeles.  They said I could share so above you can see a photo of them meeting the cast of Star Trek: Discovery, which will soon be showing its second season.  They had spent a long time waiting for everything to open up, and early in the a.m. the actors came around handing out doughnuts to people in line.  Son and daughter-in-law said they were great and fun to talk to.  Anson Mount is a new addition to the crew.  He plays Captain Christopher Pike, the role that Jeff Hunter had years ago.  Doug Jones in the first photo also played the Amphibian Man in last year's Shape of Water.

Another favorite place they go to is the San Diego Zoo.  This time the flamingoes were having babies, and there were eggs on mounds, tiny chicks and larger chicks walking around.  They stayed for a long time near the flamingoes.  They also were interested in the Baboon enclosure where there were two factions at war with each other.  They said the noise was horrendous but it was more posturing than anything else and they soon went their separate ways.  There were a few babies there too.  They also enjoyed Otis the hippo who was born in the 70s.  Otis put on quite a show under water apparently.  

They went no further!

Another favorite of theirs is Coronado where they always have brunch at the Hotel Del Coronado.  

We used to take our son there as a little guy when we lived in San Diego.  When we had visitors we always took them for brunch at the hotel. 

 This is their house they said and laughed. Maybe in our second lifetime.

These photos brought back a lot of great memories, as we also loved walking around Coronado all those years ago.

My thanks to the Star Trek cast for stopping by and making their day.