Sunday afternoon reflecting - week 20

I am sitting here after lunch on the back porch in the shade and thinking about the week. Unbelievable how fast it went. After driving all day on Tuesday we didn't do much else. On Wednesday we sorted ourselves out again ... the luggage, the mail, getting some food into the empty fridge, sorting out the calendars etc.

So I was very happy that I didn't have to cook Wednesday dinner. The Wallers had invited us to see their new kitchen. The kitchen of their 50+ year old house had been gutted on  April 9 to be remodeled and it is now almost done ... and it is gorgeous and practical. Sarah is a blogger too so you can read about it here if you are interested.

I think it might have been also my Mother's Day meal because she made her delicious pork chops.

James and I had brought champagne. We had been to Trader Joe's and saw "Schloss Biebrich". My mother's maiden name was Biedrich so it must be special. Actually, it was not very expensive and very drinkable.

I also had to inspect my garden, plant my little basil seedlings, do some deadheading, all very enjoyable. I found the peonies had buds. This is our fourth year in this house and we had yet to see them in bloom. We had always missed it because we were traveling or a heavy rain beat them to bits.

I decided to cut some before the next rain and lo and behold ... they are beautiful.

Photos don't really do them justice.

I also had a hair cutting appointment. This is my hairdresser's car! Had to show you.

I showed you this view when it snowed. Here is a photo with the clematis finally blooming nicely.

Close-up.












I also found that last year's violas had reseeded themselves in the front. These are tiny cute little plants. They are allowed to stay. I get a lot of joy out of all this.

Saturday at two we were invited to an ice cream social at our church St Martin's.

Look at those toppings. I tried vanilla with a drizzle of lemon sauce and a little shot of cream de cacao ... mmmhhh ... highly recommendable.

In case you are missing children ... it was a special event for 60+ people. And yes, we qualify. 

 And live music.

After that we went to Sarah and Wade's house to pick up the dogs. Because of a wedding invitation we had been asked to grand-dog-sit. 

 We took the two darlings for a walk in the neighborhood and I saw an elderberry bush in a ditch which gave me a lot of memories from childhood.

So beautiful.

The next morning (today) Jimmy woke us up before 6 because we heard him trying to throw up. James quickly threw him out in the back yard but after that Jimmy did not want to go back to bed.

James decided to feed them and then we took them for a walk in the neighborhood again. This is after about 45 minutes almost back home. This is a water retention basin. 

A second after the above picture Jimmy saw some ducks. James tried to pull him back but he just wiggled and got out of his collar. The ducks had flown and landed on the water ... and Jimmy jumped right after them. Of course no chance for him to get them (thank you) but he swam around for about 30 minutes. I was petrified because several times he was splashing so hard that I thought he was in distress. James informed me later that he just did that on purpose and then tried to catch the splashes with his mouth. I went to the very far end where it was a little shallower but that early in the morning you can't yell for a dog to come. Once he almost came to James but then the ducks came again and teased him away. The duck couple had three little babies and tried to protect them.Finally, finally he came out as if nothing had happened. Oh well .... you can see him and James in the very corner there.

After church we had lunch out on the back porch and James did grilled. We tried squash this way for the first time. I cleaned and cut them lengthwise and James drizzled olive oil on the cut and seasoned them.

Here is the way he cooked them:
Place on grill cut-side down. When there is a pause in the conversation turn them over. When there is another pause in the conversation put them on the upper level and put the steaks on. They were just perfect, as was the steak, as was the tomato salad and the pale ale beer.