I’m a little ahead of chores this morning, have to go out to feed the animals in a few, but currently I’m sat in my kitchen floor eating 2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and a mug of milk.
The kitchen floor is my favorite place these days…I can’t tell you why. I like sitting here and eating or reading; it’s a comfortable place for me.
Pb&j’s are a favorite for me too recently, and funnily enough, I really like them with a cup of milk…plain white milk…the beverage I have seen with disdain my entire life I finally embrace in this, my fiftieth trip around the sun
Ive always been willing to drink chocolate, strawberry or honey milk but white milk has always been one that caused my nose to wrinkle and my tummy to instantly turn, it just wasn’t a good thing for me.
Anyway, I’ve bored you enough for the day with my ramblings.
This is a hard one for me as I really love cooking. Probably though, my favorite thing to cook would be dolmades, or koubepia.
When I make them, i start with my biggest deep lidded fryer pan, and fill it halfway with chicken broth, Greek seasoning, and chicken breasts or breast strips, pop my lid on and leave that on medium heat while I work on the main part.
For this, I take ground meat (generally lamb but can also use ground beef, pork or chicken) and mix in dry uncooked rice and generous Greek seasonings, (sometimes feta, sometimes not) I mix this until I have a fairly even mix and grab my grape leaves and sit down to roll them, I add a dollop to the back of the grape leaves, gather from the sides to enclose it like a tiny burrito, and roll the leaf around to make a tiny wrap, I roll until all the meat and the leaves are accounted for. I set these aside and go back to my previous pan, remove the chicken, and set it in a bowl to the side, take the juice of 2 to 3 lemons and 3 to 4 egg yolks in a bowl and temper them by slowly adding the hot broth to them and stirring to incorporate them, once the eggs are tempered, I empty this mixture into the main pan, and proceed to add the stuffed grape leaves, and set the chicken back on top.
I put my lid back on and put 3-5 river rocks on top to keep lid weighted down, leave at medium heat and cook for about an hour.
It’s quarter after 6, I’ve been awake since right at 3:30, when the little guy I’m dating decided to ‘like’ one of my photos on his phone.
I’ve had my first cup of coffee and unloaded the dishwasher and loaded the dryer. Will start a fresh load of dishes and wash here in a bit, then feed animals and get dressed to go to Prattville farm swap this morning (looking to buy a few more laying hens)
Nothing overly thrilling going on here these days, been working on getting things back in place for my nursing job, and that’s tedious at best. Supposed to possibly be going to Texas the first week of February for a listing…if it doesn’t sell before then. Less than enthused as it’s been sitting on the market for 3 months with no bites and I’m just not sure what I’m up against at this point.
Quail have gotten quite fat and I’m starting to wonder if I may be over-feeding them. I do like going out to visit them and feel compelled to fill their feeder a few times a day (it’s an awful small feeder for 5-6 per cage)chickens have also gotten quite fat lately, they and the opossums really enjoy my kitchen scraps and leftovers.
Goats…also fat 🙃 but I think the girls are pregnant and should be due mid April (around the 13th).
I still miss my husband every day and wish he was still around. I miss feeling loved and like I really matter to another person.
I hope you have a blessed weekend. I’m looking forward to the farm swap this morning and cow roping this afternoon and church tomorrow.
So, me writing daily just isn’t going to happen, I think of things I want to write all day, I even say them in my head and sort them and everything but then I decide that no real audience exists for a 49 year old woman’s rants or whatever.
Here are some of my thoughts for the week though:
I’ve been clearing more and more on my land with the Greenworks zero turn, it can really do some damage and is a little powerhouse. I was afraid it wouldn’t be and also was afraid to try a zero turn…:I won’t say she doesn’t have flaws (she should come with 2 full sets of batteries so you have less down time and the left front guide tire on mine has been off its wheel base since the day I bought it, which makes it hard to control at times but I also don’t know that I’d know how to get it back on myself.
I spent a few days last week looking through my months of January and February last year. I still feel I should have recourse against this hospital (as well as the one here in town for a completely different incident). I believe I’ll look again for a lawyer to talk to, my problem is, these lawyers don’t even care enough to have a conversation with you past looking at medical records. I get that the hospitals write all their stuff up just so…but sometimes it’s just not reality (I’m sorry I’ve been a nurse way too long and seen way too much over the years to think it is.
Goats should be due with babies around April 13-15, I look forward to that. My new quail have had a few hiccups (lost 6 of the 28 in less than a week due to me getting an inadequate shelter for them and having little to no visibility on their wellbeing. I have them in proper shelter now and can see them and have good accounts on the remaining birds well being. Unfortunately I also have them in the barn with the barn door open while it’s chilly out, and this means I have other random birds scouting my barn out to build their nests inside.
I still very much want to establish my flock of jubilee Orpington’s as well as a few other Orpington breeds, however I may wait a few years before I pursue that harder.
Can’t wait for my garden this year, have garlic growing full force already.
I’ll write more next week I hope. Hope you’re staying safe in the winter storms if they affect you.
Up and did chores today, didn’t take time to walk to the garden area today because I had other things in my head.
Dental appointment this afternoon, my face is still numb and it’s been nearly 5 hours. Picked picnic stuff up for dinner tonight and had an easy night.
Grabbed a mini rose plant because my husband loved those, going to work on planting a handful of those in between the regular roses this year.
Have an appointment at 10 tomorrow for the truck to get his tires looked at and also to see why the windshield washers aren’t working, went ahead and did most of tomorrows chores tonight.
I’m really into reading my Bible for just over a year now, just got into the gospels this week, 2 chapters into Mark at the moment. Loving the reading.
Watching the chosen, I like most of it but hate when they sneak modern agendas into a timeline it didn’t exist in.
Been a busy one here. Normal daily chores and beginning of the year bills for Real estate fees and such. Made black eyed peas and cabbage in the crock pot and also had cheese noodles and smoked sausage tonight for dinner.
Walked a while and did a workout (first supernatural workout of the year ) and some light reading and TV.
Tackled a few small clean up projects and wrote a letter. May write one more before bed.
Tell me about your day? Anything you’re excited about in the new year?
So, 3 days ago I called Cunard with a simple question about our dining options. My primary question was whether or not we could dine in the other 2 main dining rooms during meal times (I knew we had first seating in the Britannia restaurant, per request).
The pleasant customer service advisor (I could not understand her name enough to share it here) not only told me extensively about the availability of the other main dining rooms (princess grill, queens grill and Britannia club restaurants) that have an open come and go as you please atmosphere, but proceeded to tell me about several other options available to us:
Kings court is open 24 hours and is buffet style, they have an alternating availability of Asian, Indian, Italian and American (smokehouse) cuisines.
The verandah restaurant has French cuisine, but I got the impression they were a separate, higher cost.
Boardwalk cafe may be a good option for a 12 yr old according to the agent, basically the offerings there have a fast food feel…hot dogs, hamburgers, French fries and soft drinks. I’m not sure we’ll dine here, but we may try it one afternoon if we happen to get in a mood.
Carinthia lounge was mentioned, but not elaborated on, from what I can find, they have a varied, if not somewhat eclectic menu.
Golden lion is the signature pub on the ship. They serve a classic British pub fare. I can see me hitting this a time or 2.
Queens room was something she was very excited to share with me, the ship has afternoon tea every day from 330-430, complete with finger sandwiches, pastries and scones with a wide assortment of preserves and jams. (I hope to hit this every day)
Room service has an extensive menu, and is also available 24 hours a day.
I look forward to this part of the trip almost as much as actually being in Great Britain for the first time.
Yesterday a post they shared made me want to explore something else about the ship…activities!
Puddle Jumping with Pandora's Box 