Taking Stock of the Concession Stand at the Pool

Greetings, friends!
It's a rainy day at the pool - literally, it's raining outside. Perfect time to come inside and assess the day-to-day workings, starting with the concession stand, AKA the Kitchen.
For those who know me well, they will tell you I don't do too badly as the chief cook and bottle washer, probably from all the practice through the years! DH doesn't complain much, except the poor man has been subjected to all sorts of experimental meals this summer. We have a LOAD of recipes that have been collected through the last 34 years, many of which have lovely pictures, but have never been taste-tested in our kitchen. Some of the experiments were real hits; some not so much, and those were appropriately filed in the waste bin. However, there is still a stack to go through. (Picture me hunched over, wringing my hands, laughing maniacally)
Turning the kitchen into an evil doctor's laboratory aside, we have dinners under control. I know I've mentioned in the past that we make a Monthly Menu for dinner. My friend Donna thinks I should publish that and an accompanying shopping list. Maybe someday. The trick is to look at the season (mostly winter or summer), and adjust accordingly. It's hard to make a dish using butternut squash if it isn't in season! Salads are more fun in the summer, while soup makes it onto the menu at least once a week in the winter. Then, add in chicken one night, beef another, and the occasional pork dish. Vegetarian? Sorry - I raised a bunch of carnivores. If I omitted meat, the word mutiny comes to mind.
My downfall is lunch and, yes, breakfast.
Breakfast is actually my favorite meal - I could eat eggs, sausage, and bacon every day, (throw some fresh fruit in there during the summer), but health issues tell me I shouldn't do that on a daily basis. So does the scale. (My least favorite device in the house).
Recently, my aforementioned friend Donna and I went out for a bite, and we covered a wide gamut of topics,  one being meals and the need to eat healthier. (Yes, all the world's problems have now been solved. You're welcome.) That's when she mentioned something that made me go, "huh." She LOVES oatmeal. I do not. In fact, cereal is my least favorite food, but I understand the importance of it in one's diet. The only trouble is that I require a fair amount of sugar to make it remotely palatable, enough so that it would make Doctor Barry frown very hard. Then, Donna told me about Refrigerator Oatmeal.
"What's that?" you ask? Well, I looked it up this morning and found a few recipes for experimentation. (again, maniacal laughter rings through the house) I mean, who couldn't resist something called 'Blueberry Cheesecake', or 'Apple, Inc.', and don't forget 'Chocolate Banana Bonkers' and 'Peachy Blinder'. Instead of sugar, use fruit, and yogurt, and maybe a teaspoon of maple syrup! Brilliant! And, the best part? You make it the night before in a mason jar, stick it in the fridge, and voila! You have breakfast! You can take it on the go - maybe heat it in the microwave when you get to work on days you're running a little late. In the meantime, you've got a healthy breakfast that might not taste so bad. Here's the link I found for recipe ideas.  https://hurrythefoodup.com/how-to-make-overnight-oats-in-a-jar
Some of the recipes suggested chia seeds - no. Sorry, but there are just some things I can't fathom, like something one would rub on a terracotta figure, add water, and watch grass grow on Shreck's head. Yeah....no. I ordered a few mason jars from our favorite online ordering spot - everything from A to Z, you know. (Sorry, DH, but I didn't want to hog up all the jars we already own!). You can make enough of these oatmeal concoctions to last a few days, so I can still have eggs once in a while. Just not every day. I can live with that.
Lunches - well, we're working on that, too. DH bought a bunch of containers so that we can make up meals over the weekend, pack them in these containers, and lunches are healthy and ready to go. Sounds like a lot of work, but if we're doing this together, then no big deal, right? It might at least be diverting for awhile!
So, if you're in the neighborhood, stop by the Pool - and please, don't be put off by the woman with crazy hair, covered in flour, running around the kitchen and laughing like she's lost her last marble. I'll always hold onto a few for my friends! Maybe there will even be a piece of pie and a hot cup of coffee to share.

A New Look for the Pool

Greetings, fellow Stress swimmers!

If you stand perfectly still and cup your hand behind your ear, you may hear angelic voices singing. Not just light, harmonious tunes, but all out blaring trumpets! Even through the rain, the sun has smiled down on the Stress Pool this week, and the angels are still hovering overhead, singing and playing trumpets and having quite a party!
It started with Brandon Hudock, a horticulturalist who lives next door to my friend, Cyndy. I met him and his lovely family at her Kentucky Derby party in May, and asked that if he ever had time, perhaps he might stop by and give me an idea of where to go with my backyard. This takes a little explaining.
I have lived in this house for 32 years this June. The backyard is a hillside, which DH terraced with a railroad tie/cement block wall. Well, over the years life happened - and ended - and happened again. In that time, Jumanji took over. Seriously. I've been waiting for the safari hunter to stride out of the woods and weeds any time. Every so often, Ms Business and I would go out and try to conquer nature, but to no avail. (Don't get too philosophical - we literally went out and pulled weeds for hours!) So, one day in June Brandon texts and says he'll be in the area. He stopped, looked, and asked, "What do you want to do here?"
I was truthful - I had no idea. I looked at the overgrown bayberry bush with a very healthy vine growing around it; weed trees; things I couldn't even identify. He pointed out some random, accidental plants that were nice, and which ones were unwanted weeds. (You didn't know that some weeds might be wanted, did you?) "Do you want an estimate?" he asked.
"Sure." What did I have to lose? It could be as little as $100 or the cost of a small house. It was more than $100, but way more affordable than I thought.
Long story short, Brandon and his crew of two took two days to transform the backyard (and the thistle garden in the front of the house) into an oasis of aesthetic pleasure. In fact, Moink looked at the backyard and asked, "Did they build that wall?"
"No," Ms Business said with a modicum of disgust, "Dad built it a long time ago."
Moink will be twenty this October. He's never seen the wall. That says something right there.

Angels broke into song.

Then, today, our friendly neighborhood plumber spent the entire afternoon at our house. We now have no more leaking sinks, a newly installed toilet (that was actually bought for the upstairs bathroom more than fifteen years ago) and new faucets in the kitchen and powder room. And, while he was here, he took a look at the dishwasher.
Another story.
Several years ago, we went to a local box store and bought an LG dishwasher. The old one wasn't doing well, and we decided it needed to be replaced. It worked for two weeks.
I went back to the store (where we'd bought a maintenance plan). I asked to see a manager."We bought an LG dishwasher here two weeks ago. It isn't working; Life is not Good."
"Ha," the manager said, "I see what you did there. That's clever." He also went on to say we had to call LG for them to come out and fix it. That's the arrangement for the first year. Which we did.
"You have too much pressure."
"You don't have enough pressure."
"Let's try a new water pump."
"Your water is too hard."
"Maybe your water is too soft."
 "We'll replace the mother board."
It took a month for the LG guy to say he didn't know what was wrong with it,  but it definitely wasn't their product. So, there it sat, for years. Mocking us. Taunting us as we stood at the sink washing dishes. It did give DH an me something to do in the evenings.
Until today. Andrew the Miracle Working Plumber figured out what the trouble was (a clog in the intake gizmo), and I am happy to say we did not buy paper plates at the Sam's Club tonight.

Trumpets are still blaring from the heavens.

It really doesn't take much to make us happy at the pool! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to sit next to my garden gnome, sip a nice cold iced-tea, and admire the beautiful new sight while listening to the hum of celestial music - or is it the dishwasher? Til next time, and thanks for visiting!