This morning, we celebrated a successful visit with Becky! Mary’s magic in the kitchen was on full display! Recipes from 30 years ago came to life and were recreated with flair!
When checking the messages, I got the picture of the grandsons, Jon and Sarah, after they visited New York and the Empire State Building.
Jon and Sarah sent their latest AI effort.
Mary and I worked in the office for a while, and then I decided to reward her patience — and my questionable productivity — with a steak-and-egg breakfast. So off I went on a brave expedition to the fridge, where the thin-sliced New York strips were sitting right up front, practically waving tiny meat flags and begging for a hot pan.
I patted them dry, salted them as they had personally offended me, and prepared them for their glorious destiny. I overachieved on the salting process!
This morning we are having steak and eggs!
Before the steaks made their dramatic entrance into the pan, I chopped up several mushrooms and sautéed them in a generous amount of butter until they turned golden brown and started acting like they paid rent.
The last of the mushrooms was used.
Everything is on its way. I did the steaks while Mary did the eggs. Mary also found some “steak fries” in the fridge, and she popped them into the air fryer for several minutes at 450 degrees to crisp them up!
Almost ready to go!
A breakfast fit for a king suddenly appeared. When cold cranberry juice was added, breakfast became perfection!!! This portion, like 4 oz steak + 1 egg, we each expect around 30-35 g of protein. When we add that to our coffee (we use Ensure), we both already receive 60-65 g of protein before lunch or dinner!
Yummy
The garden called—apparently it had “just a few quick things” for me to do. Two hours later, I had planted the last of the veggies, wrestled the soaker hoses into new positions, and tucked the tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, watermelon, and assorted melons into a cozy bed of straw mulch like they were checking into a vegetable spa.
By 12:30, the Sun had turned the yard into a convection oven, so I retreated indoors to spend time with Miss Sickley. Her cold had made an unwelcome comeback, so she set up headquarters in the TV/living room, where she managed the important business of folding clothes, creating artwork, and looking pitiful enough to warrant sympathy.
Around 3:00, the doorbell rang. Enter Nurse/Doctor Dianne, making a house call with her fully stocked medical kit: Italian Penicillin—also known as chicken, egg, and spinach soup—plus a generous container of angel hair pasta. Because when modern medicine fails, pasta steps in and says, “I got this.”
Dianne presented me with tomato socks! Look CAREFULLY at the picture below, and you might spot a pair of socks with tomatoes on them (underneath the tag I am holding).
I got a Father’s Day present early.
We all visited for a while, and then Dianne needed to go back home, so we went shopping in the garden first. She filled two bags with tomatoes and other goodies. Without our friends, we would be overrun with veggies.
Miss Dianne Nursee bought Italian Penicillin for Mary!
When Dianne departed, I fixed Mary and me a bowl of soup, and we settled down in the TV Room. Mary wanted to watch a documentary about a crazy woman stealing a baby, so I decided to go back outside and work in the garden/patio. I stayed out of the Sun and mostly piddled.
The first target was the rotary garden, as it was overgrown. I trimmed back almost every level and pulled on those plants that were done. We now have eight open spots for edible flowers and/or herbs.
Each of the little “compartments” eventually gets filled with roots, and I have to don a plumber’s outfit and perform a rootectamy using my power drill and auger bit. 60 seconds of the auger running loosens up everything, making the roots easy to extract,
Mary watched TV; I continued in the garden.
When it began to get dark, I returned inside and made round two of Mary’s medicine, this time including beans and the last of the jello-cake. We finally hit the sack around 10:00 pm.
