Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
We are working together to get ready to CELEBRATE!
We were up early and visited with Robin, who had been up since 4:00 am; she is always on her daily work schedule. Robin and Mary worked inside for a while, and I was relegated to the patio to open up the BBQ after being in lockdown for almost a year.
Run-a-dub-dub, here comes the scrub! I brushed his teeth, removed plaque (grase and rust) from everywhere inside, and checked his gas level. All is A-OK. I fired him up and let it run on high until the inside temperature read 650 degrees! One more toothbrush and all the nasty old grease was burnt up and left the building. The old vegetable oil was applied to the grill, and it “almost” looked brand new.
Come clean!
With a fresh coating of vegetable oil, we are ready to go!
Spotless
We continued decorating most of the day, and the last item was the gazebo. We had to clean the table and the chair (even though they had been under cover for the past several months).
The gazebo is now ready for tomorrow.
After a quick dinner of leftovers (we needed space in the fridge), we headed to the pool for a couple of hours of splishing and splashing.
Mary loves to keep busy, so she uses the net to get whatever might be floating. Today, she did not have to work too hard. If we are in the pool in the evening, the pool lights seem to attract some pesky critters.
The bug lady at work
While floating around, I noticed our artichokes went to flower! We have to watch them better next year.
Here’s some artichoke trivia:
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- Artichokes are flower buds — if not harvested, they bloom into large purple thistle-like flowers.
- The edible artichoke is a cultivated variety of thistle.
- The part people call the “heart” is the tender base of the flower bud.
- California produces most U.S. artichokes, especially around Castroville, which calls itself the “Artichoke Center of the World.”
- Marilyn Monroe was crowned the first honorary “Artichoke Queen” of Castroville in 1948.
- Ancient Greeks and Romans ate artichokes and considered them a delicacy.
- Artichokes contain cynarin, a compound that can make water taste oddly sweet after eating them.
- The name “artichoke” likely comes from Arabic via Italian: al-kharsh?f ? articiocco ? artichoke.
- There’s also a plant called the Jerusalem artichoke, but it’s not an artichoke at all — it’s a type of sunflower tuber.
- Artichokes are rich in fiber, antioxidants, folate, and vitamin C.
We let the artichokes go too long!
Around 8:00 pm, the Sun set to rest for the day, and Ol Sol left the sky in beautiful condition!
The Sun setting.
The darker it got, the more stars appeared. Venus was the first light in the nighttime sky!
Venus is out again tonight.
All the lights came on, and that means time for us to climb out of the water and enjoy the fire pit!
9:00 pm, time to go inside!
We crashed almost instantly. A day of work and then swimming for an hour or so pooped us out!
