Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
I checked, and this is Mary’s 3,872nd Monday! Therefore, I am ahead by 388 Mondays.
We had our coffee, put on our workout clothes, and bravely prepared ourselves for the weekly torture chamber.
Yes, it’s Monday—which means we voluntarily drive to Peak Performance and pay actual money for someone to bend, stretch, lift, and twist us into human pretzels with joint pain.
I found myself daydreaming about being young again—walking into a fitness center full of energy and walking out feeling strong, refreshed, and completely pain-free.
My goodness… can you imagine? Leaving a workout without making noises like an old screen door. What a magical time that must have been.
Me, 64 years ago, when I had hair and a body that did not ache!
After the workout, we wandered into the market next door for “mandatory groceries” — because apparently scones are now considered essential supplies. Five bags and one suspiciously small watermelon later, we headed home victorious.
I heroically carried the bags from the car to the kitchen, where we formed a highly efficient grocery-putting-away task force. Honestly, we make a great team — part fitness duo, part snack logistics department.
We invited Dianne over to join us in a terrific lunch; Mary was at her best. Mary and Dianne had plans to rob the purse store in La Habra just like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, so having lunch was a good way to prepare for the adventure.
The sandwich used the goodies from Sunday’s adventure at Old World.
After lunch, the girls launched a highly classified mission to La Habra Fashion Mall to secure essential survival supplies: makeup, purses, and whatever else national security required.
I bravely stayed behind on the home front, where I tackled the dishes, spray-sealed Mary’s latest art masterpiece, and prepped the next batch of outdoor items for painting.
And yes, Mary left me a “to-do ” list—because apparently even in peacetime, I report to command.
Not exactly Blue Boy but a close resemblance!
His girlfriend has her Teddy Bear and is being followed by Scout the Wonder Dog.
Mary gets more and more artistic every time she picks up a brush!
When the girls returned home, they headed for the garden to go picking. Dianne, being Italian, can always use tomatoes, and at this time of the summer, there could be other surprises lying in wait.
I asked if she were a bag lady.
Bag lady” usually means one of two things, depending on context:
- Old-fashioned/slang term for a homeless woman. It often refers to a woman who carries her belongings in bags. This usage can sound dated, insensitive, or insulting, so it’s best avoided.
- Playful term for someone who loves bags/purses? In a lighthearted context, someone might say “she’s a bag lady,” meaning she collects or really likes handbags, tote bags, purses, etc.
The string beans are going full tilt. “Going full tilt” means doing something with maximum speed, energy, or effort. The beans must be picked, or the plant will cease to produce new fruit.
Green beans are fascinating vegetables with unique names, colorful varieties, and a surprising history. They are also known as snap beans or string beans, and they rank as the third most popular home-garden vegetable in the U.S.
You can almost hear them say, “Pick me! Pick me!”
We have a second crop of grapes about to be ready to pick. If you look carefully on the left-hand side, hidden in the share are grapes ready to pick!
They’re commonly used in dishes like dolmas/dolmades, where the leaves are stuffed with rice, herbs, meat, or vegetables.
The staff at Peak Performance love our grape leaves.
We have a new batch of tomatoes planted and are becoming of age; this is one of three plants remaining from the early planting session!
The orange fruit at the bottom is “lunchbox peppers.”
They’re called “lunchbox” peppers because they’re easy to pack as a snack. They are:
• Sweet and mild, not spicy
• Usually eaten raw, roasted, grilled, or stuffed
• Great for kids’ lunches, salads, dips, and snacks
• Smaller than regular bell peppers, with thin walls and few seeds
They’re basically mini sweet peppers marketed as a convenient snack pepper.
The bitter melons are ripening. Ripe bitter melons are usually yellow to orange.
As they ripen, they change from green to yellow/orange, and the inside becomes bright red around the seeds. At this stage they are softer and much more bitter, and the fruit may split open.
The bitter melons make a pretty vine!
What is the best way to eat bitter melon? The best way to eat bitter melon is to prep it properly to reduce its strong taste, then stir-fry it with eggs, garlic, and savory sauces.
The red seeds and white pith must be removed!
How to Reduce the Bitterness
Scrape the inside: Cut the melon in half, scoop out all the seeds, and thoroughly scrape away the white spongy inner pith, which holds most of the bitter flavor.
Salt and squeeze: Slice the melon thin, mix it with salt, and let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Squeeze out the liquid and rinse it with water to wash away the harsh juices.
Best Cooking Method
Stir-fry with eggs: Cook garlic in a hot pan, add the prepped bitter melon, and pour beaten eggs over it so the egg wraps around the slices to balance the flavor.
Mary and I did NOT have dinner, as those sandwiches filled us up. I played with the kitty for a while, enticing her with cat treats!
After Dianne departed, we worked around the house. Grace was playing coy today and did not follow us around, so I came to her. Little does she know how much energy it takes to get mt frail carcass into the standing position once horizontal! Mary offered to call the local crane company.
Grace is under the table looking at me, thinking, “What is this hooman doing?”
No dinner tonight; the sandwiches were quite filling. We went to the pool and floated around for quite a while before hitting the sack at 10:00 pm.
The Sun kept the pool at 94 degrees!
We have two duck thermometers, and these little guys have a love affair going on; they are always together. I think they ought to be named George and Gracie or Lucy and Desi or Deann & Phyllis. The names are still up for grabs.
Sometimes they hide by the filter.
We cannot figure out why they need ear muffs when the water is 94… perhaps they are headphones
Get a room!!!!
Mary had her work cut out for her. She keeps the pool spotless by removing the debris from the water (that does NOT include me). Small insects can get stuck on the water’s surface and can’t break free because of the surface tension.
Her smile brightens up the evening!!
We managed to get out of the water at 10:00 pm, looked at each other, and decided no TV tonight! We went VFR to bed, where I slept for seven hours straight.
Oh, I did brush my teeth! See below!
