Another Busy Saturday!

Fact:  Liza Weil originally auditioned for the part of Rory.  Even though she didn’t get the role, the producers liked her so much they wrote a part for her: Rory’s arch-nemesis turned friend, Paris Gellar.

It’s a birthday day!  Cassandra, our granddaughter, is twenty-eight years young.  OMG, that makes me older than dirt!

Granddaughter Cassie with her hubby and my first two GREAT grandchildren.

Prepare to be scared!!

Calhan and Logann, our great-grandchildren!  (Yes, I said GREAT)

Oh, yeah, I forgot, they were young once upon a time.  That’s me below with my oldest grandson Jonathan with his sister Cassie.

See!  See!  Did you notice that once upon a time, I had hair!!!

We got up early, went down the road, and banged several trashcans together right in front of the chicken coop!  We scared the hell out of the rosters!  He darned near wet his feathers.  He came running out in his jammies; it was downright scary to behold!   Payback is always fun!

I had to ask Mary, “If chickens wake up when the Rooster crows, then when do ducks wake?” There was a bit of a pause, and Mary replied, “At the quack of dawn.” This chick is on top of her game.

Then, Mary laid it on me.  She went to Ikea and bought something for us to work on together!

Mary Bought Us A Log Cabin From Ikea!

Oh, dear!!  Where are the instructions?

We decided to go to breakfast to get a quick start to the day.  We went to Rockwell’s and got our coffee and a plate of delightful food.  The day can officially start now!

Home Depot, our favorite place, was on the agenda.  We got more iron fence posts, some other plants, and one more box to stow away the rest of Halloween.

We then stopped at Trader Joe’s and got supplies for the rest of the week!

Did You Know?  There are 559 Trader Joe’s retail stores in the United States as of October 17, 2022.  The state with the most Trader Joe’s locations in the U.S. is California, with 192 retail stores, about 34% of all Trader Joe’s retail stores in the U.S.

Returning home, I hit the garden whilst Mary worked in the house.  She did laundry, reset the table with Thanksgiving-colored tablecloths, and started what turned out to be a terrific dinner!  Mary whipped up a batch of Beef Stroganoff!

Did You Know?  Beef Stroganoff is a Russian dish that became popular in the U.S. in the 1950s.  The dish was said to be created by a French chef who worked for a wealthy family in St. Petersburg; he entered it into a cooking contest in 1891 and named it Beef Stroganov.

Beef Stroganoff consists of pieces of beef fillet sautéed in sour cream sauce together with onions and mushrooms.  The dish was named after Count Alexander Grigorievich Stroganoff, who lived in the late 19th century in St. Petersburg.

Before going outside, I finished resetting the clocks to the new time.

It was NOT an easy task, but someone has to do it1

While Mary was being creative in the kitchen, I put up another net for Mary’s sweetpeas, planted about 100 onions, moved the remaining pipe and vertical supports to the back of the garden, and replanted about twenty small ferns under the trees along the back wall.

Mary loves the sweetpeas, and we found a perfect place for them!

Did You Know? English gardeners call sweet peas “the Queen of Annuals.” These charming annuals are unique among garden flowers with their vivid colors, fragrance, and length of bloom in the garden.  The flowers have an air of romance in their scent and appearance.  The sweet pea, Lathyrus odoratus, is a flowering plant in the genus Lathyrus in the family Fabaceae, native to Sicily, southern Italy, and the Aegean Islands.  It is an annual climbing plant, growing to a height of 3–6 feet where suitable support is available.

Then I attacked the patio, and I was moving things back to their pre-rainstorm positions.  It was dark when I finally came inside.

The net is up for Mary’s Sweetpeas!

Dinner was almost ready, and Scout and my noses were twitching at a much higher-than-normal rate.  Mary had been cooking up a storm.  Scout and I took a vote; we will rename dinner “Beef Côté,” a befitting name for such a delicious meal!

Again, taking my life into my hands, I asked Mary, “What happened to the lost beef shipment?” Quick as a bunny, she replied, “A: Nobody’s herd.”

The beef was ready, and the noodles (which turned out to be angel hair pasta) was three minutes away!

The Dutch Oven works well, and this one is special!  Tomorrow I plan to make bread in the put!

The mushrooms were perfect!

To the table, we went.  While Mary put on the finishing touches, I set the table, poured the wine, turned on the T.V., and turned down the lights.  We have another romantic dinner at Casa Valencia!

I died and went to heaven!!

Halfway through the meal, I noticed my feet were getting warm.  Hot flashes?  Nope, it was the doggie proper directly under me with his chest on my feet, waiting for any loose morsel to bound down my shirt, roll across my leg, and drop to his awaiting mouth1

Scout found a spot directly under the table, hoping I might drop some; silly dog!

We watched a movie, and then I started her on a series entitled 1883 with Sam Elliott.  1883 is an American Western drama television limited-run series created by Taylor Sheridan that premiered on December 19, 2021, on Paramount+.

The series stars Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Sam Elliott, Isabel May, LaMonica Garrett, Marc Rissmann, Audie Rick, Eric Nelsen, and James Landry Hébert.

The series is a prequel to Sheridan’s Yellowstone series and follows the story of how the Duttons came to own the land that would become the Yellowstone Ranch.  The series consisted of ten episodes and concluded on February 27, 2022

We got to episode #3 before the eyes turned to lead, and we had to crash!

About Paul

Just an old retired guy trying to finish out my last years on this planet. I lost my best friend and wife in early 2020. I was blessed again by reconnecting with Dr. Mary Côté, a long-time friend. Mary and I got married July 28th, 2021, and are enjoying life together and plan to spend the rest of our lives being a blessing to our friends and family.
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