Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
What is Ouchday, you ask? It’s the day—or days—we head to the gym for a little thing called a “workout.” I prefer to call it a sweat session, muscle mayhem, cardio catastrophe, or a full-blown pain parade.
Today, I drew the wildcard: Antony. He’s the chief pain giver, and as the owner, he makes sure the staff distributes the suffering evenly and efficiently. No one escapes Ouchday unbruised, unbothered, or un-sore.
At the sound of the gong, indicating it was 10:00 am, I bolted out of Anthony’s office with three teeth loose, my toupe on backward, and both shoes on the wrong feet! Antony did ask a final question!
Once my eyes started to focus, I pointed the Silver Fox toward home, where I resumed my ongoing feud with” The Bird.” This feathered little menace keeps building nests all around the house, and I keep playing the role of reluctant demolition crew.
He picked a corner that was nearly impossible to reach, and when I finally tried to evict him, the tiny varmint came screeching straight at me like he owned the place. I answered with my trusty Red Ryder BB-Gun and sent his tail feathers into retirement.
He was still flying, so later this afternoon we’ll have another round and see who blinks first.
After our coffee, we walked through the garden making our list of chores. The roses have gone completely feral.
They thrive in the 1.5 cu ft fiberglass lantern, and the wheels make them easy to move around.
We are eating our own artichokes, and they appear to have moved from the oll-around planter to the bed without any trouble.
Here are a few artichoke trivia facts:
- An artichoke is actually the flower bud of a thistle plant.
- The part people eat is mostly the immature flower head, especially the fleshy bases of the bracts and the heart.
- Artichokes are rich in fiber and antioxidants.
- The ancient Greeks and Romans cultivated them.
- The “choke” is the fuzzy center, which becomes the flower if the bud matures.
- California grows the majority of artichokes in the U.S.
- There’s a town called Castroville, California, known as the “Artichoke Center of the World.”
Reaching for the sky!
My amazing partner in crime joined the expedition, making mental notes about what will be in the next meal from the garden.
I kept seeing spots before my eyes.
The berries are coming along nicely. They love living in their own bed because they thrive on acidity, so we fertilize them with berry food to keep the pH low.
Just a few more weeks, and we will be walking and picking for a month!
The orange tree is getting ready to ripen. Although I have been eating the pre-ripe oranges for almost a month, I like them sour.
The tree is loaded, and on Saturdays, our neighbor’s gardener comes. I go next door and pick off the other side.
I am being hailed as it is time to go to the hair salon, where we both get fixed up.
At noon, we headed off to Huntington Beach for a visit to the hair salon. We got there a little early, so we wandered next door to the Black Trumpet for a glass of wine and an appetizer—because apparently we believe in arriving for grooming well-fed and mildly buzzed The barkeep and manager, Mary, spotted us right away and made sure everything came out quickly, which was perfect, since a thread was already holding together our patience after driving on the freeway.
We got a text from the kids, they will be at the house before 7:00 pm!
Two weeks sailing and seeing the United Kingdom, they are ready to some home.
We again walked in the garden, our favorite pastime!
The color seems magical.
The reds are so red they probably light up at night!
The vining food we started using is working.
Right on time, Bob and Robin come through the front door. We actually walked them through the veggie garden using a flashlight. We opened some champagne and celebrated their being back.
The resident champagne bottle opener at work.
The kids headed home in their car (which they left with us), and we headed to the TV room with our mineral water bottles in hand. We watched a series for about two hours and headed to bed.
