Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
We were up and ready to go, but since we stayed away from the gym, we had to work out at home.
After getting dressed and planning the day, Mary was confused. I assisted her!
Did I say that? YUP, Then I ran for the backyard!
Mary made an appointment with Dr. Bill for 11:00 am. Dr. Bill took care of my toes, and now I can walk much more easily.
Since we were already in Newport Beach, we figured it would be practically irresponsible not to swing by the American Legion on Balboa Island—home of a turkey club so good it deserves its own membership card. Mary upgraded her meal with a bowl of vegetable chicken soup while I dove headfirst into their clam chowder. And naturally, to keep things classy (or at least hydrated), we wet our whistles with a little wine.
Sipping wine and watching the boats go by!
It was a bit cool, so we sat inside, but the large windows made it easy to see what was going on. The wind was making all the flags wave wildly!
Another month and sitting outside will be more popular.
Returning home, we headed to the garden to do some serious harvesting for our dinner. Peas, squash, green beans, and berries were in abundance. We sent a big bag of veggies home with Domi and her crew, who came to clean today.
I stopped to have a brew… You know, a Diet Coke.
Part of the visit to the garden was to untangle the string beans from the whirlygigs. The green beans grow so fast that within a day or so, they encircle and stop the whirlgigs unless you keep them pulled away and trimmed.
Spin baby spin, keep those pesky birds away!!
Our resident peapicker was hard at work filling her hat with peas. In the U.S., especially during the 1930s Dust Bowl era, “peapicker” was slang for migrant laborers who traveled to harvest crops such as peas and other vegetables in places such as California. It’s strongly associated with the workers depicted in The Grapes of Wrath.
My Little Peapicker is hard at work!
My hat runneth over! The corn and cucumber plants shaded us, so we used our hats to collect the veggies.
The ten-gallon hat was full to overflowing!
“If you pick ’em, you shell ’em”—apparently that’s not just a saying, it’s a legally binding farm contract. Mary and I spent 45 minutes popping peas like two green-thumbed assembly-line workers… and somehow ended up with one large bowl of peas and a newfound respect for frozen vegetables. Tonight’s reward: steamed peas alongside steak and sweet potatoes—because after that much labor, dinner better feel earned.
We had fun shelling the peas and trying to keep them from popping out onto the ground.
Shelling the peas reminded me of the past when I would shell peas, and Micky Mouse, our daddy Chihuahua, would wait on the floor for the occasional pea to fall. He would chase them and pounce on them.
“You can drop all the peas you want!”
After my fingers started to get numb, I went to Amazon and located an automated pea sheller, but Mary asked where we would put it. It seemed like a good idea!
An automatic pea sheller is basically a tiny farm machine that does what your thumbs were doing—just faster and with fewer complaints.
Here’s the basic process:
You feed the pea pods in: Fresh pods go into a hopper or tray at the top.
Rollers grab the pods: Inside, there are usually two rubber or textured rollers spinning toward each other. They pull the pods through while squeezing them just enough.
The pod pops open: The pressure splits the seam of the pod, and the peas get pushed out—without crushing them (assuming the peas are ripe and the machine is adjusted right).
Peas and shells separate: The peas fall into a collection tray, while the empty pods/hulls are pushed out the other side or into a separate bin. Some larger commercial machines use screens, airflow, or rotating drums to separate everything more efficiently.
The pea pod is on one side, and ready to eat peas from the other!
We called Dianne and asked her to join us for dinner as we had a LARGE steak, loads of peas, and two beautiful sweet potatoes. She accepted, and we went to work setting up the patio for an al fresco dinner.
When she arrived, the girls did a garden tour.
Following the red brick road!
While they were visiting the garden, I finished the table and got the steak ready to go!
The flowers are courtesy of Bonnie!
I tried something new with the steak. I patted it dry and then poured kosher salt on both sides. Salting a steak before cooking enhances flavor, improves texture, and ensures a superior crust. It acts as a “dry brine” when applied 40–60 minutes in advance: salt draws out moisture, creates a brine, breaks down muscle proteins, and is then reabsorbed, resulting in a more tender, evenly seasoned steak.
The pan was 550 degrees when the steak was added! It gave us a great crust!!
We had our evening wine and then a great dinner. As the Sun went down, the temperature dropped, so I went inside and got “bankies” for the girls. We stayed outside for another 30 minutes!
Friendship, a wonderful thing!
Mary spotted two ducks in the pool, and Dianne wanted to know what we do about that. I demonstrated by jumping up, running toward them, and quacking like a mentally deranged Daffy Duck, with my arm flapping. Dianne about fell over laughing, and fortunately, she did NOT have her camera ready!
Go away, no pooping in the pool!!!
Then it got dark, so we went inside because we were going to have vanilla ice cream and strawberries topped with whipped cream! It was too cold to eat dessert outside.
Dianne departed, and we cleaned up and then headed to the TV room, where we watched “Mother’s Day.” The movie kept us in stitches, laughing.
At 11:00 pm, we headed to bed! Today was outstanding.
