Scattered Thoughts . . .

T oday, we will be having our first dinner guests since getting vaccinated.  I was finally fully vaccinated this past Wednesday which was two weeks after my second dose of the vaccine.  Sheila was fully vaccinated a week before I was fully vaccinated so she was already good to go.  So, today, we'll be having Sheila's parents over for dinner. Yesterday evening, Liza and the kids stopped by for maskless hugs.  They stayed long enough for Lukey and I to play a few rounds of golf in the backyard.  Afterward, the kids played with the walkie-talkies learning a bit more about aviation/military radio etiquette and terminology.  They even chose callsigns for each other...  Lukey is "Hockey Puck" and Kenzie is "Skater" and the playhouse is "Playhouse Ops".   Back to tonight's dinner... our dinner will be barbequed shish-ka-bob consisting of tender steak, potatoes, red onions, green peppers, cherry tomatoes, fresh mushrooms and a couple of skewers of fres

I 've been saying for years that I want to make a bench for our mudroom.  It would be nice to be able to sit to put on our shoes and boots rather than have to balance on one foot.  After my recent ankle re-injury (and months-long recovery...  it is still recovering) and now a knee injury (yes, I'm old after  physically abusing my body for decades), this bench project was moved to the front burner.  Both Sheila and I are tired of the physical balancing act as we attempt to put shoes on at the door. Another reason it was time for this bench project is because lumber is scarce and the little bit of lumber that can be found is a bit pricey.  This has put all the larger home improvement projects in a holding pattern for now.  I was thinking that I had enough scrap lumber lying around to build a pretty nice bench so it was time for this "little" project.  On the positive side, this project would also allow me to put a dent in the scrap lumber inventory I have lying around!

I noticed that corned beef briskets were on sale at Shaw's a couple of weeks ago so I threw one in our cart.  I had been wanting to make some homemade corned beef hash for a long time and this seemed like the time.  We rarely see corned beef in our supermarket and, when we do see it, it is often priced so highly that I was quick to grab one while it was available at a reasonable price.  Homemade corned beef hash is actually nothing like the cans of corned beef hash you see on the shelves in the supermarket.  Those cans taste more like deviled ham combined with spam which is nothing like real corned beef hash.  Our supermarket has two brands of canned corned beef hash...  Libby's, which tastes more like cat food and consequently I find inedible and should always be avoided or, Hormel, which tastes more like some deviled ham/spam combo.  I was having a craving for real corned beef hash so I needed to make some myself. I put the corned beef brisket in the oven on Saturday morning