Scattered Thoughts . . .

T his past Saturday, we went way out to Greensboro at the Highland Center for the Arts for our granddaughter, Ellie's, dance recital.  We found that this venue was surprisingly nice and comfortable.  It was a long drive to get there but the huge advantage is that it was very comfortable making the long drive very worthwhile!  This was immensely better than being jam-packed into a primary school gym on uncomfortable folding chairs...  way, way better! There was a small bake sale in the lobby before the recital so Sheila is shown below purchasing a brownie... The seats were comfortable and there was plenty of leg room! Here, below, is an ultra wide angle panoramic view from our seats while we were waiting for the show to begin.  Our view was great! Before long, the show began... These girls, below, are aged 3-5... They are dancing to "Happy Working Song"... Below, Ellie is on stage for her dance routine.  She is in a group aged 5-7 and dancing to Nan's favori...

W e had planned to have our St Patrick's Day dinner last night (Sunday) but I was still recovering from fixing our neighbors roof earlier in the week so we put it off until today...  assuming I felt better.  I was feeling quite lousy yesterday and I was so exhausted I didn't even have the energy to stand.  I did feel better today so we had this heavy, fat-laden meal tonight. I started the day's cooking this morning by baking some Irish Soda Bread.  I cut the recipe for this bread in half this year so it didn't come out as well as expected.  Since it was smaller, it turned out a bit drier than usual but still more moist than most other people's soda bread.  So, I'd say it was "slightly" dry...  whereas I would say that most soda bread that I get elsewhere is "exceptionally" dry bordering on inedible.  My Irish Soda Bread is usually moderately moist. I usually make this in a 9 inch springform pan but this year I only made enough to fill a 6 inc...

S heila and I were both sick with a stomach virus this Thanksgiving.  For me, it started Wednesday evening...  for Sheila, it started on Thanksgiving day.  On the positive side, it only bothered us for approximately 24 hours each and, today (Friday), we each got our appetite back. We missed the planned usual Thanksgiving dinner at Sheila's dad's house since we were both sick.  We ate very little this Thanksgiving Day.   Today, Friday, we both got our appetites back so we finally had some food and actually had an exceptionally nice and tasty dinner! I slept most of the afternoon today to make up for all the sleep I lost while feeling miserable and nauseated through the night the night before Thanksgiving.  I was awake long enough here and there to watch bits and pieces of the University of Dayton blow #2 ranked UConn off the court at the Maui Invitational Tournament.  That was an extremely impressive win and it made both of us quite happy! ...

I 'm feeling well enough this weekend (not to be confused with feeling well...  I was just feeling well enough) to cook a larger than average meal today so we're having corned beef and cabbage today, St Patrick's Day. I put the corned beef in the oven about an hour ago and it will be in the oven almost all afternoon.  The house is already smelling delicious! Most recipes call for simmering corned beef on the stove but I'm not much a fan of boiled meats.  Back awhile ago, I tried a Dutch oven...  that was better than boiling but it still was lacking.  Besides, neither one of us likes cleaning the Dutch oven either! Then I decided to slow cook the corned beef in the oven, covered, with spices and fresh onions and garlic.  I add a bit of liquid to this too (beef stock, watered down to cut the salt a bit) and then seal it up in foil.  It slow cooks for at least an hour per pound. This is the same way I slow cook pork so I don't know why I didn't always coo...

A lthough we are stuck in COVID isolation and missing out on all the Christmas festivities this week, Sheila and I still managed to make our usual Christmas dinner for Christmas Eve.  We have plenty of leftovers for dinner on Christmas night too.   I was feeling well enough to do some cooking so we chose to celebrate Christmas with a nice quiet dinner together.  There is no one else I would rather be with in this situation or any situation so being stuck with her in isolation is no problem whatsoever.  Fortunately, we enjoy each other's company! I'm still feeling a bit lousy however I am feeling a bit better than yesterday so that is good.   My fever has broken and my O2 saturation levels are still in a good place in the upper 90s.  My throat still hurts even with all the cold medications I am taking and I just don't feel "right".  I suspect the cold medications are helping to keep my fever down as well as dampening some of the throat sorenes...

After spending much of the day shopping and going out for a late lunch, we came home and spent the evening in the backyard with Lukey, Kenzie and Pop.  Pop joined us just as we were starting on dinner.   Earlier in the evening, we played quite a few games of Giant Jenga.  I had already written about that here .  There wasn't a whole lot of down time spent sitting around the fire.  We did do some of that but it was really only between games.  This was our first evening out in the backyard for the season so there were a lot of games we wanted to play.  It was fun but it definitely wore me out!  (Being so busy in the backyard also caused me to forget a dose of medications.  This caused significant problems for my health the following morning.) Although this photo, below, appears as though this is a perfect example of poorly applied makeup, this is really the result of eating cherries...   Before we headed out to do our shopping in...