Sunny Sunday

I got out of bed at 6:00 AM. It had been one of those "toss and turn and up every hour or so" kind of nights, so I really didn't feel all that rested. But, I had filled the coffee maker and set it on "Delay" Saturday night so there is a nice smell of coffee awaiting me.

When Jake and Carla were here yesterday, Jake left me a sausage patty in the fridge. Why? Because he made homemade Breakfast Sausage with Sage and Ginger on Thursday night and wanted me to try it. So, I scrambled three eggs and warmed up his sausage patty. Taste was excellent! I wondered a bit about the ginger, but it had a nice, pork sausage taste. I only wished he'd left me two!

I shaved, showered and got dressed. Then I headed out to Home Depot again for three more bags of mulch (I couldn't fit them in the car yesterday, lol!) Since I was out anyway, I stopped into Meijer's for an orange and a lime I will need for a marinade later today.

After I got back home, it dawned on me (a little too late) I should have stopped at the corner gas station for some Copenhagen. My next efforts outside will be to use the step ladder and clean out the gutters around Jake's patio. I was inspired by Jake, who is cleaning his gutters this weekend. I checked and, yes, mine are leaf-filled, in spite of me thinking I'd got them all cleaned out after the last leaf fell, last fall. So, knowing I'd be going up and down the stepladder, I thought a warm-up might help these old knees. So, rather than driving back over there, I walked the half a block to the gas station and then back.

Now, I got out the step ladder and took it in back. I also took back the wheel barrow with both styles of rakes, the snow shovel and the garden fork (for pick-up of leaves). I got up the ladder and dug out leaves and dirt (yes, dirt! The leaves had apparently started to compost!) Climbed back down, moved the ladder, climbed back up and repeated, repeatedly.

When the leaves were all gone, I got the hose and washed down the dirt. Here's where things went all wrong... There was a big blockage in the bend of the downspout. I tried everything and finally had some success with the snake (the one that DIDN'T work on the kitchen drain). But, the upshot was I got my clothes and myself drenched and worst of all, my only pair of work gloves were soaked. Why are wet gloves such a concern? Because yesterday I scraped a big patch of skin off my one finger when digging the concrete and pea gravel out of the mailbox tub. So, I have it covered with a cloth bandage and now it's wet, too.

I went back inside and threw everything in the washer. I cleaned out my finger with peroxide and applied Neosporin and another bandage. I put on my shorts and T-shirt, but, fearing infection, I must wait on my gloves before I can resume work outside.

I had taken out bacon for use over the weekend, but didn't need it for breakfast. So, I cooked all but six strips in the oven. While that was cooking, I made the marinade for the chicken thighs. This is excellent, BTW, and can marinade up to 2 1/2 pounds of chicken. Here's what it consists of: One orange, zested and juiced, one lemon, zested and juiced and one lime, zested and juiced. Then you add 1/3 cup of vegetable oil, salt, pepper, three dashes of cayenne pepper (Franks Red Hot, in my case) sauce and 10 sprigs of fresh thyme.

I had bought a "Family" pack of bone-in chicken thighs. So, five went into a freezer bag and the freezer and five went into the marinade bag and into the fridge.

When that was done, it was 2:30 PM and I made BLTs for lunch. Since I had to take a break anyway, waiting for the gloves, I suspected I wouldn't get much more outside work done today. So, I began watching the movie, "We were soldiers." The movie finished at 5:15 PM, just about time to start dinner.

First I gave a call to Luanne to she how she's doing. They are having thunderstorms in Virginia, so the connection was terrible. While she is not looking forward to her operation on this Thursday, she said she fell again, just today, so she is ready for it! She has to stay overnight in the hospital, so Sadie will be calling and letting me know how it went.

I fired up the charcoal in the grille. While they were burning down, I made up eight 1/4 pound ground chuck burgers, seasoned with house seasoning on both sides. I cleaned up a tray of Brussels sprouts and put them on to boil. BTW, I clean them by cutting about 1/4 inch off the bottom stem. This gives you a nice soft stem and usually the first three or four leaves come off as well, leaving fresh clean leaves.

The coals were ready, so I started with the chicken thighs, cooking them over indirect heat, after searing, for 20 minutes, turning occasionally. Since they were now on the outside of the grille, I cooked the hamburgers and eight Koegel's Viennas hot dogs (the only hot dogs worth making, in my opinion!) in the middle of the grille. Finally, I pulled everything off to rest. I wish I had some thing else to grill, as the coals are perfect, but I'm done now.

So, I ate two chicken thighs and Brussels sprouts for dinner (both excellent, BTW). When the rest of the grilled food had cooled, it all went into big baggies and the fridge for this week's dinners.

I watched a taped show at 8:00 PM (Jamie Oliver) as "Extreme Makeover, Home Edition" (one of my Sunday night favorites) wasn't on. I did get to watch Iron Chef and then I read for a while. I went to sleep around 11:30.