Rain, rain, go away!

I got up at 6:30 AM on Saturday. I fired up the coffee pot, moved Scruffy from the bed to the couch (I'm more careful these days since I inadvertently dumped him on his a** a few weeks ago. I thought he was awake and just ignoring me when I started to strip the bedding, you see. Unfortunately for him, he was still asleep...) and stripped the bed.

That went into the washer and I went into the office to post the meager Friday news. Then I made breakfast, using some of the left over diced ham, three eggs, a little heavy cream and some shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Two pieces of toast later and I had a perfect omelet (I took a picture for you).

I cleaned up the minor mess in the kitchen and started to shave and shower. It's still raining out (harder than Friday) and thankfully, above freezing. Because, rain or shine, I have to get my hair cut (I'm a week overdue, but my barber was on vacation).

So, it was close, but I did make my 9:00 AM appointment. I got my hair cut (and both look and feel a whole lot better) and then headed to Kroger's.

Now, I gotta tell ya, there is nothing more disheartening than having to do two weeks worth of grocery shopping in the rain. It's not the going in, or the shopping itself that's bad. It's coming out and having to load the stuff into the car, in a hard rain with a strong wind. And this is a lot of stuff! And big stuff, like the kitty litter, a case of Labatt's beer (on sale) and cat food. I was quite soggy by the time I got into the car and headed for home...

Back home, I unloaded the car, put away all the groceries, switched laundry loads and decided since I was wet anyway, I might as well fill the bird feeder. So, I did. Back inside, I had another cup of coffee to warm up and changed out of my damp clothes. It was just after 11:00 AM, so I thought I'd catch my two morning, taped cooking shows. Well, one thing led to another and I watched several cooking shows, all with a Thanksgiving theme. It was almost 2:30 PM when I finally got myself out of bed and started working on the downstairs bath!

It's raining harder still. Temperature is supposed to drop tonight and the rain will switch to snow by Sunday morning, or so I'm told.

So, first, I dug out all the old drywall remaining from the pieces I cut out. I swept all that up and then moved on. Next, I used Liquid Nails to put back the one whole piece of foam I also inadvertently removed during demo.

Then I got out the can of Great Stuff insulation foam. This is made for wide cracks, BTW. So, I sprayed it all around the foam piece where several smaller pieces had busted out. I took a 1x3 pine board and smoothed it flat as I could get it. I'll still have to trim it with a razor knife after it dries, though.

Then, I used joint compound and tile backer tape (the mesh stuff) and filled in all the places the Sawzall cut into the green board during demo. Next I filled in the couple of spots where big chunks of the green board had pulled off, when removing the fake tile board.

All I have left for prep work before applying the cement backer board is to install the new drywall on the far wall and taping that. If you remember, I had pulled off the wet green board. But, I can't do that until the foam dries. So, I cleaned everything up, left the small fan running to facilitate drying and quit today at 4:45 PM.

After washing up, I switched to making dinner. I had found a rather simple recipe for Potato and Leek Soup. So, I cleaned and diced all the leeks and green onions I had pulled from the raised bed garden. It's really hard to tell which is an underdeveloped leek or an overgrown green onion, BTW. I quit when I got to a pound. Then I peeled and cubed one and a quarter pounds of potatoes (I don't have the recommended russets on hand, but I do have Yukon Gold, which is another starchy potato.

I cooked the leeks (?) in butter for about five minutes until they were soft. Then I added the cubed, peeled potatoes and 4 cups of my homemade chicken stock. I let that simmer for over 20 minutes, when the potatoes were cooked through and beginning to fall apart.

At that point my best soup-making friend, the immersion blender, came into play! I pureed the mixture until smooth, but with a few chunks remaining. (You could also use a blender, but remember to do it in batches, fill it no more than halfway full, take off the little cup and cover the hole with a kitchen towel. Pulse a couple of times and then process on high speed. Otherwise, you will have this stuff EVERYWHERE! There is some sort of heat explosion that occurs in a blender. I know I always repeat this warning, but if you did it once the wrong way (like I did) you would never forget it!).

I added in 3/4 cup of heavy cream and stirred it. Then, I went outside (in the rain) to harvest the rest of my chives. Damn! I waited too long! Instead of the big stand of chives I was gonna snip and freeze, most were bent over and brown... What a waste! But, there was still enough for tonight's needs.

Back inside, I added 1/2 inch snipped pieces of chive (about two tablespoons, but who's counting?) and two tablespoons of butter. I taste-tested and seasoned it with salt and fresh ground pepper until it was perfect.

At 6:00 PM. I cut off some of the Italian bread I had and plated the soup. Delicious! I took another picture for you (Hey, it's been raining most of the week and my Mom likes to see pictures, okay?)

It really was good. The leeks play a nice counterpoint to the potatoes. I will definitely make this one again. I ran out of soup on my bowl before the two slices of bread were gone, so I was forced to eat another bowl, lol!

I watched TV, waiting for the boxing tonight on HBO. I did doze a bit, but was awake when it came on. So, I made some microwave popcorn and watched some great late-night boxing. When it was done so was I, so I went to sleep for real.