Thursday's Yard Work

Finally, on Thursday, I got mail! (You do realize how much better the onomatopoeia would have been if I could have said, "Finally, on
Friday.") It was all junk mail, of course, along with a "Fingerhut" catalog that threatened if I didn't buy something, this would be the last one I ever get (Good! I never bought anything from you yo-yos in the first place!)

I emptied the dishwasher (I started it at lunch) and preheated the oven to "Warm" (170 degrees F.) I want to warm up part of my dinner, but I don't want to have to stand over it and stir it. So, I took out that pound of shrimp I grilled last weekend and put it in my medium sauce pan. I tasted one (yumo!) just to make sure it was okay (it was way better than okay). Next I added a jar of store-bought creamy Alfredo pasta sauce (Classico, in the 15 ounce jar) and folded it in. I lowered the rack and set the covered sauce pan in it to heat up (Because the heat is all around the pot, it is less likely to burn on the bottom when left unattended on top the stove).

I checked the phone and found a voicemail from my grandson Carl, thanking me for the Border's gift card. He said he was going to buy more books to read up on his pet iguana! What's with this? At his age (and Jeremy's Joe), I was all about girls! What the hell is this new fascination with reptiles?

The doorbell rang while I was typing this. It was my neighbor down the street. You might remember him from when the power went out. He's the ex-Air Force guy with the Asian wife and the two cutest kids you have ever seen. He was starting a petition that, when the street gets blacktopped, (someday - he says we are low priority as we are a dead end street), we have speed bumps installed. As he said (and I have noticed) it's not the people right around here who speed, it's the people down at the end of the road (about one half a mile down).

He said the only person so far to resist was the guy with the antique Harley (hey, I know that dude! We give each other the power sign when I am out there and he rides by!) But, my ex-military neighbor swears these are not the old "trailer park" speed bumps, but something a little less jarring. Since he has little kids, I can understand his concern, so I signed his petition and sent him on his way.

It was after 6:30 PM when I put on my coat and went back outside. Now this is my down-filled coat that I never remember to wear and I added my favorite winter hat, my Canada toque. I used the leaf rake and cleaned out the front gardens (see photos). Then I got a hammer and took down the old wooden tree box.

Back inside, I cooked up a pound of Mostaccioli. After I drained it, I added the sauce and shrimp to it and mixed well. I plated it, topped it with some black pepper and grated parm, and headed off for some TV before bedtime.