Saturday

I woke up at 6:30 AM on Saturday. The sun was just coming up and again, it looked so weird to me to NOT see rain. I did have a coffee, but didn’t really get motivated until about 8:00, as I had a nine-o’clock haircut appointment. Before I left, I walked around the garage to see if I could smell the hyacinths and found they had all been beaten down to the ground by the persistent rain. Ticked, I went back inside and got some scissors. I cut off the three best ones and stuck them in a glass half-filled with water and just set it on the freezer in the garage. I gotta go!

I got there on time and got my hair cut. Then I set out on my Saturday morning errands. First I filled up the car ($35.00) and then I went to Home Depot.

I picked up some Elmer’s Glue, some grass seed, Ortho “Ground Clear” (I am declaring war on the vegetation growing in my driveway, but more on that later) and an outdoor thermometer.

Now, why do I need an outdoor thermometer, when there is (was) one I installed when I first moved here (you know by now I’m a weather freak)? Because (and I don’t think I told you this) last week, I went into the kitchen and saw a squirrel sitting on the window ledge, eating out of the suet cage. Without thinking, I rapped on the window to scare him, but instead of jumping down, he ran across the sill and crashed into the thermometer, knocking it out of its cheap-ass bracket and breaking it on the concrete patio below.

I couldn’t find one like it, but I did find one that might work.

Regarding the driveway, it was several years ago (when I was still renting) that I had it topped off and tamped with crushed limestone. It looked fantastic, pristine and white. And, it stayed that way for years. But, as it disintegrated, moss moved in and then grass. And, I have fought the good fight for the last two years, using Round-up (I have a hand-pump sprayer that kills my back to use). The big stuff dies, but the little stuff doesn’t and then the big stuff grows back.

I was tempted to use an old-timey method and just pour gasoline on it (that does work), but my buddy B___ told me that if anyone saw me and reported me, I’d probably get arrested on some environmental law, not to mention the fire hazard the next time I grilled.

So, I bought this “Ground Clear” and will apply it next time it’s not going to rain for a few days and its not windy.

Next I went to Meijer’s and restocked my very limited inventory of “stuff.” Now, long time readers may remember, I used to keep an extra one of anything I used regularly on hand. That changed when I went to part-time. I was just buying what I needed or wanted. But, today we go back to that theory!

So, I bought a sh*tload of “stuff” like bleach, fabric softener sheets, dishwasher detergent, paper towels, toilet paper (I got 30 rolls) garbage bags, kitchen bags, Ivory hand soap, extra virgin olive oil, canola oil etc., etc.

I made a special point of picking up some Lysol Antibacterial kitchen cleaner, as I was embarrassed when Jake and Carla were over for Easter and Jake asked where it was. I had to admit I was out.

I suppose I could have saved a few bucks had I gone to Walmart, but I hate Walmart. All in all, I spent $170.00 worth on “Stuff” and probably less than $50 was food. However, there were few shoppers, which was weird, given it was Saturday and NOT raining. So I got out quickly.

Back home, it took me longer to put everything away than it did to buy it. But, I didn’t care as I don’t want to cut the front grass until after 4:00 PM (I want to make sure its dry – I don’t want to have to rake up clumps of grass).

I got the hyacinths in from off the freezer. Since they had been lying in the dirt, I washed them off.

So, I did the piddley things on my ToDo list. I pulled the car out of the garage and used the space to fold the now-dried tarp. Then I put it and the rose bush covers up in the attic.

I dug out the push mower, gassed it up and set it outside. I closed the garage door and went in to read my book.

Finally at 4:00 PM, I went out and cut the front lawn. There were only a couple of spots that it was so long I had to do it twice. It looks nice!

Then I went out back and re-seeded the few grass spots that were bare. They were damp enough that I just raked them, seeded them and raked them again to cover the seed up. I put everything back and went inside.

I started dinner. To my way of thinking, it’s a riff on what Luanne used to call “Texas Beans,” a recipe I believe her step-mother Gerry used to make. In their recipe, you added ketchup and mustard to browned ground beef and sautéed onions, and then dumped in pork and beans. It tasted best when served with plain old corn bread.

In this recipe, you fried up 1/2 pound of bacon (I used Smithfield’s thick-cut) and then removed the bacon and drained the grease. Here I varied from the recipe by adding a diced yellow onion. I sautéed that and added a pound of hamburger. When it was browned, I went to add the 1/3 cup of barbeque sauce it called for and found I had NONE! (I told you my pantry had suffered when my income had). I normally have two or three containers of Sweet Baby Ray’s Original BBQ sauce (my favorite) on hand. But I got nothing!

What to do? It’s a little late to make BBQ sauce. Should I just add the ketchup and mustard Lu and Gerry used? I decided to let it ride. I added two cans of 15.5 ounces of Van Camp pork and beans and the bacon cut into strips. When that warmed up, you topped it with a can of biscuits (I used Pillsbury Southern Style), topped it with a lid (I was using my 12-inch Calphalon non-stick pan) and let it cook until the biscuits were done (about 10 minutes).

I plated my dinner (two biscuits topped with beans) and wandered in to watch TV. The biscuits were good, the beans were just ordinary (though the bacon added a nice touch). I assume it was the lack of BBQ sauce.

I watched TV until I was bored and the went back to a book. I fell asleep and when I woke back up, I shut off the light and went to sleep.