Piece Offerings: Stormy Saturday

I woke up and the usual time on Saturday, but then asked myself, “Why?” So, I went back to bed until 6:30. I stripped the bed and started the weekend wash.

Therefore, I had to hurry to get the Blog post done and myself cleaned up and dressed for my 9:00 a.m. haircut. From there I went to Kroger to buy a few things on my list and a few impulse buys.

Since I didn’t have time to eat breakfast, I stopped at Leda’s Coney Island. I ordered my favorite: homemade corned beef hash (with the onions and green peppers), two eggs over-easy, rye toast and water. It was delicious!

Next came Westborn for an acorn squash, two red bell peppers and a chunk of Gouda cheese from Holland. Finally, I stopped at Costco for more coffee and peanuts for the squirrels.

For some reason, my legs hurt. So, after I put all the groceries away, I sat in the recliner for a while reading, with my legs up. I noticed out the picture window how windy it had become so, after a bit, I went out to capture the wind and the falling leaves for you.

“Ah, but I may as well try and catch the wind…”

It was getting noticeably warmer (supposed to get in the high 70’s today) so I opened all the windows in the house for a bit of fresh air.

Then I went out back. I filled the squirrel feeder and then pulled everything from the vegetable garden except for the radishes, green beans and peas. I still might get a crop out of one or more of them. The rest went into the compost pile.

I gathered all the statues in the back and put them on the patio. I hosed them down to get the spider webs and/or bugs off and let them dry.

I was running out of time (it was supposed to storm sometime after 3:00 p.m.) so I took the push mower and cut up all the refuse from the tiger lilies. I wanted to wait as long as possible, so it would dry out (at least a little). That worked great, so I ran over the lily patch one more time.

Then I got the line trimmer and cut down the patch next to the north side of the house (where all the other lilies came from, back in the day).

I took the bird bath and the concrete frog into the garage. I’ll let them de-bug in there.

Remember the west side of the shed was damaged by the lawn cutting crew and I fixed it? Do you remember when I said I would just repaint the shed? Well, do you remember me ever doing that? Me, either. So, today, I sprayed the raw wood with the almond-colored, oil-based paint I used on the rocker. I am hoping that will protect it from rot or insects until springtime, when I really do repaint the shed.

I took a break and sat on the bench out back, snacking on some peanuts. Whenever squirrels got brave enough to come close, I’d throw one to them. Some of them would just run away. The braver ones would investigate, find it, eat it and then come closer. I was like the squirrel whisperer!

About 3:30 p.m., the clouds had rolled in, so I went inside and started closing windows. I left the one downstairs and the one in my bedroom open (the wind is from the south), just to keep the fresh air coming in.

I took a break and read for a while. I noticed my daughter, Melissa (or “Money” as we call her now, LOL), had called so I called her back. She’s cleaning soot off her fireplace and offered me some tips for my own soot problems.

After we hung up, I went back to reading. Oddly enough, I noticed the wind had died down, although the temperature was near 80 degrees. But, still no rain.

At 6:00 p.m., I went out and started supper. I made my version of eggplant Parmesan. I used two long, thin eggplants rather than on big fat one (less seeds, more tender). After heating the oil in the large skillet, I put the peeled slices (in batches of four) into whisked eggs, then into a baggie with one cup AP flour, one cup Panko breadcrumbs and 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan. I shook them up and carefully put them into the oil.

BTW, it had started raining about 6:30 p.m. It was just rain at first, but then came thunder and lightning.

When they were golden brown, I put them on a rack over paper towels. When they were all done, I picked out the six best ones and put them on a foil-lined jelly roll pan.

Meanwhile, I heated up a jar of pasta sauce and boiled some spaghetti.

Sidebar: I love all kinds of pasta, but when I make spaghetti, I like the thick spaghetti, not angel hair. But the last time I was shopping they were out. So, I bought something that “looked” like thick spaghetti called Perciatelli. So, that’s what I cooked tonight.

I turned the broiler on. I topped each eggplant slice with a good helping of sauce, then a thin slice of provolone cheese. I topped that grated mozzarella cheese and a sprinkle of grated parmesan. I broiled them until the cheese had melted.