The little bird sits in the nest and sings
A shy, soft song to the morning light;
And it flutters a little and prunes its wings.
The song is halting and poor and brief,
And the fluttering wings scarce stir a leaf;
But the note is a prelude to sweeter things,
And the busy bill and the flutter slight
Are proving the wings for a bolder flight!
~Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)
We're having a bit of a heatwave. A two day one at any rate. It says that the temperature is due to drop tomorrow on my weather app. We shall see. It got up to 24*C/75*F yesterday. I did have the cooling on for a short. It is supposed to go up to 32*C/89.6*F today.
I have fresh water in the bird bath to tempt the little dears. So far the only creature I have seen drinking from it is Chippy. I also put a little iron dish out on the desk railing with peanuts, so that he had something to eat. I don't actually think he is eating them as he empties it and comes back for more within seconds. Perhaps he is burying them.
I have red winged black birds, a type of black bird with an almost blue head, chickadees, gold finches and morning doves. And then, of course, the hummingbirds.
Yesterday we also had a wasp enter the house from somewhere. It was not here long. Eileen was panicking and I had to rescue her. Nutmeg was chasing it. I did not want him to get stung and so I swatted it dead and flushed it down the toilet. I would not harm a bee, but wasps are just plain nasty.
"There's so much wrong here, not sure where to start...overcooked mushy pasta, big hunks of crackers, under seasoned, no creamy sauce, watery tomatoes. It's a good thing Gordon Ramsay isn't lurking around your neighborhood!"
Left anonymously on my recipe post for Grandmother's Macaroni, Cheese & Tomato Scallop recipe from yesterday. This kind of thing just makes me laugh. They haven't cooked it. It's just an opinion. Pasta cooked to al dente? Where is the mush in that. Loads of cheese, a bit of milk, and a tin of good chopped tomatoes in tomato juice, seasoned to taste and tucked beneath a blanket of buttery cracker crumbs, crushed not in huge hunks. Loads of suggestions for how you could dress it up if you wanted to with ground meat, onions, etc. A simple recipe, yes. It's how our grandmother's cooked. Everything didn't need to be haute cuisine or cordon blu. It just had to b simple and to taste good, and this does, if you happen to like pasta with cheese and tomatoes. The kind of food that got people through the great depression and times of war. To me this is comfort food. I was brought up on this kind of thing, and quite happily so.
And, to be honest, Gordon is far too pretentious to be invited to my table. I don't like him very much. I'd rather have Jamie Oliver over for tea.
I can almost hear them growing and ripening. It won't be long now. There is nothing under the sun so delicious as a locally grown fresh berry with the warmth of the sun still on it's skin. We had our own in the garden in the U.K. They were so good. Every time we drive by Spurs here in the valley, I can see the workers out in the strawberry patch working away. Laying straw, etc. And the plum trees in their orchard are loaded down with beautiful fuchsia colored blooms. The apple trees should be blooming soon as well. There is so much promise in an orchard.
I'll never forget when I was wandering around the grounds of the Manor and came upon a small plum orchard. the branches of the trees were loaded down and drooping with tons of beautiful black skinned plums. It was like I had struck gold. They had a lot of fruit there that was never used. Plums, figs, raspberries, quince, medlars, etc. I don't know why it never got used. The gardener should have been picking them and bringing them into the house for me to preserve, freeze, etc. He never did and I didn't have time to go out picking them myself, to be honest.
When we moved to Chester, we put plum, apple and pear trees in the back yard. We had lots of berries as well, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and tayberries. And we had a black currant bush that was prolific.
There is so much promise that is held in the days of May.
I reckon I have struggled with my weight most of my adult life. I managed to be able to control it until I hit my mid thirties and quit smoking. I also had my tubes tied at the same time. Every time I went on a diet, I was really good as taking the weight off, but unfortunately it would always come back on along with additional weight. I can honestly say that dieting has only ever made me fatter. Lately I have been watching and listening to a Dr. Li on YouTube. Cindy introduced me to his channel and much of what he says makes sense.
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Subscribe and join a growing community that chooses to age strong together. I don't know if it is too late for me or not. I am so tired of living in constant pain. Every part of my body aches. In any case, I am trying out some of his things/suggestions. We will see if it can reduce the inflammation in my body and give me back a life filled with energy. I am not interested in losing weight, but if that is a happy by-product then that's good too.
Yesterday I watched his 80/20 video. What is 80/20? Eat healthily 80% of the time and then give yourself permission to indulge in the things you really enjoy 20% of the time. No deprivation. It's easy to behave for 17 of your meals of the week if you know you can treat yourself to little indulgences 4 meals of the week.
I can hear Eileen snoring away in her room. She had to take the trial sleep machine back and is waiting on her own arriving. It made a huge difference. We still have not heard from the specialist. If we don't hear anything today, I will call her family Doctor tomorrow. He said if she hadn't heard anything in two weeks to call back.
I know the waiting and wondering is bothering her. How could it not. She is trying hard to be brave and unafraid, but it is there all the time. I just keep asking for the strength to be a support and help to her in whatever way that I can. That is all I can do really. Just help her to remain positive and hopeful. Keep her busy and distracted. Love her, and pray with hope.
And just like that it is already after 8:30. The day is flying away from me once again. I used to be able to get so much more done in the mornings. Lately it seems that I cannot get much done at all. This time thing is always getting away from me. I do not know where it goes.
A thought to carry with you . . .
☾ ° ★° * 。
• ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ • •。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Ξ _____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ η°η° ｜ι ★
*The only thing we never get enough of
is love, and the only thing we can never
give enough of is love.
~Henry Miller
Sharing some Cheesy Black Bean & Corn Enchiladas in the kitchen today. Simple and delicious. Dress them up as you will. We like sour cream, lettuce and tomatoes. I make my own enchilada sauce from scratch as well.
I hope that you have a lovely Wednesday today. Will be exercising my right to indulge my 20% tonight at the Big Scoop with Dad, Cindy, Eileen and Hazel. What will I have. I am thinking Cheese Steak, but I could change my mind a bazillion times before then! Whatever you get up to today I hope it brings you great joy! Don't forget!
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And I do too!
