The Deer Visited

This little guy was one of three deer who "visited" us this evening. cute - and they were eating the vegetation down by the road rather than in the garden.

I wasn't able to get a picture of all three.
We have not had good luck this year with our plants. The deer ate the day lilies and other shrubs in our garden. Then up on the deck the tomatoes are not really going gangbusters like they did last year. The rain was too much in the early summer and now I think we have some sort of blight or maybe a worm as I saw worm/sludge things on the plants the other day (and removed them).
I've been getting fresh veggies from a farm stand on Route 6 and the tomatoes are good, but not great... not Jersey tomatoes. We do miss our Jersey veggies!!!!
Nice day - somewhat muggy and the rain we were supposed to get never happened. But, that enabled me to get a load of laundry out on the line.

Fried Chicken

For once, I planned ahead and decided to have fried chicken for dinner last night. I had purchased a whole chicken and so early afternoon I cut it up and seasoned it.
After sitting in the refrig several hours, the seasoned chicken was ready to cook. As you can see, I was prepared on all fronts with my wine ready and the chicken out!
This is a Paula Deane recipe - and requires you to dredge the chicken in egg then self rising flour and then fry 20 - 25 minutes. I still have problems gaging temperatures on the electric stove and so I heated the Crisco carefully as I wasn't sure how hot to go. I'm still looking to see the gas flame... which is a habit I can't seem to break. Once the oil was hot enough I added the dark meat then after about 12 minutes the chicken breasts. I should have cut them in half as they were very large... well, I noted that and will next time.
As the chicken cooked and the yellow beans simmered, I enjoyed the wine.

As you can see, we had quite a lot... and after 30 minutes it was just done nicely.

The yellow beans were good as was the chicken. And we had a tomato salad from some tomatoes I purchased from a produce stand in town. My tomatoes are not yet ready to eat - maybe tonight.
And it was a nice dinner and I already have planned what to do with the leftovers! And tonight we are having sloppy Lynn's a recipe my cousin Barb gave me many years ago. I even have the hamburger meat defrosting. Maybe I can keep this up....

Just One of those Days!!!

I took a vacation day today. Now that may seem strange - as I'm retired what do I need a vacation day for??? Well, because I needed one. After all, regular days involve tasks around the house - laundry, ironing, cleaning, yard work, yada, yada, yada. Then there is going to the Library to deal with donations, clean up the stacks and check books on line and either post them or price and put them on the shelves. Well, you can see, I don't just sit. So, after spending two days out and about to the mall (I did want to to) and then to the Library and stuff around the house I decided, VACATION.
I worked in the loft on the computer. I had purchased Photoshop Elements 6 as an upgrade and spent time learning. The color printer wouldn't work. That took quite a bit of time and I think I need to purchase new ink... that's a long story and I'm not going to (whine)wine. Anyway, I then moved to baking zucchini bread. Sheila, a friend up the road, had given me 2 very large zucchinis for just this purpose. So, got the stuff out to make it. Shredded both zucchini in the food processor - that went well. I had LOADS of zucchini and the recipe only called for 2 cups so I froze the rest in 1 cup bags. YUM! Then made the bread in two muffin tins rather than loaf pans as that is easier to eat since I'm the only one who likes them (B isn't into zucchini). The muffins only took about 20 minutes and as I took the first pan out, I hit the edge of the oven and it turned over, dumping the upper half all over the oven door and the floor. YIKES!!! ICKY!!! D*&&%&* OK, I cleaned it up and had a drink,,,,, Then cooked tacos for dinner which were good. The second pan of muffins was very good and the first, which was really now pieces, was tasty... so, the vacation day was not a run away success, but it was OK.
And now I'm going up to read a book and have a drink.... Night!!!

They Ate the Day Lillies!!!

I planted day lilies last year... and not much happened.
This year, they "showed up" and started to really do well!!! YEA!!!

Thank goodness I went out the other day and took some pictures. Because...
THE DEER ATE THEM

GRRRRRRRRR

B said he looked outside that morning and the little suckers were up by the garden. He didn't realize what they had done.
When we went to breakfast, we drove down the drive way and ... naked stalks
I mean they were GONE... nothing, Nadya zilch eaten YIKES!!!!!

The spray we tried stunk so bad it grossed us out in the house. I'm ready to shoot the suckers.. well, not really.

So look and dream... there were buds on these plants and one or two more that had not yet bloomed. Well, next year we will try something else.. don't know what... any ideas?????

It's been HOT, HOT, HOT
but not as bad as S. Jersey and Philly.
Hearing some boomers and so maybe we will get some rain... which would be good as we haven't had rain all week.

Bye flowers... I did enjoy you........

Day After the 4th of July

I just checked the blog and realized I have been very BAD at posting. And you know, I wonder how I ever got anything done when I worked. Being retired is NOT sitting around doing nothing.

I used to work with a guy that literally planned his retirement down to the last degree. Jim was counting the days and made sure all us "underlings" were aware of his retirement. I really don't diss him, he was very supportive to me (really to his advantage as I did a lot of grunt work and it did help me but that's another "story") Anyway, his final retirement was rather nasty as he was shut out by the powers that be. Then, in retirement, he developed medical problems including memory problems and diabetes and then passed away. He never really enjoyed his retirement. Well, truth be told, he didn't really enjoy his life at work either. So, where I am going with this is to say that I never did want that kind of retirement. And I am NOT sitting around doing nothing and (cross fingers and say a prayer) don't have is kind of memory problems.

Yesterday we went to B's sisters for our yearly Fourth celebration. Everyone brings something and we pig out and talk... catch up on what everyone is doing. We have been having these family gatherings for the past several years. They became more important to us after B's mom passed. I took chili and kielbasa (we bought it) and beet side (made from grated beets, sugar, vinegar, and lots of horseradish) which I made. I also made rice krispies treats but that didn't win an award as I used fluff in a jar rather than marshmallows and the feeling was not bad but not what they remembered. (I never had it as a kid, my bad) Then there was chicken, hamburgers, hot dogs, macaroni salad, potato salad (new recipe) and other stuff. Then a rather patriotic desert with jello, cool whip, blue berries and strawberries. That was a keeper... thanks to Ray! We were home by the end of the PBS fireworks and that was fine - no bugs and an enjoyable day was had.

OK, so I'll try to do better and post more. Happy Birthday USA!!!