A Fabulous Morning

When you wake up to puppy kisses, roll out of bed and see the reflection of THIS in your windows ...   it's PRICELESS.   What a magnificent way to start the day!  I grabbed my coffee and ran outside to sit on the patio and admire God's work.

It never lasts long enough.  In a mere five minutes it was gone with the wind.  How lucky was I to witness this amazing sunrise.  

That's when I turned and stepped on one of these critters.  OHHHHH GROSSSSSSSSS!!!  That's not exactly what I said, there were lots of expletives thrown in for good measure.  I hopped over to the wet lawn to try and remove most of the goo.  Yuck ... it was almost enough to make me throw up.  So much for the fabulous morning!!

I walked on my heal to the back room sink where I sat on the counter and scrubbed for what felt like an hour with the stiff bristle brush I clean the dog bowl with.  It's all I had.  Half a cup of laundry detergent later (it was the only thing I could reach), I determined it was safe to walk again.  It gives me the willies just thinking about it.

Back outside, I saw there were LOTS of them wandering around the damp concrete.  I would get out my salt shaker, but that just makes an even bigger mess to clean up.  I did that once when I lived in town. I salted every snail in site.   The next day my lawn looked like it had chicken pox because everywhere I put salt, the grass died.  I learned my lesson.  Hopefully they go away soon, since there's nothing in my yard they like to eat, except maybe grass.

My traumatic experience behind me, I went back to my embroidery.  I was having trouble with the thread picking up the bobbin thread.  Every third time, I had to rethread the machine.  With the correct bobbin holder and new thread from the Fresno store, it's working MUCH better.  Here's the latest little zoo quilt animal.

In the afternoon, the gardeners finally showed up.  I played my cards well.  Tell them what a great job they do edging the lawn, then blast them for not adjusting the sprinklers.  I mean really, it's so obvious with the huge brown spots on the lawn.  I felt a little better since I noticed my neighbor has the same problem.  At least we match!!  I'll run them this morning just to double check.

In spite of my dedication not to eat carbs, I had all the ingredients for another round of paella look-alike.  I cut the rice part in half and added two big chicken breasts to the shrimp and turkey sausage.  Once done, I measured out small servings into containers for the freezer.  If I can just control the portions,  I should be in good shape.

By the way, did I give you the Cheesy Potato recipe?  Want to have your best friend eat lots of potatoes and weigh more than you?  Here's how to do it and it's SO easy.  

Melt one cube of butter ... off to a good start, right?

Lower heat and blend in slowly 2 cups of sour cream, stirring continuously

Raise heat slightly and blend in 3/4 pound of sharp cheddar cheese until melted.

Place a 30 oz package of frozen hash browns in a large bowl.  

I defrosted them a bit first, making it easier to mix.  

Pour the sauce over and stir quickly.  Place in 13 x 9 pan

Bake in the oven at 375 for 45 minutes, broil for 5 minutes to brown top

Forget about the part where I only had one cup of sour cream and had to beg for more from the group.  I made this for the rally and they were gone in a flash.  The men especially loved it and they don't care about the pounds it adds.   

I'm happy to say the bump on my head is much better but still tender to the touch.  I'm still able to remember to turn the alarm off in the morning before opening the doors, so I guess there's no permanent damage, except to my ego.

Today I gear up for another trip over the hill to Morgan Hill for a Sunday needlepoint lesson.  Seems if you want to attend any classes around here, it's a 90 minute drive, which means more diesel.  This time I'll check Gas Buddy.