My Weekly W's

What's top on my mind:  We have been covered in a 'heat dome' for the last three or four weeks and I am over it.  I did not leave SW Florida to be this hot in September but here we are.  According to the weather experts today will be the last day in the 90's and we will start experiencing more fall weather.  I really hope they are correct and that we get some MUCH-needed rain as well.

Where I've been: Work is and will be quite busy for another month.  We have 5 new doctors starting and that involves two days of orientation with each one.  One down, 4 to go.  Friday I thankfully was off, so I went and picked a few things up at the farmers market, Aldi and Kroger.  While I was out, I decided to stop in Marshals and I'm so glad I did.  I use a lot of glass jars to store produce, and I've been worried about accidentally breaking one of the shelves.  When I found washable shelf liners specifically for this, I was thrilled.  They washed up nicely and stay in place without sliding around. 

Saturday TBG and I went out for breakfast at The Pancake House. I always get a Denver omelet there and once again, I was not disappointed.  It was already getting hot, but we decided to take a walk around the park before going home.  

Where I'm going:  I have no appointments other than work so it should be a good week. Next weekend is our local Fall Festival and TBG's students are doing a demo.  After that we will walk around and check things out and probably have lunch.  I'm really hoping the weather is exactly what they are predicting.  That will make it even nicer.  

What I'm reading:  I haven't started yet but The Correspondent is next on my pile.  I've heard really good things about this one so I'm looking forward to diving in.

What I'm watching:  We watched quit a few movies over the last two weeks and for some reason a lot of them involved dogs.  A Dogs Journey (9), Gone Dog (8), Rescued by Ruby (9) all on Netflix.  While cooking dinners or working on different things I also watched The Fabulous Four (6) and The Choice (9)

I'm also watching a lot of leaves falling off of the trees because it's so dry.  I don't think we'll have a gorgeous Fall like we normally do unless we get a lot of rain very soon.

What I'm eating:

BIG salad

Chicken Alfredo with a salad and garlic bread

Eggrolls and rice 

Lambchops, garlic mashed potatoes and coleslaw

Pizza with beef bacon, portabella mushrooms, sweet peppers and red onions.  SO good!!

Maine red fish, potato cakes from left over mashed and more coleslaw

Tonight we're having grilled cheeseburgers and zucchini 'fries'  

One afternoon I picked up just enough deli meat for two sandwiches, so we enjoyed a very rare deli sandwich and I made potato chips.  This simple meal was not healthy, but really delicious. We all need to cheat sometimes. At least that's what I tell myself.

What is making me smile:  TBG has been really feeling a lot better lately since they started him on this new medication and I couldn't be happier.  Binx of course also gets a smile.  Look at him.  How can you not smile?

Happy Labor Day!!

I think a lot of us in the US think of today as the last hooray of summer.  I know I do, even though here, there will still be plenty of hot sunny days ahead even after the official Autumn Equinox. It seems after September our weather is extremely unpredictable in our area and could be hot or cold at any given moment.  

It was a pretty good week here other than work.  I won't even start with the ridiculousness that workdays are filled with.  Of course, I stopped at the Farmers Market like I do most weeks.  It was customer appreciation day and they had hot dogs and homemade ice cream for everyone.  I passed on the hot dog, but the ice cream was mandatory.  It has been SO hot here for over a week and that treat really hit the spot.  I had a hair appointment too and had her cut a few inches off the length and the layers.  It feels so much better.

Saturday, we took a day trip over to OFallon and did a bit of shopping and had lunch at Drake's.  This is the place that has the ultimate club sandwich with honey mustard sauce that I love and it did not disappoint.  We had wanted to go south and do a bit of walking and have lunch there, but the weather was brutal, so we opted for inside airconditioned activities instead.  We'll save that for cooler days.

The second week of October we are getting all of our duct work and vents cleaned.  It takes about 3 hours, and they have to go in every room.  I think that would be a bit stressful for Binx so he will be going to the Tae Kwon Do school while it's being done.  We take him out from time to time so he never gets afraid of his carrier or the vet, but this was his first field trip to the school and he was a trooper.  TBG said he set the carrier down in the middle of the main room and within seconds Binx was ready to explore. They were there around an hour and he did great so I'm happy.

This week we watched The Answer Man and The Art of Racing in the Rain both on Netflix and they both were good movies.  Racing in the Rain may require a few tissues like it did for me but I'm really glad we watched it.  

Dinners this week...

BIG salad x2

Salsbury steak with mushroom sauce, garlic mashed potatoes and corn.  It has been SO long since we've had that, and it was a really nice dinner.

Beef and rice taco bowls with pickled jalapenos and red onions, sweet peppers and avocado.

BLT with zucchini 'fries'

Fried chicken strips and rice veggie bowls.  I totally winged this one and we both really enjoyed it.

Tonight I'm grilling wings and a steak with 'baked' potatoes (on the grill) coleslaw and deviled eggs.

                                    I hope everyone is doing well have has a fabulous week!!

Happy September!

The 'bers' have arrived even though it was 100 degrees here yesterday and will be hot for quite some time.  September through January is my favorite time of year so I am looking forward to it.  All of the holidays, game nights, comfort food, the cozy house...this is my down time that I always look forward to after a busy and HOT summer.

I buy a lot of my seeds from Heirloom Seeds Shop | Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, and last week I received an email from them offering 25 Saffron Crocus for $21.00 and I decided to give them a try.  They arrived on Friday and I planted 20 in one raised bed and 5 in a large pot to see which does better.  Each crocus will provide three saffron stems to dry and use.  In three or four years the bulbs will need to be dug up and divided so they don't crowd each other out.  I will keep you posted on how this experiment goes.  It would be a good crop to add to one of my retirement plans.

Even though our freezer is pretty full I couldn't pass up this deal from one of our local ranches that I buy beef from.  This is a good deal on beef especially with the quality being so amazing.  I love that they do these specials from time to time to help people out with rising prices on everything.  

Last week I made all of the appointments for things that need taken care of in the next couple of months.  Vet, vents cleaned, HVAC serviced...things like that so that is all off of my to do list finally.  Tomorrow, I have a hair appointment and Saturday we're doing a day trip.  It's a little hard to believe this is Labor Day weekend.  

What we ate...

BIG salad x2

Chicken Tikka Masala with rice and naan

BLT with zucchini fries

TBG requested Fish and Chips again but this time I was out of cabbage, so we had a small salad.  I prefer coleslaw with fish and chips, but it was still good.

Pesto pasta with chicken and a small salad.

I hope everyone is doing well and has a fabulous day!!