mowed and trimmed

out front, cool enough early....lots of people out mowing and trimming still, sounds like. Also went to the store because I decided I wanted french bread to go with the beef burgandy which is in the crock pot for today....they had loaves for a buck....also got three ears of corn for a buck....I had a grilled swiss with steak and onion for lunch, with Fritos and a pickle.....I should turn on some music to listen to, instead of lawnmowers.....I'll need to think of something to go with corn on the cob for a dinner....maybe a pot roast sandwich on french bread?

walked over

and watched the band for a while....sort of a southern rock and general pop cover band....I saw them last year too, I'm pretty sure....it's ten 'til nine and I'm in my living room and I can still hear them playing.....I think the bands usually stop at nine? There will be some kind of thing going on every Thursday evening up until around the time school starts in the Fall.....PC graduation happens sometime soon, and when the college is out, then things in Clinton slow down even more....it's like a DVD in slow motion, and then you push the thing for double slow motion, almost stop-frame like.......it's great, very relaxing.....

never did

reach 70 yesterday.....got to around 64 that I saw.....I'm getting ready to go and mow the back weeds, cool and shady out there this time of morning.....there's a band at the train tracks tonight....the town square....the ad said there would be food from Steamer's and from Wilson's Snack Bar....the Snack Bar stays open 'til eight at night now, I should go there for dinner some time.....they have the ultimate greasy burger basket....

56 outside

and about the same inside, at 11:21 Wednesday morning....walked, went grocery shopping.....got the fixings for beef burgandy with carrots and mushrooms, and I'll have shrimp fried rice again one day, and today I'm going to treat myself to steak and an artichoke.....chicken salad sandwich and slaw for lunch, breakfast was oatmeal.....they predict 70 by late afternoon....we'll see.....

storms in the upstate

the power went out during the 5 o'clock news, right when they were talking about the winds and rain and hail....just wind here so far, but I bet some oak limb fell on a line somewhere.....that seems to be what usually happens....the city grant writer got some stimulus money to identify and trim problem trees, but it will be months before any trimming actually takes place....well, my laptop and DSL still work even if the power is off....because of the ethernet cable? Don't know how it works, but it does....I don't rely on WiFi.....radio waves are subject to too much trouble....

seasonal weather pattern

the time of year when it is clear in the morning, and starts clouding up with a chance of rain in the afternoon, wind from the west.....a "lake wind warning" in effect, because there could be 25 mph gusts if you are out in your fishing boat....but it was lovely out walking in the morning, sun starting to come and go now around noon....I was looking for Cuticura Ointment, since the can I've had for decades finally got used up....but couldn't find it at CVS or WalMart, but at WalMart they said to try the little local pharmacy in Clinton, since they carried lots of "the old time remedies, like black salve and such"....well, I went in the little drugstore yesterday, but they didn't stock it, but they did order it for me and got it here this morning. I thought that was good service for a $4 item.....I could have ordered it online, but this was quicker and cheaper, the old fashioned way of doing things....there's nothing like Cuticura for spider bites, or for when you get snagged by a thorn on a vine....my lawnmower shed has both spiders and thorny vines.....

oatmeal variation

I bought some half-and-half last week, and this morning got around to trying it on my oatmeal....that'll work....Sunday night was leftover country rib and slaw....don't know what's on the menu for today yet....I'll figure something out.....I've got some chicken salad to make a sandwich for lunch.....mild weather this morning, with some breeze....chance it will sprinkle some in the afternoon they say.....the weeds are getting high in the back yard again, but I don't feel like messing with that today.....

Sunday again?

seems like it was Sunday just the other day.....another week gone, only one left in April.....overcast and windy this morning on the newspaper walk, but it's a warm wind....big thunderstorm in the middle of the night, lots of puddles left.....on the radar storms are tracking through Greenville and Columbia still, going north and south of this corner of the county.....I had sausage scramble and wheat toast for breakfast....last night I made shrimp fried rice .....an iron skillet works well enough as a wok.....the sun might come out this afternoon.....

yikes

looking at the radar, the thunderstorms are about to get here....oh well, as long as the power stays on.....

last night

a bat flew in the house....it was real nice out in the evening, and I had the front door open, the storm door too to let air in.....the bat kept bouncing around against the ceiling, but finally settled on a window blind, and I caught it in a towel and put it back outside.....I'll leave the storm door closed at night I guess.....the bats live in the abandoned house next door.....Saturday morning and it's been raining since right before dawn....I drove to get the newspaper.....it might keep raining all day....the Padres are on top in the West? How long will that last, do you suppose.....the local major league team would be the Atlanta Braves I guess....but they don't show the home games here, unless you have a cable package or something....well, I don't have to mow the lawn, because it's raining.....

sitting out

on the back steps in the sunshine for a while.....lanquid afternoon.....soon I will put some onion slices in an iron skillet and then put in the pork sprinkled with oregano. In a 325 oven for one hour, covered, and then pour on a sort of sweet-and-sour sauce, and back into the oven uncovered for a half hour. I made the slaw right after lunch, and put it in the fridge, so that's done....clouds are coming and going.....

electric bill

is forty dollars less than a Winter month.....on my walk earlier over by the mill I saw that they are cleaning up that mountain of old pallets....that always looked like a fire waiting to happen to me....they have a machine that's grinding them up.....maybe the Carolina Shavings people are doing it, since what they sell is wood shavings for horse bedding....but I guess they would have to separate the nails out? It looks like someone is living in that house they were fixing up across from the mill. I vacuumed and mopped this morning.....rain is predicted over the weekend, after getting up into the 80's later this afternoon....it's been good sleeping weather lately.....

listening to

the dog star blues station on earth day, because that's earthy music.....even if it is beamed down from outer space.....well, it's earth orbit anyway....

serenity, which is happiness

good old Epictetus...Nick was blogging about "happiness".....maybe one day he will figure things out at last....all I can say is, once again, "meditation, not medication"......go ahead and die the small death, let ego wither, lose your fear, smile upon the Reaper....anyway.....nice morning here, sunny, clear.....I'm going to make it over to Laurens sometime today, and look at guitar strings, and go by WalMart for a couple of things.....I'll do the deviled shrimp cheese grits for supper I think.....I got honey wheat bread this week.....pretty good.....

low overcast

on the first walk, but scattered high clouds on the second....went grocery shopping, and I've got catfish for this evening, with the left-over sides from Tuesday (see below).....I also got shrimp and pimento cheese, so I can make deviled shrimp and pimento cheese grits....also country pork ribs....and a bag of angel hair cabbage to make apple-raisin slaw, a good side for sweet-and-sour ribs.....etc....stir fried shrimp with rice and veggies will be one day too....bags of shrimp were two for one.....

sat on the porch

and watched it raining for a while....not cold, just raining....but now it's dark and about time to go to bed, I guess....pretty soon.....

a quick sprinkle

of rain went through, while I was doing supper, which was reheated chicken wings, mac-and-cheese, and lima beans.....very satisfying.....now hopefully there is something worth watching on TV this evening.....

black pepper on bread-and-butter

a cold chicken wing, a chunk of swiss cheese, a pickle, and a glass of merlot....some chance of rain upstate today, but was nice when I went walking this morning.....sunny out at the moment....one of these days I could go over to Laurens and get a couple of guitar strings, and more emu ointment, but I'm feeling too lazy right now to go do that.....

smells really good

when I turned the wings over, I poured some store bought bbq sauce that I mixed with apple cider vinegar on them....so now my stomach is starting to grumble in anticipation.....the only other thing I need to do is microwave leftover long grain and wild rice and cut green beans as the sides to the wings....I have california merlot.....

dogs were barking

at the City meter reader dude.....so that means in a couple of days I'll get the utility bill....it should be less than the Winter months, since I haven't been running the electric space heater in the living room....the natural gas bill was down by more than half this last time.....I think it was 56F when I went for my walk, a little wind.....I need to cook up those chicken wings, so I'll do that this evening in the iron skillet in the oven, with a little bbq sauce on them....and I still have rice and green beans to eat up.....I think there are six wings, so that will make two meals easy, and then it will be grocery day again.....I should get some shrimp .....

fell asleep

on the sofa in the afternoon, but woke up to see most of the Laker game.....

cool Sunday

ten degrees cooler than Saturday, I reckon......no clouds, lots of sun, but a flow of air from the north-west, which isn't warm.....last night I did the trout with no breading, just some chili powder and oregano....was good....this morning I mixed an egg with Welch's pomegranate-blueberry-Concord grape juice, and used that to make 12 grain french toast....with the last two sausage links....and the usual black coffee and orange juice....the Lakers play OK City this afternoon.....

afternoon, some dark clouds

wind rising....but I don't see much action on the radar....might get a little sprinkle.....later I'll cook the other half of the trout, with the rice and green beans as sides....maybe I'll watch some of the Cavs-Bulls game....long way to go in the NBA second season....

how come

some things taste better re-heated? Had leftover pintos last night, and they sure were good....another glorious day here so far, but 30% chance of rain listed....doesn't look like it right now though.....already done my walking for the day, in the cool of the morning....over 80 later today? Dead quiet around here on Saturday as usual.....the big excitement is when they sound the siren at noon Saturday......the only other sounds all day long will be train horns and church bells....oh, and birds singing.....

summer-like friday sort of

going to get hot in the afternoon, not bad this morning....went over to PC and looked at their Green Auto Show....wasn't really very exciting.....I liked the VW Sportwagen TDI....but it costs more than my house did....and diesel is as expensive as premium gas....but it claims 45 mpg highway, and it looks spiffy and somewhat practical, being a station wagon.....there was a bus load of like middle school kids there on a field trip, and they are going to have a $2 bbq lunch at noon, but I didn't think that was worth staying for, or going back for....walked over by the park while it's still cool enough....

drat

I ate all the popcorn in the first two innings....I got started and just kept going until it was all gone....oh well....the ballpark looks mostly empty tonight....come on you San Diego people, go out to the ball game.....work is no excuse.....

my

that trout was so tasty, and cheap too.....

73, clear, calm

nothing like clear and calm.....rice mix is simmering, and it can sit while I fry trout and cook the green beans....those won't take long.....been a very nice day here....later there is a Padres-Braves game on early enough to watch.....I think I could do peanuts and popcorn, but no crackerjack.....

cool enough

this morning to do the front lawn without working up much of a sweat.....the pintos and cornbread last night were good ......on the Laurens facebook thingy one time someone was wondering what kind of wine went with pintos and cornbread.....I had burgundy, but a Riesling would work I bet......to vary things, I won't do leftovers today, I think I'll go for the trout with long grain and wild rice and cut green beans.....I've got some Cajun fish breading I like.....lunch will be tuna salad for a while, breakfast was a poached egg on 12 grain toast.....

when I walked by the park

and went past the house they have been fixing up, they were putting vinyl siding over the old brown shake....looked like the same siding I've got on my house, but new and spiffy ....same color, I think....earlier I did go to the store, and got trout fillets (farm grown), chicken wings, pinto beans, long grain and wild rice mix, albacore, olives, etc...etc...enough stuff for a week easy.....and I got merlot instead of burgundy, just for a change.....so I had a tuna salad sandwich for lunch, and for supper I'll fix pinto beans cooked with ham and onion and served over hot cornbread....

windy

mid-50's.....got up about 80 yesterday, but they say only 70 today, as a system is going by to the north.....but no rain here, just some clouds later. I had beans on toast last night, and oatmeal with whipped-cream again this morning. It's grocery store day, so pretty soon I'll head over there and figure out what I need. I've given up on trying to figure out what I need before I go, since I'll just forget by the time I get there anyway. But I have been wanting a tuna salad sandwich, so I should buy a can of albacore for sure.....oh, and I'm low on tea bags.....

later in the morning

I went out and mowed and trimmed the back yard, and came in and took a shower....I'll leave the front to another day, since if I try to do it all at once, the next morning I'll be hobbling around with a stiff back....speaking of mowing, a week or so ago the neighbor two yards over from my back window got his push mower out of his shed and messed around with it for about an hour trying to get it to start.....finally he put in the back of his truck and drove off. He came back with a brand new riding mower.....and I guess he really likes the way it works, because now he mows his lawn every day...I swear, he gets out there every morning and rides it around....sometimes in the evening too....his weeds don't stand a chance now.....

early in the morning

I was just looking at wunderground, and it's 46F in Clinton, Oakland, and Coos Bay.....

Padres home opener

is on right now, since the Braves are on a west coast swing it's on SportsSouth....79 here, I think they just said 69 there at the start of the game....

chamber of commerce weather

68 outside, blue sky, gentle breezes, etc....birds singing....lawn mowers in the distance.....finished my walking for today....also went out earlier and dropped off my car insurance payment for the next six months at Allstate, and went to the library....I did put whipped cream on my oatmeal...that was good....in a book I finished last week, the guy was up in Scotland trying to find some old letters for his research, and he got Scots breakfast which he described as "a large bowl of bubbling hot oatmeal under a half-inch of fresh cream"......

talked to Caroline

for a while early in the afternoon, and maybe I heard a single beep somewhere in there which would have meant someone else was calling too....but I didn't think until later that what I should have done upon hearing a single beep was to push some button so I could switch back and forth like call waiting.....what I'm getting at is....if anyone tried to call me and I didn't answer, send me an e-mail.....that's not complicated....

Fatz out by the interstate

Edisto Shrimp & Grits

Stone-ground cheese grits with Cajun jumbo and popcorn shrimp, crumbled applewood-smoked bacon. Drizzled with Burgundy mushroom gravy and garnished with Parmesan cheese. 11.29

That was good.....

another nice morning

sure is quiet on Sunday morning....I checked online and Hickory Hills opens at 11 on Sunday....I'm leaning towards going there for the country cooking buffet.....I don't know if they have pork roast or not, but they do have hash on rice, and lots of other good things there....but I would probably end up stuffing myself .....maybe I'll just go get a Big Mac Meal....been wanting one of those for a while too.....

April 10th

so I rode out to the ARP....nice bright morning, with intense colors of dogwood, wisteria, and all the shades of green in the woods.....went back through Laurens, and stopped at Walmart and purchased the new Jimi Hendrix album, and a small pecan pie and a can of whipped cream....pie in lieu of any birthday cake.....but it's just an 8 inch pie, so I'll probably have left over whipped cream....maybe I can put it on oatmeal.....I also got a twenty back at the check-out, so that I can go out for lunch somewhere tomorrow.....last year I went to a Chinese buffet....don't know yet what I want this year.....

was nice

out on the porch in the evening....it's just plain flat right in the neighborhood, so you see whole families riding bikes, 'cause it's easy....and well lit and not much traffic, and everybody will wave at you and smile.....

took a nap

in the afternoon....lazy day for some reason...cooling trend after our spell of warm days, around 70 instead of around 80......didn't drive anywhere today, or do much of anything I can think of....

after eight at night

and I think the last of the storm has gone through to the East....the extreme weather warnings went to the North of here this time, so there wasn't all that much wind in Clinton, just a lot of rain....

right at 11:30

it started raining.....I was in the kitchen eating a grilled ham and swiss and onion on rye with Fritos on the side.....spent part of the morning playing with my birthday guitar, which got here yesterday....the Silvertone Fastback....it got here a few days early, by FedEx....I had to do some set-up on it....the little E was fretting out, maybe because I drop it down to D....so I had to find the little tiny Allen wrench that's used for height adjustment on a tremolo bridge....I had one in a guitar case out on the porch. So I fixed the string buzz and also got the tiny file and dressed some frets better too....

thunderstorms in the afternoon

is the forecast.....looking at the radar, there should be time for another walk before the rain gets here.....watched the last innings of Red Sox and Yankees last night.....dang Yankees always seem to win when I watch....maybe I shouldn't watch.....

cooler today, some overcast

windy, pollen and seedy things blowing around....well we are in the middle of hundreds of miles of woods around here....

bet he was confused

a wasp got in the car at the state park, and I let him out back in Clinton.....I just sat by the pond out there for a while, breeze sighing through the trees, etc....took some pix, put them on flickr.....getting pretty warm by the time I left there, but nice and cool inside the house still....had a thick cold ham biscuit for lunch.....

heck of a game

last night, went down to the last second......so I stayed up late, and slept through 'til morning....they are saying there might be record heat today....I went out and did the front yard while it was still cool, so that looks better now.....but I swear in one week the back grew up just as tall as it was before I mowed it....oh well.....

yup, 88.4 in the afternoon

but it stays cool enough in the house.....says 75 in the entry hall....my old bones welcome the warmth....very pleasant on the front porch, shady....a little breeze.....

88 today?

out West storms and earthquakes? Clear and calm here and now.....I should go walk the mill park before the sun gets much higher, or it will be a pretty warm walk I guess....

around 80 degrees

clouds coming and going....ran the vacuum, picked up clothes, took a shower....ate lunch, sat out on the porch a bit....that's my Easter so far....no evidence of any Easter Bunny aqui.....

Easter morning

stayed up late watching the Final Four, and slept pretty well.....I had a biscuit with butter and honey, and BBQ ham scramble for breakfast.....were some clouds in the West around sunrise, but now it's clear and looks like another fine day here.....

phone call

I talked to Remi and Trish, some of my old neighbors at the Resort.....things there are pretty much the same, sounds like...the Cafe is still in business....they had been to Valley View for the buffet the other day, had a coupon from the paper....I did that once I think, got a free lunch at the casino.....good to hear their voices .....that's a pretty clear speakerphone Remi has, none of that echo like the old ones I remember....anyway, they are still alive, sounds like.....

mowed the back

and down the sides some, but I'm going to leave the front and the edging 'til another day.....looks good though from where I sit and look out the living room window to the back....perfect morning for mowing, enough overcast to keep it cool while I was out there.....looks like kids are doing an Easter egg hunt over on the church grounds.....the City hunt was last weekend, at PC campus instead of where it was last year, just a couple of blocks from my house....let's see....supper Friday was ham and biscuits with red-eye gravy....tonight will be ham and something, don't know what yet....it's been warm enough for the last few nights to sleep with a window open.....my green plastic chairs on the front porch are dusted with yellow oak pollen....not as much as Curtis Creek, but similar.....I guess people with allergies or sinus issues are hurting this time of year, but I've never noticed any problem myself really.....

Good enough Friday

delightful morning again.....took my walks early before it had a chance to get too warm....the City takes all day as a holiday....I wonder if banks close in the afternoon like they did in the old days....the days when I was young.....to get in the Easter mood I'm going to make a ham-and-deviled-egg-salad sandwich for lunch.....last night I had a baked sweet potato and some fried ham....

until 1752

April 1st was New Year's Day in England, when the Julian calendar was finally abandoned.....so, Happy New Year, ya'll!

heat wave?

might get up to 85 this afternoon, and warmer than that Friday....the weeds are coming up like mad....there are dandelions all over the place, looks like an old Rolling Stones song out back....