cold front expected today

but right now it's fine weather on this last day of the month.....but I might end up closing the windows tonight, for the first time in months.......oatmeal with raisins and a tablespoon of cocoa for breakfast, with a mug of black tea and a glass of orange juice.....standard Friday breakfast.....for lunch I'm thinking of chicken breast meat on rye with mayo and relish....with a few Fritos and a jam-jar of purple wine.....leftover tuna and noodles tonight.....there's most of a chicken and lots of stuffing in the fridge too, plenty to get through the weekend anyway.....I got some cash out of the machine on the front of the bank this morning on the dawn walk, for going to the thing in Laurens tomorrow....you have to buy tickets, and then use those at the BBQ booths.....they predict a high of 65 for Saturday, with possible 10 mph NNE winds.....I guess I'll take my denim jacket in the Jeep and then see if I need it or not over there......

god damn oatmeal and raisins

I was watching some old Clint Eastwood movie from 1968 that I'd never seen before.....and that reminded me of a news blurb about him sometime lately.....they asked him his position on gay marriage, and he said something like "I don't give a fuck....why are you asking me these questions? Just let me go back to eating my god damn oatmeal and raisins"......he's in his 80's now.....I can understand his position perfectly......on another front, the roasted chicken came out great, crispy skin, fork-tender moist white meat, drumstick just right.....tasty gravy once again.....though I should watch the gravy, it's bad for gout.....you know what else is? Asparagus.....can you believe that? And liver.....damn, I like liver......well, it's about time to go sit out on the porch and see if any stars are visible tonight.....there were a few last night, despite being here in the heart of the big city......

air like wine

sweet and intoxicating.....beautiful Fall morning for going out walking.....it got up to 80 yesterday, probably be about the same today.....down to 60 overnight.....stays around 70 in the house night and day, with a some windows open....my tuna and noodles turned out tasty enough.....actually I used more of that box of medium whole wheat shells instead of noodles, but the idea is the same....I just faked the recipe, used mushroom alfredo sauce instead of mushroom soup....not as much sodium maybe......the Southern Cooking site has the traditional way to do it if you want to try that.....that's the Betty Crocker Cookbook way to make it like it was in our childhood.....there's enough for another supper.....I had summer squash with onion as the veggie side.....today I'll do the chicken, but not in the crock-pot, I'm looking at oven roasted instead I think, different texture......sides would be cornbread stuffing and more of the squash.....should be drippings for gravy.....I've got about half a sweet onion to put in the dressing.....I can use the large iron skillet as a roasting pan, and then make the gravy right in that.....

cool dry west wind

makes it nice out walking.....lots of bright sunshine, clouds blown away.....went grocery shopping without a list.....did find a whole chicken on sale.....so that and a box of cornbread stuffing will make several meals.....and I got fixin's for tuna and noodles....going to do that today....and I got some breakfast steaks, those are versatile.......I did remember to take the plastic bags back to the supermarket.....I was half- way to the car when I thought to go back and get them off the laundry porch where they had been multiplying for quite a while.....got the Clinton weekly newspaper.....and I got rye bread for a change.....

late night on the porch

went out for a while to watch the lightning show to the south and east.....storm going over Newberry and Joanna area.....horizontal flashes.....that's called "cloud to cloud"? Nice breeze from the south, blowing the tea plant aroma from next door this way.....couple of trains went by while I was out there.....sirens too once.....and the possum came out from under the tea plant and wandered off across the road and then through the church grounds.....too cloudy for stars tonight....though even on a clear night you can only see the bright ones, what with the street lights.....finished off the steak and potatoes for supper, and I need to figure what to do for groceries in the morning.....tuna and noodles?

more sweaty conditions

it's only around 70, but the humidity is pretty much maxed out.....so it doesn't take much to get sweated up......I walked around the park, and then swept, mopped, and vacuumed.....ended up feeling sticky.....not as much work as yesterday.....I got out of bed with my back making noises after the yard chores Monday.....the weather-caster last night said that by the weekend it will be sweater weather, overnight lows in the 40's in some places.....a few leaves are turning now.....I like it when you can drive out through the woods and it looks like a commercial for tourism.....you don't need to go up to some Scenic Highway in the mountains, it gets plenty colorful just out of town.....that one pound of sirloin steak is going to make three dinners easy....I still have leftover mashed skin-on red potatoes, and cut green beans....I'll make pan gravy again, as an indulgence.....and then grocery day will be here.....

low 70's, overcast

It's staying cool this morning, so after reading the paper and all I went out and ran the string trimmer and the lawn mower all over the place.....a good little bit of work, exercise....whatever....the mail box just rattled, I'll have to check that out in a minute.....50% chance of afternoon thunderstorms again today....hopefully nothing like the severe weather in Laurens yesterday......Clinton sent it's electrical crews over there to try and get power back on for everybody by this morning....I think they said 7000 were affected at one point......I didn't make it all the way through the Sunday Night game, went to bed while it was still tied I think.....I could do fish and hash-browns for supper maybe......

some stormy weather

more than was predicted.....if you saw any of the football game in Charlotte you could see how hard it was raining.....got heavy rain here in Clinton, but over in Cindy and Matt's neighborhood in Laurens there was a "microburst" which knocked down branches and whole trees.....blocking the streets, knocking out some power, and smashing up some houses.....I guess their house wasn't damaged, but the house next door had roof damage......so I just sat inside all afternoon and watched way too much football.....fixed steak dinner with gravy and all.....starting now to watch NBC Sunday Night Football.....don't know how far I'll get into it......I didn't realize I could watch NFL for so many hours with just an indoor antenna.....

more meat than I thought

on that tip of the slab of ribs.....decided to have deviled sharp cheddar on wheat and the last bit of the ribs for Sunday lunch.....now I'm stuffed pretty much.....might not do a steak dinner later....we'll see how hungry I feel by the end of the afternoon.....remains sunless and low overcast right now....maybe it will burn off eventually....still high humidity.....I guess I could start another library book.....and then see if there is any good football game on in a while.....

warm fog

70 at sunrise.....they say it got up to 85 yesterday.....didn't seem that hot to me....I did turn on the ceiling fan for a while though......lightning went by to the East around ten last night while I was out on the porch, with one real loud strike here in town, and maybe one minute of rain.....but mostly it stayed a few miles away......I just microwaved a plate of ribs and rice and beans for supper....today I guess I'll do sirloin with mashed potatoes, green beans and gravy again.....maybe Monday I should cut the grass, it's looking somewhat unkempt out there.....finished a good library book.....The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma.....recommended reading.....was trying to watch some baseball after supper, but gave that up when I realized I must have nodded off through a couple of innings.....so I turned off the TV and didn't turn it back on to watch any movies or whatever......

good gravy

with bits of caramelized garlic in it.....those rainy days this week brought the regional rainfall total for the year to within two inches of normal.....we were like six inches down before that.....66 and muggy when I went for the paper, dark clouds to the East, clearing off mostly to the West....Laurens won racking up 64 points last night, a school record.....Clinton lost by 3 points to undefeated Belton-Honea Path......so I guess I'll go out and walk around some more this morning.....the yard could use some touching up, but it can wait......I can have left over ribs this evening, an easy meal......I sat out on the front porch late again last night, right before bed.....I suppose that in a few weeks it will start getting too cold to keep doing that.....

later that same day

looks like the whole storm system has blown itself north and east....so now we have blue skies and white puffy clouds....and sunshine heating things up to about 80F.....I had grilled spam and cheese on wheat for lunch.....in a while I'll fix a piece of sirloin with diced garlic, mashed potatoes, and cut green beans sauteed with sweet onion.....might even make gravy......nothing in the mail today......not tomorrow but the next Saturday I'll go over to Laurens for the BBQ festival thing, with the tractor parade and the car show and lots of ribs, etc......hog calling, pickle eating contest, bands......

Fall stormin' in

thunderstorm with really heavy rain at sunrise.....drove for the paper again today, still raining an hour later, but maybe there will be a break sometime so I can get out of the house and take a walk.....had my oatmeal with cocoa in it for breakfast.....I saw an ad the other day for Chocolate Cheerios, I didn't know they had those....or have they had them for a long time but I never noticed.....I guess it might rain on high-school football tonight, there seems to be plenty of moisture still on the way up through Florida and Georgia to here.....I ate the two biggest ribs last night, so there's enough left there for one more supper and probably a lunch.....I used that honey mustard sauce.....

5:05 AM EDT 9/23/2011

since Fall starts before dawn tomorrow, I guess I just took my last walk around the park for the Summer.....by one this afternoon the storms had mostly gone by, so I only got a few drops out walking just now....I put some gel insoles in the walmart boots, so I can get stomping right along pretty good with those on....before I left the house I put some ribs in the oven.....in the big iron skillet with the lid on at 300......should have fall-off-the-bone ribs by suppertime.....I've got left-over red beans and rice as a side.....sat out on the front porch a while this morning just watching it rain......

newspaper

right now is when I usually go walk to get the paper, but there's a thunderstorm going on.....the rain is really pouring down.....which is a good thing.....the City has been talking lately about water restrictions, since the flow is low on the river where the pump station gets the intake.....I could drive over and get the paper, or I could wait 'til later in the morning to walk.....it's 70 degrees with 100% humidity.....had my poached egg on wheat toast and black coffee already.....what the heck, I'm going to jump in the Jeep and get the paper, 'cause it's the time of day when I want to read the paper.....

some rain

rained last night, rained a little when I went for the paper, rained driving to the grocery store and back....also low clouds and fog.....I just looked at the radar right now and decided that I'd get wet if I tried to walk over by the mill, what with another bunch of rain sliding towards here pretty quick looking.....so I'll read the Clinton weekly instead of heading out the door again .....maybe conditions will be better for a walk later in the day.....they didn't have any chicken cooked yet for the deli deal that was advertised, so I bought sirloin steak and ribs in the meat section.....and things for veggie sides, and Bacon Spam for lunch meat.....and bread and orange juice and cheese and apples, etc.....heard the mail truck go by without stopping......next thing I should get is the utility bill.....I should go ahead and schedule the DSL bill......

maybe a chicken

you can get an already cooked chicken almost as cheap as uncooked.....and they have the deli deal in the ad this week where you get a chicken, 2 lbs of salads (potato, slaw, macaroni) and the bag of dinner rolls for 10 bucks.....that's good for maybe four suppers right there, plus enough salad to have with lunch too.....maybe grilled spam and cheese this week for sandwiches.....maybe spam-n-shell salad.....the pasta box has a recipe for ham-n-shell salad .....what ham can do, spam can do.....I did sweep and vacuum this morning, and walked over by the mill....just a couple of drops of rain on that walk.....barely any at all.....it's all the way up to 66 at 11 am......

stocks slide on Greece

I guess you could predict that the headline writer on the Market Watch would say that....either that or "stocks slip on Greece".....I've seen that one too lately....seen it too much maybe....anyway, a Tuesday morning, looking much the same as a Monday morning.....didn't get any rain here overnight after all, I think it stayed in Georgia......I can pan sear some shrimp for supper, and then go grocery shopping next morning.....I'm going to have chili left for some more meals.....it was 63 at the breakfast table, and 63 outside also on the early walk.....they say it might get up towards 80 late afternoon.....the clouds and chance of rain will hang around until the weekend.....yesterday I did some laundry.....today I should vacuum the carpet.....

last monday of the summer

another fairly cool gray day looks like......clouded over and windy this morning.....I'm going over to the library in a bit......stayed up until the middle of the night watching the Falcons, a game that went down to the final seconds still in close contention, so it was keeping me awake.....watched some other football in the afternoon too, and then made breakfast for supper.....steak and eggs with hash-browns......might make a steak sandwich for lunch today.....probably eat chili again this evening.....it will be cool enough to need a flannel shirt or something to go out to the library, I think there's a shirt on the back seat of the Jeep that's been there since May, the last time it was cool enough......well, off we go......

bourbon french toast breakfast

Today looks like Friday and Saturday.....clouded over, cool, windy.....the Packers and Panthers will be on TV this afternoon.....bets on that one? The Blue Hosers scored 12 points against Cal....but Cal scored 63.....an article in today's sports section said that PC had a $400,000 guarantee to make the trip out West.....it was the first time the football team had been west of the Mississippi.....library books are due tomorrow, and there's one I haven't finished....might not bother with it, the story isn't that good anyway......the bathroom sink is draining real slow, so I'm going to take the trap off....it's probably full of hair ......had more chili and cornbread last night.....today I should use up that piece of steak in the fridge before it changes color or something.....I'm going to go do that sink right now, so I don't put it off to another day again....

didn't get any rain last night

and the wind isn't as strong as the other day.....54 at sunrise, so I used a sweater and a jacket on the first walk, but only the sweater on the second walk.....I guess it's good football weather.....Clinton and Laurens both lost last night.....I might just go ahead and have chili again tonight, it was good enough tasting to warrant two days in a row....and the corn bread will still be fresh enough.....I managed not to burn the bottom of the corn bread this time, got it out of the oven at the right time for a change.....nothing in the mail today but another thing about "final expenses"......I paid my AAA for another year online.....it says on the card I've been a member for 3 years.....they ignore the 40 something years of California membership apparently.....

chili came out great

might be the best I've ever made....or maybe I was just hungry....at the Resort they had a chili contest in the Fall where everybody would bring crock-pots and set them on the bar....and the Cafe provided bowls and spoons and pans of cornbread.....and sold lots of cold beer.....everybody voted on slips of paper .....I never won....I made country sausage chili with pintos, kidney beans, black beans, etc.....the guy who usually won made this just amazing chili that was HOT.....I don't know what his secret was.....second place would be this lady whose chili tasted like it had sage and rosemary picked off the hills in it.....first prize was a gold nugget they said was worth $100....and the guy would end up giving it back for rent probably.....what would that gold be worth today? Second and third prizes were certificates for free meals at the Cafe.....it was fun....it was on a Friday so after they cleared things up there would be a band and the usual crowd.....

walked to the Curb Market

to get a bottle of beer for the chili pot....it looked like it needed some added liquid or it was going to be pretty chewy chili....it smells good already.....and I kept my jacket on to go sit on the front porch and eat my apple....it's going to stay cool for sure today.....it's getting to the time of year when the sidewalk is crunchy with acorns.....wind overnight brought some down looks like......

strong cold dry north wind

it was holding the storm door closed when I tried to get out of the house to go get the paper.....no shorts and t-shirt today, but blue jeans and a jacket.....dark clouds cover the sky.....they say it will stay close to 60 all day long.....30 degrees cooler than yesterday's high.....50% chance of rain by tonight.....I'm going to go put the chili in the cooker, and then look at taking another walk in the wind......

red-ish-orange moon

from the front porch last night just as it was coming up.....like when there's a forest fire somewhere, but there was no fire on the news.....maybe it was just haze .......around 60 again this morning, should stay in the 80's today, yesterday it got to 91 here.....10 degrees above the normal temp......hopefully the front they are talking about will bring some rain when it gets here, the whole state is again in "moderate drought" status ......so they told us on the news last night not to leave the tap running while you brush your teeth.....who does that? I wasn't very hungry so I just had a chicken fillet sandwich for supper.....with pickle and lettuce, mayo and bbq sauce, on 7-grain toast......today will be a skillet of steak with garlic, and hash-browns and baked beans.....I got the pulled-pork out of the freezer to thaw some in the fridge until Friday morning when it will go into the crock-pot for the chili....it still looks like a lot of meat.....well, it will be meaty chili then...looking forward to the cornbread, haven't made any in a while.....

Wednesday routine

61 at sunrise.....I sat out on the porch late last night and watched the moon rise through thin clouds, it was pleasant out.....and pleasant this morning too....should end up about like yesterday.....anyway, went for groceries and didn't spend much, but should have enough meals for another week......pulled-pork chili, skillet steak and taters with beans, shrimp with red beans and rice, fish with taters and salad......have a couple of those options twice and I think that makes seven days.....I've got the weekly paper to look at, and then later a sausage sandwich for lunch....I finished off the chicken pasta salad last night.....I bought corn bread mix to have with chili.....I'll crock-pot leftover pulled-pork with sweet onion, bell pepper, garlic, pinto beans, kidney beans, and chili powder.....might do that Friday, when it might rain.....

before my 2nd walk

I went over to Wal*Mart and bought some light hiking boots.....a podiatrist one time said that's what I should wear...."something with a good heel to it"......the idea being that some heel height shifts the weight more to the ball of the foot....and also gets a good angle between the ankle and the knee, which was a problem he saw I was having with my stride geometry.....so on the walk around the park and back the boots do feel comfortable and sturdy.....might take a while to wear them out, we'll see......last night on the newscast from London they had a thing about Scotland setting a record for whiskey exports, despite the shaky world economy.....the speculation was one factor could be that the emerging middle class in China regards serving Scotch as a status symbol......so I stopped on the way home and got a bottle of Scotch.....it's our patriotic duty to keep up with the Chinese, isn't it? I've used up all but one piece of that frozen chicken.....and I should go ahead and finish off the frozen shrimp some time this week I suppose.....I'll need eggs this week at the store.....I'm a little low on olive oil too.....they are saying it will get up to 90 over the next couple of days, but then the prediction for Friday is a high of 68 and a low of 54, with 40% chance of rain.....BBC last night showed the remains of Katia blowing into Scotland.....waves washing up and hitting some train going along the coast....

delightful weather continues

at least for a couple of days, then it might rain.....but I don't mind rain, and we need it.....it's been getting into the 80's, but doesn't even feel like it, with the humidity down in a decent range.....watched the Atlanta and Carolina football games yesterday.....mostly with the TV turned down and music on the stereo, to avoid hearing the commercials.....the mail just got here, heard the box rattle....I'll check that out in a minute.....I went over and got bread and wine at the store....got 7-grain bread this time.....I had a kielbasa sandwich for lunch yesterday, might do that again today.....I've still got pasta salad and mozzarella chicken for meals, and then it will be shopping day again.....I should get fixings for chili and cornbread, that sounds good.....you hardly ever hear any aircraft around here, but yesterday and this morning somebody has been flying around.....and when I walked over by the mill I could see it was the sheriff helicopter.....maybe they are looking for somebody in particular....or maybe it's marijuana time in the woods or something......

Blue Hose

actually won a football game, beating North Greenville 38-21......next weekend they travel to San Francisco to play California Golden Bears at the Giants ballpark on the Bay? Want to make any bets on that one? Who came up with that idea? Anyway, Clemson and South Carolina both won their games too, so lots of happy campers in the Upstate this morning I suppose.....the nice weather continues, temperate weather.....half the neighborhood was sitting out on front porches around sunset yesterday.....well, the neighbors I can see from my front porch were all out at one point.....it was about 80 outside I guess.....I did mix some pimento cheese into my chicken salad last night, that worked pretty well to jazz it up some.....I'm almost out of bread, so I suppose I'll make an extra trip tomorrow morning for that.....the only wheat bread the close neighborhood market has is Sara Lee, which isn't that great, so I'll go ahead and drive over to the big store for a more substantial loaf.....watched a couple of mountain music shows on public television last night, one from SC and one from NC.....

county champions

Clinton beat Laurens in their annual football game, shut them out 28-0 last night......for some folk around here that's the defining event of any given year.....another beautiful morning.....was 54 at daybreak, might get around 83 again late afternoon......it will stay 70 or so in the house with a few windows open....right now the kitchen window is open and the ceiling fan is on full to help dry the kitchen floor from being mopped....ran the vacuum too, did some other picking up and stuff....there should be some kind of TV sports later today, baseball or college football.....I could go see a college game a mile or so from here, but they charge admission......last night in the iron skillet I did a chunk of beef kielbasa, fried potato, and some beans....that worked well enough.....today I suppose I'll have some chicken pasta salad, with lettuce and snack crackers.....I'm reading three library books at once.....when I get tired of one story I go to another one for a while......the library books aren't due until almost Autumn.....

the chicken pasta salad

was OK, but maybe I can kick it up a notch by throwing in some pimento cheese spread.....the football game last night was pretty good, but I only made it through 3 quarters.....the Packers got pretty far ahead, and I was watching it with one eye open....so it was off to bed.....another mild morning, and should be low 80's in the afternoon.....I might have a fish sandwich with pickle and lettuce for lunch, since I have a head of lettuce to use up......instead of having the salad two nights in a row I could have a piece of kielbasa and some baked beans.....could spice that up with some of the mustard BBQ sauce.....maybe have a hash-brown side too.....I should look for some walking shoes, I keep wearing them out.....

55 in Clinton....55 in Coos Bay also

at least that's what the weather page said right after breakfast, before I went to get the paper.....and it was 61 when I went out to cut the grass, and 68 when I finished with that....pretty good exercise, but not as exhausting as getting it done at an 85 heat index, like in July.....so we are having a mild Fall-like spell.....put a blanket on the bed even.....around lunch-time I'll boil some medium pasta shells and mix up a chicken salad and put it in the fridge for supper tonight.....Packers and Saints start the season at 8:30 eastern.....so it will go on 'til midnight or something? We'll see if I make it past half-time.....the squash sauteed with onion in olive oil and then heated up in tomato base sauce with a little parmesan-romono thrown in came out like I remembered.....you used to be able to buy "Italian Squash" in a can done that way, but I haven't seen that on the shelf here....mine is better anyway.....another helping of that left for some other time.....I woke up around three in the morning from a strange dream....it was like I was going into a new job situation, and people were introducing themselves to me before work.....and they were telling me names ....that I could still remember after I woke up.....don't remember that ever before....and they were not names from the past, they were names I'd never heard of.....maybe quantum simultaniety from the sleeping minds of a group of workers in the neighborhood.....maybe not.....

59 degrees after sunrise

I noticed it was the same in Goleta....but it was still night there....it's 66 and overcast later in the morning.....I thought about putting on a long-sleeve shirt to go walking, but didn't really need that....and I went to the grocery store....got some chunk white chicken to make chicken pasta salad...already had some olives...got some real cheap sweet pickle relish....and I got a beef kielbasa......and a bag of frozen "southern-style" hash-browns.....they used to have the potatoes o'brian, but the last couple of times I looked for those they weren't there.....so I got a sweet onion, didn't get a bell pepper though....I'm thinking here of the pulled pork hash idea....with runny eggs, as a breakfast for supper trip....probably on a Sunday....I have cajun hot sauce.....I got a head of lettuce.....it's from Salinas.....I wanted a bed of iceburg for the chicken salad....today the menu will feature mozzarella chicken, with zucchini and onion done in the same sauce.....maybe or maybe not bother with the pasta side, don't really need it.....I can use those whole wheat medium shells for the chicken salad too.....nothing much of interest in the Clinton weekly.....Clinton plays Laurens this week I think.....ZF eight-speed transmissions says it's going to hire 300 more people, above the 900 they had promised....they still have to build the factory though.....and some carbon- composite material company from Europe is coming here too.....the new Boeing 737 plant down by Charleston will need such material......

swamp thang conditions

Lee has dragged the air that belongs down along the Gulf up here.....it can be dark clouds and 7 mph wind .....but it's still in the 80's and total humidity.....got a little rain shower on my 2nd walk, but was still soaked with sweat by the time I got back home....so after lunch I swept, vacuumed, and took a shower to try to wash off the stickyness.....I got a Guitar Player in the mail, so something to look at......I guess clouds and chance of rain are going to keep coming and going all day long.....the Tuesday grocery ads came.....nothing jumped out at me for food ideas....I do need to get OJ and butter......

not as much rain as they predicted

the bulk of the storm wheeled by to the west and north, so the Upstate didn't get any 4 inches like the Weather Service expected.....so that leaves it at 29" right now, instead of the 33" which is normal for through this date......but all the rain that did hit the NC and GA mountains will add some to SC lakes and aquifers as it goes downstream.....so Labor Day has come and gone.....very exciting, I ate a big supper and then fell asleep afterwards on the sofa listening to the rain.....so I didn't even watch any TV, just sat outside watching clouds blow along for a while and then went to bed around 10:30......I should freeze half of that pulled pork.....it sure does make good sandwiches, but one sandwich doesn't use up very much.....there are still some on and off showers this morning, so I'm watching the radar to see about taking a walk around the park.....had to wait earlier today to go get the paper, since a little rain was coming down at 7:30.....but it only lasted 15 minutes or so.....

lots of humidity

rained hard yesterday afternoon, and then rained pretty steady again in the middle of the night.....rained a little on my early walk....the paper says the tropical depression will reach here sometime this afternoon, and effect the area for two more days after that.....might be tornadoes involved along with the 4 inches of rain and strong winds.....9 inches up against the mountains.....cloudy and cool outside right now, don't know if I'd get rained on again if I go for another walk or not......maybe that's why some folks around here have their grills set up on the front porch, so they can cook the ribs or whatever even if its pouring rain on the holiday.....

OK, lots of pulled pork

I've got about a quart of it.....some of it can go into carnitas burritos I suppose.....one place online said it goes great in huevos rancheros.....or use it in Brunswick stew....last time I had some I used it in grilled cheese sandwiches too.....or you can just put it on the plate and eat it with a fork I suppose.....put it on grits.....add onion and potato and pan-fry some hash to serve with eggs over easy.....anyway, it tastes really good the way the rub and the sauce went together.....it's cloudy this morning, with maybe 50% chance of rain today or this evening, 90% on Labor Day.....on the radar the edge of TS Lee is already in the area.....the clouds to the West are part of that system.....did not need the AC yesterday, just kicked the ceiling fan up a notch for a while.....had rum-soaked french toast for breakfast.....think I'll try the BBQ and pimento cheese grilled sandwich for lunch....maybe the mozzarella chicken for supper, that's easy, you just do it in the microwave.....I'm saving the corn on the cob for the actual holiday......

got hot yesterday

had to close up the house and set the AC around 3 in the afternoon.....but later some thunderstorms came around and so it didn't have to run very long.....and by bedtime it was raining.....pan-seared curried shrimp, black-pepper grits, summer squash steamed with sweet onion was for supper.....right now Saturday morning the pork is in the crock-pot with mesquite rub and some apple cider vinegar.....8 hours ought to do it.....plenty of meat there for the holiday weekend and beyond.....I've got hamburger buns for the pulled pork sandwiches.....72 right now, so I'm going out for a walk......

10 at night

and a storm is getting here.....thunder, lightning, wind and rain....cooling things off anyway.....'bout time to go to bed and listen to the rain.....

saw a turtle

walking along the sidewalk near the park......80 out with 2 mph west wind, should be hot today but then start cooling off as a cold front from the north meets up with tropical moisture from the Gulf over the next 4 or 5 days, hopefully bringing lots of rain.....I mailed my vehicle tax in on Monday, and got the plate tag for 2012 back this morning.....that was quick.....the only other mail was an ad for an auto parts store, and somebody offering to loan me money "for any purpose" at only 17.95 % A.P.R. .......I don't know why these people want to loan me money.....given what I know about my character and habits I wouldn't loan me money......the Italian platter made a tasty supper yesterday, filling too.....so today I'll try the shrimp plate.....watched the first half of the Panthers game last night, then sat out on the porch for a little while before going on to bed.....I've been sleeping well lately, maybe because I can't think of anything to worry about in the wee small hours.....nothing that I could do anything about anyway.....it's time now to go sit out in the backyard and eat my apple.....

been a dry Summer

was in the all time top ten for hot and dry around here.....7th I think, something like that....so they are talking about lake levels again, and wells running dry....tourist site waterfalls barely have any water to fall.....but there's still no state law against having burn piles in the Fall, so there will be fire damage to property.....tonight the Steelers play the Panthers on local TV....hopefully the Panthers can do better than last year......I got some whole wheat medium pasta shells to use as the "starch" side with my chicken and my shrimp menus items this week.....got a roasted garlic and onion sauce for that....so today I'm going to do chicken with mozzarella and sauce, the shells, and green salad with vinegar-oil dressing.....the white box wine was just about cleaned off the shelf at the grocery store, so I got Burgundy this time.....a box-boy told me once that it was sorority rush that took all the cheap white wine boxes off the shelf this time every year.....