quesadilla and a handfull of olives

for lunch....looks like it's 52 here, and about the same in Oakland and Goleta.....ten degrees colder in Coos Bay....ten degrees warmer down around San Diego......I just read a thing that says trick-or-treat in downtown Clinton is from 6 until 8.....didn't know it was that well defined.....but Mill Village is a world unto itself in a lot of ways.....I bet people come by after 8 anyway.....might be pretty cold by then.....I've got either country fried steak or country ham slice for supper....possible sides would be mac-and-cheese, hash-browns, lima beans......put gravy on any or all of that......same choices for Tuesday, and then it's shopping day again Wednesday.....I got some library books OK.....got "Sonic Youth Radio" streaming through Roku from Pandora.....I could check the mail I guess......

another cold morning walk

with some clouds, windchill of 31 degrees.....might not make it up to 60 today......I'm getting ready to go over to the library, and might go into the supermarket while I'm over that way, if I could remember what I was thinking about.....it was something I could get while I was over there.....oh well.....I've got the candy for Halloween anyway, and a big bowl to put it in for handing out.....no jack-o-lantern or costume or scary things on the porch though.....some of the houses around here have been decorated all October will all kinds of stuff.....when did Halloween lights become popular? I don't remember anybody putting up strings of them in the old days......the church across the street will have things for the kids tonight, and the City is having some kind of Halloween carnival too around the square I guess......these doings are meant to keep the kids from going door to door? whatever......

lots of frost on the lawns

when I went walking right as the sun was coming up.....next week the sun will be an hour higher at the same time? The temp was right at freezing.....36 outside now.....no clouds today, bright sunshine but crisp......I've got one library book to finish before they are due tomorrow.....Panthers play the Vikings I think it is at 1:00.......that might be my football for the day.....yesterday I saw part of the Appalachian State-Georgia Southern game on PBS.....they don't have all the obnoxious commercials......and online I caught the end of Blue Hose vs. Flames, including the 2 OT's.....Hose couldn't extinguish the Flames after all......I fixed country ham with pan gravy, mac-and-cheese, lima beans for supper.....ham and french toast for breakfast.....they say the high today will be 60.....the band last night played 'til around 8:30 that I could hear, it was too cold and dark outside for me by then.....

report from the street

OK in the sun, not so nice on the shady side of the street.....50 and a 10 mph north wind.....it cleared off for a bit, but now more clouds keep coming over.....still there's a half-decent crowd of folks for the Festival......hopefully it will build up later....it goes on until 9 tonight.....the old cars didn't have any Studebakers this time.....it did have some old Dodge with big fins, a couple of woodies, and a real nice Hudson Hornet.....I went in the Pizza House bar when it opened at 11 and got a sub sandwich and a pint of Sharkshead lager....I thinks that's what it was called.....I like that old bar, has a good ambience what with the exposed brick walls, really high old tin ceiling and tall windows looking out over the deck.....sort of a wrought iron fireplace in one corner that must be an antique of some sort....the worn pine floors from when the building was a five-and-dime way back when.....so it was warm and quiet in the bar, I was the only customer right then.....I thought I should patronize the place at least once.....maybe they will stay in business....the barkeep said they had pretty good nights with the World Series.....and they do Monday Night Football....he says they'll stay open until 2 in the morning if there's still anybody in the place.....my lunch cost what you would expect for a hefty sandwich and a fancy pint....came with a bag of chips and a pickle spear.....I think I'm done with the street fair for the day though, walking around for an hour in cold weather got my back to stiffen up and ache some.....I'll probably be able to hear the shag dance band from the front porch when that starts up after supper.....if it's not too cold for the front porch tonight.....

43 and a north wind

but I guess the rain went through during the night, so it's cold right now for the street fair thing but at least it's not getting any wetter.....they could do a better job with the traffic signage.....it just says ROAD CLOSED.....nothing to tell people not familiar with the area how to detour around the blocked off part to get back to the highway, so some cars seem to be lost, going around in circles....maybe the idea is to just trap people at the Festival.....I'll go over there shortly and check it out a bit, maybe buy something to eat if something looks good......should get sunny by the afternoon and they might get some good crowd for the vendors and all.....I turned on the central heat this morning for an hour or so.....the football team won the Homecoming game, and so gets the second seed in the region playoff.....Laurens lost to Wren in their game......

that crazy baseball game

lasted 'til one this morning.....a comedy of errors.....so they do it again tonight and this will be the last one for sure.....the change in the weather got here this morning.....clouded over, north wind.....on the radar you can see the storm moving in this direction.....it will be a wool cap and windbreaker walk if I go ahead and try to beat the rain.....actually, the rain is still in Georgia....so I'll get out the door in a few minutes and walk, or I'll fuss at my self all day long about being too lazy to get any exercise.....enchilada and pintos leftovers sounds like a good cold weather supper....it will probably be raining by that time of day.....I might make a steak sandwich for lunch....the Chex Mix makes a good snack for watching the ball game....and I have some peanuts too, but no Cracker Jacks.....I haven't even seen any of those lately, but they must still make them? If tomorrow looks as blustery as today, that might put a damper on the Fall Festival thing.....we'll see what happens......

Cattle Drive

I went on a drive out through the woods.....looking at the Fall colors.....I don't know the names of all the different trees like WB did.....if you went driving through the woods with him he would tell you what all the various stands of timber were, and whether or not you could get straight lumber out of them or if they were pretty much worthless.....the Duncan Creek bridge is still out, has been for a long time now.....I saw where they might have money for it in the 2013 highway budget.....but now the whole SCDOT is in arrears or something and who knows when anything will get fixed.....so I took the way out to the churchyard in Ora where you go for a ways on Cattle Drive.....there's one old house you go by that way that's an old unpainted Depression Era kind of place like Grandma's.....but it looks inhabited still, cars in the yard and rocking chairs on the front porch.....I came back on Fleming Mills to the 121 near Ford School.....and went down and shot the shit with the guy in the guitar shop for a while....bought a Herco pick for $2, that kind of hybrid flat-pick-thumb-pick.....the one I had before broke a while back.....he still has pretty much the same guitars in there as months ago....he does make some money renting school band instruments......he didn't have anything to do right then but stand around and talk anyway, he allowed as how......

fried pie?

Every once in a while the church across the street puts out a sign that says "Thursday Hot Dog Bake Sale".....this morning there was an extra hand made sign that said "home made fried apple pies"......I hope that means they use fried apples in the pie, and not that they take the whole pie and deep-fry it.....one time the youth pastor stopped me as I was out walking, and told me to come by the church when the Thursday sign was out and they would give me a free hot-dog lunch plate.....maybe my carefully cultivated stumble-bum image had him thinking I must be one of the underfed elderly......actually I was pretty much overfed yesterday after eating beef enchilada....it came out tasty.....I was dozing off later waiting for the World Series, and then found out the dang game had been moved to Thursday night because of a rain forecast.....the pintos were good too, with onion, cilantro, cheese, and a little of the sauce in them.....cooked down to the proper consistency while the other was in the oven getting bubbly on top.....it was warm enough last night to sit out on the porch late, but they are saying it's going to get cold again pretty quick.....right now it looks fine outside, good for the park walk....

beautiful in the afternoon

just about perfect porch-sitting conditions.....72, a few wispy clouds, light breeze, trees turning color, leaves whirling around, butter-flys flutter by, etc......got an AAA magazine, and the ad on the back cover was for ordering your holiday fruitcakes.....I hope BiLo has those little individual size fruitcakes again this year, those are fine for the single Tingle.....today over there I got my Chex Mix OK....good stuff.....and I got the stuff for enchiladas tonight....with pintos.....and some top round steak, tenderized....and a country ham slice.....lima beans, early peas, orange juice, a loaf of wheat bread......a bag of candy for Monday evening.....walked the park, read the local paper....there will be a pickle eating contest Saturday at the Fall Festival.....and a street dance from 6 to 9 in the evening.....a talent show.....and the Little Miss Sweet Tea Beauty Pageant....whole thing sounds like a real trip.....anyway, tonight back to the baseball....something to watch .....turn off the sound and play guitar, that works......

fog at sunrise

could not actually see the sun rising......48 degrees, not much wind.....stayed about 60 in the house....it's time to go to the supermarket.....I guess I could get some candy for trick-or-treat.....the church across the street is having a festival that night too....the sign says there will be hay-rides......wonder how they do that.....just in a pick-up truck, or with a horse and a wagon? I want to look for some Chex Mix for myself, haven't had any of that in ages.... is it bad for you? Who cares......the fog is burning off, should get to the 70's again today, and then get colder over the next few days, with some chance of rain Thursday and on into Friday maybe....the weather page said it was 31 in Coos Bay......

from a strictly pragmatic point of view

an absolute idealism will test out exactly the same as a pure nihilism.....thought for the day.....

11:30

before the ballgame was over.....but it was worth staying awake.....most of the action was in the late innings.....and I slept through 'til morning pretty well.....looks like it's going to be another nice Fall day, like yesterday.....mid-70's, not too cold at night.....not cold enough for a frost anyway.....heated up pot-roast supper last night, that was easy.....had cold pot-roast with cheddar cheese on a biscuit for lunch yesterday, then had the last biscuit at supper.....I suppose there's enough of the roast left to make beef enchiladas.....I have olives, I could get tortillas and a can of sauce grocery shopping Wednesday.....I'll think about that.....it's about time to go walk around the park.....Monday I walked around it the opposite way from usual, made me dizzy walking backwards.....dogs that haven't barked at me in years got confused and barked at me because I was going in the wrong direction from every other day......

pink clouds in the sunrise

and it wasn't as cold on the early walk as it had been the last few days.....mid-40's instead of mid-30's......the denim jacket was enough, instead of the leather jacket....in a couple of months I'll need the ski jacket I imagine......might get to mid-70's in the afternoon.....I haven't seen any rain forecast, but it's overcast......stayed up and watched the World Series game last night....it was a good one, could have gone either way down to the last pitch.....so I'll probably take a nap after lunch, make up for lost sleep.....I can work on the pot-roast leftovers today......I watched a Robert Mitchum movie from 1956 between football and baseball in the evening, those as always good......

already?

another week passed by real quick to me......I was sitting at breakfast eating my french toast thinking that it seemed like yesterday that I was sitting there eating my french toast....which I only eat on Sundays......just a couple of months left in 2011......looks like it might warm up almost to 70 today, but it was another cold morning, turned on the heat and went back to bed for half an hour while it got warm inside.....37 and some frost on the sunrise walk.....Southern Cal-Notre Dame and the World Series were on at the same time, so I was switching back and forth for a while, but by 9:30 my eyes didn't want to stay open anymore, so I went to bed.....read the scores in the morning....Redskins play Carolina today in the afternoon game.....the paper picks the Panthers .....I'll believe that when I see it.....

walking around "downtown"

or maybe they call it "uptown", I'm not sure.....anyway, instead of my usual walk over by the mill I went past the Post Office and my bank that way and over to Musgrove and then back home past the Curb Market, etc......next Saturday is Clinton Fall Festival.....Broad St. will be blocked off a block more then they usually do, so there will be two stages for bands and whatever, and next to the old hardware store there will be a classic car cruise-in.....maybe the couple that sells the hash-dogs will be there again, I like those.....last year the classic cars included two or three Studebakers, that was cool.....and now there is a cocktail bar open again over the alley at the rear of 120 Musgrove, which is now Pizza House......the guy that owns that said in something I read that their room for private parties was just about booked-out for the holiday season....maybe they are going to make a go of it, I hope so.....I should go over there and get an Italian sausage sandwich sometime, but I hate to spend money eating out.....I'm too cheap.....

cold overnight

frost warning until 10 am......Red Devils beat Union last night, and if they win at home next week they should get into the region play-offs.....Raiders lost, but are still in a good position for their region.....regions are like leagues in California.....I keep looking at that back lawn, but I don't really want to deal with it while it's wet.....maybe it will dry up some by after lunch and I can get it done.....it was mid-30's at sunrise again, on the deserted Saturday morning walk.....I've got plenty of leftover pot-roast to make a sandwich for lunch.....with bread-and-butter pickle slices and mustard and mayo.....I think I'll go ahead and do drumsticks and brown rice and corn this evening, and then alternate leftovers for the rest of the week....except maybe have breakfast for supper on Sunday, hash and eggs.....can of hash in the cupboard.....the cloudless cold nights will be around for a while looks like, so the central heat is in operation now......augmented during the day by the duraflame in the living room.....with the ceiling fan on reverse low speed to push the warm air down and around the room.....that method works for comfort.....

thinking ahead already

to pot-roast sandwiches for lunch in days to come.....this evening I'll cut left-over biscuit in half and toast that, and cook some tender young peas.....and get myself a serving of the roast....and pour the pot gravy over all that.....it's up to 61 in the afternoon....so it's cool enough for a Winter-type supper......fried thick baloney in a grilled cheddar on wheat-nut bread sandwich for lunch....with a few BBQ corn chips and about the last of the merlot.....I've got burgundy in reserve....the park walk later in the morning was warm enough....the back yard can wait 'til another day to get cleaned up some.....pretty soon I should try to get more organized about picking up the pecans, instead of letting them go to waste so much....but my lower back isn't very good for bending over like that, to pick up little things.....maybe I can figure something out.....the squirrels take care of a lot of them anyway.....they don't listen to me when I tell them to leave my pecans and acorns alone.....I'm just jiving them, and they know it.....

patchy frost

In the 30's on the morning walk, but the wind is calm so it wasn't so bad.....did get out my stocking cap and a heavier jacket......got the chuck roast in the crock-pot, with mushrooms, mushroom soup, onion, garlic, black pepper, oregano......trying to decide whether to go for another walk, or to look at cutting the weeds out back....it's 41 outside, maybe I'll do neither....or maybe later.....

modified park walk

there was a big chunk of an old oak tree down across the sidewalk at one point, so I went down through the middle of the park instead of going that way.....and came back right alongside the mill, in the parking lot where there aren't any trees to drop limbs on you.....some clouds starting to blow over.....the wind is just nasty, so I'm staying inside now.....I usually go out front or back to sit and eat my apple this time of day, but it's more comfortable inside this morning.....

b-r-i-s-k

windchill of 38 on the sunrise walk.....clear, cold, strong west wind......50 in most of the house, but warm enough in the living room with the door shut and the duraflame running......GoClinton reports a windchill of 41 right now, so maybe I'll wait and see if it warms up some before trying the park walk.....high of 60 predicted today.....stayed up pretty late watching the World Series.....don't all those kids in the crowd have to go to school in the morning? Not my problem, I suppose......In the paper it looks like the game starts half an hour earlier tonight....or maybe that's just when the pre-game comes on.....they have like three years worth of 3rd Rock from the Sun on Netflix.....that's a pretty funny show, so I put it in my Instant Queue......so now in the evening after the local five o'clock news, the London news at 11 comes on, and then Paladin, 3rd Rock, and DS9.....create your own streaming reality......the wonders of technology.....life is what you make it......

rain/drizzle keep comein' and goin'

lots of stormy weather last evening and on through the night, was raining during breakfast, but let up enough to go walk for the paper.....but the park walk doesn't look feasible right now, unless I want to get wet like I did last Wednesday.....so I'll count the walking done in the store as exercise....I found a small enough chuck roast, and a small package of chicken legs.....that's the meat for the week.....I still have a pork chop I'm going to curry and have with brown rice and lima beans tonight.....this must be chicken soup weather, cousin Cindy and cousin Samantha both posted on fb this morning that chicken soup is in the crock pot.....I think that's what they said.....I got swiss cheese and thick bologna for lunches, with "health nut" bread as the bread of the week....I got mushrooms to go with the chuck roast when it gets slow-cooked maybe tomorrow.....

enjoy it while we can

going to be around 80 today, but by Thursday they are saying a high of 60, and wet.....nothing much in the grocery ads to inspire me, except drumsticks and thighs a buck a pound.....thighs are something you can do different things with, like just fry 'em up, or put them in some baked dish with rice or noodles maybe......I just ate the last apple, so I can get a bag of those.....and eggs this week, and butter, bread......I've been working on a large chunk of cheddar, so I'll look at swiss this time for a change......there's a good price on chuck roast.....which is a good cold weather supper, and it's going to turn cooler sooner rather than later looks like.....but it takes a while to eat up a chuck roast by yourself.....it does make for good tacos though.....

it's only a Monday

the mail truck went past without stopping and I thought "No Tuesday grocery ads".....to realize in the same breath that it's only Monday......clear, bright, sunny Monday morning.....it was in the 50's early on, so I went out and cut the grass in front.....without even getting very sweated up in this moderate weather......they are saying we might get rain tomorrow night and on into Wednesday again, like last week......but this afternoon might get up to 85......I still have two pork chops left to do something with.....maybe cook one with apple wedges, that's always good.....and I have meatloaf enough for one more sandwich for lunch today.....I was sitting out on the porch eating an apple when the mail went by.....admiring the neat looking lawn and the sidewalk with the leaves blown off it for the moment......

fine looking Sunday

70 outside.....was 46 at sunrise.....might get up close to 80 by the middle of the afternoon.....I stayed up 'til midnight watching Texas win the pennant.....at one today it's the Panthers and the Falcons, the two "local" teams......it was funny yesterday watching the game a few blocks away at the college, the camera looked across the field to the puny little visitors bleachers.....which didn't have many people in them.....and behind that all you can see is the woods.....no buildings or town or what all, just the sticks.....an accurate representation of Clinton for the TV viewer......the Hose won the game.....it was Homecoming, so they said the crowd was around 5000? They gave away 1000 cowbells to the crowd, something like that.....for school spirit.....to make noise......they only have 1200 kids at PC, and the school they beat has 4700.....Go Hose! What a silly name......I was drinking Scotch in the spirit of our proud Scotch-Irish heritage.....according to the game announcers, a Blue Hose is a Scottish Warrior.....the mascot has this big ol' claymore to swing around and vanquish the foe......blue and white tartan, school colors.....and the Tigers and the 'Cocks also prevailed in their gridiron contests, so plenty of happy campers at the Waffle House this morning I suppose.....

Blue Hose football on TV this afternoon

Live from Clinton.......might be amusing, if anything......looks like fine weather for it.....clear and cool at dawn today, some east wind.....I'll do steak dinner again today, finish off the rib-eye.....and Sunday an easy meal will be heating up the pork dirty rice......maybe grilled spam and cheese for lunch today, wheat french toast with country sausage for Sunday breakfast......there's a MLB playoff game that doesn't come on until 8 at night, so I probably won't stay awake through all that, unless it's a close game......the last two evenings I watched some overseas production of Moby Dick as a two-part miniseries I guess you would call it it......good show, old sailing ships and the evil white whale.......and I continue to watch episodes of Paladin and Quark somewhere between the overseas news and bedtime......there's some big Food Festival in Greenville this weekend, with samples from 40- odd restaurants .......one of those things where you buy sheets of tickets for the food, and you get a bracelet to let you buy booze.....state fair in Columbia too I think right now.....perfect conditions for all that, might get into the 80's Monday......

been a really nice day

sat out on the porch quite a bit just because it was so pleasant out.....walked the park after I got back from shopping in Laurens.....had a meatloaf sandwich with pickle slices, sharp cheddar, and mayo for lunch.....and the dirty rice dish for supper came out spicy and filling.....lots of it left for some other time......

59 degrees, blue sky, sunshine, west wind

some severe thunderstorms were moving through the region last night, but they missed Clinton, though Newberry got some action south of here.....we got a little rain was all, while I was watching the baseball.....Detroit sent the series back to Texas, etc.....I'm going over to WalMart for various sundries......I think I'll use the box of dirty rice mix in the cupboard and add diced sweet onion, diced bell pepper, and cubed pork for supper today.....always thinking ahead.....that will probably make left-overs for another day too.......

around 10:30 last night

Cruz hit another home run and it became obvious that the Rangers were going to win, so I went on to bed.....they do it again late this afternoon, and if Texas wins again they make it to the World Series? Two hour rain delay yesterday.....baseball in October......I think I heard it raining around five this morning.....eaves and trees were still dripping at sunrise, but it was warm enough to walk without a jacket.....in fact the temp is predicted to drop as the day goes by.....a cold front moving in from the north-west direction......drier air too comes with that, instead of the 100% humidity reading we've got here now......I had the last piece of pork from last week with bell pepper, onion, and BBQ sauce .....and hash browns and 3 bean salad for supper .....I'll have 4 oz. or so of steak tonight with mashed potatoes and gravy, and either more bean salad, or maybe seasoned lima beans as the veggie.....Wednesday lunch with the cold meatloaf on wheat was good, might be the same thing today.....I like those Southern Home bread-and-butter pickle slices, got a new jar yesterday......and I finished off the Fritos.....at the store I got the Southern Home BBQ flavor corn chips, on sale they were half the price of Frito Brand, and amount to the same thing as far as I can tell.......finished one bizarre library book and started another one....now it's time for the park walk......

misting

on the park walk.....didn't get too wet, just sort of.....dampish.....it rained all day yesterday, from when I woke up until when I went to sleep.....it was still raining when I woke up this morning.....but it stopped in time to go for the sunrise walk, which was clouded over.....so I went to the store today.....meals will feature steaks, chops, mashed potatoes, dirty rice, lima beans, corn.....gravy.....lunch meat will be meat loaf and spam....there's country sausage for Sunday breakfast, and if I want breakfast for supper some time......I got bread, pickle slices, peanuts, wheat thins, orange juice......I got a merlot this time instead of the burgundy, a couple of bucks more for the five litre box......I remembered peanut butter this time, which I'd forgotten at least twice in a row......can put it on wheat thins for a snack.....watched some of the baseball last night, but didn't stay awake until the end......

Turkish rug for entry hall

it's going to rain all day looks like

so since I couldn't get out of the house walking, I drove over to Aldi in Laurens.....it's owned by the same European company that now owns Trader Joe's.....it's mostly a food and wine store, but they do have Special Purchases of household items in their ads.....Sunday I saw a 5X7 Turkish rug for $40.....and since I wanted to get out of the house anyway I drove over there and spent the bucks for a real nice looking area rug.....mostly red to sit on the green in the entry hall....I'd post a picture, but my batteries are dead after not using the camera in a long time....maybe one day I'll get that done.....after three years here you could start to see a traffic pattern across the carpet in the hall, where I must walk to get from the living room to the rest of the house....I figure that rather than eventually wear out the carpet, I can wear out replaceable area rugs in high traffic situations......I think it's a really nice rug for the price.....it's actually made in Turkey.....they have two-buck wine over there, like Trader Joe.....but I didn't buy any, my hands were full with the rug ......

wet again this morning

there's a low south of here and the air is moving counter-clockwise so that moisture is being dragged inland from the Atlantic and producing rain as it piles up against the mountains.....that's how the weather dude explained it last night.....so I drove to the store for the paper again today.....it's damp and blustery out still, don't know about getting any walking done soon.....I'm down to my last slice of rye bread, but that's OK, tomorrow is grocery day....it just takes one slice for my usual half-sandwich lunch....and then oatmeal for Wednesday breakfast.....well, I've got plenty to read anyway, in this weather......

drizzle walking after lunch

but not enough to really get wet.....had another patty melt today, with Fritos.....got the furnace filter and put it down in the floor grate, so now I'm ready to run the heat when it gets cold enough.....I found some good library books this time looks like, five of them.....I started reading the last one I picked up first.....Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami.....here's a little bit...........(pg. 62) "I think most people live in a fiction. I'm no exception. Think of it in terms of a car's transmission. It's like a transmission that stands between you and the harsh realities of life. You take the raw power from outside and use gears to adjust it so everything's all nicely in sync. That's how you keep your fragile body intact. Does that make any sense?" Somewhere else the guy tells the romantic interest that life without her would be like Bobby Darin's Greatest Hits without "Mack the Knife".......

rain got here early

about five in the morning I could hear it raining.....I went back to sleep for an hour or so.....and it was raining again after breakfast, so I drove to get the newspaper.....it's still raining some around nine, but I'm going over to the library anyway, shouldn't get very wet.....and I'll look in Fred's Discount for a furnace filter, that's where I found one last time.......I'll do that pork cutlet thing again for Monday supper.....the peas are all gone, but I must have something in the cupboard for a veggie side.....I think I have three bean salad.......maybe this front will pass on through by the afternoon, and I can go out walking some......

windy, clouded over

raining in Florida and Georgia, but it doesn't look like it's moving in this direction....no big chance of rain until late Columbus Day, after dark maybe......plenty of football on TV yesterday.....today looks more like proper football watching weather, when it's not nice out.....for breakfast I made rye bread french toast with fruit juice in the batter.....it was tasty.....with a little fried Spam, coffee......I have several choices for lunch sandwich.....and supper will be easy heating up meatloaf, baked potato, peas......it was overcast overnight, so it didn't get as cold as the few nights previous when it was clear and dry......I don't think much closes for Columbus Day....the Post Office and the banks?

superlative meatloaf

if I do say so myself.....I think the chopped up bell pepper was the real kicker there.....anyway, ate a large portion and then watched the evening news feeling sleepy......Saturday morning laid back as usual, not much traffic out on the sunrise walk......the morning Greenville paper has a special section on the Friday night high-school football.....had articles about both Clinton and Laurens today.....they both won.....Raiders scored 14 points in the first 49 seconds of their game by returning the kick-off, and then recovering a fumble on the 24 when they kicked to the other guys......Clinton won in the final seconds by one point, they ran a half-back pass off the wish-bone for the two point conversion.....so the county schools both beat previously unbeaten teams......anyway, there's a throw away paper on weekends too, and the front page of it this week was an article about guys from the county who caught a record-setting 770 pound alligator.....I read somewhere they make alligator sausage out of 'em......so.....I had about 1/3 lb. of hamburger left after making the meatloaf, so I'm thinking of a patty melt for lunch today, and pork schnitzel for supper.....the Gamecocks are on at 12:30.....I don't get the Clemson channel.....Fox has a baseball playoff series starting tonight....I do get Fox over the air.....

got something in the mail

I don't get much mail.....of course it's a bill, from Allstate for car insurance.....but it's not due until November, they always send things a month early......another fine October morning here, the wind out walking is a little bracing, but not unpleasant.....I made quite a lot of chicken salad yesterday morning, so I'll have that again today at lunch.....diced roasted white meat, mayo, sweet pickle relish, and just a taste of curry powder.....and some black pepper too.....ground round, pork sausage, oatmeal, diced onion and bell pepper, an egg, alfredo sauce, and maybe chili powder will go into the meatloaf this afternoon.....oregano on top.....for $1.29 I got three aluminum 4"X 8" loaf pans.....press the mixture into the pan and place in pre-heated 350 oven for an hour.....I'll put a russet potato in with that.....and I'll have buttered new peas as a side.....dang, hungry already.....and I just ate an apple......

30 degrees

the difference between 50 and 80.....that's roughly what we can expect today....'bout the same as yesterday.....so it's cool in the morning for walking, and warms up enough in the afternoon to open two or three windows and be comfortable.....last night I put Have Gun Will Travel and Deep Space Nine into my Netflix instant queue .......that should keep me busy for a while, watching an episode every evening of those two....they are much better with no commercials ......finished off the stuffing and gravy last night with chicken and corn, so today I'll finish off the curry beef couscous, and probably Friday make a meatloaf.....meatloaf sandwiches will be good for lunches.....on rye with mayo.....what's left of the roasted chicken I'm going to make into chicken salad, for lunch sandwiches also.....that will be for lunch today I suppose.....we aren't expecting any rain until maybe Tuesday next week.....

sorta Oktober festive

I've got schnitzel pork and German potato salad as a meal this week....and I'm going to make a meat-loaf, I've got a potato to bake with that, and a small thing of sour cream for the potato.....and I still have leftovers from last week.....I'll figure things out ......going to get up to 80 today they are saying, I can open some windows.....I bought some Lysol toilet bowl cleaner that said it got rid of that hard water ring.....and damned if it didn't work.....smells fresh too.....so I accomplished something today already..... I've done the walking and the shopping and now I'll read the Clinton weekly......it got down to 48 overnight.....there are more stars out the colder and clearer it gets, it was nice out on the front porch around 9:30 last night.....

grilled steak and cheddar on rye

for lunch.....but there is still some of that thin steak to use up, and I have a box of pine-nut couscous in the cupboard.....so I looked and found curried stir-fry beef and pine-nut couscous online.....somebody has made that before looks like, so I'll try that for supper today.....somebody in Morocco I guess......I have curry powder.....

big 10-4

42 with the windchill at sunrise, should get to middle 70's in the afternoon.....the heating and air guy pulled the heat exchanger out of the unit to check it for cracks, and there were none, which is good news.....that's a problem with the gas pack being outside where the metal expands and contracts over and over from heating up and then cooling off again out in the freezing weather.....if there is a crack, then some exhaust can get sucked into the air that goes into the house, and that's when you get carbon monoxide inside, which is why you should have a detector for that.....watching that guy work was a real education.....and he blew the thing out with compressed air and made sure the jets were all burning blue flame.....hopefully it will last a few more years......I had chicken dinner again last night, and I guess I could get some rice and what-all tomorrow at the store and make chicken stew with what's left of the bird....get some biscuits too....and I need orange juice and eggs this week.....I think I have enough bread and wine 'til next week.....

cold enough to see your breath

on the sunrise walk this morning.....but by the middle of the morning it was warm enough to walk without the jacket.....I went by Burn's Appliances and they are going to come out this afternoon sometime and do an inspection on the gas-pak in the Heil unit that does my central heat and air.....it might burn better with some cleaning and fine-tuning of the jets is the idea.....maybe save a little money in the heating season which is rapidly approaching......and while I was over that way I went in the supermarket and got a few things, including a pack of batteries, so I could put new ones in the stereo system remote.....yesterday it was hard to turn the volume up and down, now it's back to normal with good batteries.....I've had that stereo about four years, and I think this is the first time I changed the AA cells ......can't really remember.....I need to use up more of that breakfast steak, so I'm going to have a steak sandwich for lunch.....on wheat toast with mustard and mayo and pickle slices.....

crisp on the dawn patrol

43 degrees.....and a sunrise with colorful clouds.....dark rum french toast and strips of Bacon Spam for breakfast.....you could smell firewood smoke this morning, that hasn't been around in a while....and the wind was right for smelling the biscuits at Mc Donald's ......it's just a block over and across the tracks from one point on my walking route.....Panthers and Bears are on at one today.....the rest of today's menu includes chicken salad on rye bread for lunch, and then a second breakfast for supper with steak and eggs with hash browns......it's about 60 in the house, so I've got on a sweatshirt and a flannel shirt......

the Squealin' on the Square

I bought 10 Q-pons and got really tasty ribs, a chili dog, sweet tea, an Italian ice, and two brownies.....I saved one brownie for later.....lots of tractors, hot rods, crafts, pork of course.....smoked turkey legs, etc.....a couple of bands while I was there.....after dark it moves to the park where they have more bands and fireworks at the end....but I'm done for the day myself.....when it starts getting crowded enough that it's hard to walk around I leave.....those ribs were done by some family down from North Carolina....secret recipe sauce.....I think I get the station that the Gamecocks are on at 3:30......60 in the house this morning, and it said 50 outside on the way over to Laurens.....the wind is blowing too.....I've finished off the summer squash, so I can have corn tonight with a chicken and stuffing plate.....still have some gravy too......I have natural almonds for a football game snack, and unsalted peanuts.....no clouds in sight, and a lot less humid than last weekend.......