the 31st

the weather today should be like yesterday's.....in the 30s at dawn and getting into the 60s in the afternoon.....they moved the rain from Thursday night up to Wednesday night.....with more rain Friday.....so on the cloudy nights it should stay in the 40s rather than go down into the 30s.....I think I'll drive over to Laurens this morning, mainly just to take a drive.....though I could look into a couple of stores while I'm over there......I fixed steak with onions and 2 veggie sides last night.....I've got about a pound of those baked ribs left, that should be plenty for this evening.....with sides like maybe biscuits and the last of the limas.....I've got pintos and cornbread in the cupboard too, that can make a meal sometime.....get a bit of side-pork for the beans maybe....I didn't make it past 10 o'clock last night, but slept real well anyway.....I'd been staying up 'til 10:30 on the theory that then I might sleep past 4 AM consistently......I started watching a series about Edward VII (Prince Albert in the can) it's from 1975.....looks interesting so far.....I'm reading a kindle book about The Three Alberts......I, II, and III.....it covers some of the same happenings that were in the Short History of Scotland that I read recently.....Duns Scotus and Francis Bacon were roughly in that era.....and the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge were getting started, etc....I should check under the hood before I go driving off, haven't done that in while.....could wash the Jeep sometime too.....

overnight freeze

sunny and cold again this morning.....I didn't see any school busses on my early walk? I don't think today is a holiday.....maybe it's a "resource day"......or maybe I just didn't see any school busses, but they were actually out there.....for Sunday supper I had scalloped potatoes with ham and more curried cream corn, instead of doing the rib-eye, so I still have the steak and the rest of the ribs for two meals, and then it's grocery day anyway.....no football yesterday....well, I don't usually bother with the Pro Bowl.....so I read a lot in the evening, more than usual....until about 10:30......did watch some news and one Firefly episode after supper.....there's now a Zaxby's open in Laurens.....so I looked at their menu online, and decided it didn't look like much....just another fast food chicken franchise.....when they opened a Bo Jangle's here in Clinton, I went in once.....same thing, more fast food chicken.....so I'll just keep fixing my own chicken, not spend any lunch money out anywhere.....no rain predicted until towards the end of this week.....

poker parlors and illegal baking

20 something degrees when I went out at sunrise to get the newspaper....."you can read it in the Sunday paper...." that's from a song back in the 80's.....anyway, one thing I read was about "sweepstakes".....the old Red's Cafe near the mill now calls itself the "Chill Lounge" ladies night $1 mix drinks 8-10, etc....and it has a poster about "sweepstakes" on the front door.....turns out that this means that it's a video poker parlor that's found a loophole in the state gambling laws.....the sweepstakes format of online gambling falls through crack in the codes somehow.....at least for the moment....lawmakers are introducing bills.....the new hookah bar over on Musgrove also has computers inside? Aha....I was wondering how those two new places expected to make any money.....part of the trick is being a gambling parlor....they charge by the hour to play the games.....this last Thursday the church across the street had the sign out again for "Hot Dog Bake Sale.....Fried Apple Pies" I guess it's OK still if you're a church, but there was a thing in the paper about a lady being busted for selling birthday cakes to neighbors....it's against the law to sell home-cooked food....she was ratted on by a bakery.....something else that's illegal in a kitchen is to play poker....this goes back to when people of color were the people in the kitchen.....it's all too complicated.....I won't sell any of my ribs, I'll eat them all myself and be safe....they are delicious and meaty....got stuffed last night on that meal, have more left.....might have one nice fat rib and cheese toast for Sunday lunch....might have rib-eye, baked potato, lima beans for supper....breakfast was french toast and two sausage links.....lots of sun right now, but it's still cold outside....might get up around 50 this afternoon.....got another e-book from the library....more history.....

frosty

clear, blue, mostly calm......that piece of rib-eye was tender and tasty.....there was enough chicken breast left to make chicken salad for lunch sandwiches, I had that yesterday.....some time today I think I'll go buy a potato to bake with the ribs, I forgot to get one Wednesday.....and I could get gasoline while I'm over that way.....almost finished one library book out of four, something by John C. Wright.....he seems to have written quite a bit of stuff, maybe I can find some more.....stayed up until about 10:30 reading, slept pretty well.....

the heavier weather

the kind with "watch boxes".....it went by to the south of here overnight....maybe down around Columbia....was some wind and rain in Clinton.....was raining when I woke up......but it had stopped by the time I went for the sunrise walk.....clouds are coming and going, it sprinkled just a little about 15 minutes ago.....they say it will be sunny in the afternoon and get into the mid-60s.....but then the weekend will be "much colder"......I might eat more scalloped potatoes for supper today, or I might put a 4 oz. piece of rib-eye in Italian dressing marinade at lunch time, and then cook that in the evening .....with whatever sides I can think of.....I have biscuits....or cornbread.....it looks pretty windy right now to go out walking again....but it's not raining....we'll see.....

one sunny day

that was yesterday.....this morning it's back to the overcast.....100% chance of rain tonight, possibility of scattered showers during the day.....but the cloud blanket kept it from getting real cold overnight.....freezing nights again by the weekend.....it looks like what they did at the Laurens St. grade crossing is tear up the asphalt, but leave the rails intact, 'cause trains are still going by.....maybe they will get new asphalt down today.....or concrete? Sierra Nevada is going to open a brewery in Asheville.....last night on the news you could watch the NC governor drinking Pale Ale......my scalloped potatoes came out fine, there are leftovers for another meal.....maybe today I can finish off the chicken dinner leftovers, and then see what's left of the bird to make chicken salad......might not be much left......grilled baloney and cheddar for lunch yesterday, probably again today.....had some strawberries for a late snack last night, while watching old sci-fi shows on Netflix.....

back from the store

I got rib-eye steak and half-ribs.....which are the same thing as St. Louis style ribs, according to the lady in the meat department....today I'm going to use up the ham slice from last week in scalloped potatoes....with cream style corn as the side, which is traditional in this family for some reason....the kids used to say "it's cause then everything is yellow"......if you use cheddar cheese in the scalloped potatoes then they are yellow in color.....I guess you can make the dish without cheese sauce, just white sauce....but I've never done that myself.....actually today I'm going to use alfredo sauce, so the dish will be more or less white in color.....the corn will still be yellow.....I still have some roast chicken left....I got cheap baloney for lunch meat, though I'll probably still make some curried chicken salad sandwiches too .......got sausage links for Sunday breakfasts.....got fruit and nut trail mix to mix with Chex Mix.....ate an apple on the front porch in the sun, and then read the Clinton weekly paper.....it looks like it will be really nice weather for a walk after lunch.....clear, sunny, mild, calm......they are working on the train tracks today, but somehow the trains still go through? I guess they know what they're doing.....