Summer in February and other delights

The weather gods are seriously confused. I think the high in Fort Worth today was 81—sunny, bright, and delightful. But this is February and the stock show is winding down in its final week. We should be having “stock show weather”—ice and sleet and freezing winds. It was so balmy today I almost put the top down on my car, but because of the fragile condition of the back window, I’m a little afraid to do that. I contented myself with driving with all four windows down and Alex Beaton Scottish ballads blasting. I’m as bad as the motorcyclists who treat everyone to their brand of heavy metal punk or whatever.

I was reassured to see that I was not the only one unenthusiastic about the Super Bowl or the halftime entertainment. I wish I’d seen more of the ads, and I still like the NFL one. But, whew! It’s over and done with for a year. I hear the audience was larger than ever, though with all the people who posted on Facebook about what a disappointment it was, I’m surprised about that.

Pleasant day today. I followed up on photo requests for the Alamo book and made some progress or at least reassured myself that I was still on some archivists’ radar. It’s sort of a one-step forward and two steps backward process. And I wrote a thousand words on that novel that jumped into my brain a couple of days ago. Still early days, and I’m getting to know the characters, figuring out how they’d react, finding new bits and pieces about them. So far, it’s heavy on narrative, which is unusual for me. I figure I’ll just write and see what happens.

But I had the most fun late this afternoon when I cooked dinner for Jordan and me—we abandoned Christian and Jacob to leftover white chili (it was sooo good). I fixed Coquilles St. Jacques—Christian doesn’t like either scallops or the mushrooms in it, and I discovered by phone that two of my children have no idea what it is. Translated into English, it’s a French dish of scallops in a cream sauce, with a bread crumb and cheese topping. The recipe was billed as quick and easy which was misleading, and I spent almost two hours happily prepping for it. Every bite was worth it, although Jordan said good as it was, she prefers scallops just browned in butter.

How I deviated from the standard recipe I followed will be the subject of Thursday’s post on my Gourmet On a Hot Plate blog. Watch for it at http://www.gourmetonahotplate.blogspot.com.

Another week off to a good start. Happy days, everyone.

The geese are getting fat

Halloween’s gone, but the memories linger. Here are two pictures from last night that tickled me.

But it’s time to think about turkeys, unless your family does something innovative like prime rib or enchiladas. My family is strictly traditional—they want turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, lots of gravy, don’t care so much for the pies. This is the Thanksgiving that the kids go to their “other” families (we’ll all be together at Christmas), but I am fortunate that I’ll probably spend the holiday with Colin and his family, here or there.

I didn’t post last night because unexpectedly Colin came to spend the night. He’s been working in Addison and had to be in Tyler this morning. That child keeps weird hours—stayed up late for him (10:00) and was up at 5:00, out the door at 6:30. Last night, we visited on the front porch with the trick-or-treat people for a while and then went to the Old Neighborhood Grill where Colin had what he said was the best dinner he’d had in a long time—chicken fried steak, fried green beans, and broccoli rice casserole. I enjoyed my dinner, but enjoyed the visit more. When you have a large family, as I do, it’s wonderful to have them all together, but it’s also a rare treat to have one-on-one time with just one child. I heard all about his new job, his two great children, and his volunteer work with his church—they’re active in the foster children ministry in the Houston area. Lovely evening. I’m really proud of him, but then, I’m prejudiced.

Today was not such a lovely day. I had a 9:00 a.m. appointment in Arlington with a cornea specialist. I thought she would just take a look at my problem eye and schedule surgery. Nothing so simple. They did the full eye exam, much of which I’d just had two weeks ago but there were some tests I’d never had before. I was there from nine to almost noon. Bless Christian for taking me and staying with me, all with great good cheer. We treated ourselves to decadent hot dogs on the way home.

Long story short, I’m facing a two-stage eye surgery in the near future. Meantime, my vision in my right eye is blurred, and oh my! The halos I see around lights. Driving at night, even as a passenger, is almost painful.

I will be glad to get this over with, though I will probably have to have a second surgery two to three months later. Still, this is the third thing—my hip, the hospital spell with a fib, and now my eyes. That’s it, folks—I’m done with health problems. Some things that bothered me a year ago seem to have resolved themselves, and I hope maybe some of this will. I’m a big believer in thinking positive and am working hard to practice what I preach right now.

Meantime, there’s that turkey to contemplate. And yet, who can think about a huge turkey dinner when it’s going to be 90 tomorrow? So glad there’s no such thing as climate change😊