This and That, Tids and Bits

I still don't have my handpush lawn mower back. Seems the repair guy has a "slowness" issue. Last Wednesday I finally had to borrow my neighbor's mower coz my grass was getting too too out of control. Hah, what grass? Let me amend the previous statement... my crop of clover, violets, some kind of fuzzy leaved plant, somethings ugly and spiny, and the four different versions of what I believe to be crabgrass all mixed together with dozens of anthills in the front yard and good grass making a sincere effort to disappear was getting too too out of control. If I don't get my mower back soon I may have to Plan A: borrow someone's mower or go to Plan B: shop around and find an electric-powered mower to purchase. Once the handpush mower is ready, I will be taking pictures of the place I dropped it off at. It's a veritable mower cemetary. Lawn mowers as far as the eye can see, well, until they hit the tree line. But that ruins my verbal effect. Mowers everywhere you look then. I'm pretty sure they go there to die, or us owners just never get them back/give up/leave them there. Or else this guy has a mower hoarding issue. I'm on the fence. The place where I got my mower recommended them. Hmmm. I still have my nice professional looking claim ticket. And I've talked to them directly on the phone several times. So I know this is a place of business. Unless it's a cover for collecting mowers from innocent dupes like me. We'll see. I'll keep you posted.

I found a new word...

Traffucked

Good one, isn't it? It means you are so stuck in traffic you ain't getting to your destination ANY time soon. Appropriate for this weekend. Here's to you avoiding being traffucked!

I'm happy to report Moomin and Hobbes' bowels are back to normal. Doodle on the other hand is still dealing with some poopie issues. Let's just say it veers between loose poop somewhat-in-turd form and diarrhea. I'm out of ideas. I've changed the litter completely out and scrubbed all three cat boxes thoroughly.

My garden is going fine. I will be able to pick squash by mid to end of next week. I should pick my green pepper soon. The front something-or-other-named plants in front are getting taller every day. The moonflower is about a foot up the black garden post. And I planted 6 new plants called globe flowers today after work. I thought I lost one of them, but it seems to have come back from the almost-dead. I will have to be very careful with it from here on out.

I tried two new recipes this week. One was a super delicious fiasco. I made my own version of Chinese dumplings. Next time I need to use a non-stick pan. I thought my Jamie Oliver pan was non-stick, but I was OH SO wrong. Basically the dumplings came out great in the putting-them-together process, but actually cooking them was a disaster. Instead of dumplings I had sausage meatballs mixed with noodle casings. Delicious, but a disaster. The second recipe was a different take on Tuna Casserole. It's good but could stand some tweaking. I was highly disturbed to find I accidently bought the wrong tuna format. It came out of the bag as a filet. GAG. GAG. GAG. Let's just say I don't think I've ever worked that fast in the kitchen before to reduce something to flakes, thrown into the casserole, and shoved in the oven to bake. GAG. Why Tuna Casserole then? Supreme comfort food that Mom made when we were kiddos. If the tuna is small enough, I don't have an issue cooking or eating it, but just for casserole purposes. I do NOT eat it any other way. GAG. And to actually have to handle a big honking filet of it smelling the way it does... GAGGAGGAG!!!

I have a book sale to go to tomorrow. I will be there bright and early with my bagel and OJ. I'm always first in line at this one. I gotta get my books before the Book Predator. God I dislike that man. He always comes with a big box so that he can just grab entire sections of my favorite subjects. I've checked his box, no rhyme or reason. That makes me anxious. He could grab something I want. And he's scruffy, unshaven, disheveled, baggy dirty pants, and he's just a thorough Book Predator. I can't see that he CARES for books. Ugh. My book nemesis.

Speaking of books, I've decided to downgrade my cable to basic. This means instead of 65 channels (of which I have 10 that I watch outside of the regular channels of ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, and CW), I will be down to 14. The ones I mentioned in the parenthesis and 9 other useless channels I don't watch (like the Canadian French, TV guide, two local cable TV, PBS - sorry, a ridiculous channel with bizarro selections, one with constant paid programs, and two others that I have no clue about). But instead of $59/month, it will be $11/month. Cheaper as is needed nowadays. I sure wish they would let us pick our channels. My co-worker said cable companies don't like to do that as they make more money offering package deals of channels. I told him they are losing money with me but if they offered me channel choice, they'd make some of that money back. Whatever. More time to read, tho I will miss The Closer's new season, Forensic Files (I love that narrator's voice), reruns of SVU, DinersDriveInsAndDives, random movies I missed in the theater and have been too lazy to try to rent, and the new crop of paranormal shows that are on various channels I will no longer be getting. Maybe Mom will TiVo The Closer and I can come over on a weekend day and watch it. Or watch a whole slew of them in one go.

What do you say, Mom?