Memorial Day

Michael came over to have Memorial Day barbecue with us. The other kids, unfortunately, had to work. Michael made chicken wings and we also had steak, macaroni salad and cole slaw. Very enjoyable!

A New Garden

Mike, Jamie, Nick and I all worked to put together a new vegetable garden in our backyard. The boys helped last week by setting up railroad ties around an area we had dug out when a new cesspool was put in. The guy with the backhoe turned over a 12 x 20 patch of land. There were a lot of rocks to deal with (still are) and it was really muddy work last Saturday, so I couldn't go inside to get my camera.

This past Saturday, Mike and I put in the plants: tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and more. Mike dug holes and I planted.

I never have any luck growing things, but this area gets plenty of sunlight, so I'm hoping for a good crop this year!

The Day Before Mother's Day

The kids cooked both lunch and dinner for me today, since Nick and Katherine and James have to work tomorrow.

Nicky made me ranch chicken for lunch. It was delicious! The chicken was very, very tender.

(Those aren't the ingredients in the background, LOL!)

Then Michael and Katherine came by later to make a dinner that Michael created himself. It was shrimp in a sauce made with gruyere cheese over homemade noodles. Michael made the noodles himself! He put Katherine and James to work as 'sous' chefs. Jamie peeled the shrimp, but I didn't get a picture.

Michael said if he had been into cooking when he still lived here, he would have made dinner for us every night. I wish I could hire him, LOL!

Michael thought there would be leftovers, but it was so good there was only the tiniest bit of sauce left!

After, Katherine made up some strawberries, whipped cream and pound cake.

I could not have had a more delicious day! Oh, and on top of that, last night Mike took me to the Chinese buffet!

A Day Out

I went to Port Jefferson with Mike today. He was there for a job, and I walked around and did a little shopping. It was a gorgeous blue day with temps in the mid 70s. There was a good number of people there, but not as crowded as it will be after Memorial Day. I bought a few things and all the shop keepers couldn't have been nicer. I found a yarn shoppe and bought 2 skeins to make socks with in the future. They even gave me a free magazine. I looked at it in the car while waiting for Mike to be finished.

This is the view near where you would pick up the ferry to Connecticut.

Quasimodo Squirrel

There is a little squirrel who comes into my back yard and he is the saddest thing. I call him "Quasimodo" because he has a strangely deformed face. He has a malocclusion and one of his teeth is way too long. I don't think his jaw closes correctly.
Anyway, I saw how he struggles with the in-shell peanuts we throw out, so we got some cheap peanuts out of the shell for him. He runs to me when I come out because he knows I have peanuts for him.

He tilts his head so he can chew. Other than his jaw problems, he seems healthy and survived the winter, so I think he's here for the long-haul.

Speaking of animals, something strange happened last night. I woke up hearing something like a bird in distress. Nicky had his window open so he heard it, too. It was like the sound a bird might make if it was caught and trying to get away from something. I went out into my backyard with a flashlight and also heard something like grunting or growling. I couldn't find anything at all. This morning I looked around the area where the sound seemed to have originated, but there was no evidence of a struggle. I thought I'd see feathers or something. This all happened at one in the morning, when birds aren't even out. So I'm not sure the squealing I heard was from a bird. I have no idea what it could have been, but it sure sounded like an animal attack!