The Gently Falling Rain

It is near midnight, the rain is falling gently outside and I sit at my computer typing my blog for the day. Earlier today I was complaining about the cloudy and rainy weather but I take that back now. Sure, Bill has to mow the lawn every three days now but this rain is wonderful for the area farmers. Since we moved to Delaware in November of 2006, the area has suffered from a drought. It was so sad the last two summers to see fields of corn withering and drying up because of the lack of rain. Not so this year. The corn, soybeans and wheat are flourishing. And, as Miss Martha says, “That is a good thing.”

Even so, the gray skies this morning sapped all the energy out of me. I wanted to finish up building my two raised flower beds that border our backyard. Instead, I watch one of the DVD’s I had from Netflix. It was called “Yossi and Jagger.” The story was about two gay Israeli soldiers. The movie was interesting but it ended in death and sadness. I’m ready to see a gay themed movie that has a happy ending. Aren’t we there yet?

Later in the morning Bill and I visited our friend Bob in Milton. I love checking out his neighbor’s garden. She has a real eye for garden design and I’m always anxious to see what new plants she has in her garden. I’ll have to take pictures and feature them on this blog. She also has a small pond. Seeing her pond brings back memories of my three ponds I had at our home in Pennsylvania. I wish I could have a pond where we’re living now but that would not be practical. We live out in the open with sun all day (when the sun is out of course.) A pond should be partially shaded. If not, the pond will quickly develop algae which will kill the fish. Another problem is that fish in the pond would be totally exposed to predators, like cranes. Even in Pennsylvania I had a visit from a crane which just about wiped out my fish. I haven’t completely given up on the idea of a pond but not at this time. A garden is not complete until it has the gentle sounds of a pond waterfall.

I called my Aunt Mabel this morning. She recently returned from the hospital and nursing home. She’s not doing well. She will be 88 years old this year. I tried to call my Mom but couldn’t get hold of her. I found out later from my sister-in-law that she had a 10:30 am doctor’s appointment. I’ll try calling again tomorrow. My Mom and Aunt Mable worked for over 20 years in the frozen foods division of Pepperridge Farms. They worked in layer cake on the conveyor belt. They didn’t actually work ON the conveyor belt but they made sure the cakes were properly iced. Yes, they did a Lucy and Ethel thing with the speeded up conveyor belt. Oh the stories they tell. My Aunt Mabel reminded me of the trip I took her to Disney World in 2001. I had won a guest service award from the Hampton Inn where I worked the front desk. One of my prizes was a trip for two for four days at Disney World. I couldn’t get anybody to go with me until my Mother suggested my Aunt Mabel. I’m glad we made the trip because it was her last trip before her health started to fail her. I’m glad I asked her. We had a good time and memories to last us a lifetime.

Lately it seems that so many of my friends and relatives are facing health issues. This is just another reminder to me to appreciate every day I have on this good earth, rain or shine.

The Three B's

Bob, Bob and Bill, are the Three B’s I had dinner with last night. I had to redeem myself from the Dinner Disaster of last week with Bill, Bob and Jay. Dinner last night was a success. The only missing ingredient was our friend Jay, who returned to his home in Landisville, Pennsylvania. I’ll make it up to him the next time he drives his new Subaru Imprezza through the flat coastal plain that is Sussex County, Delaware.

The menu was very simple last night – Swiss steak, Smashed Potatoes, and salad. For dessert we had Hawaiian Wedding cake. My Swiss steak recipe is a longtime staple of mine. I measure nothing when preparing this recipe. It’s a little different each time but always good. Last night was no exception.

As is always the case with a gathering of old friends, it was a night of good conversation and gentle teasing camaraderie. Sometimes it is best to have a meal at home instead of fighting traffic to get to a restaurant to face uncertain service and a roll of the dice for food quality. The only thing certain with dining out in the Rehoboth Beach area is that it’s going to cost you a lot. That is my great disappointment about living in this area of southern Delaware, the lack of reasonably priced good restaurants. They just aren’t here.

That said, last night was an enjoyable repast and we will have to do it again soon. As for today, I’m off to my dentist in Dover for a teeth cleaning. I can hardly wait.

Dinner Disaster

Last week I had a few friends over for dinner. It was a disaster. Here is what happened. I wasn’t really in the mood for preparing a big dinner. I was more in the mood to do yard work because it was such a beautiful day outside. So, I got sloppy. I decided to make Fettuccine Alfredo. My first mistake was I didn’t cook the fettuccine long enough. They were like rubber bands. I should have set the timer so I would know when the pasta was done. I don’t think I have ever set a timer on cooking pasta. I usually check by eye. This time it didn’t work.

My second mistake was that I didn’t have heavy whipping cream. I thought I could get by with using half and half. Well folks, half and half had the effect of making milk soup. Yes folks, I made rubber bands with milk soup. But, I didn’t think my company would notice. Bill, my partner, is like Mikey…..he can eat anything. Our two guests are not known as gourmands.

First up was the salad. That went well enough. Next up was the Fettuccine Alfredo. The first sign of trouble was that everyone had trouble getting the little rubbery things out of the bowl. Those noodles wanted to go everywhere but the plate for which they were intended. Bill wanted a knife to cut the noodles so he could spoon them out of the bowl. I told him that wasn’t proper protocol for serving Fettuccine Alfredo.

Finally, with noodles on the plates, the dinner social conversation renewed. After only a few minutes, Bill stopped eating and looked directly at me and said “This is awful!" Uh oh. The gig was up. I didn’t think anyone would notice. Someone did. I had fooled myself but there was no fooling Bill. My dinner guests were too polite to voice any displeasure but they were not forthcoming with the compliments that I am used to receiving for one of my diner repasts. The comments I did receive were “Don’t worry about it.” “It’s alright.” Uh huh. Tranlated it meant "WTF?" Disaster.

I gathered up the dinner plates of rubbery fettuccine, bacon bits swimming in the milk soup. I took the plates over to the garbage disposal where I slid the slimy mess into oblivion and turned the disposal on. Those noodles even fought the disposal. "Grind, grind. Chug, chug."

Time for dessert! Tonight the sweet de jour was Tropical Delight Hawaiian wedding cake. I have made this dessert many times in the past and it is almost fail safe. This time was no exception. I happily received expected praise from my dining companions. But the damage was done. The main course was an unmitigated disaster.

This is only the second time in my long cooking career that I bombed. The first time was years ago when we lived in Philadelphia. I decided to make sweet potato pie from scratch without a recipe. After all, how hard could it be? It was awful. I still remember the shocked look on Bill’s face all those years ago when he asked me “What did you do to this pie?” I have always been known for my expertise in making desserts but I missed Big Time on the sweet potato pie. My mistake was that I didn’t add any sugar. I figured “sweet potato”, there’s the “sweet”; it doesn’t need sugar. Well girls and boys, sweet potato pie needs a LOT OF SUGAR. This "pie" was about the blandest piece of crap I ever ate. There was no getting away from it. Tasteless. Mush in pie crust.

Tonight I redeem myself. One of the two guests returns for dinner tonight. I’m making my signature Swiss Steak casserole. I’ve been making this entrée for years. It is my own recipe and it never misses. It’s a mess to make but oh so delicious with the tender portions of round steak smothered by tomatoes, green pepper, and onions and a bit of salt and just a dash of pepper. I serve it with another one of my tried and true recipes, Squashed Potatoes. Bill usually just heaps his plate with Squashed Potatoes and puts a dab of Swiss Steak on top like ketchup.

Unfortunately for one my guests last week that was his first introduction to my cooking skills. You know what they say about “You only get one chance to make a first impression?” I’ll have a long way to go until I redeem my cooking skills in his eyes. At least I have nowhere to go but up. Maybe I should of told him I was serving him calamari with milk soup.

Beautiful Delaware

Oh how I love living in southern Delaware! Today is a gorgeous clear day in Sussex County. Bill and I returned a short time ago from The Home Depot. We purchased more lumber to build two more raised flower beds that I will put on the back border of our property. Last year we built six of them and they are performing fabulously this year. Since there were two more openings, we decided to fill them.

Yesterday I made another visit to Peppers, a local garden nursery. I am doing my best to stimulate the economy here in the Milton/Lewes area by making thoughtful purchases at the local nurseries and home improvement centers. I know, I know; it's hard work but someone has to do it. I am more than willing to step up to the plate and do my bit. I will spend whatever it takes (as long as my money lasts) until I get this economy back on its feet.

Our backyard is thriving. Yesterday I cleaned out the last of the house sparrow nests from the Purple Martin house. There were two eggs in the sparrow nest. I took the nesting material and eggs and placed them at the end of the road with the overgrown shrubbery from a lot of a former house that borders our property. There is almost enough house sparrow nesting back there to make a bale of hay. My Taliban house sparrows are a determined bunch but they didn't succeed in raising any of their young on my property this year.

After this post I'm going to take a little walk on this absolutely beautiful day then come back and have some lunch, take a nap and go to work at the hotel. Yes, today is a work day. I work every Monday 3 to 11 PM. On beautiful days like today I really don't want to go to work but it does pay for the visits to Home Depot and Peppers. It's all a trade off albeit a worthwhile one.

Then There Were None Left

The bluebird box is now empty. It only took one more day until the lone remaining baby bluebird took the plunge and left the bluebird box. Bill said he thinks he saw it on the neighbor's screen in porch roof, along with its brothers and sisters.

I cleaned out the nesting in the box and washed it down with hot water to kill the mites. I left the door open several hours for it to dry out. Now the box is ready for the next batch. Bill says he has already seen one of the adult bluebirds chase away other birds from the box. By this time next week I predict the bluebirds will have a new nest built in the box in preparation for the next batch of baby bluebirds.

I have three bluebird boxes in my back yard but this is the only bluebird box that is used by the bluebirds. The two other bluebird boxes are empty. I'm looking forward to the day when all three bluebird boxes are producing baby bluebirds. There is nothing like the feeling of seeing bluebirds in your back yard, flying around with sun shining off of their iridescent blue feathered wings. I'll take that experience any day over fighting the traffic on Route 1 to get to Rehoboth Beach to feed a parking meter and then lay on the beach and bake in the sun.

Then There Was One Left

Yesterday afternoon, as Bill was preparing to mow the lawn he noticed an increase in activity around the bluebird house. He went over to the bluebird house and saw a baby bluebird hiding in the cover at the base of the bluebird house. Bill came in and told me that one of the baby bluebirds was out of the box and asked me if I wanted to take pictures. I got my camera and rushed outside.

I had suspected that the baby bluebirds would be out ("pop") of their box and that is just what happened. The baby bluebirds were out trying their new wings. From my experience with raising two bluebird batches from this same box last year I knew that the baby bluebirds didn't fly right out of the box and into the wild blue yonder. They take a day or two flopping around in the ground cover and shrubbery around the bluebird box until their wings are ready for full flight. That is what was happening yesterday afternoon.

I cautioned Bill not to disturb the baby bluebirds too much or else they would flop right through the fence that separates our property from our neighbor's property. My neighbor doesn't have any ground cover for the baby bluebirds but he does have two dogs which he lets out in the afternoon. Those dogs would make quick work of any baby bluebird flopping around in panic on the ground in my neighbor's back yard mined with stale dog poop.

As I usually do when the baby bluebirds exit their box, I checked the box. Much to my surprise I discovered one baby bluebird was still in the box. Cowering in the corner of the poop filled bluebird box, the poor thing seemed to know it missed the train. This baby bluebird must have been in back of the bird box and didn't get feed as much as the other three baby bluebirds in the box. I did notice that the baby bluebird nearest the entrance was the biggest. I'm sure the parents tried to get food to the babies in the back but this little one must have really been far back. More proof that the random chance of birth order has consequences.

Initially I was concerned that the parents would forget the one baby bluebird left in the box but I'm sure they have encountered this situation before. The adult bluebirds continue to feed the three baby bluebirds that are out of the box. Bill has seen them also feed the one remaining baby still in the house. Maybe today the little one will join its brothers and sisters outside and start on its life adventure in this wonderful but dangerous world. This is the one time I'm glad I don't have cats that are roaming the grounds.

Ready to Pop

Those baby bluebirds, how fast they grow. They are ready to pop out of that blue bird house. Maybe today or tomorrow. I hope it's a sunny day when they make their grand entry into the world.

Yesterday I cleaned out two more house sparrow nests out of the Purple Martin house. I think that should do it. I haven't seen the sparrows rebuilding their nest. Maybe they got the message, build somewhere else.

Right after I took this baby bluebird photo this morning, I noticed the sparrow watching me from the perch on top of the bluebird house. Obviously trying to throw a guilt trip on me. Won't work buddy. You're outta here.