Home sick

I had some minor gum surgery yesterday, so I stayed home to rest and recuperate.  Good thing too!  I was in a lot of discomfort last night.  But today, I’m feeling quite good, just a bit sleepy from a poor night’s sleep.  What to do with a day at home??  Let’s see… It’s a good time to look around the house and see what everyone else is up to.

Kids – One left for work at 5:30am – long shift, 9 hours.  Other one left for work at 1pm, she is closing the store tonight after 9pm.  Well, I almost have the house to myself.

Hubby – He’s been imitating a gopher for a few days now.  It started with the fjord he tried to install last fall just before winter arrived.  It just wasn’t right.  So after removing the river rocks and several trailer-loads of dirt, he decided to try making a short retaining wall with wood.  I decided wood and water were not a good combination.  So then he thought he’d get some of those wall pavers instead.  Turns out they didn’t have the same ones we already had and the new ones are very expensive.  Back to the drawing board.  So after much thought and a bit of discussion, we settled on expanding the patio.  Of course, the pavers we bought at 1/2 price last summer are only available at full price this year.  Sigh… Let’s just get it over with, shall we?  So Leon has been out there each day this week, digging, moving patio stones, river rock, you name it.  Good thing he only takes night classes this time of year.  I think he’s just doing all this to sweat off the weight he’s trying to lose.  Sweat and beer, that’s his diet.  My body doesn’t react as well to his regiment, unfortunately.

We are also trying to add to the privacy factor in the yard.  Our fence is only chainlink, so the poor neighbour have to look at the overweight old folks each time they decide to sit in the hot tub, which is almost daily.  After many months of contemplation, Leon came up with a privacy screen design that might work.  So the plan is to make and install a few of these on each side and then plant something between each to add to the green factor.  The something will be grapevines on one side, at least.  I’ve purchased 3 vines for now as I don’t know much about growing grapevines.  So now I can proudly say I have my own vineyard!  No?

I will have to wait a few days for Leon to finish the patio and make the privacy screens before I do any digging out there.  I’ll post some pictures when it’s done.  For now, here are the photos of the mess.

In other news, my girlfriend Marlene asked me for my famous marinated tomato recipe.  Each summer, I slice up fresh tomatoes, marinate them in a dijon and tarragon combination and then serve with grilled meat.  People always ask me for the recipe, except my daughter, who hates tomatoes.  If you’d like to read the recipe, you can find it here.

Today’s lunch salad was a new favourite – quinoa and bean salad.

• 1-2 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 can of mixed beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup of chopped red onion
• 1/4 cup of crumbled feta cheese
• 1 avocado, cubed
• 1 cup of chopped cilantro
• 1-2 crowns of raw broccoli, in small pieces
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Grape tomatoes to taste
• Kraft Oregano and Feta calorie-wise salad dressing to taste – you won’t need much because of the lemon juice and avocado
• Pepper to taste

Ok, enjoy that with a Ryvita or good bread, sitting on the patio is always a nice venue.  Everything tastes better outside!