Week 8: Project 365, the 2016 Edition

Monday, February 22

Taní, our trusted construction go-to guy, arrived this morning to start work on a rather long list. First up was a sidewalk/ramp in front of the garage, which will make it a lot easier to drive the car in and out.

Charlie came over again to mow for us. He mowed Friday, the 12th, but we've gotten so much rain that it needed cut again.

Not sure why we're once again having patches where the grass is dying (can't be from lack of rain!). But where it's growing, it's really growing.

Tuesday, February 23

Took a bunch of photos of this squash plant on our walk this morning and created a collage.

Like typical squash that can easily get out of hand, it goes from up by the road, down the hill and around behind the little building.

Wednesday, February 24

We had to go to Sta. Rosa to pick up some books we need for conference. As we were leaving I noticed this huge seed pod on the ground.

On the way home we stopped for lunch at a restaurant where the cook also has celiac, so they offer a bigger variety of GF options than most places. I had the best empanada in over a year! She makes the same filling for the GF empanadas as she does for the regular ones, and it was delicious. This time I ordered the cannelloni which was filled with beef and spinach and then smothered with a red sauce, cream and parmesan cheese. Oh my word!

Bonus: it was a huge portion so I brought home a doggie bag!

P.S. The trip was also a trial run to see how Ivan did in the car for a long stretch. It was four hours round trip, and he did well. I took an extra ice pack in a cooler so he had one for the trip home, too, and that really helped. He feels ready for the long trip to conference on Monday.

Thursday, February 25

We always enjoy skype calls with the kids and grandkids. Usually I'm too involved in the conversation to remember to take a photo, but today I managed to get a screen shot while talking with Tina and Betsy.

Friday, February 26

My Uncle Jack and Aunt Nan have been posting some old family photos, and I enjoyed seeing this one of my mom, Georgia Loretta, when she was about 18-19 years old.

She's standing next to her parents, Eliza Jarnigan Shepherd and James Martin Shepherd. Her two youngest brothers, Jack (left) and Martin (right) are in front. I posted this on Facebook and someone asked if it was taken during the Depression because they were all so skinny. Nope, they were just naturally thin. The most my mom ever weighed was 138 lbs., when she was 9 months pregnant with me. And she was 5'6" tall.

I've been busy getting ready for conference: baking and crafting. I made brownies with regular flour that everyone else can eat during snack time, plus GF brownies for myself. Also some GF biscuits and cornbread. My freezer is pretty full!

I'm helping with the ladies tea, doing the table decor. Today I finished the pineapple can "vases" that we'll fill with colorful flowers, and the stacks of books I covered in pretty paper.

The blue napkin helped me choose the ribbon and trim colors. I bought those napkins at IKEA 4-5 years ago and just came across them again while going through some boxes. I figured this was as good a time as any to use them.

On the work front: Taní worked all week, extending the sidewalk in front of the casita out in front of the slab next to the casita (which will become a carport), finishing the corner of the slab (because when Ivan poured it, he was using the end of a load of cement and there wasn't quite enough to do the entire slab), and installing two rows of tile along the bottom of the front exterior of the casita. Eduardo, our drywall guy, finished the garage ceiling. He installed the ceiling a year or so ago, but Ivan was going to finish it. Well, after taping and one coat of mud, he realized it was a bigger job than he could handle. He just can't work over his head like that since he had rotator cuff surgery twice on the same shoulder some years back. It's a huge space with a lot of seams, so Eduardo spent four days mudding, sanding and painting. It looks so much brighter in there now.

~~~~~~~~~~ 

Bonus photo: This one isn't mine at all; someone posted it on a private group on Facebook.

Boy, did it bring back memories! When I was a kid and we'd visit family down home, it was always a treat to go to the local grocery (that also served as the gas station, post office, clothing store, feed store, and whatever-else-you-needed store) for an ice cold RC cola and a nickle's worth of pickled bologna -- there was a huge glass jar sitting on the counter and the owner would reach in, pull out the long ring of bologna and whack off a section, and he'd throw in a handful of saltines for free. If we were really good, we'd also get a Moon Pie!  Back then RC (Royal Crown) was the only cola company willing to deliver to those back country stores, often found way up a winding dirt road.