summer 2011

summer 2011

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012
family

Thursday, May 28, 2020

shall we talk about it?


Our power went out for a bit the other day when it was really really hot. Sonja K. and I sat in the front yard just staring at the sky, watching these clouds...the big one was a giant, angry cow, the little one was a fishy, swimming right into the cow's mouth. Before it got there, it dissipated into a fine mist. I do not get bored, do you? I did worry a tiny bit about the food in the freezer. We also have no water when there's no power. My sister and my brother both live in town, and neither of them had power either. So I wondered if the whole world was going to shut down, and what we would do for water. But I decided not to jump off that bridge before I came to it, and not to worry about it. But you know, thoughts do come.

It came back on, and Paul went back in the house to work, break in the shade: over.

The pool is almost clear. Almost. It's a lighter shade of green, anyway. Sonja and I took a quick to Walmart this fine morning to get more pool shock, and some algaecide. We also got some black spray paint to touch up some outdoor chairs. I wanted chalk paint wax, but there was none to be found. I did get some thin elastic, and was going to buy more fabric for masks, but it was 11:15, and the fabric cutting hours don't start until noon. I was also going to get another one of these 4-cube storage units for inside our door, to replace the shoe storage thing that looks so awful, and is listing badly to one side. No sir, none there, none in Target, either.

I guess everyone is organizing and doing projects.

Walmart is a nightmare. I wear my mask, and follow the arrows on the floor. But what in the heck good does it do when 7 out of 10 other people DO NOT follow the arrows on the floor? And I'm not going to walk through the store reminding 27 people that they're going the wrong way. Especially because Sonja begged me not to, ha.

I guess the lesson is this: if you go out and about, you are at the mercy of others' behavior.

We are having taco salad for dinner, again. We are so lucky to have Aldi to shop at. We can get cilantro for 79 cents, and tomatoes and peppers always cheap, as well as avocados and sour cream, fresh salsa, and the chipotle lime salsa. Walmart sells the BEST lime tortilla chips for under two dollars, and Aldi's tortilla chips are under one dollar. We just keep this stuff on hand, and when we have burger, it's either burgers on the grill, meatballs, or...taco salad. Meatballs are mostly for cooler weather, and I don't always feel like grilling, so we have lots of taco salad. It is always good.

So today, Sonja K. and Charlotte Claire went out and mowed the lawn. We only have push mowers at this time, and it's rather warm today. So Paul told the girls they could go get ice cream. Yay! I went too, with no plans to get any, but oh dear, that went down the drain. I got a small twist, chocolate and vanilla soft ice cream, and yummy yum yum. You gotta live life, right? I say NO most of the time...

Stormy weather is coming, I love a good rainstorm. We have nowhere to go, and there will be eight of us here for dinner, maybe we'll light a few candles...



7 comments:

Billie Jo said...

Hello!
We sound very similar!
From the freezer to the ice cream, we are two of a kind!
Have a cozy evening.
I would love to hear about your taco salad sometime!

16 blessings'mom said...

Hi Billie Jo. Taco salad? Brown the ground beef, add a few packets of taco seasoning, which is super cheap at Aldi, and at Target. We just cut up the veggies and put it all in separate bowls. I am very picky, and don't mix it all together. I like black olives, green peppers, tomatoes, sometimes some lettuce, and the Aldi homemade salsa, or ours, which is tomatoes, a dash of garlic powder, olive oil, cilantro, a bit of chopped onion...we usually have sour cream, which I don't like, a variety of salsas, Frank's hot sauce...I like lime chips, they like both fajitas, or regular tortilla chips. We baggy up the leftovers, and they eat it for lunch. (Do you like how "bag" up the leftovers got "verb-ed"?). Anyway, it's a staple of our existence, and it's so delicious.

Valerie said...

Taco salad sounds good!!! We got most everything on Walmart pickup this week, but not avocados or tortilla chips. Off to Aldi tomorrow! Glad your power came back on without much incident!!!

Linda M. Conley said...

...I don't want to talk about these big stores or this nonsense anymore {{grin}}...NO ONE follows the rules (including me, because you know, I am such a rebel, lol). NOW our lovely governor signed this E.O. stating businesses can kick out people for NOT wearing masks. I swear, we are living in some 3rd world country here. AND now, he has re-negged on our Phase 2 --I told you...I don't want to talk about it. Steuben has met the 7/7 criteria. What gives? P.O.W.E.R.

It sure looked it wanted to storm yesterday, it didn't though. I like taco salad, its one of those wholesome goodness foods, smiles.

I hope you have a beautiful Friday my friend, stay cool.

16 blessings'mom said...

Valerie, Aldi always has everything cheaper, doesn't it? I buy something in another store, then stop in to Aldi, and dang. I think the quality has improved exponentially in the last ten years too, they've done a fantastic job of keeping up with what people really want. I also love cruising down the un-essential aisle, with the seasonal goodies.
Linda, I don't want to talk about it anymore either, yet...that governor of ours, harrumph. (Have you watched Blazing Saddles? If not, you need to, right now!)

Marilyn said...

Brahahahahahahaha......Blazing Saddles! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I saw that 100 years ago 🤣🤣 we don’t have Aldi here in Alberta, but I wish we did. We do have Walmart, but I refuse to shop there for reasons I won’t go into.......one of my rants 🙄I’m glad your power came back on...it would be dreadful to have no water or electricity. Down to the river with the buckets!! Your taco salad sounds yummy Della......I too love taco salad. I find taco’s in those curved shells....you know the ones......tooooooo messy. One bite and the whole lot us in your lap! How’s the deck coming along? If you are like here you can’t count on the weather to stay the same two days in a row. Painting outside is very difficult. Well you have a fabulous day and eat that ice cream......life is short 😍

Marilyn from Canada 🇨🇦

Kara said...

I grew up in a house with a well. When I moved into an apartment for the first time, my then boyfriend blew my mind by taking a shower the first time the power went out. With the well, there was no water with no power. Apparently, when you're on a city system, you still have water. When there were thunderstorms predicted that could possibly knock the power out, we'd have to fill the bathtubs so that we could bucket flush the toilets. As an aside, the skill to bucket flush is a apparently something that non-well house people don't learn.