I Got A Tree!

This afternoon the city tree planting guys stopped by, dug a hole, and planted a nice little Pacific Sunset Maple tree in my yard.  All I have to do is water it once a week or so until it gets hot, then I water every four days.  They gave me a pamphlet with care instructions not to fertilize it or mound mulch around the trunk or run into it with the lawnmower.  They even sprinkled grass seed around .  I'll have to water that too, I guess.  Hmph, looks like a conspiracy between the tree guys and the water department.



I discovered what has been sipping the nectar from the hummingbird feeder.  An Oriole!  I couldn't figure out what had been having nectar since I haven't seen a hummingbird and this morning this beautiful, big bird came and crammed itself onto a perch and contorted around to sip.  It stayed a long time so I had plenty of time to snap a bunch of photos.


Today's recipe was Easy Sheet Pan Sausage & Veggies.  Isn't it pretty?  It smelled good too.  It's chicken Italian sausage, broccoli crowns, mini bell peppers (I added extra), and onions in a little olive oil with herbs and paprika.  It also made six servings like the other two recipes I've made this week.  Tomorrow I'll make the last recipe which makes six servings which gives me 24 suppers.  This is why I call it Investment Cooking, I'm investing in my dining future.



I was happy to see that the allium are starting to bloom.  Allium are members of the onion family that are grown for their flower rather than for cooking.



And the tulips are blooming too.  I really like the soft peach color of the two that just opened yesterday.




 

At suppertime I was surprised to see a Downy Woodpecker sitting and having a drink at the birdbath.  I don't think I've ever seen one there before, just on the suet feeder.  She didn't stay long so I was happy to be able to snap one photo before she zoomed away.





13 May--Barbara Malcolm, Tropical Obsession.

Jack being Jack, he chatted up everyone he met until he found the expat community and wormed his way into an invitation to one of their parties. Mona was happy to be going to a party and eager to meet some of the residents of the island, but Major George Clemment and his wife Susan were far out of Jack’s regular circle. They were British, very very British.

Everyone at the party was proper and polite and most of them were climatologists on the island for some conference so there was a speaker who talked endlessly about global warming and coral bleaching and God knows what else. None of it was of any interest to Jack and he did not hesitate to let the entire room know.

Mona watched Susan’s face and she could see that Susan did not want to have anything to do with Jack ever again. Mona was disappointed as she admired Susan’s photography and had begun to talk to her about it when Jack came up and pulled her away to stand beside him while he told some of the scientists how smart he really was. 

That was the night Jack met Manning. Manning spent the evening entertaining many of the guests with stories of underwater shipwrecks and treasure. He wore a Spanish doubloon on a chain around his neck that he rubbed as he talked like he was rubbing a genie’s lamp. He attracted middle-aged businessmen like a flame attracts moths.

Mona could see the gleam of adventure in every one of the men’s eyes as they stood around Manning listening to his tales of Spanish galleons and treasure lost under the sea. By the time the evening was ending Jack had wormed his way through the crowd and was standing next to Manning talking earnestly to him. On the way home he told Mona that he had invited Manning over for lunch the next day and she should tell the maid to make a man’s lunch,

“Not one of those sissy pasta salad lunches you women eat,” he said, “and find something to occupy yourself for the rest of the day because we got business to talk over.” 

Mona was smart enough not to ask if that meant Jack was planning to sink money into underwater treasure hunting. She did not want to have a fat lip or black eye to cover up the next day, so she did not ask.


Our state Supreme Court overturned the governor's safer-at-home order today.  This will not change how I'm living my life right now.  I'm still staying away from just about everyone and everything.  I'll be wearing my mask when I go to the store and I won't be going to the store very much.  The pandemic isn't over, not by a long shot, and I'm afraid that reopening willy nilly will only bring more cases and prolong it.  Be smart.  I'm lonely and bored but I'm trying to stay safe.

One more Happy Birthday to my beloved SIL1!
--Barbara