Chicken on the Grill

I was very excited about cooking a chicken on the Weber rotisserie yesterday because I had this idea to cut up some red potatoes, hack a big Vidalia onion into eighths, and chop up some carrots, then put them all into a pierced grill pan, and nestle the pan under the rotating chicken letting the chicken-y goodness suffuse the veggies instead of just drip into a foil pan to be thrown away.  Look at this.  Doesn't it look delicious?  Well, it was--except even 1 hour and 45 minutes wasn't long enough to cook the potatoes and carrots.  I had to tent the chicken (which you do anyway so that the juices stay in the meat) while I put the veggies into a casserole and finished cooking them in the microwave.  (and to think I thought microwaves were a stupid idea when they came out; what would we do without them?)  This is some very tasty food.







Yesterday I saw that there's a Little Free Library at the driveway of the NeighborWorks parking lot so after the talk and Farmory tour I got a couple books from the box in the back of my car and strolled down to see what there was.  I found a lovely slim volume of Ted Hughes' poetry with watercolor illustrations that came home with me. Those LFLs sure are a good idea.





Once I'd read the paper this morning I got myself dressed and went out to weed the blueberries.  It didn't take long, then I refurbished the fence around it taking off the chicken wire since I noticed that rabbits just duck under it to get in, then I fertilized them with Miracid and mounded pine bark mulch over the soil.  I think I need to start looking for bigger pots for transplanting them into.  See, the soil around here isn't right for them so I took a class at the University Extension where he taught how to make a soil mix that blueberries thrive in and taught how to put them into pots that you sink into the ground.  Last year nothing got done because of my broken ankle so this year I'm extra eager to get the garden going.  Next weekend I get to plant.  Squee!  I think I've got my choices narrowed down to four tomato plants, one bell pepper, carrot seeds, lettuce seeds, basil, parsley, thyme, oregano... but that might not be all since the herbs will get planted on the sides of the bales.



This bluejay had quite a bit to say this morning and didn't let anyone stop him.  He chased away a squirrel and cleared all the doves out of the yard.  But then doves are big chickens anyway, a tumbling leaf can make them scatter.


May 14--Charles Sims, The Kite.  Monica sat on the damp grass to watch Will fly his kite.  She could see his lips moving and knew he was talking to Edward.  Edward and Will had spent hours over the winter building the kite frame then begging an old sheet from her that they could glue to the frame, paint into stiffness, and use the rest for a grand tail.  They had combed the beach to find the perfect piece of wood to wind the string around so that there was room for Will's small hands to hold it.  When Will announced that the wind was right today, that today was the day to fly the kite, she had nearly refused.  The thought of him flying it without his papa threatened to send her to her room.  When Will asked if she thought he had enough string to fly the kite to Heaven "so Papa can see it" she couldn't hold back her tears.  She watcher her son lean on the wind and talk to the sky.  She hoped somehow somewhere Edward could see his son, could hear how much Will missed him.

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there, also aunts, sisters-in-law, beloved women of all types, relationships, and leanings.  I got lovely cards (*sniff* I didn't cry, nope, I did not... well, not much anyway) and phone calls.  Tonight we'll celebrate with some of our yummy chicken, some fresh asparagus, and boiled baby reds.  Hope your day was all you'd hoped it was.  Mine was.
--Barbara