Sundry Intelligence

 

Euryops Chrysanthemoides
from Gail's yard

"Based on what the rodent said, we're going to have another six weeks of winter." That's a direct quote from Gary in a text message to my step-son who lives in The Frozen Far North. However, this illustration, from a local TV station, is a more accurate forecast for our area:

from WFTV

In spite of the palm tree shadow, today I'm seeing dark clouds outside of the lanai windows, a fairly strong wind, and wet mud leftover from this morning's fast-moving rain storm. The temperature here at 3:20pm is 54 degrees. Brrrr! (grin) 

Gary headed out after breakfast to get a haircut, wanting to be first in line and ahead of the road traffic. I got dressed and styled my hair, planning to be indoors all day due to the stormy weather forecast, and my thoughts were preoccupied with this blog post.

He did beat the traffic and in no time at all was back home. The rain had not begun yet, so he issued an invitation to ride our bikes. Uh. Well, okay. I changed my clothes into something from my bike wardrobe (with an update on that to come), donned the hard helmet, and in minutes we were sailing down the dry pavement with black clouds in the distance. Gary called out the rule, at the sign of even one raindrop, we'd head for home. 

With only a couple of changes in our usual weekday bike route, we pedaled against a pretty strong headwind, stopping once to slug down some water and then continue on. Just a few yards from the foot of our driveway the first raindrop splashed on my wrist, then another and by the time we were pushing our bikes into the garage, the clouds really let loose and we got pretty wet. 

So much for the weather update. I'm wondering what my readers think of my title for today's post, "Sundry Intelligence." Am I going to comment on the secret government documents being found in forbidden locations? No. Don't get your hopes up. You know I stay away from politics on my blog.

"Spin City"

No, not politics. My week was pretty ordinary which means as a writer I need to make the plain interesting, if possible. I'll share some pithy insights from simple activities that might be helpful to somebody. 

how to pay

This man I go on about in every blog post brings me a chocolate-covered peanut (thanks to M&M's) and a mug of hot coffee every morning before I ever get out of bed. (sigh) "Romantic" is his middle name... Yes, I know, this may be TMI (too much information) for some... Anyway, one day this week I spilled a fair amount of the coffee on our quilted comforter, which then required a trip to the laundromat. 

The large tubs of our washing machine and drier are probably still not big enough for our California King bedspread, so the laundromat it would be. I don't have to go there often; I wondered how much cash, and in what form, I should take with me. Checking on-line before I left the house, I learned the laundromats these days take coins and credit cards. I opted to stop at the bank en route to get a roll of quarters (1 roll = $10 BTW). 

drying

One load cost me $5.50 in quarters. Be careful that the laundry and the money are for the same machine. It would be all too easy to insert money into the upper machine after tucking the laundry into the lower one.

the clean comforter

Drying took 24 minutes (two twelve minute cycles at 50 cents per cycle). When it was all done, the entire adventure took me less than 2 hours from home. I think the 100 percent cotton comforter shrunk just a little in the process, but that's to be expected and it still fits fine over the mattress.

So now those questions have been answered for anyone who might have wondered about the cost of using the laundromat.

making soup in the 4-quart Instant Pot

One of us here is allergic to something. There's been a lot of nose-blowing. One night was spent in the recliner so as to not disturb his sleeping beauty. (thanks, Honey!) 

how I cook from scratch

I decided a hot steamy bowl of chicken noodle soup might help, so out came the Instant Pot. No, I did not make it entirely from scratch. In the metal bowl I combined a carton (32 ounces) of Swanson's Chicken Broth, 1 envelope of Lipton's Noodle Soup with Real Chicken Broth (the more broth the better flavor), and a large can of chicken breast, undrained (again, more flavor). I had meant to include some frozen green peas but forgot until I'd started the Instant Pot, so they did not get used.

All that was put into the Instant Pot (mine is the 4-quart size. I sold my 6-quart pot because this smaller one is more useful for just the two of us). After securing the lid, I hit the Pressure Cook button and then the Soup button and walked away. While the actual cooking of the soup is fast in an Instant Pot, it does take some time for the pressure to build  up. That varies, depending on the contents in the pot. Altogether it took somewhere around 30 minutes to cook the soup from securing the lid to venting the steam.

As an added bit of "sundry intelligence" I will say for the uninitiated that care must be taken as to where you set the pot so that later, when the steam is released via the vent,  you don't steam-cook a cabinet or a hanging light fixture. And whatever you do, don't lean your face over the top of it! Just a word to the wise.

using the cast iron wedge pan

The soup was NOT an instant cure-all for the allergies, but plenty of appreciation was expressed, and especially because I also baked a pan of yellow cornbread. 

Now I realize that white cornbread is more popular in the deep South, but my mother raised me on sweet yellow cornbread and in my opinion, that's the only kind worth baking. A few years ago I bought a cast iron wedge pan, which I love. It makes the best cornbread, scones, and brownies because the individual wedges come out with crusty edges that are so pleasing to the palette. Also, a good spray of combined cooking oil and flour (Baker's Joy) makes the wedges pop out of the pan so easily. I just follow the recipe on the round box of yellow corn meal. 

By the way, we I first moved to Jacksonville in 2017, I could not find yellow corn meal. A couple of times now, Sister has sent me a box of yellow cornmeal from The Frozen North, which I greatly appreciate. Now I am finding the yellow version in the stores here, but I don't think I can ever have too much of it on hand. 

chocolate chip cookies cooling

Loraine recently emailed to say she misses my blogging habits of previous years when I posted more recipes. I just don't cook from scratch as much as I used to, but this week I did go one step further in spoiling my man with the allergies by baking chocolate chip cookies from my Betty Crocker cookbook. I like to add the additional 1/2 cup of flour that she recommends and every time, I mean EVERY time, these gems turn out softly rounded and soooo good! 

Spanish Moss hanging from an Oak tree

Turning now to a little "sundry intelligence" in the area of flora and fauna, first let me share a snapshot I took yesterday of an abundance of Spanish Moss draped from the branches of an Oak tree. Here in the deep South (or sub-tropics, take your pick), we see this all the time. One reader commented a few years ago that she thinks this is a creepy sight. It looks kinda "Halloweeny" and yes, it does look like something from a horror flick. But for the rest of the year, when the moss is blowing in the wind, it's a lovely sight and I enjoy it a lot.

At the start of this blog post, I shared a close-up shot I took of neighbor Gail's pretty yellow flowers. Blogging buddy, Pam of Closed Doors, Open Windows taught me how to discover the name of a flower when I take its picture with my iPhone. See if you can do this on your phone: Per the photo above, under the snapshot, tap the blue "i" at the bottom. 

Then tap "Look Up - Plant."

Voila! You've got results! Only one time did I get a result that I questioned and that was most likely because the snapshot I took wasn't very clear.

bike shirts

My last piece of absolutely indispensable knowledge and counsel for you is to open yourself up to the possibilities of where you can find the perfect clothing. I've written recently about my search for really bright tops to wear with my black spandex bicycle pants. The shirts I had in mind have been surprisingly hard to find, and particularly in a size smaller than 3XXX LARGE. 

Well. No more a problem. Yesterday we took a long drive and when we stopped at a gas station to use the facilities, I spied these shirts (a lot of them!!) on a rack just inside the door. Not only were they the colors I wanted, but they had my size! Yay! I impulsively bought both colors and wore the orange one on this morning's bike ride. 

Now Gary teases me that I buy my clothes at a gas station. I'm okay with it. When you find what you need, grab it!

Because the Lord is my shepherd,

I have everything that I need!

Psalm 23:1

Until next time, grace and peace.