Monday, June 21, 2010

Monday Morning Chit Chat - "Man, Was I Wrong" Edition

Especially for SonyaAnn, here's a picture of our new gas grill, and our big, old charcoal grill behind it.


Good morning. Hope all of you had a nice weekend and a nice Father's Day with your family as well.

For years, Shane and I have put off buying a gas grill because we didn't think the convenience of a gas grill could possibly outweigh the flavor of a charcoal grill. Well, we still think charcoal grills are the way to go for flavor, but we have used our new gas grill MUCH more often than we were using our charcoal grill. I love that I can have the grill ready in a matter of a few minutes, and have the meal cooked just as quickly as if I'd cooked it inside. So, hard as it is to admit, I was (gulp)...wrong.

Our weekend was more or less a typical one for us. Shane worked Saturday morning (until he got rained out around noon). I spent the morning looking at a couple of houses with my daughter and son-in-law, who may be in the market to buy their first house. Saturday afternoon, Shane and I went to Home Depot to spend way too much money on plants, and yes, he did end up getting a power tool for Father's Day after all. By the time we were finished there, the storm had passed and it was sunny and hot again, so Shane mowed while I took a quick power-nap and then cleaned some veggies from the garden.

Yesterday was more of the same. Shane gardened, I stayed in mostly, doing laundry, cooking and cleaning. Our Father's Day dinner was KC Strip steaks, pasta salad, lettuce salad, chunks of cantaloupe and brownies. It was a pretty good meal, if I do say so myself.

Today I'll be spending time paying bills, doing more laundry and harvesting more from the garden: Lettuce, kohlrabi, the last of the spring collards and most of the Swiss chard. I also need to find out what, if anything, I can plant this late to replace the beets I pulled out last week. Tonight our library is hosting a bluegrass music show that I hope we can see, if we get done with supper in time.

Wednesdays around noon at our bowling alley (where we bowl in the Kids' Bowl Free program), they turn off the lights and turn on the music for Cosmic Bowling. I think we will try to go to that. We might also try to find a place to pick some berries this week, either late strawberries or early blueberries (thanks to Frances for turning me on to this you-pick locator site).

Hope all of you have a fun and product week, too!


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11 comments:

Sonya Ann said...

Sounds like all that you do is work!!! I hope that you post some pictures soon!
Have a great week!

Annie Jones said...

I posted a picture of the grill just for you. And I promise every post this week will have a photo. ;)

I don't think either of us sees what we do around the house as real work. We enjoy it too much to call it work. :)

slugmama said...

Ooooo! You have a fancy smancy burner on the side too. Now I can't show your pic to DH cuz he will want one of those too.lol

How fun, getting to house hunt! I love looking at houses, I just hate buying them!lol Now is the right time to buy one tho if you have the resources....

I might be going out on a 'limb' here but I do think plants and Home Centers are you and Shane's crack.lolol

Have fun the garden....wish I was at the point of harvesting already....;-)

Annie Jones said...

Putting together that grill was one of the few projects that Shane will admit kicked his butt! So if you get one...uh, I mean if your DH gets one...make sure he gets it already assembled.

Gardening and home improvement is like crack, but at least it keeps us out of the bars. ;)

McVal said...

Wow! That was a full weekend!
Congrats to your daughter and son in law on the house!

Annie Jones said...

This is why I'm usually so happy for Monday to roll around...it gives me a chance to rest!

D and SIL are still waiting for approval. It's supposed to be a done deal, but as you know, it's never really done until it's in writing.

Lisa B. said...

I miss our gas grill. I'm not worth a sh*t at using the smoker/grill and it takes too long for the wood to get ready for me. I wish I could get the $300 grill we have to work. errrr

Where is the pics of your garden? I wanna see pics of it and everything you harvest! ;)

Anonymous said...

Cosmic bowling is fun - according to my guys. I've never been, but it looks fun. As for berry picking, have you been to The Berry Patch down off of Holmes Rd.? We used to go there every year when The Teenager was small. He's been itching to go again, so I'm going to have to check their schedule for this year. It's a fun place for kids, too - lots of activities. Earlier is better.

Annie Jones said...

Lisa B: Shane tended to want to "rule" the charcoal grill, but he always overcooked my steaks and burgers (I like them "medium"). I've been doing almost all of the cooking on the new grill.

As for the harvest pics, I figured I was boring everyone with those last year and the CSA pics the year before. I might try to get a few up soon, though.

Jinmo: I've been there once and for some reason I was by myself, but it seemed like a fun place for families. I need to call them to see if they have blueberries ready yet.

Unknown said...

I'm looking forward to a trip to Millview Farm or the one near Greyabbey Estate to pick our own. Greyabbey grow soft fruits but Millview have all fruits and veg as pick your own and I think we can trust Chloe not to eat her own body weight in strawberries, or at least not to get herself covered in strawberry juice while she's at it. Juice covered kiddies make it a lot harder to keep an honest face while telling the guy at weigh in that we didn't eat any:)

Annie Jones said...

Kind of like telling them to say they're 5 instead of 6 so they'll get a cheaper meal or admission...you can never get them to lie when you need them to. ;)