Unpredictable April

What should I wear today?  Yesterday afternoon when I walked to the mailbox , it was 85 and humid.  Still warm last night and breezy.  This morning when I went outside it was 40 and very windy, and starting to rain. We are getting some of the arctic air that is sweeping down from Canada.  Parts of the country are getting ice and snow, we most likely will get rain which we always need, and maybe some hail, which we don't need. I have to run out later and do some errands.  I wish I had some of these...boots , I would wear them today. 

I was trying to grow succulents in the kitchen windows, but with the solar screens on, they weren't getting enough light.  So I removed the screens from a couple of the windows, and they seem to be much happier.  I like having the screen off, but am afraid I will need to cover my table with something to keep that end of it from fading from the sun. I cleaned the inside of the windows, but haven't made it to the outside yet. You can see that it is raining.

 

I was enjoying the view of the backyard while having coffee. With the solar screens on, when it rains hard it plasters the screens to the windows and you can't see out.  Taken through the not entirely clean window.  We have not done any spring clean-up in the back yard yet.

 

 

Last night Hubby was at a dinner meeting, so I was on my own and made this salad.  I had made us both the same thing on Monday night, except I added hard-boiled eggs.

 I don't usually buy bagged salad, but do sometimes buy the spinach when in a hurry.  I was all excited to see the new Fresh Express Spinach and Arugula, as I love arugula.  Well, as I was searching for where it was......I started counting them.   The bag had 6 tiny leaves of arugula!!! What a disappointment. Was I wrong to expect a few more? I don't think so, but yes, they can say, it did have arugula.  I went online to make a comment at their website, but they wanted the product code of the item, and I had already tossed the bag.  I think I will buy another bag today and see if the same holds true, then I will have the information when I write to them.  I've been thinking about growing a small kitchen garden outside the back door. But the way the squirrels have eaten my succulents, I don't know how much luck I'd have.

 

Well, I'm off to experience some April weather.

Bright and Sunny

I live on what I call the shady side of my street.  The morning sun streams in the back side of the house so it's nice in the kitchen in the a.m.  Which means we get the afternoon and evening sun on the front of the house.  During the very long, very hot Texas summers this is not so enjoyable.  Regardless...I have been relishing the early mornings in the back of the house.  It's still very cool, low to mid 40's in the a.m. and starting to warm up to mid 70's in the afternoon.  My perfect idea of a great climate. These kind of days aren't around for very long, so I do my best to really enjoy them.

Hubby and I have been trying to overhaul our menus lately.  We go in stages of eating out a lot, and eating things that really aren't good for us.  Then we alternate to only cooking at home, and eating what we know is good for us. During the latter stage, we end up feeling very virtuous about it, but actually feeling BETTER as well.  Funny how that works, huh?

Most mornings breakfast is oatmeal.  But mornings in a hurry, it's something quicker. For hubby that means a breakfast sandwich at a fast food place. He calls it his Buffett breakfast...  he saw in an interview with Warren Buffett that he eats the same thing most mornings, from the $1. menu.  HaHa  Yesterday I had one of my favorites, which I don't have often.  I have a love/hate relationship with bagels.  Mostly because I could never stop at just 1/2 but always had the entire thing.  Those things are HUGE you know!  Well, I don't feel so bad when I can eat just 1/2. Then I treat myself to cream cheese and a bit of  Fig Preserves. This is almost the best jam I have ever tasted.  The label says 50 calories per Tblsp. I use less on 1/2 bagel.

Did you notice my new bright yellow straw placemat?  I picked them up at Target last time, on clearance for .67.  Every year they have these, in different colors.  I was suprised they had the bright spring-like color on clearance.  I can't resist getting a few new ones each year,  I wouldn't have gone for the yellow, but have been using this old tablecloth lately, and thought a pop of bright would be nice with it.
I haven't mentioned any Target finds lately because I simply have been behaving myself and not going there as much.  On the same trip that I got the placemats, I found a few Nate Berkus stationery items, shown on the same yellow placemat.  It looks a little faded in the photo, but is is really bright in person.

 

Keeping with the yellow theme, here's what I had in the late afternoon, sitting on the front porch in the sun when it was 75.  This is only 7 oz., just the right size. A friend told me Dr. Oz said it is healthy to have one "light" beer a day.  I don't know if this one is considered light or not, I just like it.

 

I cooked us a healthy dinner of green beans and quinoa and a salad, along with bruschetta with sauteed garlic and tomatoes.  We were hungry and ate it fast so no photos.  It wasn't that exciting visually, but was very good.

Green Grows the Lettuce

I realized I haven't made a food post in quite some time, so here is one. Hub did the Sunday shopping today, while I stayed home and sorted and moved art supplies around. Besides supplies for dinner and the coming week, he brought home this totally beautiful bunch of lettuce. I know most people don't get this excited about greens, but I sure do. We love salad around here, and eat a lot of it. So I really like to use the best ingredients I can get my hands on. That usually means the Farmers Market, but haven't been able to get there in awhile. No, this came from the grocer, the plain old grocer. I did not have to toss ONE leaf or morsel. So along with our petite steak and baked sweet potato, tonite we dine on a huge green salad, with all kinds of additions...soy nuts, olives, some bits of Asiago cheese, and vinagrette. I could just bury my face in the lettuce and be perfectly happy. Hub needs the steak and potato.
Look, it fills the entire sink.


After our steak dinner, we'll settle in to watch the Academy Awards. Every year I say I am not going to waste time with these, since they seem to go on forever. But I do like to see what ridiculous costumes people decide to put on, so that is the fun part for me. I've only seen a couple of the movies that are up for awards so I don't really care who wins what.