06/16/2020 Tuesday

David, I cleaned spiders and bugs off the deck apron before sanding and painting but if I ever see a snake...I'm done ! Your wood procurement adventures continue to amaze me ! Peps, kudos on the floor selection ! Pictures ? Yes, wall paint first ! Liz, hope you survived DS's dinner party. Giving the jeweler your wedding ring to create the pendant coincides with the heavy mood... makes sense. Hugs and warm thoughts your way. DD, I took lots of my basil, parsley and cilantro last year and pureed it with a bit pf evoo and froze it in iced cube trays. I then put the three types of cubes in zip lock freezer bags, and took out a cube to add to soups, stews, and sauces during the winter. I have bad memories of my mom canning in a pressure cooker when I was a child. She felt it was so dangerous, she did not want anyone around her. I have become enchanted with cold pickling beets, carrots, cabbage, onions, corn, beans, peppers etc. There are so many taste profiles to aim for. Diane, how long will your tour guide duties last ? Shirl, your life always sounds so busy ! I envy your baby fixes ! A also think it would be more difficult to maintain if I lived near you. Ceci... how are things with you ? Missing your voice along with B, Miss 150, Ann and Paula.

With all of the replacement/reinforcement of the deck framing done, we'll continue to lay plywood decking before the hear of the day. While our gas grill is off the deck, I have to take it apart and really clean it, too. The special order Trex arrives at Lowes tomorrow. Part of me wishes we had just hired someone to do this, but it is nice to be able to make little design tweaks along the way. Paddle boarding this afternoon !!

Weight 120.8, WW Bluepoints about 10.

Interesting insight about the ring decision, Diane. I do keep feeling my empty finger. Today is sunny so I feel better.

DS' cookout went well. The tuna tartare, grilled swordfish, and grilled veggies were fantastic. I said hi, but mostly hung out in the sunroom with Justice reading, then watching shows. Good diverse group of about 9 intelligent and fun 30 year olds: 1/3 gay men, 1/3 gay women, 1/3 straight. It does my heart good to see how accepting most young people are these days at least in most parts of the country. We were all thrilled with the Supreme Court decision yesterday.

I ordered fabric to recover the screen porch furniture cushions which are currently orange and brown, a color scheme that I really dislike. Guess what colors the new fabric is (pic below)? The cushions are super simple sewing so will likely only take a day or two to complete and it will make me happy.

I hope we have a pop in from our MIA folks at some point soon. Have a safe and healthy Tuesday.

Oh yes, much better than orange and brown. Quite lovely and serene.

Right now I have basil and rosemary growing, but I should add parsley and cilantro! Do you buy special freezer bag for your herb cubes? I'm with you on the pressure cooker, was always a bit terrified when it was in use when I was a kid.

No special bags, just freezer bags.

I wish I had a green thumb and a sunny spot to grow herbs in. The thought of fresh herbs year round (just picked or frozen) is really appealing.

It is 72 degrees, but the mid morning air still has a crispness and chill to it that signal a perfect day ahead. Not too hot. The breeze is very mild and unlike yesterday, there is not a cloud to be seen. Like Liz, gray summer days are not my favorite. That is one thing I do not miss living right on the bay. Summer fog - Booooooo!

Got a message from the floor guy. Looks like start date will be next week. That means a lot of clean up this week. i'm not sure now if painting prior to floors is going to happen. I will give it the college try though.

Will also have to get all the dogs to the kennel in Lompoc (about 250 miles away) to board for the week. I guess I will spend my Sunday driving down and back.

Food, weight, eating... looks like I've found my maintenance level of calories, so I am going to have to adjust, if i want to continue to lose weight. That's okay. I have been able to identify some eating choices that are not conducive to weight loss.

I had planned on making Ceci's muffins yesterday, but I got carried away working on my own dogs and started dinner later than I had planned. by the time we had finished eating and cleaning up it was 9ish and I didn't feel like starting a baking session. I am also going to experiment with Liz's yogurt pie recipe today or tomorrow. I looked up some favorite cheese cake recipes to see if I could somehow create a creamier texture for the yogurt pie. I will report on my results.

Ron stated yesterday he wants to be more productive. Should have never opened his mouth! LOL! I will keep him to his word.

Off to be productive - gym at noon, a friend coming with two dogs so i can trim nails, then lots and lots of cleaning and organizing for the floor prep. Oh, also a trip to the paint store for some chips.

I made the pie yesterday with cheesecake flavored pudding mix and strawberries. I beat the eggs and yogurt together really well before I added the pudding mix. I also used a few squirts of sf torani vanilla syrup in place of sweetener packets. I baked for 35 minutes. It is pretty fluffy and has a definite cheesecake flavor. I'm not sure if any of the steps I took created that or not. My husband didn't really get into the blueberry lemon one as much, but he loves the strawberry cheesecake. I really like them both! I plugged the recipe into fitness pal, just to see. Very good stats, less than a 100 calories and 11 grams for 1/8 of the pie. Even if I go crazy and eat 2 pieces, a very respectable amount of protein.

I will have to try it this way - sounds good!

I had my biopsy today. About what I expected, not painful, just uncomfortable. There is always a certain level of discomfort when people are doing things to your body that aren't meant to happen. Like I was joking with my daughter, we submit for our own good, but if someone else grabbed me and stuck a long needle in me and ripped out some of my flesh I could report them for assault! I should have the results by Friday, but maybe sooner. Sadly, I cannot go swimming or in the hot tub for 5 days. 90 degrees tomorrow, it was going to be my first outdoor swim this year.

A music venue we enjoy opened a patio. Tonight is A Night in Brazil. We bought tickets, and I'm looking so forward to it. I may have the kind of drink that sports a little umbrella and uses up most of my points.