HURAY, HURAY! Warm, Dry Weather, at last.

Mentally, I knew it would not be cold and rainy forever.  Emotionally, I wasn't too sure.  It has now been hot and dry for two days at  Knox Lake in north central Ohio.  With temperatures in the upper 80s and low 90s it is shorts and tee shirt time.  I am so happy!  This great weather is projected to continue for at least the next week, too.  Just better and better.

WALT IN GARDEN LAST YEAR

It is quiet here this morning.  Julie went home last night after a long, Memorial Day weekend.  It was such a progressive weekend.  The first thing Julie does, of course, is a thorough house cleaning.  Not that I am dirty but she is C L E A N !  It is pretty nice to be in a shiny house hold for a change.

House cleaning was just the start.  The grass, which was as high as an elephant's eye, looks respectful now.  And, huray, huray, huray, the garden is not just plowed, it is also planted.  It was still too wet to plow but I plowed it anyway.  I hoed up the hills and Julie planted the cumcumbers and squash.  Only got half the squash planted as it was still to wet to work the ground in a corner of the garden. 

I made the holes and Julie planted yellow peppers and green peppers, about a dozen and a half plants.  that will give us all the peppers we can eat plus peppers to freeze for winter use.  Then together we planted four different kind of tomatoes, including Julie's favorite beef steak tomatoes.  We also planted about a dozen Hillbilly tomatoes, multicolored red and yellow, which are my favorite.  Altogether, we planted  twenty six hills of tomatoes, enough to eat and enough to can for use throughout the year.

SLICED, HILLBILLY TOMATOES

I didn't get the pole green beans planted.  In my landscaping plans I want to plant them on the lakeside fence.  I've got to plow up that part of the lawn to grow on the fence and I'll work on that today.  I also have five trees to plant--I must get them in the ground today.

ISN'T LIFE JUST WONDERFUL?

Julie didn't stop with cleaning and working out-of-doors.  She also cooked and cooked.  One night I grilled steaks, BIG, SEASONED STRIP STEAKS!  Julie fixed a salad, corn-on-the-cob and baked sweet potatoes.  Together with a great red wine, could it have been more perfect?  Maybe!  The next night she served me steamed mussels, crab cakes and clam-on-the-half shell along with all the trimmings and white wine.  I was so full!   

STEAMED MUSSELS

Oh, yes!  We got sun burned.  Julie's face and arm look like a boiled lobster.

Read? Absolutely!  Love my Kindle, thanks folks.  Finished reading A Season in Hell by Jack Higgens.  The Kindle library is now approaching the 700 book level and I'll start a new story today.

At my last physical exam the doctor told me that if I want to enjoy the good life at age 90 I had to get on top of my blood sugar.  He schedule me for a diabetes seminar, which I attended.  It was worth while.  Since the stress of the hip replacement and the meds I took, my sugar has been high.  The doctor doesn't just want it in the safe zone, he wants it low, in the 100-110 range.  The safe zone, I learned in the seminar is 70-130.  It was 127 this morning and I have set a goal of averaging 110 by the last week in June.  I WANT TO DO MY PART TO ENJOY LIFE AT 90!

 This promises to be a great week.  Julie will be back on Friday night.  We need to get together with my son, Mark, and his wife, Mary Kay, for a belated birthday dinner for him on Friday evening..  Hopefully we can do a fish dinner at our favorite local restaurant, the V & M in Belleville.  It is just a little hole-in-the-wall but people drive from Cleveland and Columbus to eat there on Friday nights.

Fishing?  My boats aren't water-ready yet but I'll do some shore fishing for bass tonight.  I've had my "free" fishing liscense for some time now.  The water will soon be warm enough for the crappies.

I have also started a writing chore and need to spend a few hours each morning on that.  My daughter, Kimberly, is editing the work then my friend, Maude, in California is reading it for interest and content.  I haven't figured out yet how to email the work to Kimberly but will figure that out with Mark's help this week.  I am also out of ink for my new Canon printer.  I can't see the errors reading the computer, need to hold it in my hand.  HA

Memorial Day is the start of summer time.  Are you ready to blast off?

God Bless!