Reading materials

This year, September 25 marks the beginning of Banned Book Week.  I plan to read something from the list.  How about you?

You can leaarn more here:
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm

chivlary

 google images

Over the summer, Tim and I have established and maintained a fairly consistent morning routine.  We wake up around 4:30 (give or take), do our workouts and start the day.  There are times that Tim will wake up earlier (I know, it makes my fingers stumble just to type it).  It registers with me that he is on his feet, but I go back to sleep, knowing that I don't need to be up just yet.  If I bothered to think about it at all during the day, I figured I had fallen into that deep, delightful sleep (you know the one) that happens in those last 15 minutes before the alarm rings. 

 My reason for that conclusion?  I don't hear the coffee grinder! 

Even a non-coffee drinker like me knows that coffee needs to be ground fresh before making a pot.  It loses vital aromatics and taste if you prepare your pot the night before and let it sit until a timer starts the process in the wee hours of the morning....

This whole thing came up in conversation recently and Tim sheepishly 'fessed up.  On those extra early mornings he takes his coffee grinder downstairs so the noise won't wake me! 

Now, I have to ask:  Doesn't this gesture rank right up there with the proverbial cloak across the mud puddle!?

24 Hours

12:30 Saturday

I returned from work to find this project started.

12:30 Sunday

It all started with the hail storm in July.  We had broken windows, chipped siding and paint and so Tim spent Labor Day, well, laboring.  The plan was to replace the two broken windows, which meant that he should paint first, which meant he had to sand out the hail chips and he made a good start with all this on Sunday, but by the time the sun came around to the west side of the house where he was working, he was forced to call it a day.  That weekend was a scorcher!  He started in again Monday. 

 The front is painted, the windows are in but not trimmed. 
And that brings us back to the jackhammer.....

If you're going to paint this side, it makes sense to fix (demo) the concrete slab, which slants to the house, first.  We had talked (in pretty general terms) about removing the wrought iron railings and updating the look of the entrance and you know how one thing leads to another, projects need to be tackled in order etc etc etc.  Here we are.  Tim has worked hard and I've helped as I could.  Actually, throwing the chunks of concrete around is rather cathartic..... 

We put in a long, full day of demolition and removal.  I tried the jackhammer, just to say I've handled one, and this morning the top layer, about 10 inches, was gone.

delicieuse

This was our project yesterday.  Tomatoes from Tim's garden, our own basil, rosemary, thyme and italian basil, local garlic from the farmer's market simmered together in the crockpot.  We started with about 6 quarts of liquid, cooked it down to maybe 2 1/2 or 3 quarts.  This morning Tim added a couple italian sausages to the still-simmering sauce.   Boil some penne, (I added spinach to my plate) et voila - delicieuse!