Four “P’s”…

My weekends are usually boring…in a good kind of way. 

Pink

My friend Kathy Beaumont often does a “pink” page on her blog.  I’m not much of a “pink” person, so I decided that “pink” is the color of Bessie’s tongue hanging out in the 93 degree Houston “springtime”.

“So…got any treats?”

How hard is it to get three Border Collies to pose for a picture?  You be the judge….

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Patio

I love hanging out on my patio.  It’s one of my great “simple pleasures”.  It needs repair; it’s falling apart; I don’t much care, it’s comfortable.

The entire 30 years they lived in Malvern (the last time), Dad always had red geraniums in the two urns in front of their door.  As they were walking out to get in the car to leave forever, he grabbed the last one.  Last year, he gave it to me.

This is today:

The mother-in-law tongues (a.k.a. Sansevieria) have a history as well.  The variegated one was Mother’s.  I don’t know how long she had it, but she gave me some of it when I lived in Houston the first time (1979).  The solid green was given to Mother by an elderly relative, who had gotten it when she was a housewife in the teens or twenties, to go on the front porch of their new bungalow in Dallas.  She bought a pot for it at the dime store and potted it.  She was 90 when she gave it to Mother.  Mother repotted, gave away, repotted again, split, gave me some, gave my sister some, gave all her relatives some.  When they moved, the pot remained on the back porch in Malvern from August to February, when Nathan and I went to get the rest of their stuff.  It looked dead.  I cut the tops off and replanted the live bits.  So, this is like, “great grandchild” of the original plant, but I know for a fact that the lady who gave it to Mother did so in 1970; she was 90 then; the pot was purchased during the teens or 20’s sometime.  So arguably the green one (with a little help) is 80-90 years old, give or take.  I must be doing something right; they’re both blooming.

 

Push

Two Saturdays ago, I said goodbye to an old friend.  I bought the first Craftsman mower at the Sears store in Hot Springs.  Mowed my and Dad’s yard for years with it.  Like me (and like many things at my house), it became old, decrepit, and worn, with frequent breakdowns.  Two weeks ago, my neighbors had a garage sale.  I rolled the old lawn mower over there and said, “If someone will haul it off, I’ll be happy.”  They got $25 for it!

So, off I went to Sears (Bank of America threw a fit because I used my debit card; it’s a relatively small purchase; I got a great deal on a big sale.  I hate Bank of America, but they’re all just as bad…).  Say hello to my new friend!  I took the pic because it will never look this good again (and it doesn’t now, it’s dirty ;-).  So Saturday, I got up at 6:00 and fired it up; it did a beautiful job (with a little help from me).

 

Pork:

Two items.  One, H-E-B had pork loin the other day for the amazing price of $2.00 a pound, so I bought two and froze one.  I’m using this easy Crockpot recipe from Allrecipes.com, and the smell is unbelievable! 

Not having it tonight, because I have a steak left over from the other night (I really love H-E-B, they always have terrific prices on their “meat special”; the T-bones were cheaper than the hamburger).  My friend Debra gave me her East Arkansas Delta Grannies' recipe for Kale.  I’d never cooked Kale before but was intrigued, and the price is sure right ($0.99 a bunch), so I tried it and it’s great.  So tonight I’m having Steak and Kale (and yes, I miss the late, great Steak and Ale). 

Kale

• Cut stems from Kale (it folds; use sharp knife and it’s fast and easy).  Cut to bite-sized pieces.
• Place in large pot, cover Kale with water
• Two tablespoons black pepper into the water
• 2-4 slices of bacon (or fatback if you have it)
• Boil for 30 minutes
• Drain, plate, garnish, salt, pepper, eat.

Garnish

• Chop one medium yellow onion
• Place in small bowl, cover with white vinegar
• Set aside and let those two work while the Kale is cooking

Drizzle the Onion/Vinegar mix over the Kale.

There’s another aspect to the “Pork” bit:  SEC Sports has all of last season’s Razorbacks games on their website.  I’ve got the Auburn game queued up and ready to go.

So that’s my boring (but pleasant) weekend.

Have a good week everybody!