Friday, June 23, 2023

5 thing Friday - Highlands, grilling, painting the back door, fortune cookie, FB

 Today's plan is to run up to Highlands and tie up a few loose ends as it goes on the market. For example: turn the pump back on and open the water main, move the BBQ grill, try to disassemble the swing, clean and freshen the barn and pumphouse, put a "For Sale" sign on the trailer and the canoe, say goodbye.
I hope Highlands will be for the new owners what it was for Mark.  He was so excited to drive me up there and walk me around the property, telling me all the names he planned for all of the spaces - The Barn, Hidden Meadow, Sunset Point, Moonlit Bluff.  What a romantic.
One of my favorite veggies to grill is okra.  To me, the insides get creamy instead of slimy. And I love the flavor!
On Wednesday, I grilled in the afternoon, before it got too hot.  Texas style pork chops, okra, and twice baked potatoes from the freezer.  It was a good thing I grilled early - we had a raging thunderstorm come through at dinnertime!
I also tried my hand at a chocolate chip cookie, but it got a little overcooked in my cast iron dish.  Cast iron keeps cooking even after you take it off the grill so the timing is important.  I'm sure I will try this again!
I'm giving the outside of the backdoor a fresh coat of paint soon and Dark Everglade is the closest I could match the color. Coincidentally its a close match to the kitchen backsplash accent tiles which are staying.  I have plans to have the wallpaper removed, walls textured and painted white, new pendant hung, rug and large wall clock added, maybe a smaller kitchen table and chairs...
On Tuesday, my smashed fortune cookie included this platitude: "The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see"
I'm not exactly sure I can agree with that.  I have spent a lot of time lately thinking about the past while trying to envision the future and I think that what I see in the past is holding me up a bit.
my Facebook selfie on a happy day

After deleting many of my old posts, I took myself off Facebook yesterday, temporarily.  I got to thinking about how FB is a place where people appear not who they really are, or maybe they are, who really knows?  Families argue over politics, people you knew in high school plan reunions that few attend, acquaintances are bragging about their kids and vacations, people post things to make themselves look wise or pious... One of my older half-sisters posted something that hit a nerve with me, so I replied, she unfriended me, and I thought how ridiculous it is that on social media we are having this totally unsatisfactory conversation that ends in cutting each other off?  I need to harvest my photos on FB, then deactivate my account forever.


Gina

2 comments:

Pattie @ Olla-Podrida said...

You are getting so much accomplished. You really should be proud of yourself. I found it interesting that you attempted to make a chocolate chip cookie on the grill in a cast-iron pan. I definitely think that’s worth trying again. I am not a fan of cast-iron. I have had a variety of sizes of pans, a griddle, and I just have everything stick. I have seasoned, and re-seasoned them, and they just don’t work for me. I do like to watch other people cook with them though, so I wish you great success with your cookie. It looks pretty good to me.

Lynda said...

I think deleting FB is a great idea! It takes up too much space in my head & time in my life, and I'm almost ready to do it too.