In My Life

-Tattoo has entered the annoying itchy phase. Still, I love it. I am going tonight to buy Capri pants so I can show it off for the rest of the summer.

-This past weekend was week three of the retaining wall reconstruction. For those of you not familiar with our backyard, the far end that borders our back neighbor had been held up with a three-foot high, seventy-foot long retaining wall made of railroad ties. Considering we have been there 11 years, it held up pretty well, but it was starting to bulge and the ties were starting to go. So we decided to replace it with those E.P. Henry bricks. The big ones, that weigh about 40 lbs. each, and need to be filled with gravel. There has been a lot of digging and hauling things around in wheelbarrows, and our friend Ed has been helping out. It's about half done, now, and we can sort of see the light at the end of the tunnel. But it is taking a long time.

-Now, a survey of opinion on interior decorating. We need to put on a cellar door. Right now, the staircase to the basement is just open, which we don't mind because we are not apt to fall down it, and I also have shelves there with tools, cleaning supplies, and food-related products, like a large container of shortening. Also, our cat's litter box is down there, so she needs to come and go freely. However, open staircases are not going to fly with social workers doing home studies. On the other hand, I don't think our elderly and skittish cat would use a pet flap. So what do you think of a wrought-iron door with openings large enough to admit a small cat, but small enough to stop a small person? Just for context, the doorway is in the kitchen and I would have the door painted white.

-Ruby2 asked about a week ago for recipes. I have a lot of fancy ones that I never make, but here's a quick and easy meal that serves four for less than $5.

All prices are current at my local Wal-mart.

Mom's Chili

One lb. ground turkey ($1.49 with saver card) 1.49
2 cans beans (recipe calls for two cans kidney beans,
but I usually use one can kidney, one can something
else. This time it was pinto beans.
Approx. $.55/per can) 1.10
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes .66
2 6-oz. cans tomato past ($.25/ each) .50
1 small onion (optional) .25

Sliver onion and saute with meat in skillet. Mix browned meat and remaining ingredients in a crock pot and add 1 Tb chili powder, plus any other spices you like to taste (I add garlic, basil, marjoram, cumin, tabasco, a pinch of cinnamon, and/or some cocoa powder, depending on my mood, but it does fine with just the chili powder.) Cook on low for four hours or until beans are tender.

Serve with corn muffins (Wal-mart brand $.25/box) or rice ($.50/bag.)

What I love about this recipe is that it's pretty much fool-proof. It can simmer all day, you can pretty much ignore it, it re-heats multiple times, and everybody likes it. It's great picnic food, or in my case, a good meal to serve sweaty guys who've been working on a wall all day.

-I'm heading to buy more yarn tonight. After making many items far too small for me to wear, I'm getting some fun, fluffy yarn and making myself a scarf.

And that's the latest.