Odds and ends
Just wanted to catch up on some of the goings on since April.
J.T. and I have taken up gardening. Sort of. Since I have a basset hound who has developed a taste for dirt in his old age (I wish I was kidding), I can't really put anything new in the ground in the back yard. We've decided to grow the garden in containers on the back deck. So we've spent a fair bit of time looking through books on the subject, picking out possibile containers, adding more plants to the list, looking at new deck paint, etc. J.T. also took down the old climbing rose bush that was trying to take over the deck (not completely, though; just prettied it up and we're going to train it to go around the deck, not through it). We started a whole lot of pepper plants indoors and hope to move them outside in the next few weeks. And we've added things that we saw at the local nurseries that we liked.
I also cleaned up the beds in the front and added a lily. I really love working in the yard and I'm glad that J.T. does too.
The weather has been nice, so we've been riding when we can. I'm also signed up for a class this summer to get my endorsement, so I may very well have a bike by the end of the riding season! We're hoping to visit some friends over a longish weekend (I'm talking about you, Tracy!) via the bike if J.T. and I can get our schedules synched up.
I received a 'friendship bread' starter from someone about a month ago and now we're cooking fiends. We've had 2 batches thus far, with the 3rd ready to bake this week. Plus, I finally made my cook-for-6-hours spaghetti sauce and used almost all of it on a lasagne yesterday. I was happy to see that I still remembered the recipe, although I really should write it down. We're fortunate because both of us like to cook, so we sort of take turns with the meals.
We had some sangria at a local restaurant and decided to start making it ourselves. Currently, we've tried twice with varying results (last batch was outstanding). We also discovered a local winery that makes, among other things, coffee wine. Strangely enough, that wine is pretty darn good!
We saw Spider-Man 3 on opening day. In IMAX. Because we're a couple of nerds. I have to admit that I liked the movie. Not as much as the last one (which was so good that I couldn't sleep after I saw it the first time). For one, I didn't like the change in Ben Parker's killer. And I do have issues with the amount of time he spends without his mask (I understand why they do it, I just don't like it). Other than that... well, I'm a fangirl, so retcons are not new to me. I enjoyed the plot, I liked how they tied the threads of the storylines together, and I liked the resolution (especially Harry's; it wasn't exactly the same as the mainstream, but it was close enough). Hopefully, Carnage will be the Big Bad in the next one, although I don't know how they could make a movie with him and keep it kid friendly. There has to be a body count.
Oh, and finally, here's an updated list of pet food products: MSNBC's Link to the FDA list. The day I brought Mitchell home, my vet had warned me that she felt the list wasn't complete. Hopefully this is all of it.
J.T. and I have taken up gardening. Sort of. Since I have a basset hound who has developed a taste for dirt in his old age (I wish I was kidding), I can't really put anything new in the ground in the back yard. We've decided to grow the garden in containers on the back deck. So we've spent a fair bit of time looking through books on the subject, picking out possibile containers, adding more plants to the list, looking at new deck paint, etc. J.T. also took down the old climbing rose bush that was trying to take over the deck (not completely, though; just prettied it up and we're going to train it to go around the deck, not through it). We started a whole lot of pepper plants indoors and hope to move them outside in the next few weeks. And we've added things that we saw at the local nurseries that we liked.
I also cleaned up the beds in the front and added a lily. I really love working in the yard and I'm glad that J.T. does too.
The weather has been nice, so we've been riding when we can. I'm also signed up for a class this summer to get my endorsement, so I may very well have a bike by the end of the riding season! We're hoping to visit some friends over a longish weekend (I'm talking about you, Tracy!) via the bike if J.T. and I can get our schedules synched up.
I received a 'friendship bread' starter from someone about a month ago and now we're cooking fiends. We've had 2 batches thus far, with the 3rd ready to bake this week. Plus, I finally made my cook-for-6-hours spaghetti sauce and used almost all of it on a lasagne yesterday. I was happy to see that I still remembered the recipe, although I really should write it down. We're fortunate because both of us like to cook, so we sort of take turns with the meals.
We had some sangria at a local restaurant and decided to start making it ourselves. Currently, we've tried twice with varying results (last batch was outstanding). We also discovered a local winery that makes, among other things, coffee wine. Strangely enough, that wine is pretty darn good!
We saw Spider-Man 3 on opening day. In IMAX. Because we're a couple of nerds. I have to admit that I liked the movie. Not as much as the last one (which was so good that I couldn't sleep after I saw it the first time). For one, I didn't like the change in Ben Parker's killer. And I do have issues with the amount of time he spends without his mask (I understand why they do it, I just don't like it). Other than that... well, I'm a fangirl, so retcons are not new to me. I enjoyed the plot, I liked how they tied the threads of the storylines together, and I liked the resolution (especially Harry's; it wasn't exactly the same as the mainstream, but it was close enough). Hopefully, Carnage will be the Big Bad in the next one, although I don't know how they could make a movie with him and keep it kid friendly. There has to be a body count.
Oh, and finally, here's an updated list of pet food products: MSNBC's Link to the FDA list. The day I brought Mitchell home, my vet had warned me that she felt the list wasn't complete. Hopefully this is all of it.