I Crossed the Big Street All by Myself

The weather today was beautiful. The temperature hit 70 degrees. I like to walk but only when there is no ice and I don't care for the treadmill. I remember staying with my Grandmother in Detroit. She would walk to the grocery store ( she couldn't drive) and she would pull a cart behind her. I loved those walks. I remember passing the public school which had a big fire escape tube from the second floor. Anyway now that I am trying to think green I decided why don't I get a cart that I can pull behind myself and walk to the grocery store. Hubby found a cart for me but he is terrified that I will be killed crossing Southfield Road even though there is a traffic light and even a crossing button. (He grew up in a small town.) So today I walked to the store with my cart. It might have been a mile each way. I bought bread, milk, diet coke and Dove chocolates. My cart worked really well and I got some exercise too. Of course on the way back Hubby passed in the car. He needed to go to Home Depot which I passed on the way. So much for saving gasoline.

Maybe It is Spring

Maybe it is spring. The temperature hit 60 degrees. Hubby hung the windchimes and cleaned up some of the yard debris. Tomorrow the garbage man starts to pick up yard waste. I walked my 1.5 mile loop through the neighborhood. So many people were outside raking, cleaning up, or playing with the kids. Martha turned the furnace off and opened up the front door. A little too much optimism.

Buffing the Bomber

Hubby and I belong to the Yankee Air Force which is an organization which restores old military airplanes. Now I have no interest in old military airplanes at all but Hubby loves airplanes. Every vacation we are sure to visit at least one air museum. He joined the Yankee Air Force to work on the old planes and help with their air show. He wanted to fly in their C47 to Cleveland. Why Cleveland? Because that's where the plane went. He signed me up in the organization so that I can fly with him. I can hear him using that old line,"It's safe, look how old it is."Anyway today all the members were invited to come with a jar of metal polish and buff the bombers. About two hundred people of all ages were there. They even had big posters up about what to buff and what not to buff.

Honesty

Last December when we celebrated my mother's 90th birthday we bought sandwiches from Panera. When we went to pick them up the sales girl had checked off the deluxe package which included salad and cookies. When we explained that we didn't want these the manager kindly credited us for that and charged us the correct amount. A month later we got the statement from master card and found we had been credited twice. It amounted to over $500 dollars. Now I have a policy that if a clerk dosen't charge me for something and I notice before I leave the store I tell her, but after I leave it is not usually worth the extra trip. We waited a month to make sure Panera would not discover the error on their own then we called Master Card who said we had to deal with the store on a credit error. Today we went into Panera and asked for the manager and explained the error. You would think we were Mother Theresa or something. The manager wanted to buy us lunch and when we said we had already eaten he gave us coupons for a future lunch. He couldn't believe we could be so honest.

The Blood of the Lamb

Hubby bought a leg of lamb and is carefully following the directions from his America's Test Kitchen recipe for garlic roasted leg of lamb. He says this is too much work to cut all the gristle and fat from the lamb. He is also making a rice pilaf with currants and pine nuts along with glazed carrots. I am staying out of his way until the dinner bell rings. I am doing my spring cleaning. I made a chart which spreads out the cleaning into manageable chunks. I should finish by the 17th of July. I have two bags of stuff for the Purple Heart from cleaning out my closet and a pile of stuff for the Lions Club garage sale. Hubby wanted to put a picture of a three legged lamb on my blog but I said "Oooh Gross!"

The Dutch Oven

Hubby watches "America's Test Kitchen" on PBS and subscribes to their magazine "Cook's Illustrated." He reads it dilligently from cover to cover. They recommend a Tremontina Dutch oven carried by Wal-Mart. It is cast iron and weighs a ton, but balances the heat properly. Unfortunately after canvassing all the available Wal-Marts Hubby couldn't find it. Finally he ordered it online from Wal-Mart and had it delivered to a local store. I picked it up today. Such excitement. He has a whole slew of recipes he can hardly wait to try.

It's a Costco Day

The weather on a Costco day is always cold and windy or stormy. Today was no exception. We had an afternoon hair appointment so we slept in late and then went to Bob Evans for breakfast. I had their stuffed hotcakes. They are a little too rich for me. When we were both made beautiful we stopped at Costco for our monthly shopping. They had the cashews but no Lindt truffles. Hubby did see the grill of his dreams. He threw out his old one and has been shopping for a new. He wants one with a stainless steel grate and burners. This one was all stainless steel and had four separate heat controls plus the infra red section. It also had a side burner and an oven! It could hook up to propane or natural gas and all for only $999. I figure if Hubby is doing all the cooking he can have what ever equiptment he thinks he needs. He is thinking about it.