We finally had a day worth writing home about, and glad it landed on a Sunday, as I had much planned to do outdoors, but unfortunately my playing St. Paul Lutheran’s organ during their Services, and then shorty after, an appointment to show 1707 S. Federal again, which caused my entire morning to go “Poof”.
With it being another Sunday morning, my first duty, was to get back to my quiet corner and begin my contemplative prayer session, as I’ve made it my duty to “go there” every Sabbath, and since Sunday mornings are my quietest, I considered it the best opportunity for me to be free of interruptions.
After finishing up, I returned several emails, and responded to a text I received late last night, and since I don’t have my cell phone strapped around my neck 24/7, I hadn’t seen it until early this morning. Once upon a time, I was definitely not a morning person, but then one day and without notice, I turned into a morning person, and so much so, that if I don’t have most of my planned work done by noon, I consider it a wasted day, as for me, most afternoons are just down-hill slides to the closing-out of another day.
My playing over at St. Paul went quite well, other than my having missed my queue to play an offertory hymn, and when realizing they were waiting for me, I turned into greased lightening, but being so un-nerved by it all, I forgot to turn the organ on before hitting its keys. Yes, I can finally laugh to myself about it now.
There’s been a prelude of sorts which I’ve been randomly working on for some years, and for whatever reason, I had it in my music folio, so I grabbed it so I could use it as their “before Service music”. Not being even halfway thru it, I began to get the “chills” from its beauty. For me, it was sounding as if it were coming from the hands of another, which created quite the creepy/cool personal experience. That was the very first time it happened at St. Paul, and when thinking about it, I’d say it’s happened perhaps a dozen times in all the years I’ve been playing piano and organ. I’ve come to believe the “old girl” has grown to like me to the point where she’s sending out her best tones while I’m seated on her bench. For sure, that was truly an everlasting memorable experience.
My showing over at 1707 S. Federal went very well, as today the buyer had another family member with him who also acknowledged the endless possibilities that property has. Yes, it’s going to take a great deal of work to get it the way they want, but in the end, I’m convinced it’ll be a rock-solid longterm investment. I’ll likely be writing an offer in it tomorrow, and’ll certainly keep my fingers crossed until it happens.
After my showing, I headed over to Culver’s to buy the smallest hamburger they offered, and since it came to $2.99, I figured it had more to offer than those they sell at Burger King or McDonald’s, but when I returned to office and opened its wrapper, I was shocked to find only one thin piece of meat which smelled overly-grilled, no pickles, no lettuce, no mustard, and only one small dob of catsup in the center of that charred meat. Thank goodness I had a few veggies and catsup in my office fridge so I could doctor it up before taking my first bite. I was once again reminded how much I really don’t like stopping there, and the only reason I did, was my being too lazy to drive out to our West-side. No matter which way I looked at it, that was not a $3.00 burger.
By the time I finished my lunch and tidied up the back of my office, my day was more than half over, and my planned project turned into not even half of what I wanted to get done. But, I continue reminding myself that my clients and customers come first, and all my own personal projects must remain on the back burner of my personal stovetop.
I spent about three hours doing yard work, along with trimming low-hanging branches, picking up sticks, and doing a little digging in the dirt. When after seeing how deep I dug, and our soil not being as moisture-filled as we’d normally find at this time of year, I’d say we’d better be getting some serious rain this Spring. I do hope we don’t have a hot and dry summer, as that will mean I’ll be doing some generous watering of the tomatoes and peppers I’ve already started. Anyone up for a rain dance or two? Believe it or not, I can still waltz. One two three, one two three, one two three…
Not long ago, someone mentioned their little side-gig of raising all natural egg-laying chickens and selling their eggs to specialty markets. From what I gathered, they’re raising various breeds which supply many different sizes and colors of eggs. What a hoot! Now if I had the space and time to raise such chickens, I would, but not in these crazy times of real estate sales.
Ok, here we go with another recipe I thought worth sharing, and especially since these coming three days are going to be downright cold, so this one should be a good tummy warmer for you all.
Barley Casserole
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 1/2 cup celery, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 8 tablespoons butter, divided
- 1 3/4 cups barley
- 8 slices of bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 pint chicken broth
- 1 (4 oz.) can mushrooms, undrained
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 (10+ oz.) can of cream of mushroom soup
Saute’ onions, celery and green pepper in 4 tablespoons of butter until soft. Brown barley in remaining 4 tablespoons butter. Fry bacon until crisp. Drain. Combine saute’ed vegetables, barely, bacon and remaining ingredients. Mix well and bake in a covered casserole at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
Tonight’s One-liner is: For most Americans, litigation takes the place of sex at middle age.
