Something's fishy, here

I slept in on Saturday and didn’t wake up until almost 7:00 AM. I watched the news and ran through the various morning rituals. Then I left at 9:15 PM for the day’s errands.

After the Post Office, I went to Walmart’s. Now, I have made a big thing about not liking Walmart’s (I hate it) but they were the only place around I could find that had what I needed. Turned out they didn’t! The guy said, “Just because it’s on the website, it doesn’t mean that we carry it in the store!” Would have been nice to mention that on the website, like Lowe’s and Home Depot do.

I did make one impulse buy: a glass jug I thought might be perfect for sun tea. I’m am getting tired of drinking water and coffee. I had to cut way back on my juice drinking since the doc told me I should “maintain” my weight now. There is a LOT of calories in juice, you see.

From there I went to Kroger’s to stock up and I did. I spent over $140.00! That’s a LOT for me in one trip!

I was back home by 11:30 AM. I unloaded the car and put everything away. I washed my new jug, filled it with cold water and four tea bags, and then put it outside in the sun to steep.

Sun Tea

 

I went in the bedroom to change and found a hairball on the bedspread! I swear the cats read the Blog and think, “Hey, he didn’t wash the bedding last weekend. We better encourage him!” And, they did! So, I washed the bedding and the towels.

I realized I forgot to eat breakfast and was hungry, so I cut up two hot dogs (the ones I grilled during the power outage) and added them to some Bush’s Grillin’ Beans (I restocked those, too). I ate lunch watching a DIY show (I needed the inspiration, LOL).

Then I attacked smaller, put-off-too-long projects. I started the second fire in the fire pit to burn up the rest of the scrap wood in the garage. To keep an eye on it, I made a bucket of hot water and Pine-Sol and washed the kittle litter box, the cover and the waterproof tray it sits on. I filled one of the “vacation” kitty litter boxes for them to use in the meantime.

I already had the hose out by the fire pit pad (for fire prevention) so I used both a sponge and a scrub brush to wash the kitty litter stuff. While I was at it, I washed the kitchen trashcan as well. When everything was washed and rinsed, I set it all on the patio furniture to air dry.

The fire had burned down to coals, so I thought it was safe to walk away from it. I then watered all the container gardens, both front and back. After that, I put a two-gallon bucket of water on each new or transplanted plants in the English Garden. I saw that the brown-eye Susan had bloomed, so I took a photo for Carl. I also took a picture of the porch rail planter, as it finally filled out!

Brown-Eyed Susan

Brown-Eyed Susan in Context

Porch Rail Planter

I worked in the garage until 4:00 PM, and then I took a break. I watched a half hour show to catch my breath and then went back into the garage. I finished up just after 6:00 and came inside. I took a rinse-off shower and relaxed a bit.

Then I made supper.  Now Kroger had a sale on small bags of frozen tilapia. I’m not a big fan of tilapia (too bland) but the price was right so I got some. I looked around on line for a while trying to find something interesting to do with it. I finally found a recipe for Blackened Tilapia. I had been thawing out the filets in the fridge all day, so all I had to do was make the rub.

I combined the following: 2 teaspoons ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.

I put the filets in a foil-covered cookie tray that I had sprayed with canola oil. I brushed them with olive oil and sprinkled my rub on them. I turned on the broiler to heat while I made a box of Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice (Original recipe). That is my favorite fish side dish.

The on-line recipe called for a rather short cooking time, so I dug the tilapia bag out of the trash to check what it recommended. That when I saw the exact same recipe on the Kroger brand bag! I laughed my butt off!

So, I broiled the fish for seven minutes and then pulled it. I plated three filets (they are little suckers!) and a big spoonful of rice. I splashed some fresh-squeezed lemon on top and didn’t bother with tartar sauce.

I added more of the lemon juice to a glass of the sun tea and ate a very good dinner. The spice rub was just right, not too timid, and not too hot. The ice tea was a little weak, though. I didn’t “time” it, I just went by color. I know now to let it get a little darker, next time.

I watched a TV show and then went to bed before 10:00 PM.