Solo weekend

Twice a year, ray takes a group of students on a weekend field trip. I don't really like being alone that much and look forward to him coming back.

The first 24 hours was kind of good. I could cook for one, eat when I felt like it, hog the whole bed, read late without worrying about the light being on.

There are lots of little things Ray does for me--washing dishes is probably the biggest. But, of course, the most important thing he does is keep me company. I pay a lot more attention to Cameron (the dog) when Ray is away.

This time, my Dad and I had been looking forward to eating some lamb. Ray doesn't like lamb and I didn't really want to eat it while he had something else, although that would be an option. Dad bought a whole (or half?) lamb from a farmer (a 70 year old woman someone else had told him about---a benefit of email is you can just forward stuff to anyone) and it was in the freezer. He has been gradually eating it and generously offering it to me as well. A leg of lamb, though, even a small one, is a lot for one person to eat. Yesterday morning, he cooked it in my oven and we enjoyed it together. Daddy eats his main meal at lunch time. He looked up the recipe in Joy of Cooking and it was pretty tasty. He cut a big potato in half and boiled it. I stuck it in the oven for a few minutes when the lamb was nearly done. We also had some green beans. He picked a few from the garden and I took some out of the freezer (also from the garden).

After Dad left, I spent the afternoon on the computer, more or less. I worked on the tax classes I am supposed to be taking for H&R Block, 15 hours every year, in order to work for them again. You pay $20 for unlimited classes and can choose from a huge list. I also spent a little time on our finances, paying bills on line and keeping track of things in Quicken.

I ate leftovers for dinner, the same thing I had Friday night. I made chicken cacciatore for myself and it was quite good. The only thing is, it was not really the right weather, since it has been hot and humid. I decided what to watch on TV, not that Ray usually objects. At 9:30, I went to bed and read and had a great sleep.

But by this morning, I was feeling generally crabby. I've washed dishes several times, but there are still a lot to do. If you cook for yourself, you make almost as many dishes (pots and bowls) as when you cook for two. Plus I made a (vegan fat-free) carrot cake to take to UUFA this morning. On the way, I was cross because I was running late, even without Ray to blame it on. I didn't remember to grab the napkins that I like to bring to events where food is being served. Otherwise, they will use paper napkins and that seems wrong to me, for an organization that claims to be green.

The service made me feel a little better and I chatted with a few friends, like Mary Jean. I stopped at Publix on the way home to buy a few groceries (yogurt, butter, brown sugar). The cashier asked what I was baking. I was facing a day alone with no particular goals. When I got home, it was almost noon. I had some leftover green beans and lamb. It was good, but there wasn't a lot of it. (I could have had as much lamb as I wanted). I wished I had some carrot cake...

I started a batch of bread. All afternoon, it was thundery and threatening to rain. Finally we did get a good shower. The dog is terrified of thunder and whines to come in. Then he whines to go out...I let the chickens out for a while. They come to me in a very satifsfying way whenever I come out. They are hoping for corn, which I use to lure them back in. We got four eggs again today. Yay!

I had a lovely time chatting with my daughters via Skype.

For supper, I made an omelet with some potatoes from the garden and a little onion and our own eggs. Pretty good. I had a little salad (just lettuce really) and a slice and a half of homemade bread.