A little of this, a little of that and little more of both.

I think I have finally gotten to the point of not struggling against my weekends.  There have been too many Sunday evenings where I am sitting, stewing over lost opportunities, lack of 'fun', frustration at the snail's pace of checking off my to-do list.  While I don't exactly go with the flow - I will never totally be that type of person - I am trying to look at each unexpected turn in the road as an opportunity.  For instance, I took my car in for an oil change and - you guessed it - was there for two and a half hours.  I was prepared.  I had a book on Libby, my ear buds and my knitting.  I was lucky that the repair was covered under warranty, so I counted that as a bonus.  I was there long enough to finish the second sock in a pair; bonus #2.  The downside was that I had brought my freshly washed sheets to pop in the dryer at Mom's, but I ended up not having enough time there for a dryer cycle.  I did my few errands, got my car washed and visited with Marianne for a bit.  Then I went home and draped my sheets over the drying rack.


There is always a bonus when visiting with Marianne - in addition to spending time with her.  She is, what I would define as, fiercely intelligent, cloaked in a generous, modest persona.  I ended up coming home with some massive organic sweet potatoes and two dozen eggs.  Woot!


(Insert sound of dragging soapbox)
I want to veer off and talk about the sorry state of customer service.  It has become a rare commodity.  In my little town, there is a hydroponic lettuce grower who has a ginormous sign in front of their glowing greenhouses:  LETTUCE SOLD HERE.  Local lettuce, all year around?  What's not to love!  The problem is, it seems to be a secret to the employees.  I have made three trips to find the door locked.  It was hard enough finding the right door.  The last two times, there were lights on and the sound of people talking inside.  I was just able to see the lettuce table and it was fully stocked.  No answer to my loud knocking (okay, pounding) on the door.  Crickets.  On Saturday, I was giving it one more try before peppering their Facebook page with barbed comments.  I saw two employees, smoking outside of a different door.  I went to the unmarked lettuce door and it was locked.  I knocked.  I then sashayed around the corner and said, "Hi there.  Your GREAT BIG ASS SIGN by the road says you sell lettuce.  Is there a secret code?  Are your hours a GREAT MYSTERY?  Would one of you please open the door so I can BUY THE LETTUCE YOU ARE ADVERTISING IN YOUR BIG ASS SIGN?  Or words to that effect.  One of them slouched, bitterly, inside and reluctantly unlocked the door.  I bought my lettuce and then yelled, "HAVE A NICE DAY!" before going on my way.  I refrained from slamming the door, should it lock behind me.  Honest to Pete.


Same day, I had stopped at the Aldi's I always visit.  The shelves were a mess, stock was low and there was only one cashier.  And a very, very long line.  The cashier indicated some of us could move to the next register and, lo and behold, another cashier emerged from a door, fairly bristling with indignation, an attitude she maintained throughout all her transactions.  As I paid my bill, I casually suggested she look for a job she would enjoy, as this clearly was not the case.  Pfft.


End of oration.


Let's look at Marianne's sweet potato, shall we?  A much nicer subject:

For reference, it was the size of my forearm!

I did end up getting some things ticked off The List.  I cleaned up the dining room/deck entry area and discovered a treasure:

My dad's school lunch tin

Still in excellent condition
after almost 90 years!

Local lettuce - worth the aggravation!

I had taken one of the last two ducks out of the freezer (we're making progress, although I could use some ideas for frozen, sliced beets...) for my weekly dinner with my neighbor.  Unfortunately, he was down with the flu, so I will be dining in style all week.  I tried a new method - slow cooking - and it worked wonderfully.  I also found a maple bourbon gravy recipe that was mmmmm-good! 


I made up another batch of Greek yogurt (how have I been able to survive without my Instant Pot?),

3 hours and 32 minutes to yogurt!

took the dogs out multiple times, raked up the sheep yard, restacked hay, altered a hoodie for a friend's dog and watched multiple episodes of New Tricks.  It was a very satisfying weekend.  I also got a bit of good news -

The socks fit!