So...whats for dinner?

Had enough fresh tomatoes to make soup so dinner was tomato soup with grilled cheese on whole grain bread. We went to the apple orchard yesterday. Too early for the apples i wanted but I got enough others to make a crumble in a cast iron skillet today.

I spent the day watching the weather channel. I must say I'm concerned for Special K in Tampa. I hope she's able to check in at some point. Irma be gone!

Aw- Special and all others affected by this storm...thoughts and prayers your way.!!!  Awaiting arrival of DS2 tomorrow afternoon as he leaves Charleston after he works- they are expecting BIG flooding...the storm surge along with VERY high and unusual tides- flooding for sure in the peninsula- our boy who lives downtown- right near The Citadel- and on the marsh- but says he can pack all of his important stuff- knife bag (he is a sous chef) /guitars and amps and personal things in his car- guess it is good to be 23, right? He and his roomies will try to get furniture up into 2nd floor of the apt before they get out. He/they is/are  fortunate and this we know and are so very grateful for....we are in SC near Charlotte, NC.  

Hi friends - thanks for all of your safety wishes - I so appreciate it. We have boarded up our house and tried to prep the inside, I am exhausted, mentally and physically. My husband decided that he was not comfortable leaving DD and I in our house without him, so we are going with him to Raymond James stadium in a few hours. With a dog, a cat, and a bird. We are hoping to set up housekeeping in a broom closet somewhere and have nobody notice us, lol! When we can return to our house, hopefully still standing, we have supplies to tide us over for a while, extra propane and charcoal, multiple Yeti coolers, lots of water, canned food, etc. It is likely we will lose power not too deeply into this, and not have it for quite a while - not sure about cell communication - so if you don't hear from me for a while that is why. I did want to come and post to say how much it warms my heart that you are concerned. If you pray, pray for us here in FL.

Take care Specialk and family, please update when you can

So glad you got to a shelter, SpecialK. Heard from my cousins still in SE FL—they’re all hunkered down in Davie, in a middle-floor apt. in a reinforced high-rise (they taped the windows anyway and are staying in interior rooms till the wind-bands pass by—they’re high enough up and far enough inland--near I-95--not to get any storm surge. My other cousin, the Daytona cop, is safe for now, but can’t evacuate in case he’s needed (and may be sent cross-state to help with rescue & recovery).

Special, glad to hear the worst is over and the surge wasn’t as big as feared. But what was with the evacuation alarm at the stadium?

My sister and BIL have a little fishing cottage on Big Pine Key…or should I probably say “had?” No way to tell yet. But it made it through Andrew & Wilma, so you never know.

Checking in to see how things are for Special and her family. Thoughts to them and all others in storms path.

My condo in Ft. Lauderdale is ok, no power but it's on the 10th floor. Most evacuated as it's oceanview. Cousin is in it and stayed.

We are on the north side near Charlotte NC, getting rain and wind, but nothing too serious.

Hello all - safe and sound and home again, yard is a mess but my roof is intact and no structural damage. Very, very lucky! Appreciate all of your concern and good wishes, it means more than you know. DH is still activated so, not home right now, and don't know when he will be, but he i needed elsewhere so that is ok. Glad those with properties and family down here have good reports as well

Tonight was a grilled pork loin chop, squash vegetti with lite 3 cheese alfredo and broccoli.

Minus, Ilona, SpecialK—thank goodness you’re all okay (and I hope you’ve gotten your power back). Irma’s path was capricious—the worst of the damage (at least in FL) was in a sort of zig-zag pattern. Ironic that some of the worst flooding is in Jacksonville, when the storm was already downgraded from Cat. 1.

Back on the Dexilant, which finally kicked back in—no need for any TUMS last night, even sleeping lying down rather than sitting up. Took a Feosol before breakfast (avocado BLT on low-carb toast and coffee), then a few hrs. later a ferrous gluconate with a chewable vit. C, followed by a poached egg atop another slice of tomato. Dinner was Bob’s Ethiopian leftovers from yesterday’s lunch (which I was afraid to try yesterday): a couple of spicy injera rollups with house-made dry-curd cottage cheese, and two sambusas (like small samosas)—chopped lamb and lentil. Will have a vanilla mochi ball and call it a night foodwise—will let at least 3 hrs. go by before going to bed.

Specialk...glad to hear you are safe!!!

Making bacon cheeseburgers, salad and baked beans

So glad you're ok, SpecialK. You were in my thoughts as I watched the forecasts on Irma's path. Also glad your home wasn't damaged, Joyce. DH's sister and her dh own a condo near Marco Island. We haven't heard how it fared.

Irma was not only bad for FL but for TX, which was immediately forgotten by the news networks.

Crazy weather patterns here in northern MN. August was cool and now we're having record-breaking warm temperatures in September. The humidity is up today. We turned on the a/c.

I was gifted a pressure cooker that didn't sell in a garage sale. The name on it is Farberware Nutrimaster. My searches on the internet have turned up no pressure cooker of that name. I did learn of a class lawsuit concerning some explosions of a pressure cooker of that name, manufactured by another company but marketed as a Farberware product. I have been threatening to test the freebie on an outside burner. It looks brand new.

Dinner tonight will be chicken thighs. I'll use the grill as an oven. Veggie may be corn cut off the cob and cooked in butter.

Glad everyone seems to have fared ok with this latest monster- Irma.  We were fortunate not to get the predicted high winds in upper SC- though our power was out for about 7 or 8 hours in the evening.

The good news/bad news was that we had a generator for the freezers and some lights etc.  Thought all was well but today, discovered something happened to the outlets in our garage- where we keep the 2 freezers...and, this happened sometime after the generator "saved" everything in the freezer Sunday night.  I noticed water under the freezers and discovered they were off and the food was thawed/thawing- it really looked as if it had thawed some, refrozen and was thawed or thawing again. Such a huge mess and waste.  Had to throw it all out- have chlorox doing it's thing in them now.  UGH!  After my DH went to so much trouble.  Have to call an electrician tomorrow, I guess.  Nothing was "tripped" in the breaker box but none of the outlets in the garage are working!? 

Hi all - I have weirdly had two doctor appointments over the last two days - one for my leg vascular surgery post-op that was rescheduled from last week when the office computers were down, and yesterday's was one that was scheduled three months ago to review candidacy for lymphatic bypass for lymphedema after the imaging study and recent therapy. For the moment I am declining the surgery as I currently have good control and don't want to attempt a surgery with such a low success rate. It was odd to drive through intersections without working signals, seeing trees down and flooding - my purpose for the trips seemed incongruent. Yesterday when I made the final turn to the cancer center I noticed an entire traffic signal laying down in the street. I thought what am I doing out here? Of course, that question was short lived since I am going out again today for a hair appointment, lol! Last night we found an infant raccoon, eyes still closed, in one of our bushes while cleaning up - took it to the wildlife rehabber not far from here. It looks like DD will go to the Keys tonight to return a boat she rescued from there prior to the hurricane for a friend and deliver emergency supplies. It will be a sobering trip for her - she lived there for a year doing her dolphin internship. She has some free time at the moment, she is a SE regional sales manager and so many of her clients are out of power, and with gas supplies spotty she can't do her scheduled trips. Hoping next week returns some normalcy for her - she is returning to her apartment (she had to evac - is in a downtown flood zone, that mercifully didn't flood) today. I am glad she has been with us, one less worry for me. We have started the process of returning the house to normal, but I am still tired - weird what stress does. My one BIL on the east coast (Palm Beach) did fine, the other did not. That one lives in a 3 story waterfront townhouse and the storm surge took both of his air conditioners, the boat slips and docks, the sidewalk, and was lapping at their sliders and windows on the bottom floor. This is a small complex - I hope they have insurance for those common areas otherwise they will be in for a steep assessment - this is in Titusville right across from the space center. He was so stressed he is considering moving, and he is a native Floridian and former coastal S. Carolinian - been through many hurricanes. He is not sure the water view is worth the worry. He is a gastroenterologist and plans to work a couple more years, then retire so maybe he will move then. It has been very hot here - yesterday was low 90's - with this much standing water it is quite humid - I feel bad for those who are outside trying to get things in order. This must be true in Texas as well. I just turned the computers back on yesterday, and hooked up the TVs, and was distressed to learn about the US Virgin Islands and the destruction and lawlessness there. We had a wonderful family vacation to St. Thomas and St. John when my kids were young teens, so sad to think of what has happened there.

On a food note - I had a lot of bread in prep for PB&Js if the power outage continued too long, so made some grilled black forest ham and chipotle gouda cheese sandwiches last night, with tomato basil soup for DH and DD. Previous night was a green salad and spaghetti with meat sauce. I had cooked two pounds of bacon that had been in the freezer before the hurricane, anticipating power outage, so had been using it on all sandwiches I made while we were at the football stadium. My DH has now declared bacon must be on every sandwich, lol! I created a bacon monster!