HOMEMADE ITALIAN DINNER

Sunny and windy. Temperatures steady near 53F. Winds NW at 15 to 20 mph.
We had to cover the delicate plants that we have already put in our flower gardens both in the front yard and in the back. A Clematis near the fence in the back along my neighbors house. One geranium, left over from the basket arrangement from the front yard. This one was in the flower garden along the fence that borders the garbage cans and sits with a lilac bush and a azalea. The impatients that we are going to plant along the back porch were safe because we moved them to the porch. Two plants that my neighbors granddaughter gave me in honor of Mother's Day. I have been helping with her baby when she leave her with her grandmother. They were safe because they have not been planted yet. My basket of flowers in the concrete basket in the front garden. A rose bush in the front garden and the assorted flowers planted in the front landscape mound. the hanging basket was brought in along with the fern. I hope we don't have to do that again tonight.

Every Spring we get tempted to put the front porch screens up because we have a warm spell early on and every Spring we have one week of cold weather which leads us to say, it's a good thing we didn't put the screens us yet because we would not be able to sit out on the porch or it's a good thing we have not put the screens up yet.

I am going to post this little survey that I got from Shelly at Scenic Overlook. I use to read these a lot on blogs that I keep up with and I was always in awe at how easy it seemed for the bloggers to come up with interesting answers to the questions. So I don't think mine are so interesting but it's my first one so maybe I could do better next time.

a. area code: 518
b. bed size: queen
c. chore you hate: cleaning the bathroom, I use to tell my father I would pay him to clean the bathroom my brother and I shared at my parents house because my mother said it was ours to take care of
d. dog's name: no dog two cats Bella and Buddy
e. essential "start of the day”: coffee
f. favorite color: cranberry
g. gold or silver: I love silver but wear all gold, go figure
h. height: 4:11”
i. instruments you play: I had a choir director tell me to stand in the back and move my lips
j. job: administrative/nursing home
k. kids: just one female 26
l. living arrangements: me, husband 2 cats as mentioned above
m. mom's name: Helen
n. nickname: n/a
o. overnight hospital stay: tonsillectomy, c-section, hysterectomy, carpal tunnel
p. pet peeve: a messy house
q. quote from movie: “Your killing me Smalls” from SANDLOT
r. righty or lefty: always righty
s. siblings: one brother , 54, single, never married, no kids
t. time you wake up: workday – 6:30 am weekend – whenever my husband gets tired of waiting for me to get up
u. underwear: the touch the feel of cotton the fabric of our lives
v. vegetables you dislike: brussel sprouts
w. ways or reasons you are late: never late
x. x-rays: Achilles tendon
y. yummy food you make: anything Italian
z. zoo animals you like: I try to pretend there are no such thing as zoos


My daughter had a change in plans for work this week. Instead of leaving first thing this morning she is leaving tomorrow morning early and work straight through for seven days. Depending on her schedule for Friday Saturday and Sunday this weekend, I may talk my husband into going to CT to see her and the area, since she may be living there some day. I have Friday off so it would work out well and I think my husband could afford a day off.

I am going to make the dinner tonight that I had planned for Mother's Day. Meatballs from scratch, Italian sausage and homemade pasta sauce. My doughier will come for dinner and my brother might stop by. The sauce usually has to simmer for hours, but tonight it won't be simmering too long before we dig in. I like it both ways, simmered for hours or very fresh. I have, I think, mastered the meatballs and they are beginning to taste just like my mother's. I think the more you make them the easier it gets. There is really no recipe, but I think the key is to give up on trying to make them not bad for you and go ahead and fry them instead of trying to bake them. If anyone reads this and would like my recipe let me know in the comments section and I will be glad to post the recipe.


Edited to Add: What a fun dinner we had. Of course I knew the homemade meatballs and and homemade sauce would get them here. My daughter was flying all over town today trying to get everything she needs at the last minute to be away for seen days and I called my brother and told him to come after work. We ate and talked and talked some more. No one left until almost seven.

I came right home from work at three and started cooking and we had dinner at 5, it worked out so good.

So my baby is off to CT again, this time for seven days. I am going to miss her.