And it’s a whole lot bigger than our old ancient set.
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I can’t say I’m overly thrilled to have an outdoor recliner, but my husband sure is.
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You may notice that something is missing.
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And by missing, I mean on a table inside the barn.
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You’ll see there are five throw pillows. The set came with six. But the day after I set up the furniture and went outside to read?
There were four.
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I retrieved number five from under the barn.
Number six seems to be gone for good and I’m sure Momma Chuck is to blame. She’s been on an insane search for nesting material this year and it seems our porch furniture is irresistible.
😡
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So since I can’t have color contrasting pillows due to thieving critters, I’m thinking of adding a rug .
Our grey squirrels are determined fellows. As evidenced by the never give up attitude of this little guy during a recent rainy morning attempt at reaching the bird feeder.
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Wet poles be slippery.
🤣
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If you like shrimp?
Give this recipe a try.
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In a large stainless steel skillet over medium heat, melt 1 Tbsp. butter. Pat shrimp dry; season all over with Old Bay.
Arrange shrimp in a single layer in skillet and cook, turning halfway through, until translucent, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a plate.
In same skillet over medium heat, melt remaining 1 Tbsp. butter. Add shallot and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to soften, 2 to 3 minutes .
Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until garlic is fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.
Add wine to deglaze skillet, scraping up any browned bits, and cook, stirring, until liquid is almost completely evaporated,
Stir in broth and bring to a boil over high heat.
Stir in orzo and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a simmer and cook, stirring frequently, until orzo has absorbed most of the broth and is almost cooked through,
Add cream and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened and reduced,
Return shrimp to skillet along with any accumulated juices.
Stir in lemon zest and lemon juice; season with salt. Top with parsley.
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My tweaks – I didn’t have vegetable broth but used low sodium chicken broth and it was lovely. I used salted butter, so I left off the salt at the end. And since my husband isn’t a spicy food lover, I ignored the red pepper flakes. There was plenty of flavor so I think that was overkill anyway.
Use large or jumbo shrimp. You won’t be disappointed.
Yum!
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Mother Chuck is back and her runt from last year’s litter is still here.
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Though not for lack of trying to kick him to the curb.
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There are daily squabbles over food and squealing arguments over bolt holes.
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Momma isn’t subtle, but Junior refuses to take the hint.
A new grocery chain opened its first store in Maine last month and the hysteria was off the charts.
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I’d never shopped in an Aldi before and had no idea what to expect, but everyone was raving about how much money you could save so after waiting a few weeks for the craziness to die down…
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(Actual picture of how happy people were to shop there.)
The husband and I drove to Portland to check it out.
Marketed as a discount grocery, I expected no frills and that’s exactly what I got.
This was a brand new store…but the first thing I noticed when we walked in was how dirty and disorganized it was. Apparently their cost cutting measures include a lack of brooms and dust pans and employees to operate them.
Starting with produce, which was stacked haphazardly in it’s original shipping boxes, I was hard put to find a banana, apple, pepper, tomato or cucumber that wasn’t heavily bruised, browned and looked ready to toss.
There was no deli, no bakery and no seafood counter. No frills, for sure.
There was also no rhyme or reason to product placement… cheap fake flowered wreaths were next to the mayonnaise. Plastic outdoor thermometers were next to the crackers. And did I mention you have to “rent” a shopping cart? They’re out front where you pay a quarter to unlock one and get your money back when you return it.
I was unaware that 95% of the products are their own versions and not brand name. Having been burned one too many times with tasteless substitutes I had no desire to fill a cart with mystery cereal or soup.
We walked out of there with nothing. And it’s a good thing, because there were only two registers open with no DIY kiosks and the lines to check out were insane.
I seriously doubt I’ll ever go back, so if you’re an Aldi shopper? Please tell me what I’m missing, because I don’t understand the allure.
River's world..... 