DAY THREE OF THE LANDSCAPING PROJECT

 Today was hotter than yesterday. My poor landscaper was so hot outside in the sun. His dog was not happy being outside all day trying to find shade. I kept giving them ice water. But progress was made. It won't look like it in the photos but most of the chain link fence is gone and the remaining ivy is cut from the neighbors fence and is only hanging on from the roots. He put it back up for the weekend so I could enjoy the backyard but it was laying down earlier in the day. All of the poles are gone from the chain link fence and some of the supports. He is alternating between that and digging out the ivy roots. It is dirty and disgusting work especially in 90 degree heat. I do not envy him. It looks great! 

The piece of wood is holding up the ivy.

These are the pieces of the chain link fence. No ivy on the fence!

these are the pieces of the metal fence. all that ivy is just sitting not attached.

 I tried to work today in the heat. It was hard. I had three deliveries and a doctor's appointment by video. 

Then I had a client call me from her vacation in a panic. She had to get something in for a grant today by day's end. Could I do it? Of course. So I rushed to get it done for her. That pushed back my other project and why I am just finishing that project at 8:45pm on a Friday night. 

But my projects are done for the week. I can relax a bit. I have a sleeping dog next to me and I am going to watch a movie in this heat. 

Until tomorrow...

IT WAS A HOT DAY

Today was a hot day. It would have been a wonderful day to spend in my backyard but all my tasks were inside. I did have to move the 12 bags of compost out to the curb for pick up tomorrow. I still have three more bags but the garbage people only take 10 plus the two in my compost bin. 

Then my water delivery came and the guy delivered the wrong kind of water. I dragged the bottles inside, called the company and they said drag them back outside for pickup tomorrow. They are going to switch them. 

I online food shopped for this weekend. I'm hoping to make some of the recipes from the next chapter of my cooking course. They are going to come out with another course soon. I think I have five courses left. 2 cheese courses, sourdough bread, North American cuisine, and the upcoming Foraging Herbs. 

My very nice neighbor gave me a few ounces of whiskey for one of the recipes. I figure it is a good trade. I ply him with pastries and he gives me small amounts of alcohol for cooking. 

Tonight I had a salad for dinner because it was so hot. I didn't want to cook anything. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY TWO OF THE LANDSCAPING PROJECT

 The person working on my backyard was kind enough to eat up all the lemon cookies from last week so I made more cookies today. I made vegan orange sugar cookies. I was going to throw some chocolate chips in them but I forgot. Probably just as well. These taste amazing. Like an orange in your mouth. 

The backyard renovation is coming along. It is day two and the fence along the left side is now cleared of all ivy and lattice. The neighbor's tree has been trimmed of all dead branches hanging in my yard (with the neighbor's permission). The branches were cut up for firewood in my outside fire pit. 

The person will be back on Friday for day three when we start on the right side fence. He and I have so many plans. I had to make a list to make sure it all gets done and nothing gets forgotten.

I have been researching fencing and other options to replace what is taken down. Different types, colors, styles, so much information. It has to be eco for me and a color that works with what I have already and a style I like. That is a large order. I think I found something but now I have to figure out how to get it here. 

Until tomorrow...

VEGAN CARROT-PARSNIP SOUP

 The weather has been so crazy. Last week it was 90 degrees today it was so windy it was freezing. Two days ago it was raining. I would not be surprised if tomorrow it started snowing. 

So I made soup tonight. I made vegan carrot-parsnip soup. It is really good. I didn't have any fresh ginger so I didn't add any. It tastes fine without it. 

I spent time today looking at websites for fencing and lattice. I need to make decisions quickly to get my backyard completed. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY ONE OF THE LANDSCAPING PROJECT

 Today I am so excited. My landscaper showed up and started working. I was a little unprepared for him to show up when he did and I was still in my PJs. He came with his sweet dog and we had a talk about my vision. He is up for the work. He started working right away. Here is what I want:

Right side fence - I want the ivy removed and the fence to be be saved as much as can be but take out all the rotted part. Mostly old lattice. Dig up the ivy and and remove the roots. Install new lattice.

Left side fence - remove metal fence dig up concrete posts if possible. Remove all ivy including roots. Install new fence. 

Clear out the whole backyard of all weeds. 

Power wash the slate.

Then we had a talk about the area underneath my deck and how that is unused space. He says he can level that earth and make the space usable. 

It is going to look like a whole new backyard. 

Today he made some progress. The weeds are gone. He started on the right side fence. He filled six bags of compost at least. It is like I am getting more real estate. 

Here is where the ivy has been removed from the fence.

I worked while he was doing this backyard work. Then I made some cashew butter. I need something to put on my morning muffin since my peanut butter has been recalled. It turned out really well. 

Until tomorrow...

VEGAN ZUCCHINI BOATS

 I made some zucchini boats tonight. I took zucchini and put tomato sauce and Italian bread crumbs on them and baked them. Then I put cheese on it and melted the cheese. They were delicious. I ate it with tofu and curry couscous. 

It rained here. It was such a surprise. Lucky didn't want to go outside. I had to push her outside. She thinks she is made out of brown sugar. 

I tried to get all my invoicing done today but I only got some of it done. I did spend some time last night deleting photos from my phone. I think I deleted 300. They were duplicates. When you do social media the photos get duplicated so I got rid of some of the duplicates. I need to delete more. 

I gave some of the Oreo cheesecake away. No reviews yet. 

Until tomorrow...

VEGAN OREO CHEESECAKE

 I had some Oreo cookies and some vegan cream cheese so what did I make? Vegan Oreo Cheesecake! It tastes so good. I put a chocolate ganache on top instead of whipped cream. Every bite has Oreos in it. 

Making this cheesecake took a bit of time today. I also took Lucky for two walks. I have been watching season 4 of Stranger Things on TV. I am hooked. 

Until tomorrow...

BAKED SEASONED GARBONZO BEANS

 So glad it is Friday. It was a busy week. I wanted to get some baking in but alas, I didn't get any time to bake. This weekend I will. I owe my neighbor some goodies for putting air in my car's tires.  I found out he has a portable pump and he had me drive over and he put the air in my tires. The car feels better already.

I started watching Season 4 of Stranger Things but I realized I didn't remember the end of Season 3 so now I am re-watching the last few episodes of season 3. They don't look familiar so I wonder if I fell asleep and never saw them. 

I made Baked Seasoned Garbonzo Beans. They are really good. I took garbonzo beans and rinsed them. Then I put them in a bowl with some oil and some spices and mixed it all up. Then I put it all on a baking sheet and baked them on 350 degrees for 20 minutes. The garbonzo beans stayed a bit soft and got spicy. They were delicious. 

Until tomorrow...

VEGAN ROASTED CAULIFLOWER

 I had a very nice phone call today from a friend I have never seen in person. We haven't spoken in about a year. We talked for almost an hour and during that time she was very nice and gave me an extra year of a subscription to something that I use where she works. That was a very nice thing to do. 

I took Lucky for a long walk around lunch time so I could put my mail-in-ballot in the ballot box in my neighborhood. The election is coming up soon and I wanted to get it done. 

I bought an antenna for my TV a week ago and today I got to use it. For days I have been trying to get the channel I needed to watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee.  I watch it every year on ESPN but this year they put it on some random channel that I don't get. That is why I bought the antenna. I finally moved the antenna a little bit tonight and voila I got the channel to see the finals. I got to see the last 40 minutes and the exciting ending. I wish they put the spelling bee back on a major channel. I think it is sad so many people did not get to watch it because it was on such a random channel. ION who ever heard of it??

For dinner I took a full cauliflower and coated it with a rub that I made out of tahini, lemon juice, some spices, salt and pepper. I roasted the cauliflower for 50 minutes. It was so amazing! Also so easy to make.

Until tomorrow...

VEGAN MILK CHOCOLATE COVERED BANANA BITES

 I don't really look at the stats of my blog but I see folks are bored with me writing about how I feel after my vaccine. Okay, I get it. It is a downer.  We are all tired of talking about COVID and feeling crappy. I understand more than others and less than some. I can't help that I have a weird reaction this time that has caused my lymph nodes go haywire and my arm, underarm and neck are in serious pain. BUT I won't talk about it anymore. 

Instead I will tell you what I made today. It is simple but it tastes really good. It is perfect on it's own or on ice cream. I took a banana and sliced it up. Then I took vegan milk chocolate and melted it. I took the banana slices and dipped them in the milk chocolate and put them in the fridge. The chocolate shell got hard and now I have a tasty little treat. 

I was going to put some peanut butter on it too but I am not wasting my priceless peanut butter on anything but what I need it for. I only have two small jars of my precious Jif peanut butter since the recall. It has to last until they start selling more Jif in the stores. 

My day was working, walk the dog, and make my treat. 

Until tomorrow...