The prunes were Diane's idea, as was the cream cheese. The recipe we normally use calls for a can of mandarin oranges, but we were out.
We have managed to keep a rosemary going over the winter about 1 out of every 3 or 4 tries. The one we bought last spring didn't get watered enough around Christmas and died, the previous two both got bad cases of powder mildew and didn't survive, though one of those was in its 3rd winter.
We'll take the now-empty planter outside and put a new rosemary plant in it soon, and try it again.
Putting a fan on it in the winter that runs a few hours every day seems to help prevent the powder mildew, but it means watering it more often. And you have to have a good southern exposure for it or it dies due to lack of light. I've been tempted to try one under my grow lights, maybe I'll see if we can set up two rosemary plants this year.
Supper tonight was chicken salad on croissants (from Sams), using some of the leftover rotisserie chicken from yesterday.
Recipe:
1 chicken breast, diced
1 rib of celery, diced
1 kohlrabi, diced
24 red grapes, quartered
1/2 teaspoon mustard
4 prunes, diced
1/2 cup miracle whip (more or less)
salt and pepper
We tried both margarine and cream cheese on the croissant, both were good, I preferred the margarine, Diane preferred the cream cheese. (They help the chicken salad stick to the croissant, too.)
I found a Chardonnay chicken recipe I will be trying at some point, it uses a white wine cream/mustard sauce using Chardonnay. Good way to use up part of a bottle.
I got 11 tomato cages (out of 24) planted this morning, hope to get the rest this evening after it cools down again. Still have eggplants to go in, haven't decided where yet, plus a dill patch.
I'm never sure if it's the squirrels, rabbits, possums, foxes or raccoons that eat my tomatoes, I think some of the birds poke holes in them, too, looking for bugs? I'm pretty sure it was a rabbit nibbling on my dill last year. I've seen squirrels carrying off tomatoes in their mouth, sometime almost bigger than their head.
we're having a rotisserie chicken for supper tonight
We had leftover spaghetti with some cheese toast made on yesterday's honey wheat bread.
They turned out to be pelicans, a rare sight here.
The American white pelican has been seen with increasing frequency in the Great Lakes area recently.
Here's what I found when I searched for ''bird feeder hook for deck post":
This may not be the only brand of them, I can ask the folks at Wild Bird Habitat in Lincoln about it tomorrow.
We had takeout salads for supper.
I'm making honey wheat bread again today, just came out of the oven.
We both had big salads for supper. I'm trying to get back on the keto diet again, it's challenging
If you have a Roku device (standalone streamer or TV), the camera is currently on sale for about $40, though the cloud storage is $3.99 a month per camera. You probably don't need a Roku device just to view it on a smartphone, though. You do need a wifi network.
That's still a small fraction of what we paid to upgrade the cameras installed around the perimeter of the house and they don't cover all the possible views. I might be getting another Roku camera or two.
For a year or so we had a Cooper's Hawk patrolling our back yard, chasing birds and squirrels, and possibly rabbits. Based on feathers and fur I've seen in the yard, I think he was doing OK. I haven't seen him up close lately, but I think I saw him in a neighbor's tree last fall. He did crash into some of our window a couple of times, and spent about a half hour sitting on the balcony railing driving the birds and squirrels crazy once.
Last night I saw another fox on the deck and a couple of raccoons standing on the back patio waiting for the fox to leave. I was expecting some kind of confrontation, but I think the fox slipped past them.
I know the foxes have caught a few rabbits, we've heard them squealing several times. I don't know if the vixen had a litter this year (last year we had a pair of them), I haven't seen any younger foxes yet but they may not be ready to be escorted around by their parents yet.
Yes, the hanging feeders are attached to the railing, using a pole with a hook, one we buy at the store where we buy our birdseeds. Here's a close-up of how they attach to the railing:
We had spaghetti with meat sauce and cheese toast.
