artykins

So a few days ago I was over at the house and noticed that my grandmother apparently had a moment where she thought it would be alright to buy six full bunches (we're talking five to six per bunch) of bananas.  Now, my grandmother has always liked fruit.  It's part of her childhood.  After all, she grew up on a tropical island where fruit was abundant and readily available, but six bunches of bananas...come on.

Naturally I asked if I could klepto some and she said yes.  Now, I'm not a big fruit eater.  I'm a veggie eater.  And I probably should eat more fruit (and I say this as I munch happily on some prunes [and don't even begin to judge me for it because they're yummy, okay?])  So given that I'm not a big fruit eater, I put all the bananas into a plastic bag and dropped them off on the floor next to our sideboard so they could ripen up.  You see, the plan all along was to let them get completely (or at least almost) black so that I could eat them the best way I know how...in banana bread.

So as we speak I have two loaves of freshly baked banana bread sitting atop my stove cooling off.  It really is the best way to eat the stuff, in my opinion.  What's not to love about flour, sugar, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, bananas and walnuts all baked up into bread form?  That's right.  I didn't think you'd be able to come up with a reason.  That's because it's one of the very right things in the world.  I feel as though God could look upon the banana bread and see that it is good.

That said, tomorrow morning's breakfast is sorted out.  Some coffee (for Matt, of course, not me...I'll stick to milk, thanks), some butter and some bread.  Perhaps sliced and toasted.  Mmmmmmm.

I have some extra zucchini in the fridge drawer...perhaps I'll make some zucchini bread later this week.  That's another very right thing in this world.

I've been in a funny mood as of late.  I've not been my blissfully happy self.  I've been more reserved, but I still perk up when I do something I like.  Perhaps it's still carry-over from Connor's death.  I don't know.

I've been married nearly a year now.  In about three weeks Matt and I will celebrate our first anniversary.  This first year seems to have gone by really quickly, but it's been a very good year to look back upon.  We'll be going on holiday for a week to celebrate.  We'll be heading up north to the Fort Bragg area to relax, etc.  There's lots of really cool stuff up there.  Botanical gardens that stretch on for acres, there's Glass Beach, which for those of you who aren't familiar with California history, is a beach that was used as a dump way back at the turn of the century.  The rubbish floated away, but the bits of all the broken glass bottles ('cause Prohibition was in full swing up there in the boondocks at the time) stayed behind and the ocean tide has tumbled the pieces to create sea glass.  Well, there's a whole beach that's nothing but this sea glass.

There are tidal pools, which I'm very much looking forward to.  I've always liked observing marine wildlife.  I'll bet you I'm the only girl you know who's fed a stingray too.  I like starfish and hermit crabs.  Even regular old crabs amuse me, although I can't say I'd be brave enough to pick one up without a mesh metal glove.  There are also anemones and squid/octopus creature things to look at.

Still waiting to hear back about whether or not grad school has accepted me.  If they do I have no idea how I'll be able to pay for it, but God is good and is sufficient enough for me.  I trust He'll provide the funds necessary for me to go to school, if I get accepted.  I might not, in which case there's not much to consider at that point.

I have with me a ginger beer at the moment and I think I'm in love with it.  Oh!  And I handled a raw chicken tonight.  A WHOLE raw chicken at that.  Bella, be proud of me!  I took all the nasty bits out of the inside...well, I more like held the chicken in the air and shook it a little until the insides came out into the sink.  But I handled the chicken with my bare hands.  And I rinsed it, dried it, rubbed it with lemon and then gave it a short massage with some sea salt, olive oil, garlic and oregano.  It's now sitting in my fridge, all covered up and awaiting its fate in the oven on Monday night.

Of course, I'm your grand-daughter, so I burned my hands scrubbing my hands with hot water and soap, washing the sink down with hot water and soap and then scrubbing my hands again with lots of hot water and soap.  I then took a shower and scraped the bar of soap with my nails to make extra sure I got everything clean.

All that said, I don't think I'll handle a raw chicken again without the proper layer of latex glove between me and the inside of the little beastie.  I can't say I enjoyed the experience, but I'm going to roast the bird on Monday and it'll mark the first time I've ever roasted a whole chicken by myself.  

You might be getting a phone call at some point Monday evening from me...

Let's see...changed the sheets tonight, so I have clean sheets to look forward to when I head off to bed in a little while.  Talk about something right in life!  Clean sheets are a little slice of heaven.  It's glorious.  I've got the apple green sheets on this time.

And now, I think I'll stop here and head over to the sofa.  Matt's there listening to jazz music and he looks kind of dejected or something.

More later!

- A