Accidental Best Potatoes EVER

PD and I skipped our usual Meatless Mondays (Meatless Mondays ≠ no meat all day.  Just a meatless dinner.  And by usual, I mean about 1-2x/month.) this week and opted for T-bone steaks instead.  Oh.  And, by the way, did I mention that we were barbequing because all of our pots and most of our dishes were dirty?  Anyhoo.

I planned on making asparagus in the toaster oven on foil (no dishes necessary!) and saw that we had a bag of fingerling potatoes in the fridge and wanted an easy way to make them.  Collectively, we decided to dice them up, toss them in olive oil, S+P, and smoked paprika, and cook them in the BBQ over a mesh basket.  I was not expecting much, but they were by far the tastiest potatoes that I can remember having.  Crispy and smokey on the outside, sweet and tender-but-not-mushy on the inside.  The word "tender" gives me the heebie-jeebies...  but let's just say that they beat the Cajun Fries at Five Guys.

Point Two Miles

  This summer, I live just 0.2 miles and 4 minutes walking (according to Google Maps) from this:

This is the closest field from my place and I am LOOOVIN' (The words that first came to mind were actually "tickled" and "delighted"... Why I'm thinking like an 80 year old, I don't know.) that it's sunflowers this year.  Did you know that different crops are planted each year because they absorb different nutrients from the soil?

I'm going to try not to take this for granted since I know it won't be there for the next couple of years (at least).

I got a call yesterday from PD while he was at work letting me know that he had a last minute work thing and had to leave for a couple of days.  There's always been a little more notice when he has to leave for work and I usually make plans and have somewhat of a schedule.  But yesterday he came home, packed his things and was gone within 30 minutes.

Finalizing plans and walking out the door.  I'm sure that it didn't bother him AT ALL that I was just snapping away with my camera.  Note: He might see this soon and insist that I remove these images.

I had no plans and the house all to myself, with no one to reflect my own guilt.  So I stayed in PJs, got comfy on the La-Z-Boy recliner, and watched TV/went online for NINE STRAIGHT HOURS while grazing on a giant bowl of leftovers.  It was very attractive.  The only reason I got up was because I decided to watch TV in bed.

I've never lived alone before, but just based on yesterday, I can see myself getting real slummy real fast.  This video totally resonates with me:

As an attempt to make up for yesterday, I set my alarm this morning and made a to-do list for the rest of this week.  In the middle of trying to make a dent in our never ending giant pile of laundry, the doorbell rang with a flower delivery from PD.  Today's a 50%-silly-50%-sentimental two year benchmark of this BBQ date that we had - I couldn't help but to feel completely gushy and my heart melted just a bit.  And that slight annoyance I was feeling with having to empty out coins, receipts, and old packs of gum from his jean pockets melted away too.  And was replaced with even more gushiness.

I just mentioned how I loved peonies last week to PD, while I was writing this post.

Gone Fishin'

I have several vague yet fond memories of fishing when I was little (<8 years old, for sure) like, setting my pole on the dock and not paying attention when the bobber when down and having the fish swim away with my pole.

There was also a (very) brief stint in college where I got a pole for my birthday from my roommate.  We woke up early one Sunday morning, went to the pier with our poles, and got sympathetic looks (and proper bait) from the other (real) fishermen.  Our unsuccessful fishing trip was worth it in the end since we were up early enough to get breakfast at McDonald's on our way home.

I went "legit" fishing for the first time with PD yesterday.  I learned how to cast, tie on a fish hook, hook a nightcrawler, and reel 'em in.  We didn't catch anything and the only thing we reeled in was our original bait and a couple of leaves.  But it was just the two of us - without the TV, magazines, the radio or any other distractions.  I had a lovely time.

Flowers

Having a backyard and actually growing things in it (I believe it's called, "gardening") is still a relatively novel idea for me.

The backyard currently has an herb garden that I love and get tons of use out of, a lemon tree, and other green colored plants, but no flowers of any kind.  I enjoy fresh flowers and buy them every so often, but never thought about actually planting them... until now!

I need to do some more research but a few of my favs so far are hydrangeas, peonies, and roses.  I need a hardy type, with a high survival rate to withstand several days (at least) of neglect.

Any suggestions?