Well…just finished up the first part of the cooking day and now it’s break time for a few minutes…I am going to brag a little about my ham soup…I have this recipe down and it appears that it doesn’t matter what the cooking method is….I normally do it in my big stew pot on the stove top and it takes most of the day…but today, I used my instant pot and it was only a total of an hour or so including the prep work for the veggies…oh, and an extra hour to get the ham to fall off the bones by pressure cooking it…and it didn’t take a lot of work like the old method did…just loaded the pot up and walked away…I thought the 8 quarts was smaller than my stew pot but I ended up with three two quart containers in the freezer and half of another one in the fridge so I guess it’s the same…and that’s cool…oh, I did figure out how to make a smoker for my stove top and smoked two fillets of salmon that Tom gave me…they came out pretty darn good, too, and I can’t wait to have some on a bagel with coffee in the morning…and I still have to make stir fry chicken for dinner later…or I may wait until tomorrow and just have a couple of pieces of pizza instead….I do know I need to eat more since two bowls of soup is just not enough…maybe a couple of apples this afternoon? Who knows?

Well…running a little late today with doing the grocery run and then getting the pressure cooker loaded up to make ham soup…it is going to be a cooking day today with the soup and with trying to figure out how to smoke some salmon on the stove top along with making some chicken stir fry…and I need to wedge in a bike ride, too, so it will be pretty busy but fun….slept okay last night but I know I didn’t eat enough so I am going to make up for that today…getting two ham bones out of the freezer sure freed up some space and but I won’t have to buy any protein for a couple of weeks….my coughing seems to be getting better and I didn’t even use any flonase yesterday for my allergies and I think I’ll try that again today to see what happens…had a weird blood pressure day yesterday and couldn’t get it below 130…but, the lower number got down to 65 which is a good thing…and I have been reading about what is optimal for someone my age and it is all over the map so I don’t know what to shoot for…more later….

Well…running early again today but if I continues, is it still early? Not sure about that but my head hurts to have to think so early in the morning….had an okay day yesterday and got the oil changed in the car so I guess that’s something…and I continued to get rid of stuff that I don’t need anymore…I mean, I still had parts to the MX-6 that went away over 6 years ago so they went in the trash…slept okay last night and had some weird dreams about chairs and cars that were quite entertaining and I hope that happens again tonight…it’s been a while and I really thought they’d come back after being good for so long…oh, well…I did have a nice dinner with some of the salmon that Tom gave me and I am going to make a stove top smoker tomorrow to smoke a couple of fillets so I can have them on toasted bagels with cream cheese….and I am going to use the new cooker to make soup at the same time so tomorrow will be a cooking day…..not much to do today…going to clean some after getting the workout and bike ride in and it looks like there may be some storms later in the day so I hope I won’t be bored…more later….

Well…it was an okay day yesterday but so damn cold and dreary that I think it depressed me some…I did get the top down on the car on the way out to pool…which I won…but, with the misty rain that came in while we were shooting, I had the top up on the way back and that was not too bad since it was only about 50….just not used to the cold yet…it is over 60 right now so when the rain moves off, I can get out on the bike in a t-shirt today and get a long ride in to make up for skipping yesterday….didn’t get a lot done yesterday but I do have an errand to run today…need to get out and get an oil filter for the car so I can change the oil tomorrow with it going to be sunny and warm…and I am going to do some of the other maintenance I need to do to get ready for winter…it looks like I won’t get a house bought before the Nov 1 deadline so I need to sign another lease here…but that will take the pressure off and will allow me to get the house I want…and, I don’t mind living here…who knows? I may find one in the next two weeks…I can only hope..or I’ll win the Mega tonight and then all bets are off…more later…

Well…running a little early this morning with getting up early to see T on tv but the rain washed that out…slept okay last night and finally feel okay after having the zyrtec wear off…felt so lousy all day yesterday and I’ll never try those for my allergies again…will stay with the flonase for now and hope they get better…it was basically a wasted day yesterday but I did get a bike ride in…it was only misting when I went out but it started to rain like crazy about 4 miles away from here and I got soaked…my shoes are probably still wet this morning but it looks like I won’t be getting out today with the rain that is supposed to be here all day….and it is too cold to go out right now….just not used to it yet….and I went out yesterday since I wasn’t going to be able to today so maybe a day off will do me good…not much to do today…pool this aft but that is about it….the first season of the Avengers is playing now so that is a pleasant surprise….oh, and I had the best blood pressure reading this morning since I got my machine….114/76 and that is not bad….shooting for under 110 in the next week or so….more later….

Well…I remembered to come here this morning! If you’ve been here on Sunday morning, you know that it is quite unusual for me to get here before 8 or so but today I remembered after I read the paper and before the F1 race….slept okay last night and feel okay this morning and part of that is eating enough…or close to enough…the venison roast that I made in the instant pot yesterday came out great and I’ll have that for leftovers for the next few days but I need second meals so I need to get some of the boneless skinless chicken cooked for sandwiches….I do think the coughing I’ve had for weeks now is from allergies at this point but I am still not going to take anything for it…I may try some of the generic zyrtec that my daughter gave me just to see how it works…the side effect list is a little long and that is a concern, though, so I may have to think about it…not much to do today…lots of sports on and I am going to try to get a bike ride in after it warms up and if it stops raining but that is for later….I need more coffee and to catch up on the news…more later…

Well…it has been a little bit of a strange day…not really strange but there were a few strange things in it…and it all started with my last water stop up in the park this morning…just sitting there taking in the scenery and I looked down at the play toys where a little blond toddler was running across the grass heading for  what I thought was a group of geese and that is not a good thing since geese can be pretty frickin mean…when I looked closer, the birds were actually turkeys and I couldn’t figure out whey they didn’t take off running like they always do when I ride by them…I’m not sure if they didn’t think the little girl was a threat or not but they just moved a little when she got to them and kept that up until her father got there and put her on the toys to play…one of the weirder things I’ve seen this year…oh, and one little strange thing rounded out the day…for the first time since I got my BP machine, I had all of the readings under 120/75 for the entire day…not sure if it’s something I’m doing or not but it was still pretty cool…

Well…it’s been a weird morning with the fuse blowing in the microwave and having to go over to Miejers to get a new one…I knew I had a fuse in the junk drawer and couldn’t find it…so I got a new package of high amp ones…but, damn…got back here and found the fuses I was looking for on the counter…3 bucks down the drain…I did get the counter cleaned under it so I guess that was okay….slept a little crappy last night and had to put the heat on for the first time and that will take some getting used to…had an okay day yesterday but didn’t get much done but I am going to clean a little today after F1 qualifying and Man U playing…but, they are both on at the same time so there will be some flipping back and forth…and then I have to get on the bike before football starts…and I am going to make the venison roast that Tom gave me in the instant pot but that will be for lunch…going to try making gravy with cornstarch for the first time and I still have lots of leftover rice to have, too…2 cups goes a long way…more later….

Well…it’s 6:32 and I have been up for a while trying to get moving…it should be easier with being good for a long time now but it isn’t so I guess it’s just from getting old…and I don’t like that at all…slept okay but a little more broken than it has been lately but still better than normal so I’ll still take it…didn’t get a lot done yesterday but cooking on the new toy again…made some brown rice to go with the chicken and it was probably the best rice I’ve ever made but now I have leftovers so I won’t have to cook again until tomorrow…still may do that venison roast but I have so much chicken that I may have to do some of that to start clearing out the freezer again….I may make a run out to Kohl’s today to see if I can get some clearance summer stuff…I do need some new shorts for next summer and 70% off would be a good deal….other than that, not much to do today….and that is true today…might clean a little but I’m not motivated right now….need coffee and the news to jump start the day….more later….

Well…running about on time for a Thursday and already have the grocery run done and the real paper read…and a half a cup of coffee so far and that is a good start to the day…slept really well last night…when was the last time you heard me say that? Feel pretty good this morning but slept on my right shoulder and it hurts like crazy but I’ll take that all day if I can sleep….had a nice day yesterday with having lunch with T…haven’t seen her in almost a month and we had a nice talk and lots of laughs…and, I got the first meal done in my instant pot…yeah, you’re going to hear me talk about that a lot until I get bored with it…reading the booklets that came with it, I found out it’s a slow cooker, too, so I guess my slow cooker will be retired…already moved it on top of the fridge where appliances go to die….oh, the first meal…made some chicken thighs and potatoes and it only took 13 minutes to cook them perfectly…even made gravy in the bottom of the cooker…very yummy…didn’t get anything else done yesterday but I have a few errands to run today after I get the bike ride in…I did sneak through the barriers to ride the trail that has been blocked off all summer and I think I’ll try that again today…it is nice to stay off the roads and away from cars again….more later….