Aftermath of the 4th

I did nothing on the 4th.  Nada.   No invites to anything, as usual.  I thought about inviting facebook people to a potluck, backyard, but I knew no one would respond, as I've tried that before.

So I did my usual cleaning and all that and then listened to the war going on outside with booms and illegal fireworks being shot off all over the area.  Here police don't even try to stop the illegal fireworks.  I worried some, about the house being lit on fire, but then just went to bed.  The cats were scared and I find if I try to be very calm like nothing is going on out of the ordinary, it relaxes them some.

I've got Sulu in the bathroom.  He went to a woman who was wanting to try him with her own female, to adopt if it worked out.  But within two days she's messaging me she wants to give him to her manicurist.  She would not have the woman call me, so I could screen at all, and she doesn't even know where she lives or anything really about her.  When I begged her to screen, at least, she got mad and said "come get him".  So I did.  What baloney.  I have no clue why she would do that when she had told me she wanted to adopt him if he worked with her girl.

Which takes more than two days to figure out.

So he's back here, in the bathroom, being his wonderful self and I have the word out about his need for an adoption venue to every rescue I know.  We have few options where I live.

Sulu!

In all now, four boys and the orange tabby girl have been scooped up from the now empty house.  A fifth boy, Scottie, was fixed and is now eating at the Bird Lady's house.  Six more cats helped out at that house alone.  It's a good feeling to get it done, even though Sulu is still in limbo and so is the orange tabby girl, although she is currently safe and sound inside the Bird Lady's house sharing space with Big Mac, from same place.  She renamed them Kent and Kate.  McCoy is still at Heartland, currently ill with a bad cold.  Chekov was already placed.

Made two types of soup this morning.  Cucumber Soup from a recipe shared on the blog Live and Learn.  Thanks!   And avocado Soup.  I had some that were about to go bad if I don't use them.  So my frig is full of cold soups, ready to eat.  Enough to last me over a week eaten lunch and dinner.

No more cooking for a week!  Here's the recipe I use for cold Avocado Soup. It's really quick and easy.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup diced white onion
1 serrano chile, stemmed, seeded, and diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
Salt, for seasoning, plus 1 teaspoon
4 firm ripe avocados, halved, pitted, peeled and mashed
4 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 cups water
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup Mexican sour cream or creme fraiche, whisked to soften*
Crostini or croutons, for serving, optional

Directions

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, chile and the garlic and cook until slightly soft, about 2 minutes.

Season with salt, to taste. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Put the avocados in a large bowl. Add the chicken broth, lemon juice, cilantro, onion mixture, and water. Add, in batches, to a blender and puree until smooth, straining each batch of puree into a large bowl. Stir in the 1 teaspoon of salt and the 1 teaspoon of pepper, then cover and refrigerate until well chilled, about 3 hours.

Pour the chilled soup into individual bowls. Top each serving with a drizzle of the sour cream. Serve with crostini or croutons, if desired.


I got some books from Snowbrush too.  THANKS Snow!


I went swimming once, unplanned, up at the county park.  Water was cold.  And crowded!  Mainly with nonstop wall to wall people in rafts, coming down from a bridge put in a few miles up river.  They pull out at the park, since there's a waterfall rafts can't navigate a few hundred feet farther down river.

Other  than that, my break hasn't really been a break yet.  But I hope to get away somewhere soon for a day.

I have however caught up already on numerous projects, from repainting cat runs, re carpeting them, to lawn and yard projects, cleaning projects, all kinds of things.  So in that regard, the break has been extremely productive already.