It was a very busy day today so I got no sewing done.  First order of business was to head to Scottsdale for the meeting at Gaylor.   It was a productive hour meeting with Becky, Matt (who was quite helpful "interpreting") and Phyllis.   We got most of our questions answered, and talked about possible fixes for the several snafus that had occurred.  Phyllis called me later in the afternoon to say that things were already underway! 

While we were gone Alex had planted the oleander, so it got its first irrigation watering today.  The water arrived right on schedule, and Alex was around to babysit the cycle (Tom was at doctor to get meds for gout) so I headed over to Mary's with Brownie.  He was obviously excited to be there - though considerably less thrilled when I left without him.

Errands on the way home included the post office, where I mailed the envelope 'package' with leggings I was returning.  Light as it was, and only going across town to Mesa, I was quite surprised that it cost over $7 to mail.  Obviously I'll be a whole lot more careful next time I order something!  My last stop was the grocery store, because Alex needed cauliflower and Brussel sprouts for our dinner tonight.

Marcie called as I was getting ready to pull into the driveway, so her timing was perfect for a quick visit.  Latina was surprised to find Brownie MIA, and took advantage of the situation to enjoy her pre-Brownie game chasing the penguin.  While searching the various rooms in the house where my quilting stuff is located, I did eventually locate the 12" square ruler (knew I had one!) but scored big time when I found an over-size Creative Grids 20.5" square which I sent home with Marcie to 'foster'.  She will get a lot of use out of it, and if I ever need it <g> I know where it is.  Also found a scorpion right in the hallway, luckily spotting it before stepping on it in my bare feet.

Irrigation went a whole lot better than last time (not hard to do!) though the front yard still didn't get as much water as it used to (and needs) so we may have to go back to 2 hours instead of 90 minutes.

Just as Alex was heading out to refill the propane tank so Tom could grill the fish tonight, Mitch swung by to see how the new pipeline had worked.  He was able to fix the dangling fan in just a couple of minutes, so that was done by the time Alex returned.

Then it was time to head back to Mary's and collect Brownie.  He had missed me, and shadowed Mary, but other than barking at Merlin (until a few squirts from the water bottle convinced him that it wasn't such a good idea) he behaved himself.  I stayed for about an hour, visiting.  Loved seeing that Mary was wearing the elephant leggings I had delivered (they weren't bright enough for Marcie.) Assume her outfit got lots of compliments tonight at her grandson's birthday dinner!

I made two trips (long story) to Walgreen's to pick up Tom's gout meds, and he's hoping for relief soon.  His foot is red and swollen and angry-looking, and he hasn't been able to sleep due to the pain.  He was able to hobble out to the grill and, using his new fish holder, cook the large fish Alex fought with in Rocky Point.  Alex whipped up the veggies (his delicious recipe used olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, and spices) while I got started on the fancy rice dish from the package Alex had gifted to Tom during the holidays.  The directions were so unhelpful I feel compelled to share them here. <g>

Mediterranean Risott:

(rice, tomato, sliced zucchini, sliced olives, onion, garlic and oregano)

Cooking Instructions:

Soften the rice and vegetables in a pan with 4 or 5 teaspoons of olive oil in the base and season to taste.  Add a splash of white wine and let it boil off.  Add a little hot water (a little more than twice the amount of the product), and stir continuously for about 20-25 minutes.  This rice should become creamy but al dente.  Remove from the heat and add some butter (about 0.88oz) and grated Parmesan cheese (4 or 5 teaspoons.)

What rice package doesn't give the amount of water to use?! The contents of the package measured about 2 cups, so twice the amount of the product would be 4 cups, considerably more than "a little" hot water.  They were pretty specific about the butter, though!

After dinner Alex took Brownie for a walk - and when I went out front to peek at their progress they were strolling up 35th.  After they turned around and came back by the house I joined them for a delightful walk around the neighborhood. BROWNIE DID GREAT!!!

In other exciting news, Alex hooked up the new printer today and got my computer to talk to it.  It's wonderful to have a working printer again after more than a year without one!