A pretty good weekend, aside from one annoying thing. So for Turbo’s cupcakes I decided to make Italian Meringue Icing, which requires a precise method of heating sugar syrup to the soft ball stage using a thermometer and whipping egg whites at the same time. It’s both harder and more time consuming than American Buttercream but I wanted to do it to keep my skill up. So I did all the prep, got to work and half way through heating my sugar syrup my thermometer died. It was such a waste, but I pivoted and made a chocolate American Buttercream and Turbo was very happy with his cupcake (so were the others who ate them!). Once we got to Turbo’s I had a great time playing with him. Wizard played with him too, but one of our other sons was there, and Wizard spent some quality time chatting with him while I hogged, uh, I mean played with Turbo.
Sunday Wizard went racing so I did a ridiculous amount of exercise, batch-cooking and cleaning because I had both the will and energy even though I knew I was going to pay for it today with a bit more pain. But there’s always a tradeoff in life. All the additional exercise, plus the way I’m eating, has upped my energy, but increasing the daily repetitive exercise is taking a toll on my joints and neck issues that spread down my right shoulder and back. I’ll have to adjust after I get done whining about it. It’s really not a big deal, I’ll add in some rest days and that will likely solve it. Maggie would benefit from rest days too.
That’s about it, my weekend doesn’t sound too exciting, but I enjoyed it. How was your weekend?
I hope everyone celebrating in the U.S. has a very Happy 4th of July!! Please stay safe and watch out for our pets during the fireworks.
July 3rd, 2023 at 7:20 am · Link
Murphy’s First Rule of Fancy Cooking: Always have a backup plan. Glad the cupcakes were still a hit and yay for mega-family time. Don’t over-do it. Small increments to rebuild stamina without stressing your body. Yeah, yeah. Easier to preach than do. LOL Get some rest today!
First Saturday Siren test was a bust. EOC installed new “updated” software and renumbered all the sirens. We went through the lengthy “check in” and at noon? Dead silence. NO sirens went off. I’m not laughing. Much. Lunch, however was a hit. We went to Earl’s, a local BBQ chain. Food was good, we beat the crowd, and everyone made a huge “fuss” over Jake. The cook even came out to see and pet him. It may not remain our go-to First Saturday place but it’ll do for now. Sunday, we did a little yard work before it got too hot and then mostly vegged. I intended to work and other than setting up some blog posts accomplished nothing. Ah well.
Weather wasn’t horrible and is supposed to remain “seaonable” this week–which means temps in the low 90s intead of heat indexes in the triple digits! LG is going to Wallyworld with me today because he wants some stuff for his truck and doesn’t trust me. 🤣🤣🤣 No Stormy this week which is kind of a bummer. Ah well.
Have a safe and sane 4th, USAers! And have a good week all the rest of you fine folks.
July 3rd, 2023 at 2:33 pm · Link
Good thing you had a back up plan for the cupcake frosting but how frustrating to have the thermometer fail like that 😒. They sound like they turned out fantastic anyway and everyone enjoyed them.
Ha Ha – you hogged the time with Turbo. I’m sure Wizard will catch up fast with the time playing with Turbo.
You seem to be pushing yourself more often lately. Sure hope you don’t go too far. Seems like you have a plan with the rest days and all.
C and I went to buy the TV Saturday. We had a terrible time finding our size TV available any where. Finally ended up at Microcenter and they had several models on the floor that were sold out leaving us with only two options – a $300 TV or the top of the line SUPER expensive TV. I bit my cheap gene and we bought the better TV. Now the problem with trying to teach me and hubs how to use it 😆.
All plans have gone to the wind for Independence Day and it looks like it will just be me and hubs having a burger and salad. It will work.
Saw that CA is banning fireworks in many locations. I’m sad to hear this but I also hope that it makes the night more tolerable for Maggie.
I hope you, Wizard, and Maggie have a Wonderful Independence Day!
July 3rd, 2023 at 3:01 pm · Link
Silver, so true on cooking! I’m glad I did have a backup plan, although I would have run to the store and bought a can of frosting and everyone would have been fine.
It’s my RA getting cranky from the constant pounding on my joints. I’m walking farther in the early morning now because it’s too hot for walks later in the day. I just need to learn self control, LOL.
I’d be laughing at the EOC too. On the other hand, installing updates is important, but somehow, government agencies have a knack for it going wrong.
Yay for Earl’s being at least a contender! Naturally Jake was a star — he’s such a good boy! I bet he loved all the attention.
Totally hear you on it getting too hot for yard work. We are definitely moving into work-around-the-heat mode here.
Low 90s isn’t too bad, but I’m assuming you have more humidity than us, which does such.
Well that’s one way to get LG to go with you to WalMart, LOL!
Hope you have a good 4th (if it doesn’t stress you and the critters.)
July 3rd, 2023 at 3:13 pm · Link
Viki, I did hog Turbo, but on the other hand, Wizard hogged Middle son so we’re even
I have been pushing myself for a bunch of reasons, but I’m backing it down this week to something a bit more reasonable for my body and RA.
It seems like buying anything in a store is a challenge. But yay for finding one that works for you and not cheaping out — it’s a mental battle, isn’t it? Hopefully it’s a “smart” TV like the we have. It’s really simple and took us about a day to master once our son got it set up. It might be harder for hubs since he has different circumstances.
I haven’t heard of any new fireworks bans here (I could have missed it though), but we’ve some city bans for years, maybe decades. Its a huge fire hazard. Our city has a fireworks ban a very long time but puts on a huge show over the lake. There’s fireworks shows all over.
It’s just Wizard and I for the 4th too. We’re BBQing steak and opening a bottle of wine, we don’t mind and we can be with Maggie who is usually scared.
Hope you have a great fourth!