Today was the First Day!

 

No post yesterday, because I was busy painting. Now that Tommy is retired, I can spend more time on creative pursuits. This is Frankie's Uncle Lafitte, The Pirate King. He died a few months ago so this is in commemoration.  I still have work to do but am pretty happy with how it's turning out.

Tommy had an awesome first day of full retirement. He got up early and walked Frankie, then went to the park around the corner to shoot hoops with his new basketball.  We drove down to a county park and took a walk after eating breakfast on the patio. We used the new fanny pack to carry our phones and wallets! Once home, he took off to hit a bucket of golf balls while I went to Home Depot and the thrift store.

My $17 thrift haul didn't include any sales -- but I needed another cotton nightgown and robe, so getting the senior discount was incentive enough. This coffee table was ten dollars and will be great in our outdoor seating area. I will use exterior paint and probably a coat of varnish on it. The small table that was here before wasn't nearly big enough to hold food or real beverages. It would blow over in the wind. This piece wasn't made for outside, but it wasn't expensive and will do the job.

I finally got around to making iced tea concentrate, and straining vinegar. We'll be set for beverages, salad dressing, and marinade. The discards all went into Dark Helmet, our composter.

 

Last night was chicken breast from this past week's bird, with peppers. FlashFood had falafels, that made a fine side. We consume a lot of cheddar cheese, so I ordered three bars (Cracker Barrel Artisan) for $1.72 each, and a box of cookies -- just because!

Everything for dinner tonight was marked down. I saved $8.65 by using reduced price salmon, FF beans and squash. There's a little bit of salmon and beans left which I will mix with some pasta for lunch tomorrow. An entire sheet pan meal was under $12, and it was healthy too.

Even my lunch was heavy on the FlashFood -- the sourdough bread and nachos were FF. And we are now loving having fruit gelatin as a side. Alas, we are now out of bread and I either need to bake more or hope to find a good FF loaf.

Frankie got a bath and quick groom. I wasn't very careful, just wanted to get it done. We have a vet appointment tomorrow afternoon.  It's a pre-surgical physical so we can schedule her spay, plus she needs her Lyme vaccine. I didn't take off a ton of hair, but I did leave what I could for the birds. A little one was picking at the liner in this planter, so I know they are building.  This one has a tacky plastic plant which used to be upfront where it got a lot of abuse. Not sure what's going to be done with it this year. But I do know the birds are going to be interested in plundering the basket.

It looks like we are in for a few warm and sunny days, so I've got stuff to do outside. How about you?