The White House

The White House

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Hodge Podge

Homer is leaving town for work. I hate that this happens, but it’s not like I have a choice. He leaves Monday so he took Friday and Saturday off to build the stairs (he has Sunday’s off, too). Somehow that bare spot will be a hole where the stairs will come down and hang a left. He built the platform yesterday and did some planning. This morning he is already back at work so we’ll see….

stairs?

This is Olivia’s fish tank. The two guppies we bought the other day died immediately. I have to get a couple snails for Elijah’s tank so we may grab a couple more today. I sucked the gravel and added some fresh water.

Olivia's fish tank

She has two Mollies… the white one and at the top can you see the black one with white spots? I have not mastered the art of photographing moving fish.

white Molly

white Molly

The gardening bug is in the house. I stopped by the greenhouse and picked up some peat moss and perlite to mix with the soil I stored for the winter. I mixed 1 part soil and 2 parts each of the other two. Then I baked it at 180* for 30 minutes. I don’t know if this is really cheaper than buying premixed potting soil and it sure is a lot more work… I should take some time to figure out if I’m really saving any money.

sterlizing potting soil

I was given a very generous gift certificate to dinner from Nick’s soccer team that I coached this past summer. Since Homer is leaving town we decided to go to dinner last night. Olivia and Lucas went to Grandma’s and Elijah was doing community service (not because he wants to; because he has to).

For an appetizer we had grilled shrimp with a mango salsa (I forgot to take a photo before we took them off the skewer and started eating). This was outstanding, but really…. 3 shrimp for $12.95?

shrimp with mango salsa at Pumphouse 1

We each had a cup of Seafood Chowder which was also delicious, but again, $6.00 a little cup seems excessive.

I ordered the prime rib. Absolutely the worst piece of meat I’ve ever had. Zero and I mean zero flavor. It was all fat and chewy. The Au jus had no flavor and tasted like hot water. The potatoes were okay.

prime rib at Pumphouse 2

Homer ordered lamb. He’s never had lamb and said he could go ahead and check that one off the bucket list, but wouldn’t ever be eating it again. He’s the kind of guy who likes everything and he only ate half of it. Do you eat lamb? Could it be this just wasn’t prepared well?

lamb at Pumphouse 3

We should have had appetizers, soup and beer….. and skipped the main course, but hindsight is always 20/20, isn’t it? I like the atmosphere. The light is inviting and it is, of course, designed for the Alaskan tourist which it is full of all summer long.

Pumphouse dining room 4

 

Pumphouse Restaurant 5

Pumphouse Restaurant 6

Pumphouse Restaurant 7

Pumphouse Restaurant 8

When we got home I planted some geranium seeds. I have to make an order as I could only find two kinds here in town. Geranium Colorama F2 (mixed colors) and a Border Scarlet Hybrid. I’ve got a lot of work to do… my plant room is unorganized and difficult to move it. Also, I should have been making the potting soil all winter as it took about 40 minutes to prepare one flat full.

planting Geraniums

Well….time for soccer. Later!

3 comments:

Janie said...

Building a stairway sounds like a major job. Hope it's done soon.
The fish tank is looking good.

Kim@Snug Harbor said...

I'm sure the thought of tackling that stair job is less than thrilling. It's so much work. But when it's done, you will all be so thankful! And I'm sorry, but that prime rib dinner looked disgusting. Prime rib is not supposed to look flabby and full of fat like that. Gross...

Patty said...

Yuck on the lamb!