This morning, I was going to do yard work (not something I often do) which was trimming shrubs and mowing the lawn. I started out well, trimming the shrubs with my electric trimmer. Only nearly cut off my fingers once when I happened to wave to Leo who was sitting in a bedroom window and watching me. As I made my way around to the back of the house, I found one of my shrubs had been invaded with a weed-tree (it’s a tree of some sort, but I don’t want it there, so it must therefore be a weed). That required getting out my saw.
Heck, while I had my saw out, I thought, I should get rid of those weed-trees between my place and the neighbors (the neighbors who aren’t my parents, that is). So I sawed and sawed and moved branches out and sawed some more. Then I thought “that damn Lilac bush is in the way of my clothes line” and decided to start hacking away at it. From my neighbors who *are* my parents, I borrowed a really nice set of shears (great use of the lever in these shears) to cut the branches 1 1/2″ and less in diameter. But the really thick lilac branches were too thick for the shears and would take too long with the saw. “An ax!” I thought. So I went down into dad’s basement and found his ax. And for the first time in my life, I used an ax to cut wood. I felt so independent!
(In a phonecall with my sister, she was aghast to discover that I did this with only Leo around to dial 9-1-1 in case anything had happened to me. And as Leo was back inside the house at the time, even he would have been unable to help. The folks, BTW, are in Pennsylvania this weekend at a Connecting Families weekend.)
As I hinted at in the parenthetical thought above, Leo got to spend some time outside today. I put him on his leash and draped it through the hose and he spent half an hour or so sunning himself and investigating the steps. He eventually got himself loose and lay in the shade, so I figured he was ready to go back inside. He put up no fuss as I took him back inside and he spent most of the rest of the time watching me from the kitchen.
Anyway, by the time I’d hacked away about 1/3 of the lilac bush (but still not enough to get my clothes line through) I was exhausted and it was after 1pm. I picked up and returned all of the tools to their respective places – and damn, just remembered that I left the folks garage open. I’ll go close it after I finish this LJ. Then I took a bath, put on some clothes (shorts – woohoo! sandals – woohoo!) and went off for Chinese Buffet. I’ll clean up the branches and mow the lawn tomorrow, I guess.
After lunch was shopping and after shopping was home again. I made Bailey’s Irish Cream Ice Cream with my ice cream machine – thanks to elsaf for both the ice cream machine and the wonderful recipe. If you have an ice cream machine, give this recipe a try!
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream
Beat the eggs a bit before adding them to the rest to make sure they
break up completely.
Freeze in your ice cream machine.
Good stuff! I just had some (though still runny – it’ll be solid tomorrow.) Anyhoo, time to go and shut the ‘rents garage!
Thanks for the recipe…am drooling currently. And thanks for the advice. I took it and am using it.
Wow – I’m amazed. I went to edit that entry and before it was done, you’d commented. Perfect timing, eh? 😉 Thanks for the recipe…am drooling currently. elsaf says that if you go with 1 cup of milk and no Bailey’s and add 2 Tbsp of vanilla extract, you have a good French vanilla ice cream too. I especially like the recipe because there’s no cooking involved. Still, I shall make some custard-style ice creams some day. Elsa gives great Christmas gifts! 🙂 (I think my next goal is making peach ice cream. I’ve decided that Bailey’s ice cream and peach ice cream would be good additions to my 33 1/3 birthday party.) And thanks for the advice. I took it and am using it. Good! Hope it helps you!
Have you ever tried with half and half cream? LOL oh wow…I just passed my 33 1/2.
Have you ever tried with half and half cream? This was my first ice cream that I attempted, but I’m sure I’ll try many different recipes. Shooting for low fat/calorie but still yummy & creamy. I just passed my 33 1/2. I decided some time ago to celebrate my 33 1/3 birthday since I’m an LP album collector of longstanding. My sister and her girlfriend liked the idea so much, they’ve already calculated when they’ll celebrate theirs. (Amy’s 4 years younger than me and Rachel’s 4 years younger than her, so we’ll get a few good 33 1/3 birthdays yet.) Now to add more Sylv pix to the Random Sylv Picture thingy. 🙂
Now to add more Sylv pix to the Random Sylv Picture thingy. 🙂 I saw one with Sylv in undies and suspenders a few minutes ago on your page. O_o
I saw one with Sylv in undies and suspenders a few minutes ago on your page. O_o Heh – that’s from Secret Policeman’s Ball. I need to recapture those images from the DVD now. Another task for another day. 🙂
There are a lot of recipes that use half-n-half. However, using the whipping cream produces a very smooth texture. It doesn’t tend to get ice crystals in it, even when you keep it for several weeks. The higher the fat content, the nicer the texture… a sad fact. 🙂
🙂 I love the fat, unfortunately. It’s the hubby who can’t have it. Bought him an ice cream maker last year and we haven’t used it. I’ll remember that about the ice crystals. Thanks!
O.o when I first looked at that title, I read “The Jealous Trub Shrimmer” *ADORES YOUR “RANDOM SYLV PICTURE” TO DEATH* Can I make an icon about it? *jumps up and down* Wheeee it is lovely… I never bother gardening, if I can get out of it. Damn those things called plants (exept for that Sylv flower)
Aaaaay! You’re back! 🙂 *ADORES YOUR “RANDOM SYLV PICTURE” TO DEATH* I thought you’d like it. 🙂 Can I make an icon about it? *jumps up and down* I suppose so… I’d be interested to see how you’d make a random sylv picture icon, but go for it. 🙂
*Adores you even more* Yes, I have rematerialised!