Stinging Ants

I had a large ant hill in my mulch pile. They weren't red ants, but they were shiny black ants that sting. I put instant grits on the hill several times. Today I checked and the hill is no longer there. I dug into it and found no ants:)

Scuppernongs

The scuppernongs are starting to ripen. Our neighbor checks them every day.

Limb Fell

A big cracking sound really close meant we had a pretty good-sized limb falling. It just missed the flower bed. The big pile of green at the base of the tree is where it fell. It got a little of the spirea bush on the left, but I don't think it hurt it.

German Pink Tomato

Our tomato plants kept dying so a neighbor gave us a couple of German pinks. They were huge! They are also "meaty." I think that means not full of juice and seeds. The small tomatoes in the background are from the tomato plants we got from the local stores and from plants I grew from seeds. 

Chocolate Banana Pudding Pops

I got the pudding pop basic recipe from food.com. Then I used half and half instead of milk, sugar-free chocolate fudge pudding, Splenda instead of sugar, and mashed a frozen banana into it. Actually I doubled the recipe but just used one banana. This is one of the popsicle trays I filled. The rest are in the freezer. I tasted one in a cup to see how it was...wonderful:)

I've tried low-carb chocolate ice cream. It's hard to find and I didn't like it. I like the low-carb fudge popsicles, but my local WalMart stopped carrying them.

This was really good.

The banana was the only thing not low-carb and really, divided into 18 servings, I don't think it could be too awful for my low-carb diet.

Kroger's Manager's Sale

I found a nice package of chicken thighs for a bit less than $6. I boned them and froze all of them except two. I boiled the bones and scraps in one pot. I pounded the two thighs I'd kept out until they were pretty flat. I salted and peppered them, dredged them in a beaten egg, then in 1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs and 3/4 cup sesame seeds. Then I fried them in peanut oil. About ten minutes before I thought the chicken would be ready, I took out the bones and other stuff I'd trimmed from the chicken pieces and added half a box of Dreamfield elbow macaroni. I picked the little bits of cooked chicken from the bones and added it to the macaroni.
I had turnip greens in the refrigerator to warm up to go with the macaroni and chicken.
Larry has always refused to eat chicken thighs. I think they taste better than white meat and they are cheaper...besides being on sale:) So when I announced dinner was ready, I didn't know if he would eat it because he'd seen it was thighs.  But it was fried:) So he ate it and complimented it.
We will have three more meals from the chicken so it was less than $1 per serving for the chicken. And pounded thin and fried in those seeds, it was crispy and a lot.

IPads at Doctor's

Our doctor and helpers stood around griping at their iPads today. I guess they'll get better at it, but today was three weeks into it and they were not very happy about it.
Not having a keyboard and mouse would slow me down, too. I seriously like technology but they didn't seem to think it was time efficient. It wouldn't be for me, either. I can peck around on an electronic keyboard, but I'm better with a keyboard and mouse. I think voice-responsive software would be better for doctors. It would take time to make sure the software was tuned to the users, but that would help prevent the stall. I had German doctors who dictated into recorders and had people transcribe it. It seems wrong for skilled doctors to waste time fiddling with the clerical aspect of the record keeping.