Weekend Coffee Share....Come Sit with Me.

It's another week of Weekend Coffee Share. I always love everyone's posts. Are you like me and try to visit everyone? It doesn't always happen but I try. I have loved getting to know different bloggers and I figure if they take the time to write a post, I'll find the time to visit, even if it's a week later. 

If we were having coffee we'd probably talk about:

The Weather: FINALLY....The weather the next week is supposed to be sunny, maybe a few partly cloudy days, but mostly sunny! That makes me happy. We'll take partly cloudy with no rain any day!!

What we're thinking about: Well, let me tell you! I really have got to keep my focus when I'm doing things that involve the kitchen. In fact, I just should NOT leave the kitchen. Long story short...I got distracted yesterday and overflowed my kitchen sink in the NEW part of the house. I caught it fast enough (thankfully I hadn't left the house, just in the other room) BUT it was still a lot of water. Right now there are fans going in there (my hubby, who works for a restoration company...thank the Lord) brought home some equipment to use to dry it fast. I'll let you know next week the final verdict, but we think it will all be fine. So the last 24 hours, that has been what I'm thinking about. It has been very hectic! I was a maniac running around looking for towels (apparently I'm the only who can wash towels so I grabbed every dirty towel in the hamper) to clean up the water. Yikes. Then I made the call to my hubby who didn't answer so I sent a text and some videos. 

What we're thankful for: Thankful that I'm still alive...haha....I, sadly, have a reputation of getting distracted and forgetting things in the kitchen, and this could've (we're still not out of the woods yet) ended in needing to tear things out and replacing...so I totally would understand if his first reaction was less than stellar, but he handled it well (he doesn't handle crisis or "surprises" well), so I'm thankful for him being level headed in this moment. I did tell him "can you pretend I'm one of your distraught customers, who's husband is going to kill her because she got distracted and overflowed water into their house?". I also let him know that I did realize how serious this could possibly be. 

What we're reading or wanting to read: We picked our new book club book. It's called "American Predator, The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century" by Maureen Callahan. It's based on the story of Israel Keyes. I never heard of him and apparently many others hadn't either. I just started but I think it will be good. Yesterday at work a lady came in to mail some books where I work, we got to talking and it turns out she has written a few thrillers, self published. She showed me her latest and it looked and sounded really good. She said she had another one that was available online (the one she showed me wasn't) so I went home and bought it on Kindle. It's called "Fallacy" by L.K. Crowson. I can't wait to start it as well. I've also been enjoying our own Gary's short stories..they've been great. 

Around the house: Well, other than the issue I mentioned above, not much. I organized a cluttered closet and have been spending time organizing my photos that were too heavy for a drawer they were in. We are hoping we're able to coordinate to get concrete poured this coming week since the weather should be nice. 

From the kitchen: Well, we did a week of my hubby doing this carnivore diet thing. We were pretty much the only ones home around dinner time so I just went along with it, not really making any sides, and eating a salad as my side. Last night I made a dish that had bacon, scallops and chicken in it. I added some whipping cream and a little parmesan. We ate it plain, but it would be good over pasta. Not much else on the menu worth sharing and with the issue in the kitchen, fans going, it's not the most relaxing place to be at the moment. I try to get in and out as quick as possible. 

I mentioned last week that we were having friends over for Swiss Raclette. What a fun night. If you've never heard of this, it is a meal that the Swiss have using melted Raclette cheese and serving it over boiled potatoes along with cured meats, pickles or other vegetables. There are other cheeses you can use but you can find Raclette cheese in some specialty stores. Our Safeway sells it. It's not cheap though. Our Swiss friends say they eat this more in the colder months but when we were there in August 2019 we had it for dinner one night. I also served homemade strawberry shortcake. 

I made biscuits from one of Joanna Gaines' cookbooks. They're so good and get so big. I've used them for shortcake and biscuits and gravy. I didn't have self rising flour so I did a substitute.

Our feast. So good!! We had bacon, ham, mushrooms, peppers, garlic, onion,  potatoes and cheese. Also salad but we got pretty full on the raclette. I also served some crackers with an artichoke spread. We got the Raclette pan off Amazon. I wish the cooking surfaces were larger, but it worked. 

Favorite quote of the week: This weeks #WQW theme was: Transportation by plane or train. Here's my full post. I had never been on a train before until we went to Europe. They call the subway in NY a train so I was on those, but I like to think of trains as above ground. 

I also loved this quote that came up in my FB memories today. I just love what it says. 

Favorite photo from the week: Not much. This plant though, is thriving (my plants live but they don't always thrive). It's called a Crocodile Fern. Apparently it's native to Australia. Either way, it's doing well. 

What we've listened to or watched: I caught up on a few show episodes I've been watching. My hubby recommended a few podcast episodes, but I haven't had a chance to listen to them yet. 

Randomness: A month or so ago, I entered a giveaway and I actually one. It was for the launching of the book "A Lovely Life...Savoring Simple Joys in Every Season" by Melissa Michaels. I'm excited to read it. Here's what I won. My book came the same day as the giveaway prizes. 

The Dwelling Well book is a journal to accompany her book Dwelling which I already have. I have loved everything I've read by her. So encouraging. 

Entering giveaways is fun though I seldom win. So when I do, it's exciting. 

I just got done watching the grandkids for a few hours. We played outside the whole time since it was so nice. Indy brought his electric bike and rode that until both batteries died, then we just ran around pretending we were motorcycles. Haha. We built an obstacle course that he rode his bike on and then just ran around on. Pepper even got in on it..She'll do anything her brother does. 

I did end up working most of Monday and all day Tuesday by myself. I was tired, but it all turned out just fine and people were patient. Monday was very busy but Tuesday was a little more normal. I was able to take Wednesday off which was good because I was feeling congested. It was very nice to just be home. I kind of forgot how much I enjoy being home especially when I have the house to myself for part of the day. I felt better by Thursday, and worked Thursday and Friday. 

May 18th marked the 42nd anniversary of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. Do you remember hearing about it erupting. Where we live now is about an hour from the mountain. My husband remembers walking to church and seeing the ash plume. Thankfully the ash went another direction. I lived about 3 hours away and we had ash on our vehicles. So crazy. We had plans to hike up it in 2020 but it got canceled. Do you remember hearing about it? 

My daughter and I took a day and drove up to the mountain. We were so glad the weather was clear and we could see it. 

I need to make another trip up...we can see it daily when the weather is clear. 

Check out all the other posts on Weekend Coffee Share, hosted by Natalie the Explorer. I'm off to go visit some now. #weekendcoffeeshare

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin