Weekend at Andy's Place...'Maters in Nylons, Busted Furniture, and Birthdays...

(LONG, BORING POST ALERT!  Truth is, I've got to do some "making money" work today, but I can't gather up supplies to do it until 10 when my supplier opens.  So, I'm just sitting here goofing around at the computer until then.  So, if you proceed reading this, you may consider yourself warned!  You're welcome.)

Hey y'all!  Hugs, kisses, yadda yadda yadda...


Good Sunday morning to you all!  Do you remember yesterday when I anticipated a long, lazy Saturday of staying cool, and watching Dean Martin Roast videos on The YouTube?


HA!


HA! HA! HA!!!!!!!


Triple Nyuk!!!


It turned out to be somewhat busier than I had anticipated.  My little future daughter-in-law's (FDIL) Momma, and little brother are here visiting for the weekend from Tennessee.  That's always a lot of fun.  We've known her Mom for many years, and she's a lot of fun to have around.  And her little brother is #4 son's age, and quite a courteous, and pleasant young man.

So, yesterday they came over from next door for pancakes, and we had a good visit.  Things were kinda' up in the air about the schedule for Saturday.  It is FDIL's birthday weekend, and such an occasion must be celebrated!


While I'm at it...lookie who's 22 today!

Why, it's FDIL!  Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

I think I may have mentioned in passing before how much The Mrs. and I love, and appreciate FDIL.  I'm not sure, though...so consider it mentioned.  She's one of the sweetest, smartest, most industrious, and prettiest young ladies that one could hope to join their clan.

Photogenic, too! 

Nyuk!  She's probably gonna kill me, but she posted that on her own blog from which I stolden it this am, so it's her own dang fault!

Have a great day, Sweetie!

So,  after discussion, FDIL decided she'd just as soon have dinner here at the house to celebrate, instead of going out to a restaurant.  Immediately swinging in to action, The Mrs., and FDIL's Momma devised a menu, and set about preparations.  FDIL's Momma went to the grocery store to gather up victuals, and they were ON IT!  


Now, when The Mrs. cooks a big dinner (turns out we had 10 last evening), Andy's task becomes peon, gopher, and sometimes "get the heck out of my way" man.  But, my main task is to always remember to say "yes ma'am."  I have become quite an expert at that job over the years, so I was right in my element.

And man, was it ever a feast!  FDIL's Momma cooked a Chicken Teriyaki that was lauded by all the meat-eaters.  We had a double pot of purple-hull peas...a fresh Asparagus dish that was baked in the oven drizzled with a brown sugar, garlic, and some other junk sauce...some killer fried garden Squash/green onion fritters (ooooh, those are good)...baked Bell peppers stuffed with rice, black beans, corn, and cheese...and of course, a big cake of black skillet buttermilk cornbread!


Oh man, I'm glad she had a birthday.

Then for dessert, The Mrs. had made something called "Maxine's Dilemma."  It's a deal with some kind of crust laden with chopped pecans, chocolate pudding mixed with cream cheese, baked in the oven, and then served with whipped cream on top.


I was in heaven.  And, I was not the only one.  We were all so full that half of us tried to fall asleep at the table, and the other half did.


Regardless, my job as "fetch-it boy," kept me busy a good bit of the afternoon.  But, whilst we were in the middle of this, the Mrs. asked me if I'd finally take a look at #4 son's box spring and see if I could repair it.  His old bed is one that a neighbor gave us several years ago.  The mattress is fine, but the cheap box spring had been somewhat abused by the previous owner's child (you know...we've all done it).


So, me (doing my job of saying "yes ma'am") laid in to the task!  I pulled the bed apart, and here's what I discovered.

You can see that the center ridge is completely broken, which allowed the cross slats to all break.  Yep!  There's your trouble.  So, I assure The Mrs. that I can repair this.  Now, she is somewhat dubious, and begins with, "Andy, why don't we just go buy a new box spring?  I mean, this thing is ancient, and I can tell that it was cheap when it was new."


To which I replied, "I can fix this with about $10 worth of 1 x 2's."  So, as I set about the task of measuring and computing what lengths of 1 x 2's I will need, she set about the task of calling mattress stores.  About the time I had it all figured out, and had my plan made, she had her plan made, too.

A few minutes later we were in the truck headed to the mattress store.  (Remember, my task is to say "yes ma'am" on busy days.)  And, about an hour later, the new box spring was in place, and The Mrs. was VERY happy.  Honestly, I was, too.  I really didn't want to mess with that old thing...but I had to act like I did.  (If ya' know what I mean...)


Oooohhhhh....look at what's growing in The Mrs.' garden...

Oh man, I love me some eggplant!  We've got 6 plants, and they are all bearing heavily.  You know, eggplant is cheap at the store, and some people figure it's not worth the trouble to raise.  Those people would be wrong.  As an eggplant commonsewer, I can tell you that the eggplant you get at the store sucks!  Well, maybe it doesn't suck, but garden-fresh eggplant has a pleasant taste that store-bought doesn't.  It doesn't have that bitter taste that they develop after a few days in the store...plus, store-bought is usually soft, and squishy.  


Which sucks.

You don't have to do anything like marinating them or something when they're fresh-picked...they're just heavenly!  One thing I like about eggplant most is that the stinkin', miserable squirrels leave 'em alone!  Now, speaking of squirrels.  As y'all know, we have fought squirrel wars with our garden for years now, and we've finally got a decent stand of tomatoes (which the squirrels love to rape) after years of very poor results.


This is the year we beat the rat finks!  No, we did not catch many...just four.  But, The Mrs. got wise.  As it appeared that we were going to FINALLY have a decent tomato crop, she got her an idear.  Every year, as the 'maters start to pink, the squirrels strip 'em, or the birds peck 'em.  

Bastards...


So, The Mrs. decided she was gonna' "hide 'em."  She got her a bunch of those  L'eggs knee high stockings, and as they get close to maturing, she covers the fruit with the stockings, thereby fooling the little bastards into thinking they're not ready to strip!


Ha!  Take that!!!

Did I spell "ingenious" right?  I mean, it's got a red line under it.  I don't care.  It's real smart!  And, if you've had similar problems, you might want to give it a rip!  It seems to be working like a charm.


Well, like I said up front, this was a long, boring blog post.  If you read it all the way to the end, then you are a true blog friend!  Give yourself a hug for me!  Reward yourself with a trip to the bathroom!


Hey look, I've gotta get to work for several hours here, but I love y'all!  I mean it.  I love, and appreciate each and every one of you!  I hope y'all have a blessed Sunday.  I pray that somebody will do something nice for you today, in return for all the good things you've done for other folks.


I'll see y'all later.