Fortress of Solitude

After lots of discussion Chris decided this was the weekend to get started on our front yard makeover. We've decided to put up a fence in the front yard, making a little rectangle courtyard. Both to keep our crazy neighbors from eye shot and to help muffle the sound of the diesel, jet engine powered transit buses that drive by every five minutes. After I cleaned our breakfast dishes this morning I went outside and found Chris laying the fence parameters:
While he worked on the yard I ran out and did some errands. When I got back he'd started removing sod:
That strip of dirt is on the outside of the fence line. We're going to put low perimeter logs along the outer edge of that swath and then fill it in with soil and shrubs. The dirt swatch follows the fence line at a rounded angle to keep the fence area from looking so square. After lunch Chris headed back out to pull all the sod out of the courtyard area which we are going to replace with either bricks or paving stones.
The fence is a white vinyl material with the top foot or so made out of lattice. We're buying them in 6' wide panels. Then you buy the coordinating posts and snap them all together. At least that's how it works in the perfect world, or on TV. In reality we're going to have to do a little ground leveling first with the help of a rented rototiller and a rented friend. Then we've got to do some exploratory work in the area of our posts for water and sewer lines. Today's goal was just to get the sod up, any tilling will probably wait until next weekend. Plus we still need to run over to Lowe's and buy the fence panels. Details, details.

Other than that, the week went pretty fast. I had bible study here this week so I made the crock pot chili that I included in Wilson's cookbook, cornbread muffins and broccoli salad. It was my first attempt ever at broccoli salad, but I dare say it came out very tasty. But how can you go wrong following a Paula Deen recipe (and no, there wasn't a stick of butter included).
Broccoli, cheddar cheese, halved cherry tomatoes, sunflower seeds, bacon, red onions and cranberries. The dressing is a mix of fat free mayonnaise, sugar and white wine vinegar. Surprisingly very tasty. Not that I would make something gross on purpose, but the idea of broccoli salad has never interested me and I had no intentions of actually eating any (raw veggies are a no-no for my tummy). But one little sample bite had me hooked so I doubled up on my tummy meds and served myself up a serving, too.

For dessert I made a homemade pumpkin cheesecake with Splenda. It's okay. I think when you use Splenda exclusively in a recipe and in such large quantities (1 1/4 cups) you're bound to get an odd aftertaste and consistency. Nobody spit it out, but I would never make it again and I think they deserve a real dessert next time for sitting through this one.
Speaking of food, I picked up some teriyaki mahi mahi from S&S yesterday for Chris to bbq. It's not as spine tingling delicious as the cajun catfish, but it's still good. Chris made it even better with a little glaze of additional teriyaki and some of my Thai chili sauce.
I'm making baked chimichangas tonight. It's a recipe of Kari's that she's made for me before. I'm crockpotting a rump roast right now in onion soup mix which I will shred later and add to a pan with cumin, southwest seasoning, salt and red wine vinegar. Then you spray both sides of a tortilla, pile some filling in the center and roll it up like a burrito (when a folded over bottom) and bake it until golden brown in a 450 oven. Then you top it with cheese, salsa and sour cream. They're really good. Hopefully I do them justice. Either you'll see photos, or this will be the last you hear of them.

Tomorrow we're going to Mum's for Easter dinner. Ham, potatoes and asparagus. Mr. A's still in Orygun so it'll just be the three of us (and Izzy). And of course I'll be stopping in to say 'hi' to Jesus in the morning. It is Easter after all. When I told Kari that Easter service was one of my least favorites because I don't like singing all the reserection hymns and as an example I belted out a couple of lines of "He Lives" to which she said that was her favorite song to sing. Ugh. That just ensures that we'll be singing it tomorrow. Way to go, me.