Hi, everyone.
It's been a busy day here in Delray-les-Plages, with highs in the upper 70s, relative humidity in the mid-60%s and no wind at all. I watered the orchids and aroids in the deep shade garden. I also caught up on laundry, stripping all the beds and gathering all the towels from both bathrooms. I had penciled in baking a batch of peanut butter cookies and a batch of chocolate chip cookies on my daily to-do list, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. There are still cookies left in the cookie tin. I don't eat them, but Gail and dad like to raid the cookie tin once in a while. And so they should. They think they sneak a cookie undenounced, but the metallic sound of the cookie tin betrays them each and every time.
I am rather desolate with tonight's dinner. I take pride in feeding my crew well and tonight just wasn't up to par. Dad had requested that I grill some chicken on the BBQ. Gail wanted Spanish rice as a side dish. The rice turned out very well, but the chicken was overcooked and on the dry side, even though I sat by the grill the whole time; very disappointing. And that is why I almost never grill chicken. I'll stick to the oven and the pressure cooker from now on. Still, I blame myself for the lackluster quality of tonight's dinner. Dad told me, laughing, that as long as it never happens again, he'll forgive this instance. That hurt. I could have done without the good laugh at my expense. You can bet your bottom dollar it won't happen again any time soon.
Luckily, Lucy is looking for some cuddling, so I'll go calm down with my snake for a while. That always does the trick. It's a well known principle that one should never piss off the cook. In Downton Abbey, his Lordship and Mr. Carson gave Mrs. Patmore a wide berth; smart men, those two. They both knew on which side their bread was buttered. This, too, shall pass.
Dad is busy loading the dishwasher. He just informed me he will go and fold the T-shirts that are currently drying in the dryer.
Tonight is a feeding night for Lucy. The rodent is thawing. I'll feed her before I go to bed, some time around 10:30PM. I hope she eats. We hardly saw her at all in the last 24 hours.
Take care, everyone. I'll drown my sorrows in a few squares of 86% dark chocolate tonight. That, too, always does the trick. Save the planet, because I was told that it's the only one in the universe with chocolate. I've had a big day with a major upset, I deserve those 2 squares high quality chocolate.
Take care, everyone.
Sylvain.
