Tag Archives: Koshary

2014/06/23 (M) Monsoon Season

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The morning was cool with temperatures just above 60 degrees F and a thin layer of high clouds.  I was tempted to work in the yard trimming low branches off a few more trees but today was supposed to be lawn care day and it did not make sense to create a mess.  That was Linda’s argument, anyway, and it sounded right to me.  Besides, the chance of rain was 0% until noon but then jumped to 60%, and the radar showed a band of storms moving out of Wisconsin over Lake Michigan and in our general direction.  Keith always mows our neighbor’s yard first, starting around 9 AM.  The first raindrops fell around 11AM.  He got part of our yard mowed but by 1 PM there was a light, steady rain, causing the grass clippings to clump and making him less than comfortable, so he called it quits for the day.  While not the steady, heavy rains of a true monsoon, late spring this year has been persistently wet.

I chatted briefly with Steve from Village Landscape Development this morning.  They have continued to be delayed in finishing projects by the recurring rain.  His newest ETA for our job was Wednesday (this week) but he was not aware of the rain that was expected for today and tomorrow.  I figure Wednesday next week; maybe.

We were sitting on the back deck enjoying our morning coffee and decided to look for some information on our Mugo Pine.  It turns out that our Mugo pine isn’t a Mugo pine after all; it’s a dwarf weeping Norway spruce.  I trimmed off a dead branch yesterday and this morning discovered that it was the right thing to do, so no harm done.  In the future I should probably follow the corollary of the carpenter’s rule: research twice, cut once.

Linda had an appointment with the dentist this morning to have her broken molar prepared for a crown.  She left mid-morning for the 50+ mile drive to Dearborn and stopped at the mall on her way back.  Between the time needed to make the crown and her upcoming jury duty she won’t be able to go back until late July to have the crown installed and all of the other work done that was postponed so the broken tooth could be dealt with last week.

Several weeks ago I bought a replacement handle and lock set for the front storm door but did not get it installed right away.  It was not a perfect fit so installation required modification of the door frame.  I’ve been putting it off but today was finally the day to get it done.  I had to drill new holes and enlarge existing ones, which never works well.  I did not get the holes in exactly the right spot the first time, which required even more drilling and enlarging.  I stayed with it and eventually got the hardware installed and working the way it is supposed to.  The trim pieces cover all of the holes, so none of my modifications are visible and the door looks fine.

I spent the afternoon at my desk catching up on posting entries to our blog and working on tasks related to several RV clubs we belong to.  I also downloaded documents and videos related to our role as RVillage Ambassadors.  The second teleconference meeting of the FMCA Education Committee today was at 4 PM, and I sent a short e-mail summary of my findings regarding the RV Trip Wizard website in advance of the meeting.  The meeting lasted 80 minutes and we had a good discussion.

We rarely go out to dinner anymore.  Besides avoiding the expense, eating at home affords us a much greater variety of ingredients prepared as healthier dishes with appropriate portions.  Tonight was an exception, though not for any exceptional reason.  Linda looked a little tired and I figured she didn’t feel like cooking, so we went to the La Marsa restaurant in Brighton.  We split an order of Koshary, a wonderful Egyptian dish with rice, macaroni, spaghetti, lentils, fried onions, and a spicy tomato sauce.  We also split the green salad that came with it, and each had a cup of crushed lentil soup.  The pocket bread was hot from the oven and the garlic spread was delicious, and it was all vegan.  Yum.

By the time we got home from the restaurant we were done working for the day.  We relaxed for a while and then turned in to watch another episode of Doc Martin.

 

2013_09_13 (Fri) Bakery Business, WordPress, And Gutters

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Linda left early to drive to the bakery where she put in a long day.  I worked on the CEPI ATR project for a while in the morning.  The mail came around noon and contained the written proposal package for the bus barn from Morton Buildings.  We also received a box from Bus Conversions Magazine containing multiple copies of the issues in which I have had articles published this year (Feb, Mar, May, and July).  We have been distributing sample copies to potential subscribers as we travel to try and help the magazine build its subscriber base.

At 1 PM I met with Mike (W8XH) from SLAARC to work on a new website prototype using WordPress.  On Monday we had been unable to complete the installation of WordPress at Larry’s for lack of the necessary login information, but Mike had obtained that from another club member during the week.  Finishing the installation was more complicated than we anticipated and we ended up on the phone with Larry (K8UT) most of the time.  Our original goal was to investigate themes and plugins but we worked on installation and configuration instead, including figuring out how to set up subdomains through GoDaddy; first things first, after all.

By mid-late afternoon I was back home, the weather was pleasant, and I finally had time to investigate the gutters.  It came as no surprise that the downspouts were all completely clogged.  What did surprise me was the amount of fine gravel in the gutters.  This was material that had washed loose from the surface of the shingles over time and accumulated along the bottom of the gutters to a depth of 1/4 to 1/2 inch in places.  I got out the 8 foot step ladder and the long hose and spray head, switched the outside faucets to direct well water (unfiltered and untreated) and spent a couple of hours on the roof hosing out the gutters and downspouts.

This was only the second time I had been on the roof, and the first time I had inspected the entire surface.  The inspector had dubbed the roof “serviceable” during the purchase inspection, meaning that it probably did not need to be replaced immediately.  My assessment was “marginally serviceable”, meaning that it will probably have to be re-shingled next summer.  It is a relatively low pitch roof, roughly 4-in-12, so I may redo it myself.  I’ve done this work before, and although I was much younger then, I am actually in better shape now.  The key will be getting the shingles delivered to the roof rather that to the driveway.  The bonus to being on the roof was that the views were nice and I had a much better Verizon 4G/LTE signal than I do in the house, so there is still the possibility that I can get a usable signal into the house using some sort of signal booster system.

By the time Linda fought her way home through Friday evening rush hour traffic she was tired and did not feel like cooking.  It was also obvious that we would not be ready to leave for Twelve Mile, Indiana by noon the next day.  We quickly decided to delay our departure until Sunday and, relieved of that pressure, headed off to LaMarsa in Brighton for dinner.  The LaMarsa in Farmington Hills was a favorite of ours before we moved, and the one in Brighton is equally good.  Our favorite dish is Koshary, an Egyptian street food made with rice, legumes, two different pastas, fried onions, pickled beets, and a spicy sauce.  It comes with a salad with a lovely Middle Eastern vinaigrette dressing.  Dinner always comes with fresh pocket pita breads and garlic spread and the whole meal is vegan, served in a nice setting by wonderful wait staff.