Grill and Gecko

Juvy watching the world go by

Even though it's hot here now, our backyard still looks refreshing to me.

I'm very glad we revamped it 

(with my parents' generous anniversary gift of the chairs and table last March!)

I get joy out of looking at it every single day.

We made another update by adding a new grill!

Our old one caught on fire awhile back, and we don't grill very often,

so we just never got a new one.  They're good to have, though, so Greg did

the research and found this beauty!

He courageously assembled it even though it was 108 degrees!

He drank lots of water and stayed in the shade.

Doesn't it look nice?

It got even hotter this week!

We're expecting it to cool off now, and we're hoping

for the monsoon to start early this year and bring us more rain 

than we've been getting the last many years.

We're excited to be expecting RAIN this weekend, starting tomorrow!

Claude has been on high alert the past couple of days

since she found a large gecko in the garage and brought him in the house

I picked her up (praising her for being a brave huntress, of course!)

and she let the gecko fall.  He then immediately ran under the fridge.

I figured he wouldn't ever come out and he would die under there and we would

have a stinky fridge, but he did come out.

In the process, he made mysterious slithering noises, which Stephen heard

and to which Stephen responded!

Stephen grabbed the gecko first, grabbed him, and carried him to the master bedroom, 

setting him loose on our bed.

Mr. Gecko ran behind our pillows, where I was eventually able to apprehend him (after quite some chase!) and escort him off the premises.

My dear friend Cindy was here and captured this photo:

isn't he cute?!

Claude is still spending a lot of time by the fridge because she didn't see 

Stephen run away with the gecko.

There has been a lot of cuteness around here.

Two cats: one little, one big:

Juvy and Stephen

Stephen

And there has been a lot of cooking.

I have been feeling like having lots of healthy tasty food stocked up in the fridge.

I was happy to be able to pass on a bunch of frozen tastiness to Cindy, who

hurt her thumb badly and would have had a hard time chopping and cooking stuff.

I'm happy she's vegan, too, and that she appreciates simple delicious plant food.

Tonight I made a lentil pasta casserole and from-scratch hash browns.

 My hash browns turned out perfectly for the first time!

Even looking at this casserole always makes my mouth water.  It's GOOD.

It feels like a vegan comfort food or the vegan version of chicken noodle soup.

It's got turmeric, pasta, veggies, and a creamy sauce.  Plus, it's pretty!  MMmmmmm!

I hope you've been eating tasty things lately!

Have a wonderful weekend!