Helping Out Bruce’s Dad

September 11, 2025

Bruce and I cleaned my father-in-law’s garden shed while we were staying with him on Jekyll Island, GA. We had cleaned it out when we visited in the area in our RV.

My FIL requested that we pressure-wash his driveway. Bruce and I took turns pressure-washing the driveway. I made squares, then washed each square.

Bruce cleaned out the slow drain in the bathtub. I helped by suggesting Bruce put the snake down the overflow valve, since he couldn’t fit it between the drain’s spaces. My suggestion worked and Bruce was able to get a nasty clog of hair out.

My FIL wanted his mailbox repainted since the paint was flaking off. Bruce noticed the hose hanger had flaking paint. Bruce sanded and painted the mailbox and hose hanger. He reattached them once the paint had dried. The mailbox and hose hanger had a beautiful glossy sheen when Bruce was done.

Bruce screwed down the pool chlorine tablet dispenser to the concrete pad to prevent the dispenser from jumping around. This made it a lot easier to fill up.

I trimmed bushes and weeded the gardens.

I brought sourdough starter from home and made two sourdough loaves twice.

Here’s one of the dinners I made for us: Boursin cheese with homemade sourdough, spanakopita, cherry tomatoes tossed with homemade pesto, pork souvlaki, salad, and baklava.

We also ate sweet Georgia shrimp for a few meals. We ate homemade pesto made with my homegrown basil on angel hair pasta. I tossed shrimp, pesto, and angel hair pasta together to make a new meal from leftovers. I used the pesto on roasted vegetables and fresh tomatoes. I made shrimp scampi served over rice pilaf, with a side salad, and sauteed zucchini, homegrown peppers, and mushrooms. I grilled hamburgers one night and served them with tator tots. The tator tots were a big hit.

My FIL wanted either soup or sandwiches for lunch. I would make sandwiches for lunch. Bruce would heat up soup for lunch. I made homemade French onion soup for lunch one time with the homemade sourdough.

For breakfast, my FIL enjoyed scrambled eggs, mushroom and cheese omelets, or homemade biscuits with raspberry jam and marmalade, plus sausage or bacon. I made a Dutch Baby for him one breakfast.

We had dinner at a friend’s house one evening. She prepared a lovely meal of roast lamb, Potatoes au Gratin, salad, and asparagus. It was delicious!

We drove my FIL to medical appointments in Brunswick, GA. The salt marshes on the way are beautiful. The bridge in the pictures below is named for the famous Georgia-born poet, author, and musician, Sidney Larier. He wrote “The Marshes of the Glynn,” a famous poem about the marshes and live oaks in the area. Please excuse the glare from the car window in some of the pictures.

The colors of the salt marshes are very beautiful to me. The clouds slipping past the sun cast cloud shadows, providing additional colors. I am thinking of creating a picture using either colored pencils or pastels.