Well, I decided to try something different so I videoed cooking a quiche.
It was lots of fun for me to do and I think I’ll keep videoing certain things like cooking and maybe some travel stuff.
Today is a lovely day and we are going to drive up to Tahoe. We haven’t been in ages ( all winter) so I’ll probably do some short videos. Anyway, it’s a new way to approach my blog, and plus it’s good for my brain to engage in something different.
My daughter has a tripod so next time I’ll use that instead of holding the iPhone.
It’s been a productive week with taking down the tree, shopping at Costco, swimming, the library and lots of cooking.
Out of the Le Creuset book, I made both the French onion soup and the cheese souffle. The french onion soup used a chicken broth as a base and I don’t think it had enough rich flavor. Next time I would do a homemade vegetable stock and/or a beef bouillon cube. Yesterday, my son surprised me after I got home from swimming by starting the Lodge and making biscuits and sausage gravy. We had fun together and he really likes Lodge cooking. I’ve actually never had biscuits and gravy and it was delicious.
Today is a home day with cleaning the living room zone and probably I’ll add the sunporch in. Actually, I think this week, which is a light week with no appts, I’ll do a whole house zone cleaning. I’ve done this a few times and I like it. I don’t do it all in one morning but 2-3 mornings.
I read Greg Mckeon’s book Essentialism this week and am finishing his latest book, Effortless. I liked them both and felt he has some really good thoughts on living simply and with your best intentions. I also read “Oh, William” by Elizabeth Strout. Very thought provoking, and written in a clever narrative.
Budget wise everything is paid for the month and the ginormous check for the tree is cashed. So it’s all good. I do hope the neighbor doesn’t decide to change his mind about the logs because then we’d be on the hook for them.
Our weather looks lovely and sunny for the next 10 days and then we leave Mother’s day morning to go down to Capitola. I still haven’t booked anything at Refugio and in October after were back at Capitola we are going to stay 3 nights in Napa at the Expo RV place we stayed in before and really liked. So I’m not sure at this point if Refugio is going to happen. I almost think I’d rather try and plan our trip to San Diego early next year. I’m not sure we could afford Refugio and San Diego. The camping spots are not expensive it would be the gas.
Update: I just got spot 35 which is on the beach and next to the one we had last year. It’s just as nice a spot as 34 although 34 is the best. Now we just have to figure out do we still go to Capitola and then Refugio or skip one. I think since we have both booked I’ll just wait on it and think about it. We would need a stop over going down and back.
I can’t quite remember when we got his poster but I’m guessing in the early 1970’s as the VietNam war was happening. Somehow this poster survived all our moves and was hanging out in the barn till recently. I asked B to bring it in so I could frame it. Right now it’s just on a bull clip.
When we were younger, each year, we would go to the UC Davis Earth day festival in Davis. Lots of music, booths, fun for kids, great food items. It’s been many many years since we went but still, this is a day to honor Mother Earth.
Of course, this was our big taking down another tree week, so maybe some irony there but needs must. Here are some pictures:
The logs are on our neighbor’s area and the logger was to come and get them but then his logging truck needed a clutch so it has been delayed till Monday. But then our neighbor( who is a hoarder) said he would take them to cut up. ???? I went oh dear, to myself. But it will save us @ $300 because the logger does not take the trees for free even though he goes and sells them to the mill. So I guess I don’t care really as long as it’s not our problem anymore.
The crane operator and the tree crew were just amazing, as always. Now we just need to get the one opposite it down. It is quite a leaner but it’s leaning away from us. Still, it needs to go but maybe next fall if we have money.
I went down swimming later and it was nice. Then I went to Costco at 9am, and from there went to the library. By the time I was done at the library 10:45 am when B texted and said the crane was done. So all in all it took a little over 3 hours which is amazing to me. Well, now we can drive Rubi out no problem and big trucks like the septic truck will be able to come in no problem. It was pretty expensive but you really don’t want amatuers taking own a tree like this one.
So an expensive week.
Today is a home day and tidy up around the house. Most of the rain is done for the next 10 days which is good.
Here’s a picture of the Guster( Gus) the cat.( one of the barn cats( there were 4 kittens and mama) that are now 1 year old.)
It was really to journal my experiences with Myeloma and it developed into a blog about other things as well. I was full into Flylady and decluttering. I didn’t really equate that with minimalism till later. I wouldn’t say I’m a full-on minimalist but what we have is fairly pared down. Of course, blogs, like life have a way of evolving and developing. It’s fun writing a blog and I enjoy looking back to see what I’ve done in the past.
Onwards and upwards!!! Just keep going in other words.
A lovely morning. We walked a little earlier as on Easter the Christians come out to the park to celebrate some mythical being. Well, actually Jesus was a real person but the other stuff is way too magical for me. Anyway, enough of my sarcasm. We got in our walk before they started singing which was why we went earlier. It’s a nice sunny day but there is rain forecast for the week. I guess we’ll have to see as the tree people are supposed to be here Wednesday.
I made the Salad Lyonnaise last night and it was yummm.
Basically, it is endive( frissee) crumbled crispy bacon, with a poached egg on top. The dressing is shallot that has been sliced thin and barely sauteed with some red wine vinegar and dijon mustard.
Here’s the Daphenoise from the night before.
I booked a spot at New Brighton for October. Not our favorite spot but it’ll do if I can’t get one of the others we like. At least it’s something. Nothing is available at Refugio. I tried again this morning and however their booking is, it’s not working for me. I clicked on book now at exactly 8( I’m using the second hand on my iPhone. But someone must be I stroke ahead of me because it doesn’t come up and is then locked(meaning someone has blocked it).
At this point, I’m fine with not going to Refugio as it is quite a distance and gas would be expensive. But I’ll keep trying for a while. We’re kind of thinking of maybe a bigger trip to San Diego in February so that could be a reason not to do Refugio in November.
Tomorrow I have a dental appt for a routine cleaning and then Tuesday I’ll swim. My inexpensive suit( not a speedo) did show up late Saturday so I’ll wear that. I found a NWT tags Speedo on eBay and bought that so I should get that in a couple of weeks. At least I’ll have 2 suits to rotate and that may help with the chlorine issue. Then Wednesday is supposed to be tree day and I’ll go down to Roseville to the library and Costco. Then that should be it for the week.
I’m planning on BBQing some chicken for dinner and maybe making a macaroni salad.
Flylady zone is the bedroom. I worked on the closet from hell and rearranged some clothes and got rid of a few things I found on hangers that I didn’t remember I had in there like a tank top. I also got rid of 2 pairs of leggings that I never wear(almost brand new) but the legs are too tight and I don’t like that.
For an early Mother’s day present my daughter bought me a Le Creuset cookbook. I love all things French and I love the Le Creuset cookware I have. Of course, I love Staub too and the All Clad set I have is superb and I have had that set since 1987 when we finished building our house in Foresthill( Foresthill is where we landed from Tucson in 1975 and bought property in 1981.. Foresthill is about 20 minutes from Auburn. ) Just some back history here.
I have gone thru all my cookbooks and did get rid of about half. ButI do love looking thru cookbooks and getting ideas. This book is OUTSTANDING. There are lots of recipes I will actually make. So last night I made Croque Madams. It’s made with a Bechamel sauce , ham and gruyere.
Before being plated with salad. Barclay’s was minus the ham. It was great. Tonight instead of pizza I plan on making Pommes Dauphinoise perhaps with some chicken. I haven’t thought that thru yet. I’ll do salad at least.
Barclay has an MRI on that hip that keeps bothering him today. Not sure what it’ll say or really what they do about it but at least he’d know what is going on. I had my 2nd covid booster and that went well. No reaction except a tiny bit of arm soreness.
I plan on swimming tomorrow unless it’s really raining hard. I don’t like driving in the rain and our son has the Santa Fe for a camping trip so I’d need to use my daughters Honda. I guess I’ll just wait till I get up tomorrow and check the weather. Other than that not much else is new. Plus my new suit isn’t here yet. The first Speedo I ordered got lost in the mail, then the TYR I ordered was WAY too small( who sizes these things anyway), and now the cheap one I ordered ( not speedo or TYR is lost in space or on a truck somewhere). It’s supposed to be here today.
We are having a heck of a time getting or as the case may be we are NOT getting any camping spots in Refugio. Somehow the algorium must randomly select and so far we haven’t had any luck. They get locked instantly and then there’s no seeing the spot open. It’s a really awful website and system but I wouldn’t know how to change it. There’s just too many people out and about. Last year when I got the spot we had I don’t remember it being this difficult. That was November but still. Anyway, we may try for a private RV place in Pismo Beach somewhere.Any RV’ers out there that have been in or around Pismo?? or even half moon Bay??
We’re in for more rain and that’s a good thing for California. We did have a lovely walk this morning. the baby geese have just been born and so far there are 3 families of them. I’m sure I’ve said this before, but never get to close to a Canada goose and her babies. Anyway they sure are cute.
The weather is about to change and it’s going to rain and be colder. We need the rain so it’s all good. Plus the stuff we’ve planted will do nicely with a sprinkling of rain.
My son and I made Lodge dinner last night and it was great. We got pre-marinated tri-tip and cooked for 1 hour in the lodge.
My daughter made Boca burgers for her dad.
We added extra coals about halfway and only did one turn. It came out superb. Lodge cooking is such fun. I like our 10″ Lodge best. The 12″ is bigger and probably good for a bigger family. He’s planning to camp up at Lassen later this week and wanted to try the Lodge out before he left. He’s planning on taking our car the Santa Fe as it is a very comfortable travel car. I might do another one this week maybe a vegetarian chili with the corn bread on top.
I plan on getting my 2nd covid booster this next week sometime. I got a few notices from Medicare that they’re available so I’ll probably go to CVS.
I just finished 2 books by Judith Jones( the one who was the editor at Knopf when she read Julia Child’s draft). The first was her memoir and she lived an interesting life. She lived in Paris as a young woman and was totally smitten by French food and the markets and all of it. The second book was written after her husband of 40+ years died and she wanted to keep cooking even if it was just for herself. So these dishes are basically for one person. But they could easily be doubled. She was an interesting person for sure. She died in 2006. She certainly loved very weird foods like offal and other things that I certainly wouldn’t eat but she was an adventurous cook. But she wrote about a number of the chefs( and were a lot) and the books that Knopf published. So I went to the Pet bookstore and found 3 of the ones she mentioned. i don’t know if I’ll keep them or even cook from them but for a $1.00 each it’s cheap entertainment for me.
Speaking of which I found this youtube, I think I mentioned before, Rachel loves to cook. She’s hispanic and is a great cook and cooks similar to how I cook. So last week she made this breakfast dish that was a homemade tomato chili sauce, corn tortillas, scrambled eggs, crisy bacon bits and then they are rolled into an enchilada shaped. Then sprinkled with cheese on top and baked or on the stove top covered till the cheese melts. I made it this morning and it was delicious. Check out her channel and subscribe.
This week is the Flylady bathroom zone which I finished. I also did the bedroom zone but that was just a quick wipe of surfaces and dusting.
The most exciting news is my labs came back and my kappa light chains actually went down slightly INTO THE NORMAL RANGE!!! I’m pretty shocked really. I don’t know if I can remember when I started going out of range( increasing) that it ever went down. Well, I’m thrilled for another month of emotional freedom.
I was going to skip swimming tomorrow since my new suit didn’t show up but decided to just go for it. My current suit is fairly chlorinated and not in good shape but I figure no one is there to look at me and when I get out I’ll put my towel over me. Hopefully, my suit shows up next week.
Today is a home day and just pottering around. My daily chores are done and I might do a quick vacuum. I made the pizza dough for tonight, so that’s done. I have a few new books to read from the library so that’ll be fun.
I’m working on a small embroidery project from Posie in Oregon. I bought a PDF of her March pattern in which all the proceeds were going to Ukraine. I like embroidering but my hands can only do so much until they start cramping. Not much going on in the decluttering world. I’m in a good place with what we have and use. There’s always more but then that takes another level of what I want to keep and what I want to pass on. I have a great vintage turquoise blue typewriter but it’s been shuffled around for years with me thinking ” oh it’ll be a great display”. But honestly, I probably won’t do that, and plus I don’t have any room for it on a shelf. So, I’ll put that aside for the hospice thrift store.
I’m beyond thrilled at Ketanji B. Jackson getting confirmed for the Supreme Court. At least some good news.
We spent @ $400. at Costco which included $50. for lawn fertilizer, beer( $29.00), and something else that was non-food?? Oh, I think it was AAA batteries( $18.00) and gallon freezer bags($ 15). So, I’d guestimate that @$300 was for food.
It feels like it’s been a spendy week. And of course, the tree is going to be $$$$. But what can you do? If we didn’t have the money, I guess we wouldn’t do it. We’ve been there so…Plus, everything seems so much more expensive.
We walked and no one else showed up till just as we were done. So that was nice. Then I made some blueberry pancakes for breakfast with veggie sausage patties and eggs.
I wanted to do a quick kitchen reboot since I did that zone last week but it’s on the Flylady list for this week so I went ahead and just did a quick deeper clean up. But I did wash the floor on my hands and knees and got all the stuck -on things that the microfiber mop doesn’t catch. Then I did a bathroom clean up too.
I had some cottage cheese to use up so I made 2 cheese lasagna for the freezer. I had half a bag of shredded mozarella to use too. I used a jar of Rao sauce. I think for dinner I’ll do some of that Korean tofu that was so good with some ramen noodles.
The news about the mass shooting in Sacramento is very disturbing as the Golden 1 center is a hub of restaurants and bars and just people out at night. Why ?? And when we will have more gun control?. It’s so horrible to think of those 6 dead people and 10 injured and the trauma for everyone and the incredible sadness of the families. So awful.
I have my labs tomorrow and then swimming on Tuesday. the pool was very busy on Saturday which was a little unusual. Most Saturdays it’s full but not all the lanes are doubled up. Some people were waiting for lanes even which doesn’t happen very often. I’m hoping when the Roseville Aquatic center opens next month some of these swimmers will go there. I believe it is a bigger pool but I actually haven’t seen it.
Overall it should be a warm week weather wise and I’ll probably BBQ a couple of times.
I didn’t even bother with the Frugal Friday as April will be expensive. The bid for the ponderosa is $4500. That’s more than double what we paid for the last tree. The tree is in an awkward spot and will need the crane to take it down piece by piece. There’s just nowhere to drop pieces. Then the logs will be piled up in our neighbors spot down from us and then tree logger will need to bring his truck(big) in to get them.( These logs will be cut into 17 ft pieces and sold to a mill for wood). Things are never simple here with trees. After this, unless it’s critical, trees will have to go down the priority list. Unfortunately, we still have about 4 more that should be dropped but not anytime soon if we can help it. I plan to leave before the tree guys get here and I’ll go down swimming and then hang out and then go to the library at 10. I have too much anxiety around these things and I know myself well enough that if I don’t see it, the imprint won’t be there.
We’ve had some nice morning walks and it’s definitely lighter at 6:10 now. And sunset is now quite a bit later and it’s staying light till at least 7:30.
Tonight is pizza night but I don’t think we’ll do that. No one feels like a pizza so I’m not sure what we’ll do. Sandwiches??
I’ve been making the sourdough loaves every 3rd day. So I have quite a bit frozen so I’m going to put my starter in the fridge for a while. I have really enjoyed making these loaves and have learned quite bit about the dough and hydration. I think our favorite is the cheddar jalapeno loaf.
I started looking at reserving Refugio SB for the fall but so far it’s booked but, I’ll just need to check daily. It’s pretty far to go and with gas prices, it’s going to be expensive but I think if I can get a spot, we’ll go.
Next week I have labs and swimming and some grocery shopping to do.
I've been married for nearly 15 years to a wonderful husband and I'm a mom to three great kids ages 12, 11 and 9. Oh, and I just happen to have cancer. Multiple Myeloma is a cancer of the blood that is currently incurable but IS considered highly treatable! My goal is to make people laugh, cry or feel a little less alone whether you are a mom, cancer patient or BOTH!
Tahoe Girl 