Tag Archives: food

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cancer, cooking, Gratitude, home stuff, knee injury, Political things, swimming, Walking by

Still no biopsy results. My guess is someone dropped the ball as to who was going to call. Tomorrow is his NP video appt so we’ll know then. Still, I hate to go into the things uninformed. Because he doesn’t have the oncologist yet, and his PC didn’t do anything, I’m guessing the results are just sitting there waiting for someone to release them.PITA>

I’m grateful at least he has the appt tomorrow. I’ll sit in and hear what is being said.

My doctor is on his way to Croatia so I think my labs are going to be stuck in cyber space too. He’s gone for 2 weeks. I may call down there and ask that another doctor release the labs.

I’m thankful our temperatures are finally dropping out of the 100’s. since we just had the 2 hottest days on record, I think heat waves like this will be the norm:( But wait, Republicans think climate change is a hoax. Remember the movie ‘Day after tomorrow’, when it’s too late, it’ll be too late.

I’m grateful my sourdough starter is working perfectly. I had made at least 3 loaves that didn’t bake right and looked up why. First, the starter needs to be robust and second, the bulk fermentation phase is the most important. So I was underproofing the dough. I’m quite pleased with the loaves I’m getting.

I am thankful I had a good swim yesterday. I got there a little later than usual, and it was mellow. I still shared a lane but that’s ok.

I’m grateful my daughter loves gardening and right now I’m processing another pan of tomatoes for sauce. Since this is a water bath process, I don’t worry too much about exact quantities because it’s just tomatoes. If this was a meat sauce or a pressure canned recipe exact measurements are necessary. I like the baking of the tomatoes as the skins come right off.

I’m grateful to be walking in the park. It’s been almost a year since my torn ACL and meniscus. So I’m really happy to just be walking. It’s still not a lot but that’s ok. On any given day I do between 2-3 miles. So I’m good with that. If I could do more I would.

Here’s giant Gus and his momma, Ciri.

Finally, I’M INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL THAT KAMALA HARRIS IS THE NOMINEE. I THINK WE CAN BEAT THE ORANGE GUY, WHO NOW IS THE OLD MAN:)

Friday Things

Posted in Blood test, books, California, camping, cancer, home improvement, Myeloma, travel by

I’m feeling almost back to normal. Still slightly off but definitely better and I ate something yesterday. My daughter thinks I may have picked it up at In and Out Burger but she( a science nerd) says it can really be on any surface. So probably we’ll never know.

So today I was lucky to get a lab appt at 9am. A little later than I like with fasting but I’ll make it. I’m really anxious to know what my numbers are doing. Even if there has been an increase, I’ll go another month without Dex just to see. Sometimes, living with cancer is very tiring. With Myeloma, it just doesn’t go away or get ‘cured’, well I think if you have an allo it does. Oh well, I’ve made it this far.

The positive news is we’ve had a young man working on the bathroom. He’s only 30( my son’s age) but seems to know what he’s doing and is doing a great job so far. We need the shower at least functioning for my daughter next week because we’ll be in Tahoe. If it’s not, then I’m not sure what the alternative is. Hotel? outside shower? We’ve been using Rubi for bathroom stuff and B bought a new shower head which is divine. The one the trailer came with was pretty lame so this is a nice improvement.

We’re not going to have it all done before we leave as I don’t think the flooring will get done so B won’t be able to put in the Ikea vanity but that’s ok it’s mostly the shower. I’m not sure what we’ll do if there are leaks while we’re gone. I guess call and have him come over when my daughter is here? Well, it is progress and on such a small budget I think we’ve done ok. If we had lots of money I guess it would be a no brainer to have someone come in and redo the whole thing and build a second bathroom but alas that isn’t our destiny.

B has been going in and out to Home Depot and all over getting little bits of things and has been very busy. It helps he is organized that way.

The Oregon sparrows are migrating and are flocking in the bamboo. They are fun to watch. We turn the sprinklers on the bamboo and they love to drink the droplets. Often they hang upside down and are cute. We call them popcorn birds because they pop so quickly around.

The heat has been oppressive. I think today we’re about 10 degrees cooler so that should help some. We’re back to watering daily and the water bill just went over $100 and will definitely go higher. B filled the pool and that takes 10,000 gallons I think. This will be the last year of the pool. We’ve gotten our money’s worth that’s for sure but I can’t see investing in another pool next year. This is probably year 7 and think we paid around $1000 for it so I’m sure it is way more than that now. Plus there’s all the maintenance to take care of it and that cost. B is the only one that uses it daily. I go in once in a while to float and that’s about it.

I’ve been hanging out in the trailer all day and it’s been nice. I turned the AC on and it worked fine one day and the second day it blew the fuse so when it gets too hot I go out to the studio( my son’s room) and hang out there. He’s got a cooler and I’ve had that on. His studio is almost cleared out and sometime this summer we’ll paint in there. He’ll still come up to work in the barn and sleep over so I want to keep a bed out there. Also, he built a beautiful desk and bookcase out of birch plywood so that will stay too. His move has gone well and I’m happy for him. It’s very nice area very near the American River trail and lots of green space.

This week is a total wash with swimming or the gym but tomorrow I plan on going to the library as my holds are in. That’ll give me something to read in Tahoe.

On a sad note, our big black lady chicken, big mama, died yesterday. She was quite old for a chicken, maybe 10, and the heat was too much for her. So now there’s only big Brownie and I’m guessing she’ll be gone too soon. they were from the same batch and have lived an extraordinarily long lives. Maybe’s it’s the water? this is the end of an era of over 25 years of having chickens and with these gone, that’s it. The coup will come down and the area cleaned up. Rhonda over at Down to Earth talked about how she finally gave up chickens when her husband was ill and dying. She talked about how important it is to really check in where you are in life and what you’re capable of. We could keep having chickens as my daughter does live here but then it’s just one more thing to have to deal with, buying food, checking water, etc. So I’ll buy farm eggs when I can. There are tons of people around here who raise chickens.

On that note, she also talked about physical limitations as we age. She has a non malignant brain tumor which affects her balance so she doesn’t bend over. Because of that, she bought a steam mop so she could mop standing instead of with a bucket on the floor. Because of my macular pucker in my right eye, my balance is off sometimes so I just bought a very cheap steam mop for $59. I’ll try it out for a while if I really like it I’ll buy a more expensive model. This one just steams and there’s no on /off so I’ll give it few months

Thankful Thursday and Frugal Friday wrapped up together.

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, California, camping, cooking, frugalism, Gratitude, Political things, travel by

I’m thankful we had an uneventful drive to Tahoe. Eastbound traffic for Memorial Day was horrendous. The only real traffic was through Incline and Sand Harbor which had the roads line with stupid people people trying to get to SandHarbor because the parking lot was full.

I’m thankful the camp hosts were so friendly and we were able to check in early at 1pm. Our spot was so nice.

I’m thankful the drive home was safe too and very little traffic.

We walked every day and and I averaged 2 miles but my knee did start to hurt yesterday so I will back off for a few days. We don’t have bikes anymore and I started thinking maybe we should get some again. There are lots of trails in Tahoe and bike paths.

Frugal-wise camping fees were half because we have the lifetime senior pass. Our only expenses were gas to Tahoe and some camp groceries. So overall, it was a pretty cheap getaway. And we’re back the week after this on the 10th.

Today is Friday and I have my labs, but won’t swim partly because I want to do some home stuff and partly because the pool has been closed all week so it’s going to be busy, I’m sure.

We kept camp food basic and didn’t do any Lodge meals or anything fancy. Tonight, I plan on using the Webber and cooking some chicken. I will make a macaroni salad or Greek pasta salad to go with it. I have some veggie burgers for B.

We have quite a few loads of laundry to do but since it’s so warm out I’ll hang dry them and then do an air fluff in the dryer.

The BIGGEST THANKFUL THING IS OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM WORKS AND TRUMP WAS FOUND GUILTY!!

Friday things

Posted in budgeting, California, camping, cancer, frugalism, home stuff, Lake tahoe, library, swimming, travel, Uncategorized by

Frugal-wise all pretty good. After infusion yesterday, I went to the nearby Noah’s Bagels and bought 6 plus a schmear. Most mornings we like a bagel but it’s usually Costco’s or Trader Joe’s. This was a nice treat.

I went to Trader Joe’s and spent close to $200. There was a case of wine in there and the rest was food. That’s a lot of meals. Since we’ll be gone next week there won’t be any shopping except at the Safeway in Tahoe in case we need something. I do need to buy coffee at Starbucks because I’m not going to go in to Costco before Memorial Day. Our new Costco just opened yesterday and I’m sure it was a mad house. We will be going to this new one from now on as it is closer to us so that’ll be nice.

My daughter asked for a Nutribullet for her birthday and Costo had the Ultra one on sale. She likes to do smoothies and this one does ice and veggies. We have a Vitamix but sometimes it’s just too bulky to get out. I don’t keep things like that on our counter so it’s in one of my Heywoods. On our counters I only keep the toaster oven, my kitchen aid mixer and, the Brita water pitcher. Maybe I’ll see if my son wants it for his new apartment.

I was planning on swimming this morning as it’s my first time off Dex(whoo hoo) after Velcade, but since I’ve been out 3 days in a row, I think I’ll skip it. That does mean no swimming till after we’re back so that’ll end up over a week. Sometimes, you just have to call it. I did go to the gym and library after Velcade so that took some time. I only did a 20 minute weight workout but that was good enough.

In Tahoe, we’ll go to the gym once and do at least that workout plus we walk a lot when we’re there.

Last night I BBQed that trip tip and it was good. We’re not big meat eaters but this was a nice small piece and the flavor was good. B had roasted veggies, beans, tofu and, coleslaw. Tonight is a pizza night, no take out just a Trader Joe’s dough and I’ll do some toppings.

Overall, not a spendy week and next week will also be low spend in Tahoe.

So far this morning I feel good and my blood pressure is good too. I just hope being off dex doesn’t negatively impact my numbers but for now, hurray for not feeling crazy this morning. Since I’m home this morning, I will do some tidying up and I need to dust. The pine pollen is everywhere! I’m not planning on any bread making or batch cooking. Just using up what we’ve got.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, camping, cooking, Lake tahoe, Myeloma, simple foods, Uncategorized by

I guess my daughter brought home a cold from work this week and now I have sniffles and a runny nose. It’s not terrible but still, my head feels like it has cotton in it. I’m not sure I’ll go to the Auburn gym then. I did walk this morning so at least I got some exercise in. This is probably the first time I’ve had a minor cold in maybe 3 years. I do get seasonal allergies which is what we all thought my daughter had but then by the next day you could tell it was more like a cold.

I want to swim tomorrow so I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how I feel then. I have Velcade Thursday so I don’t want to push it.

Yesterday I started drying oregano in the dehydrator, which still needs at least another day. I plan on doing a few batches as I use quite a bit of oregano in cooking. Then I’ll move on to thyme. I wish there was a way to keep cilantro but it doesn’t dry with any flavor, I’m not sure why exactly. I just looked up drying cilantro and it says you can and it will keep its flavor so I think since we have so much I’ll do ie batch to test it out. I recall I dried it in the oven and not the dehydrator so maybe that was the problem.

I decided not to go to the gym since I don’t want to be blowing my nose and then using weights:( I really dislike seeing people do this so I don’t want to be one of those people.:)

Yesterday I made a pot of minestrone for dinner it was quite good except the reason I was making it was to use up the zucchini we had and of course, I forgot to put in the zucchini. So maybe I’ll make a zucchini bread. My son brought up a dozen Noah’s bagels and they are delicious. He lives right near one so that will be fun for him. ( and us).

Our cooler weather is moving in and today looks like temperatures in the 70’s so we won’t need to use coolers. I think it’s supposed to be like this for the next week or so. Tahoe may end up cooler than we thought but we’ll be fine. We have the heater in Rubi. This is a shorter trip than we’re used to, only 3 nights but it’s a start. Then in June, we’re there for a week.

Rainy Saturday

Posted in books, California, cooking, home improvement, home stuff, husband, reading, Uncategorized, Walking by

We were able to get our walk in before the rain started. It’s supposed to rain all day and quite a bit. Well, we always need the rain maybe not the wind but certainly the rain.

Today is a home day and not a swim day. I plan on making a big pot of broccoli cheddar soup. I need to use the big bag I got from Costco. We’ll probably have that for dinner plus baked potatoes. I got the bakers at Costco too and plan on doing twice-baked potatoes. I usually start with 12-14 potatoes and then after I bake them, cut them in half and fill them with the cheese, and potato mixture. I usually end up with 12 half potatoes because I mound the filling. These do freeze great and are an easy meal with salad.

B got the new window in yesterday and it looks fresh and clean. We opted for no grids. All of the other windows( except the sunroom)have grids but as we replace the windows we are going for gridless windows.

We’re working our way through watching Inspector Lynley. We have the 3rd season to watch. It’s a great show and Lynley is a good character. I’m reading another Longmire book now. I am so impressed with the way he writes and how he brings in so much cultural stuff about the Cheyenne and Crow. Very different from Hillerman and the Southwest. In this one” As the Crow flies’, he takes part in a peyote ceremony. It was pretty accurate in his description. I’ve done peyote 3 times( B says, he thinks it was only 2) and it is a very mind altering/spiritual experience. Of course, I was in my 20’s and early 30’s and very much into the whole Native American thing. We also have had 2 teepees. The first one was given to us by a friend and it was painted with different Indian motifs. That one finally fell apart and we bought one from a company in Oregon. When we moved here we set it up and used it till it too finally deteriorated. We used to smudge our house and ourselves with sage as a way to cleanse negative energy. I haven’t done that for years but I still have some abalone shells that we used for that purpose. Longmire is in his early 50’s when he does peyote and also the character is very tuned into the whole spiritual side of the Native American, Cheyenne in his case. Anyway, I digress, they are great books!

Menu for the week and other misc.

Posted in Blood test, books, California, cooking, Gardening, home improvement, home stuff, meal planning, reading by

Last night neither of us felt like much dinner so I made a ramen bowl with tofu and a hardboiled egg. We like the spicy chili ramen.

I’m planning a few freezer meals to use things up.

lasagna is going to be first with some salad

scrambled tofu with zucchini I bought at Costco( probably won’t do that again since it is a lot of squash:( )

homemade mac and cheese and use more of the fish sticks up. (Costco has the big bags and they are good for a quick dinner). Salad stuff.

I have some naan bread in the freezer from Costco too, so I’ll make a curry for that. either tofu or chickpea. I like the Trader Joe’s red curry sauce. I have some frozen veggies I can throw in and use them up.

I made a recipe from Steve Sando’s Rancho Gordo cookbook. It was a chili using black beans and zucchini. It was a big hit and we all really loved the depth of flavor.

I have some goat cheese to use up so I might do a frittata.

I have a bag of broccoli( from Costco) and I’ll make a broccoli cheddar soup.

Yesterday, after my labs, I went to the gym and then the library. I didn’t have any holds but I dropped off 3 of the books I finished with and picked up a few books off the new shelf. Currently, I reading the very first Longmire book which is The Cold Dish. He writes so well and I love the history he brings into the books.

I had planned on swimming today and then Costco to pick up a tent that’s on sale but then just didn’t feel like it so it’ll be a home day. My daughter is planning to come up to Tahoe and spend a night( her birthday) and the trailer is too small so we thought we’d get a tent. We happened to see one when we were leaving last week so we thought we should get while it’s on sale. Plus, there were a few more sale things I didn’t get like the Kerry Gold butter. I think we’ll try tomorrow.

Today B is going to go to the plumbing place and order the shower pan and drain. The good news is he reached out on our local chit chat and asked about a plumber and got a few responses. So one guy showed up yesterday and gave us an estimate on the plumbing and even doing the tile. It was a reasonable estimate so we’re going to go with that. B still needs to take down the dry wall and open it up where the pipes will go. With the claw foot tub, the pipes are outside the wall so that needs to get changed. We might go into Home Depot tomorrow to buy the subway tile for the walls. We’re just planning white with a light grey mortar. Simple yet elegant( I hope). I’m hoping to do the floor in black and white tiles like you would see in a Parisian bathroom. Our bathroom is so small but I think the small octagon tiles will look good. I saw where you buy them as a sheet so that’ll make it easier to put down.

California poppies!!

more, flowers.

Wisteria. It’s almost done blooming.

Red clover. That tree in the background is a liquid amber that must have started as a seed from the park. It’s gotten quite big.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cooking, Gratitude, knee injury, pets, pets,cats,dogs,, swimming, Walking by

I’m so thankful my knee is doing so much better. I’m able to do almost everything without pain. I’m still only walking 1 + mile but I’m grateful for that. This morning on our walk, I added one extra loop around the school parking lot. That put me 1.2 miles, so I’m jazzed about that. I went to the pool yesterday and swam for @35 minutes. I’m not back to 45 but 30 is a good enough time in the water.

I’m thankful for the beautiful morning with sunrise quite early.( 6:21). It was almost too bright for my eyes which is one reason I walk in predawn light. I guess since sunrise is going to continue getting earlier, we’ll need to adjust and walk maybe 15 minutes earlier.

I’m grateful to be able to do some canning this morning. I have kidney beans I’m pressure-canning. I also plan on doing cannellini (white beans) soon. Beans seem to be the thing we’re using the most. It does take some time and you never want to leave a pressure canner unattended. I usually sit where I can hear the juggle and make sure it’s doing its thing. Pint jars take 75 minutes after the 10-minute air valve release.

I’m grateful to be where I am at this stage of life. My life is simple and filled with just the right amount of activity. I’m grateful I started my decluttering /minimalist journey years ago and don’t really need to do the Swedish Death cleaning. I’m sure after I’m gone there will be still lots of stuff my daughter/son won’t want. They may not want the 1950’s Heywood furniture. That’s ok, it’ll be primarily my daughter’s house. The barn is pretty much my son’s hoarder, oops, craft, tools, and everything else place. He does have a lot of bins of things:( Oh well, that’s his choice.

Here’s some fun photos of the kitties enjoying the Birthday box from Chewy!!!

That’s Bean!

Very strange Cherry!!

Simple Sunday

Posted in bread, California, cancer, cooking, decluttering, husband, minimalism, swimming, Uncategorized, Walking by

So far we’ve made it through the ‘blizzard’ although we didn’t have the blizzard here but lots of rain and wind. Fortunately, we didn’t lose any trees. A friend from way back in the library days had 2 trees fall on their house. Yikes! I’d be breaking out. They live quite a ways up I 80 and I think the wind was worse up there. It looks like today is still stormy so I’m not going to go to the Auburn gym. Plus I’ve kind of felt ‘off’. It’s probably the residual of Dex and Velcade. My blood pressure was high yesterday even with taking my Lisinprol so I’m attributing that to dex too. It’s always something.

I have a loaf of sourdough in the oven and I’ll pull a frozen lasagna out for dinner. the other day I was able to get 4 lasagnas prepped. I think I have some salad stuff to use up too.

Yesterday, I cleaned out a few kitchen draws and probably will do a few other kitchen things today. I need to order propane too. That’s all done on line now so I can do it and pay that way.

I’ve been thinking about how having injured my knee in a split second of stepping off the step ladder wrong way. I think things like this do affect us in deeper ways than we realize. All of a sudden I couldn’t do what I had been doing at all. No walking, swimming, house stuff etc. It really did have an impact on me and with that some sadness of what was lost. I’m certainly much better now and am walking about a mile a day and swimming. But it’s not back to where it was and I’m not sure if it will ever get there realistically. But I’m grateful that I can see forward and keep trying. Yesterday, I used the PT band for a few exercises and it really stressed my knee out so today I’ll skip that part. The other thing I’ve noticed is my routines were more or less disrupted as I couldn’t do the same things such as swish and swipe daily. I’m back at it with more regularity but it definitely impacted me and one has to wonder how things will be in 5 years. I guess the whole point of minimizing and streamlining things was exactly the place I’m in now. My house can handle not getting dusted for a few days, or vacuumed because there’s less to take care of. Daily though, the dishes get done, counters cleared. laundry done, bed made, house tidied. My husband does the laundry daily. He also cleans the kitchen after dinner so it’s a good system. Because of this, I think I will start looking around the house to see what things are taking up space or require some maintenance and then probably get rid of them. I guess this really does comes down to Swedish Death cleaning.

Friday things

Posted in California, cancer, cooking, frugalism, home stuff, Myeloma, Pantry, Uncategorized by

I met up with two friends from the old FOA library for coffee yesterday. One of the women just lost her husband to Myeloma so she’s adjusting her life. He was just recently diagnosed but wasn’t in good health and I think his body just couldn’t take it. Another friend just had her husband diagnosed with Myeloma too. How weird is that? He’ll be starting Revlimid, dex, and Darzalex fastpro. I think he should do fine but he’s also in his late 70’s so there’s that.

I finished the pressure canned beans and so now I have 3 garbanzos and 3 black beans ready to go. Beans are really easy it’s just the time involved while the pressure canner is going.

I’m not going to the gym today but I might go tomorrow. It just depends on how I feel. Today I’ll do the PT exercises and then just potter around. It feels like I have lots of areas in the house that need some attention. The kitchen pantry shelves need to be sorted and a place for the chip bags. It’s interesting how these little things just are minor irritations and I tend to just look past them until they really bug me and then I do something.

Today is National Pizza Day so either we’ll get a pizza or I’ll make one. It’s a cloudy day with some sunshine coming through. Next week we’re tentatively going to Napa. Hopefully, it’ll be at least sunny. I have 2 weeks till my next Velcade so we could go the following week if that looks better.

Frugal-wise, we haven’t done any lunch dates or coffee for that matter. ( except my coffee with friends). If we do pizza tonight that’ll be takeout. B did go to Costco and got coffee, eggs, etc. I think we’ve been able to keep our grocery bill down because of TJ’s, Costco, and Winco. I haven’t shopped at Safeway in like forever. I have shopped at Holiday simply because it is 2 minutes away and if I need something then the cost of gas has to be figured in too.

I paid for Turbo Tax too. I probably could have found a free platform I like how turbo tax asks the right questions and then it’s all done. It’s worth the $89 for federal taxes.