Tag Archives: Walking

Simple Sunday

Posted in books, California, cancer, cooking, Walking by

A nice walk at 6am. It’s predawn and still slightly dark. I saw a few stars.

I went to the Auburn gym and did some weights. There were quite a few new people that I hadn’t seen on a Sunday. Usually, it’s pretty empty which is why I go on Sundays.

Then I went to Target to get the Murphy soap I use on the floors. I also picked up some Method Cleaner for the new bathroom tiles. Also a candle for a gift.

My son spent the night because he went over to his friends last night. So this morning he put up the new screen/security door on the Studio. It’ll be nice in the fall when we can keep the door open.

We’re watching the Rings of Power on Prime and it’s good. Quite well done. This goes back a long way from when Galaridal was still like an elf warrior. Also, Sauron is coming back to life. I think they’ve done a good job going back before LOTRs. I usually try and reread LOTR every September/October so I guess I better get started. Tolkien isn’t the easiest to read but once you find his pace it is truly a brilliant literary work.

My daughter is cooking brown rice for tonight’s dinner and I think she plans to do some kind of bowls with it. I have some broccoli to use too.

Well, just an ordinary day, simple and slow-paced.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cancer, decluttering, Gratitude, Walking by

We are hanging in there waiting for the appts. It’s frustrating, to say the least. I am grateful that it’s getting closer at least. I hope we’re going to get some answers at next Wednesday’s UCD appt.

B sent an e-message to the internist who did the diagnosis and I am grateful she responded in very positive way. She said she would reach out to Stanford and see if it could be moved up from the end of the month. She also indicated that age probably won’t be a huge factor as much as how healthy he is for the Hipec.

I’m grateful that fall is in the air even though it’s going to be 98 degrees today. The light is different and even the heat feels different, so I’m grateful for that.

Even though we are both having a hard time emotionally right now we still find things to laugh at. It’s tough right now but sticking to everyday routines is helping some. I guess trying to keep things ‘normal right now seems important to me.

We had a nice walk this morning even with the lady who shows up right after us. (This person is definitely annoying to me for a few reasons, such as: 1. There is a WHOLE parking lot empty and she has to park next to me. 2. She is not using a flashlight when clearly it’s still semidark out.) 🙁 Still, I’m grateful to be out walking.

I finally took the huge load in the back of the Santa Fe to Goodwill. I was surprised that it filled up one of their carts. It felt good to finally drop that stuff off. Decluttering feels good once the whole thing is done and not sitting in the back of the car for 3 months:)

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cancer, home stuff, Walking by

We’ve had 2 days of walks in the park with only us there. Unusual, yet maybe because it’s Labor Day weekend. Regardless, it’s been so nice. Cool temperatures and good walks.

I don’t have too much on the agenda today. I overproofed my sourdough so it totally deflated when I took it out of the container. Oh well, it’s just flour, water, salt, and starter. I should have finished the bulk fermentation in the fridge but forgot to put it in before bed. I’ll feed my starter and start a new batch tomorrow.

This week I need to go to Costco and maybe Winco. Winco is mostly for salad making stuff. Costco would be TP, paper towels, some bread for the freezer, and other random things. I wanted to look at some new sweatpants for walking. Mine are probably 5 years plus old. Generally, I don’t look at clothes but since I don’t have much to get I will look next time.

Here’s a funny picture of cat crunchies left in a bowl

I wonder which cat did this:)

What are you doing this coming week? Anything fun, or necessary? We are just hanging on till his first appt the following week. It’s a morning appointment so that’s good.

Simple Sunday

Posted in budgets, California, cancer, cooking, home stuff, instant pot recipes, simple foods, Walking by

A nice Sunday walk with cool temperatures. This coming week looks really nice with highs in the 80’s, finally!

This morning I’m processing more tomatoes and will water bath them tomorrow. I am also making some chicken broth in the IP. If anything, the IP is worth the money just for chicken broth and beans!! After it cools, I’ll put it in the fridge and then pressure can later.

I tried a new recipe from Cooks Illustrated, where you roll the lasagna noodles to make a mock manicotti. I thought it was ok but both B and my daughter liked it and I thought it was better the second day. I’m not sure I’ll keep the book, but I’ll see if I want to try another recipe in it.

I’m not going into the Auburn gym as I feel tired this morning. Probably from swimming yesterday. I often have a down day after a swim day I guess, because I’ve used a lot of muscles.

I did the bathroom zone and with the new tile and floor it’s super easy to keep clean. I’m hoping we can get the bedroom and closet done in the same flooring next month. I do love the Wabi Sabi-ness of the old fir floors but they are impossible to really get clean. I suppose if we were ambitious enough we’d rent a floor sander and redo them and seal them. That’s what we did 30 years ago. But I think I’d rather have the laminate.

This week is my Velcade shot and the B’s biopsy on Friday. So a few appts, but manageable. When we get too many appts. I get anxious. Based on the last biopsy, it’s going to be at least a week if not more to get results. Last time it was 2 weeks. I have a feeling it’s going to be inconclusive again, but what do I know.

Here’s one of our dinners this week. A spinach tomatoe frittata.

What have you been cooking? One of my favorite bloggers, Sue from A simpler life, always posts her shopping and food. I really enjoy seeing what she buys. Plus the prices seem way cheaper than here.

Simple Sunday

Posted in bread, California, cancer, cooking, home stuff, Walking by

We had a nice Sunday walk and only one other person showed up at the end. My arthritis has definitely kicked in and I feel pretty stiff to start. After one round I loosen up some but my feet have been hurting again recently. I’m not sure why it comes and goes but?

I’ve just finished making some baked tofu. The tofu was dated so I figured I better use it right away. I started a sourdough cran-raisin cinnamon loaf. I think it might bulk ferment by this afternoon since it’s warm in my kitchen. If so I’ll bake it then otherwise I’ll refrigerate it till tomorrow.

Yesterday, I canned 6 pints of tomato sauce and I’ll get another batch ready to go tomorrow. Usually I do it in 2 days. On day one I put the tomatoes in boiling water and then through the food mill. Day two, cook down and then can.

It’s the kitchen zone this week so I might start that later. I do need to use the steam mop at least today. Other than that, I ran Bender(robot vacuum) yesterday. He does a good job.

Today, I’m not going to the gym. I might go to town with my daughter. She wants to get some paint at Ace. The nursery is close by so we could stop in there too. I need to get some pots to repot some house plants.

I hope we get some news tomorrow on the PET scan. It is frustrating, to say the least.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cancer, cooking, home stuff, simple foods by

We have some smoke in the air due to the Chico fire. That’s the one where the guy pushed a burning car into a gully. He has been arrested so there’s that. But our temperatures are cool and today’s high is only in the mid 80’s.

We had a nice walk. A few other people showed up but we were leaving by then. The other day B found a dollar bill by where we parked and that was fun. He’s going to buy a lottery ticket with it. 🙂

Yesterday was very busy around here. My son came to do some things in the barn. He’s over Covid and feeling good. He helped B take the last load to the dump and also they did cardboard. I think he’s quite concerned about his Dad and wants to help here where he can. His birthday is August 7, so he’ll come over after work. We’ll have some kind of dinner and then cake.

After getting home from the pool, I started the pressure canner for black beans. I got 5 pints done. Then I had to process the tomatoes from the other day so I water bathed them and got 4 pints. So, it was a busy kitchen day.

Today, I’m trying out the Instant Pot for French Onion soup. It’s a simple recipe so we’ll see how it tastes. I didn’t have any sherry(it called for cream sherry??) so I just did the vegetable broth. I’ll make some croutons from leftover sourdough and I have some gruyere cheese.

Other than that, not much.

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:)

Thankful Thursday

Posted in books, bread, California, cancer, cooking, Gratitude, husband, velcade, Walking by

No reports back on the biopsy. I thought for sure, we’d hear something yesterday. So waiting, waiting. Not that I’m expecting anything but bad news but at least we’ll know what the official diagnosis is. 🙁

After that, no doctor appts until next Friday and that’s with his NP from his transplant team so I’m not sure how that will play out. The new oncologist appt isn’t until the week after that so it’s definitely a waiting game. Wait, Wait, Wait.

Things to be thankful for though:

We are getting LOTS of tomatoes and I plan on having my favorite tomato and mayonnaise sandwich later today.

I have Velcade this morning and I am always thankful for efficient and knowledgeable nurses. After that, I will go down to the library and pick up my hold.

I’m thankful we had some days of cooler weather but we’re on an upward swing again. It was nice and cool this morning walking. There were LOTS of people walking even at 6am. I guess it’s the summer crowd.

I’m thankful my son has a nice apartment and is staying cool especially since he just down with covid. It’s the first time he’s had it. I miss him being here so I can hover over him!!!:) But he’s a grown man and knows what to do.

I’m thankful the sourdough boule I made yesterday came out perfect. The last two were dismal and I had to throw them out. I read on the problem and I wasn’t letting my starter mature enough. So I’ve been feeding twice a day and it’s very active now. I plan on doing another one soon. Also, with the heat, proofing time and bulk fermentation are different because it’s warm, so that was a factor as well.

Simple Sunday

Posted in books, California, Lake tahoe, Walking by

We had a nice walk in the park. We were the only ones there again so quite nice. It was already 70 at 6am so it’s going to be another hot one.

We went down to see my son’s apartment and it’s very nice and fits the 2 of them well. Nice layout and all the used furniture he bought before had fits it well. We stopped at TJ’s to buy some flowers and prosecco and a few goodies. He had Noah’s bagels ready so that was sweet. He’s a thoughtful young man.

We are home now and I just started the pressure canner to make chicken broth. It’ll take about 75 minutes. This week I plan on pressure canning the white beans too.

I’m coming down off of Dex so feeling tired. But overall, I’m pleased with how it went. Of course, the true test will be my counts but I do feel these labs won’t really reflect it since it’s so close to when I took it but we’ll see.

The traffic coming down from Tahoe was horrendous. All I can say to Bay area, Sacramento, and Valley People is STAY HOME. Don’t clog up Tahoe simply because you want to dip in the lake. The roads are clogged, too many people on and on…

The infrastructure and really the lake itself can not handle so many people and cars. Be considerate. Just my 2 cents.

I finished the new Chris Bohjalian book, it was a very interesting read and I enjoyed it. His books are generally dark but complex characters.

My son is planning on coming up in the next few days to help clear out the studio. His mattress needs to go to the dump and the bed frame dismantled. Then we can paint and freshen it up. I’ll still get a bed for out there so if he and Alia come to stay they can use the studio. When I had the Norovirus it was very pleasant to be in and it stayed remarkably cool. this Tuff Shed has had a lot on incarnations. We put it up 2000 as our home school room. I lazzured ( a type of Waldorf painting using a watercolor base and it’s brushed on using two brushes)all the walls rainbow colors. In Waldorf school each grade has a color starting in kindergarten with peachy orange, then yellows, greens and finally eighth grade violets and purples.

Dinner is unknown as it’s hot so maybe another cold dinner??

More caulking done in the bathroom and the lights are up. Yay!!

Thankful Thursday

Posted in bread, California, cancer, Gratitude, knee injury, Walking by

I’m thankful to be walking fairly normally now. I suppose the torn ACL/meniscus will always be a factor, but at least for now, I’m walking. This morning I did 1.5 so by the end of the day, I’ll be over the 2-mile mark.

I’m thankful for the cooler weather and I’ve been baking sourdough again. When it’s hot, bread-making is out.

I’m grateful to have been swimming twice this week and it feels like that too, is getting back to where I was. I like getting there later as the die-hard swimmers are mostly gone.

I’m heading down to get my Velcade shot this morning. I plan on going to the new Costco afterward. It is nice it is that much closer and a beautiful store. The layout is different than the other one. I think this might be the way they are doing them as a couple of other newer Costco’s have the same layout. I am thankful that it’s right off the freeway and on my way home.

This was the random leftover garlic from last year that got planted. Really nice big bulbs.

I read somewhere to cut the scape off and the bulb will get bigger. I think it worked as these are the biggest garlic I’ve ever grown.