Yeah, I'm still here!...........

 

Hi there!  Long time, no?  What can I say ~ we've been busy.  My computer is up in my office most of the time, and I'm not in there much the last 6 weeks.  We went hiking about 5 weeks ago and were totally surprised to find fairly large snow banks in the shady areas.  We both took a step on the partially melted snow and went to our knees in it.  Demitri just walked on it, he doesn't weigh enough to fall into it, lol.  He did enjoy the mud though.  He considered it a spa day. 😀
 

 

It was beautiful, if not a tiny bit chilly now and then.  We had such a great time.  We all took naps when we came home.

Here I am trying not to fall on my ass......

With the snow we lost our way a few times, the trails were covered and didn't look the same.  I think that ended up being over 8 miles that day.  

One of our daily hiking trails.  Demitri loves getting out.  He has a lot of fans among the dog walking community in our neighorhood, and lots of furry friends.  

Prickly pear cactus blooms...

Apache plume......

 

Beautiful scenery.......

I grew up in Texas, and one of my favorites has always been chicken fried steak, and in New Mexico it's not easy to find....at least that tastes good.  I had seen a recipe on Amer. Test Kitchen and made it ~ oh my, it was so delicious.  Sure made for a mess in the kitchen though.  Romeo was so appreciative he did a lot of the cleaning up for me :-)

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This past Saturday, we were married ~ 44.5 years after the first time!  Since we are both now Orthodox Christians, we (or maybe I?) wanted to make it all official (not that it wasn't in the first place, haha).  

Romeo is making a silly joke about My Big Fat Greek Wedding, re: windex.  

I just love this kid's enthusiasm!

Plenty of koulourakia, and our wedding cake.

There are lots more, but I won't bore you with that!  But it was a wonderful, marvelous weekend.  Today is veg day, relieved that it's all done.  

Have a great week, y'all!   Love, 365

Blogger strikes again...

 If you're wondering why I haven't commented on your blog, it's because I can't.  I'm looking into it, and have send some info to Blogger. 

Pascha and travel......

 

Tsoureki ~ a traditional bread eaten after Orthodox Christian Easter.  Flavored with orange zest, and ground mahaleb (a spice of a specific cherry pit that is ground).  Sweet and delicious!  On the 7th of April, I will be heading up a group of ladies to make about 45 loaves of 1 1/2 pounds apiece.  The only difference between this photo and what we will make is the sesame seeds we sprinkle on top instead of sliced almonds.  

Our Easter is a week after Protestant Easter this year.  Sometimes it's a longer period ~ it all has to do with the calendar.....Gregorian?  Julian?  Yes, Orthodox Christians follow both, it all depends on the tradition of the church you attend.  If you are interested in learning more about it, go here...

 Once Pascha is over, we are going to take some day and over night trips.  We've just been waiting on the weather to warm up a bit!  First order of business...

Petrified National Forest in Arizona.  We stopped here many (many!) years ago when we were on our way to the Grand Canyon.  Then I'd like to go south to Tucson to visit the Saguaro National Park before heading home the next day....

So, that'll be our warm-up trip.  Toward the end of September we'll travel to San Antonio for my (gulp) 50 year class reunion.  My sis said we could stay with her, but with Demitri with us, and their dog Duke having some issues with his knee, I don't think it would be a good idea.  He might get to excited and injure it further.  

Well, I have bread in the oven ~ of course!  Have a great weekend, y'all.

Love, 365

Spring is on it's way? Or is it?

Stupid video didn't load when I checked....I'm leaving it here for the video fairy to fix :-)

We had a fairly decent snow 3 days ago.....so typical here, to have snow in March and April, even though we didn't really have much all winter long.  Some folks have fruit trees with blossoms on them, so I hope this means they won't lose their harvest.  My wisteria has buds, but I think I waited too long to trim it.  Next year I'll have to trim in January.  Not sure how well it will bloom.  We've had both spectacular and disappointing springs.

We are now halfway through Lent.  Our Easter will be on 4/16.  Easter candy has already gone on sale, what the hey?  Usually it's after.  At any rate, I will be stocking up, especially on my favorite ~ Cadbury's mini eggs.  My taste in chocolate is fairly cheap....oh, let's be real, I love all chocolate. :-)

Demitri has taken to biting the back of my right leg when I'm walking past or in front of him.  I am now spraying the backs of my pants and socks with bitter apple.  I was putting on lotion after my shower, and noticed about 8 little bruises.  Sheesh.  If I'm consistent with the spray, I should be bruise free by the end of the week!  Puppies.  He's such a sweet dog, with the exception of the biting on my leg.  

In line with the dryer, toilet, and refrigerator repairs or replacement, the washer has now quit working.  I swear, after you retire, all your major appliances die.  I am hoping it's just a belt replacement.  Have you seen the cost of washer/dryers?  Wow. It's an eye opener.  The time frame is 8am to 1pm.  Sure would be nice if they are here by 9, buy I'm not counting on it.

Well, that's it.  The exciting life, eh?

Have a great week!

Love, 365

Oy vey.....

 

I need this necklace, lol.

It's tax preparation time.  Romeo has been talking about it for a few weeks, and today he has started the process.  In and out.....how much was that donation?...where are the property tax payments?.....do you have your W2? (which I gave him a long time ago)...and on and on.  Now I'm on the phone with our insurance for some form he wants...oy vey!!  He becomes quite apprehensive.  I suppose that's normal for most of us!  Let me tell you about a conversation we had over 20 years ago....

Romeo: (while in the midst of doing taxes for that year) "Next year I'll teach you how to do the taxes ~ it's pretty easy with Turbo Tax, and you'll need to know if something happens to me."

Me: "Oh, honey, if you aren't around to do our taxes, I'll have my "Anna" (my friend who does taxes for a living) do it."     chuckles

And that was the best move on my part ever.  If I had fallen for that, I would be doing the taxes every year.  I do enough around here!  And taxes is not something I would ever have any interest in doing.  

In the meantime, it looks like spring is on it's way, although I won't be planting the garden for another month.  I have been trimming the beast that is the wisteria, and that added up to two full lawn size bags of sticks.  I need to get the supplies to begin the germination of the veg and herb seeds I bought last year.  I am getting excited about having a garden again!  We will have to put up a small fence around it (it's already a raised bed) because Demitri has learned to jump up there and is currently digging some nice holes for me already, haha.  He sure loves to dig ~ thankfully he doesn't do it often.  

Love, 365

And here we are........

Monday was a beautiful and not so cold....we took a hike in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains with Demitri.  It's important to wear out the puppy!  He's been getting walks every day, if I'm in the middle of bread making or baking, Romeo goes out with him.  It's been so nice to have a bit warmer weather!

The oven is warming up.....thought I was ready to go, then realized I put the wrong baker in the oven to preheat.  Today I'm using this beast:

I call it a beast because it weighs 22 pounds.  Whew!  It's a real workout, especially when it's been preheating at 500f.  I only use it for bread, but I could use it for lots of other things.  

Our roadrunner is back, I've seen him on the Ring cam quite a few times.  It's great to see him/her hanging about, especially since they like to eat snakes.  I suppose they aren't finding any snakes yet, it's too cold!

It's Lent!  So, lots of church services at St George Greek Orthodox church.  I'm also in charge of the flowers for this weekend...I'll post a pic next week.  I love working with flowers, and it gives my creative juices a go.  

My bread is in the oven...this is one of my loaves that I sell, so I hope it turns out!  I have started a new process, and so far it's been going great.  You never know what you're going to get though.  Sourdough can be fickle.  Just took the lid off, and the bread looks lovely......sigh of relief!  Here it is:

It's a large loaf at 820g, going to a family of 7.  Some of the kids don't really like sourdough, so I also bake regular yeast loaves too.  

Here's a little entertainment.....Demitri going through the paces.

 

 

I hope you all have a great day and rest of the week!

Love, 365

Technical problems, and potatoes.....

 

I am still having trouble commenting on some posts.  This copy is what I usually see....there are one or two I can simply comment on.  Most of the others I have to put in the name and url before commenting.  This has been going on for a year.  Now I also have to sign in to Google before I can do anything on my own. So annoying.  

 

Not sure if this video is going to finally process, but I hope you get to see Demitri enjoying the snow.

My most hated vegetable:

I hate potatoes....have always hated them.  Even as a kid ~ because when I was growing up, it was a rare meal that didn't include spuds of one kind or another.  Baked, in a salad, mashed, casserole, etc.  I don't like their taste, the texture.  My folks used to make me eat them, but I usually spit them out in my napkin.  I have no idea why they made me eat them, even after years.  I will eat hot and crispy french fries now and then.  Are those really potatoes?  Lol.  Most people think I'm crazy, and wonder how I've managed to survive without them. I do like veggies!  Even as a kid I liked brussel sprouts.  I think I'm not really Irish/German like 23 & Me reports.  :-)  

I hope you have a great weekend!  Happy Friday!

Love, 365

Ready for winter to be over......

Yesterday was a big one for Demitri.....he is now lacking certain body parts, removed by our delightful and great vet, Dr Gonzales.  He had a tiny umbilical hernia repaired and a chip placed (although the chip is not really his concern, haha).  Yesterday was hard for him, but once I gave him a dose of the sedation meds, he slept through the night ~ not a peep.  We bought these "onesies" for dogs that have had surgery....

 

We highly recommend.....with the cone on, he just stands there ~ we just put it on for 15 minutes or so to see how he would do with it on.  The onesie is good for preventing licking and chewing ~ it's a bit of a pain to take it on and off for bathroom breaks, but all in all, well worth the money.  Right now he's resting on Romeo's lap with it off.  He's getting a little break before bedtime. He has a chew in his mouth in case you're squinting at the pic and wondering, what the heck?  Haha

So, I've been baking bread today, a great day for turning on the oven for an hour or so.  We had snow on Monday, but only about 3-4 inches, which was gone by mid-day.  

I used to hate seeing snow on Sunday night, knowing I would have to drive to work in it.  But these days, I just stretch in bed, roll over, and go back to sleep for a little while.  Oh, how I love being retired!  I can do ~ or not do ~ what I want to do.  But I admit my office is really awful and I need to go back to going through my closet, and arranging my cookbooks and other crap.  I still need to call the charter school that offers photography and see if they want any of my old equipment.  I doubt they will want the film cameras....Why would they?  Digital is so much more convenient.  

I hope all of you are staying warm.....come on spring!

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Love, 365

Battle Bots and other wacky stuff.......

 

How does he do it?  Romeo started watching Battle Bots a couple of years ago.  Basically teams built these robots and battle it out for 3 minutes (sometimes it's a lot less).  Each season someone wins the GIANT NUT.  

The double entendre isn't lost here...... haha

At first I just ignored it and played a game on my phone, or went to my office and watched something else.  Then I watched a few, and now I find it interesting and it's got lots of action....well, it lasts for 3 minutes (I can think of something else that is exciting for 3 minutes, but we won't go there, haha).  

I used to hate watching Forged in Fire, but he has managed to win me over on that one too.  

He isn't a sports fan, so there is that.  I like football more than he does.  

But if he labels a show as a "chic flick" he leaves.  I don't think I've ever convinced him to watch any of those.  I think I'm not a good sales person....although sometimes it's great that he leaves instead of spending the 30 min to 1 hour show being snarky.  Especially when his snark has a point.  :-(  I just hate when that happens.

Love, 365

Oh~kay.......

I know they aren't pretty ~ even after the third go round ~ but these "ballpark pretzels" are really yummy.  They are a bit of a pain to make, and boy howdy the mess on the stove top is out of control.  We have to take it easy, because we could probably eat them in two days.  It's not something I want to bake every week for sure.  

 

I don't know why I took this photo of his paw.  But dang it!  Every bit of this puppy is just so irritatingly cute!  I call it the high 5.

We have a neighbor across the street, a single woman who retired two, maybe almost 3 years ago.  Her ex-husband passed away some years ago.  She's in a relationship, but he has his own house.  She said she really enjoyed having her own place.  This is the lady who bailed us out when our fridge died.  

When something happens she usually texts me to ask if Romeo can come over and look at it.  Which is ok, he doesn't mind.  She did that today, and when she returned home from Santa Fe, we went over to figure out was was wrong with her Bose sound system.  So we went over, and Romeo had his little black bag of tools.....it turned out that she was dusting and somehow unplugged it from the surge protector, haha.  We all had a good laugh at that.  

Love, 365

Happy New Year!

 

We decided to give Demitri the right start to the new year with a bath.....he was not really all that in to it.  Haha

Romeo bought this beautiful poinsettia for Christmas......I think it's the prettiest one I've ever had!  It's such a rich color.   

I have been quite occupied with baking and puppy that I haven't taken time to write.  I've started a few!  Ah, well, excuses excuses.  

I finally achieved one of my goals in sourdough bread, but unfortunately I don't have any pictures of it.  The one time I don't take a photo....haha.  It had a great rise in the oven and a nice open crumb.  Crusty and crunchy on the outside, pillowy soft on the inside.  A friend gave me a new starter, and it's amazing.  

There isn't much new or exciting happening here.  Day to day life ~ laudnry, walks outside with Demitri, playing racquetball at the gym, baking, etc.  Now that I am retired, I don't have any drama to report on 😁  It's super awesome!  I admit that there hasn't been one day that I regret retiring.  Oh, I miss some of the patients that I enjoyed talking to, and most of the staff, but otherwise?  Not at all......it's really fabulous.  I still get up early but not as early as I used to.  6:30-7:00 ~ sometimes even 7:30!  woo hoo!  Once the weather warms up, we will be doing some road trips, Arizona, Colorado, and around and about New Mexico.  

Now....

 

My best wishes for all of you in 2023.....

Love, 365