Ahhhh, the relief.......

 

I saw these pretty American Goldfinches in my neighbor's tree (yeah, that poor tree is half dead because none of the renters ever water it).  They aren't a permanent resident of Albuquerque, but they do come through on their migration.  What a nice surprise!!

Ok.  The stitches came out this morning.  It was a little pokey, but really not too bad.  I was glad to have them out, and the relief was very welcome.  This evening I checked the mirror, and the swelling has gone down.  Things look better.  In a week I can use a little makeup to cover up the redness.  The rest of the recuperation is all just plain ol' time.  In 5 weeks I can start massaging the scar to flatten it out.  It looks a little bit bumpy, but not near as bad as I thought based on the way it looked before the stitches were removed.  

 The past week I have been sleeping in the spare room, because I was concerned that the dogs might bump my face.  As it was, I was the one who bumped my nose, which woke me up immediately.  It would only take an hour to fall back asleep!  Truthfully I have been sleeping pretty well, especially since Romeo has some kind of cold or something, and has had coughing fits.  I think I will continue to sleep there for a couple more days.  

The cabin fever is getting ridiculous!  I have got to have something to do.  So, today I painted part of the concrete patio in the back yard.  It has been at least 3 years and it is looking shabby.  There are 4 sections of concrete, so I'm going to do one per day...unless we get more rain, which is on the schedule.   At least I can get one more section done tomorrow.   

But seriously, I have read 3 books, baked cookies, green chile stew, sour cream blueberry waffles, and bacon.  I have also vacuumed and dusted.  I am tired of chores and baking.  I have about 10 more days of self imposed exile, unless I can tolerate a bandage long enough to go to Hobby Lobby.  I can't quite wear my reading glasses yet, so I'm going to relearn crochet.  And eventually knitting.  Sound a bit desperate?  Haha

So the bottom line is: the hellish surgery was really awful for a week, and today I can see the end of the tunnel.  My nose will heal and look ok.  Maybe not exactly like it was before, but not obvious to the mutilation done to remove the cancer.  I can live with it.  The dermatologist/skin cancer specialist said that if I'm not happy with the way it looks, they can do dermabrasion to smooth things out, and that was good to hear.  

Hope all of you have a great upcoming weekend!

Love, 365 

   

Worst cast senario, almost.....

 

I don't recall if I mentioned that I was diagnosed with basal cell skin cancer.  Even worse, it's right on the end of my nose.  I had the surgery on Wednesday, so it's been 5 days, and early next Wednesday I go to have my stitches removed.  

They had to remove more tissue than I thought ~ so that required flap surgery, which is a reconstruction technique.  They took skin from the bridge of my nose and used it to cover the area where the cancer used to be.  

If all I had to do was have mohs surgery,  it would have been bad enough.  Having the flap surgery just made the whole thing worse.  Most of the surgery was pain free, since they numbed the area.  But towards the end when the doc was putting in the stitches, that was uncomfortable due to all the pulling.  By the time I was home, the pain was awful.  

This is when I got a little mad that due to the people who misuse pain drugs made it nearly impossible for Doctors to feel ok about prescribing a few pain killers when they are necessary.  I had to get through it all on "extra" strength tylenol.  Tylenol has never done anything for me.  I always went for asprin or ibuprophen, but couldn't take that because of the bleeding risk.  After day 3 I started taking ibuprophen, and that made a big difference.  

The doctor was recommended to me by my dermatologist.  He was very kind.  I'm sure he was dismayed by the fact that tears were rolling down my cheeks the whole time he was working.  I am a woman ~ we are a bit upset when we know our nose is being disfigured.  Of course I had to have the cancer removed.  He even asked me did I want to go through with it, and of course I did.  You don't just not have cancer removed, although he mentioned some people opt not to have the surgery...at least at that meeting.  I imagine they will go back after thinking it over.  Cancer is one of those things that doesn't go away or get better with time.  

Several times he had a mirror in his hand and asked if I wanted to look.  Both times I said no.  I had to have the dressing on for a full 24 hours, so I saw the damage the next day.  To my credit I did not cry again.  I think I had run out of tears.  It was still an oh shit moment.  I've been taking selfies every day (well, except the first one) so I can see for myself that, indeed, the swelling is going down.   

Ok, well I guess I've whined long enough.  Whatever you do, don't look up the flap surgery.  It's so completely horrifying.  

Have a great fall week!  Love, 365 

The world is truly crazy.....

 We had a really fun and relaxing 3 day getaway, but before I get into that, I need to express the anger and fear we experienced when driving home.  Disclaimer: we live in New Mexico, where there are lots of horrible drivers that take way too many chances with their own lives, along with everyone around them.

We drove the route in our maps that stated "shortest route".  Unfortunately it failed to point out that right in the middle of nowhere the state decided to repave.  Definitely needed it, the roads in our state suck!  It's probably been several decades since those roads have had improvements.  This created red lights and wait times from 10-20 minutes.  Needless to say, some people really lost their nut...and there were three of these delays on our drive home.  

While driving on these 2 lane highways, there are areas where they provide passing lanes for a half a mile or so.  Very handy if you've been stuck behind a semi for miles.  But add road rage to that equation!  I was doing my usual 5 mph over the limit.  I failed to move into the slow lane.  There were 4 vehicles that were all following one another that became very enraged that I didn't immediately move over so that they could blow past at probably 15 or more mph over the speed limit.  They flashed their lights, and blew past us so fast it buffeted the car.   One vehicle, the last one, came so close to our back bumper, that had I tapped my brakes, we would likely experience a horrific crash.  Then he/she came around and pulled right in front before hitting the gas again.  It was bad enough to cause me to have a nightmare about it.  

I have since decided that no matter what, I am moving into the "slow" lane to avoid it in the future.  I am so angry that these people would put our lives in danger like that.  It all happened so fast, we had no time to grab our phone and make a video of it, although I know the police won't do anything based on it.....

**********************

Just outside the very tiny hamlet of Cloudcroft, New Mexico, there is this restored trestle bridge.  Originally part of the Sacramento and Alamogordo Mountain Railway...built in 1899.  It was so cool to see!  

 

Golden Aspen leaves....they always look like gold coins to me....

There were plenty of deer in Cloudcroft, and the dogs went crazy!  I told them they were just big ugly dogs, and to get over it, haha.

There was a great park just a smidge outside the front door of the cabin we stayed at.  

There are probably 40+ cabins built in the area where we stayed.  Most built in the early 1950s.  It did the job, but boy was it tiny.  Plus it had too much furniture in it.  It is "pet friendly", sure, but they still ask for you to pay an extra $25 for each dog.  You could try to cheat and tell them there is only one, but there's a camera mounted on the upper left eave of the cabin.  I get it.  Some people do all kinds of things that cost the owners.  

 

We also visited White Sands National Park.  That white strip is part of a 275 square mile deposit of gypsum.  Gypsum is similar to sand, but has properties that sand does not.  I will not bore those who don't have any interest!  

 

If you ever have an opportunity to go, it is very beautiful and unique.  I had to wear a ton of sunscreen and wear a hat, because like snow, the sun reflects off of the gypsum.  

Haha

 

No matter how enjoyable, it is always great to be home again.  We both slept all night, without the metal expansion/contraction of the wall heater.  Yeah, I bet that wall heater was installed in the 1950s too :-)

Love, 365 

 

And now onto our regularly scheduled program......

 

The Festival is done!  I have been enjoying the ability to schedule my own day's events.  

It was a great event, and I believe we experienced a record breaking turn out.  We sold out of many of our pastries, including the tsoureki (sweet bread).  The items we have left over will be given to our GOYA chapter for a fundraiser they have this coming Sunday.  We made way too much baklava cheesecake, and not enough kourabiedes.  Why do the popular ones have to be the ones that are so darn messy?  There's no getting away from baking those without powdered sugar on your clothes and shoes.  I think we also had chocolate dipped paximadia left over too, which is surprising.   

 

 

This is the scene before the official opening....which doesn't include the variety packs, or the two refrigerators packed with the cheesecake.  

I also had greeting and single baklava sales duty.  Wow, it was really busy on Sunday, when supplies of everything else were running low.  It is a bit exhausting.  

**********

Not sure if it was stress or allergies, but I have had these ugly red splotches on my neck and face.  The dermatologist has theories on what could be causing them, so I had more biopsies this past Monday.  They are tiny punch biopsies, but you should have seen the dressings I walked out with.  Ugh.  In the meantime he gave me an rx for a cream to put on twice a day until they get the results from the lab.    Luckily they disappear if I wear makeup, so I don't look like a plague victim, haha.
 

Of course, we have all the International Balloon Fiesta traffic, and beautiful sights like the splash and dash.  From what I gather, it is not easy to do!  This is not my photo, but it is taken here in Albuquerque.  We are all grateful for the rains we had weeks ahead of the event, as the Rio Grande is not so grand when it's dry, and it has been dry for months.  

 

 

I tried my hand at making Japanese milk bread (named so for the obvious ingredient, haha).  It is, well, different.  You take a small amount of flour, water and milk and put it over a low flame, stirring until it is thickened, and once cooled you add it to the rest of the dough.  It looks like 4 small loaves squished together into a loaf pan, and that is exactly what you do.  Not sure if it's a traditional process, or if it contributes to the structure of the dough, but it's yummy.  Soft on the inside with a thin crispy crust.  I will try again, but this time I'll be more mindful of getting the mini loaves closer to the same size....not that it makes any difference in the taste!  

 

****In today's mail, was a wonderful letter informing me that our current Medicare Advantage plan will end as of December 31st.  Our immediate reaction was panic, but after a few hours of discussion with them, and other Advantage plans, we felt a little better.  I won't be able to see the primary care that has been seeing me for years, but truthfully I was beginning to feel less thrilled in the past couple of years.  The main problem is medications.  Because I just recently refilled the most important ones, I won't be able to refill them toward the end of December.  So, right after my new plan (which I haven't chosen as of yet) goes into effect, I will be scrambling to find a new primary care to have these prescriptions refilled.  I'm contacting my physician to see if there is anything that can be done, but as far as I understand it, the insurance won't refill a prescription if they determine you have at least a week's worth.  And as the stress wears off and my brain starts working again, I think of my hematologist and a couple of other doc's I see occasionally.  The thought of changing all of those physicians makes my skin crawl.  

 

Isn't getting older so thrilling?  I asked the representative from our current plan why they decided to terminate their plans ~ because it isn't just our plan but all their plans.  And of course, it's money.  Not surprising.  

 

Here's hoping I can fall asleep tonight!!

 

Love, 365 

The runner/jogger rant.....

I have a bone to pick with runners.  I am not sure why, but they seem to think they have the right of way, regardless of traffic lights, or how narrow the trail is.  

 Today I drove to the grocery store to buy onions that I need for a recipe.  As I pull into the right turn only lane, I notice a guy running on the path along the road.  I didn't really think much about it, I just noticed him.  As I approach the intersection, I also notice that he has the "don't walk" sign, and I have a green light, but apparently all traffic has to stop for this douche bag, so that he doesn't have to stop his run.  Seriously!  I was turning and he runs right in front of me.  I hit my horn, and he has the audacity to turn and hold his hands up in the universal "what?" expression.  

This is not the first time I have had interactions with runners with the very same attitude.  We were walking the dogs in the foothills.  Cactus and goat head stickers everywhere.  The lanes are narrow, and we have to walk single file.  There really isn't any place to move over.  I hear something behind us, and it's a young woman running the trail, yelling "runner!"  "runner!".  I guess she expected us to stop and move out of her way.  Which we did that one time, but no more.  The next runner we met, I looked them right in the eye and kept walking.  This time, the woman stopped and let us pass with the dogs, and I thanked her for her courtesy.  

I just don't get it.  Cars need to pull over?  Dog walkers have to pick up their dogs and move out of the way?  

If you know any runners, please ask them why they should have right of way in every situation, because I am really interested.   

Love, 365 

Surprise, surprise!...............

The yiayia I discussed in my last post surprised me today ~ she proclaimed that my tsoureki was as good as hers.  I was truly honored.  It sounds like I will be making the tsoureki on my own for most of the time, unless she feels well enough to come.  She has been making the tsoureki for the past 50 years ~ as long as we have had a Greek Festival at St George.  I guess she wanted to make sure she was handing it over to someone who could carry on with it.   

The funny thing is that I am no spring chicken.  I will be going through the same thing in the future, looking for someone to take it over.  We now have around 250 loaves to sell at the festival.  

 

We are going to Cloudcroft, New Mexico the week after the festival.  It will be wonderful to get out of town for a few days.  

It is a cute, quaint little town.

 

It's beautiful.....we will have fun hiking around.

We are also visiting White Sands, New Mexico, which is not far away.  

 

I am so looking forward to this trip!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Love, 365 

Where to start?...

 

After watching Ben Shelton play against Carlos Alcarez and winning, and against Frances Diafoe and winning, I figured that he could take the US Open.  And perhaps he can!  He did lose the first two sets against Zverev, but he is keeping up right now.  In order to win he would have to win the next 3 sets.  That is a LOT of tennis.  I would love to see him win.  

Three weeks from now I will be working at the Greek Fest...I signed up to volunteer to work at the pastry booth Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  I am going to get my olive oil soap on Friday, because they always sell out of my favorite scents.  I will probably eat pastitsio this year, I need to try something new.  Have a beer.  Enjoy watching the Greek dancers.  

At some point in time I volunteered to chair the tsoureki baking.  I did not quite know what I was signing up for.  It is a slog ~ getting there around 7:15 am, so the dough will be ready at 10:30 for other volunteers to come and braid the bread, put on the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Then it needs another 45 minutes or so to rise.  Then bake.  Then wait for it to cool down to a minimum of 90 F so we can put it in bags.  I probably won't get home until 4:30 or 5.  It's a long day.  

One of our yiayia's (Greek name for Grandmother) used to do this job.  But her health began to fail, mostly her knees and back.  There might be other issues I'm unaware of.  She is a true yiayia ~ takes no prisoners.  She went to Greece for 3 months this summer (I believe for medical care since it is somewhat free there) so I made the first 3 batches without her.  I am now wishing I had done them all without her.  She criticizes my efforts.  I called her last week to schedule the last batch, and she asked me to take one of the frozen loaves out of the freezer so that she could taste it!  Last year she told me that some of her friends said my loaves were not cooked.  Bullshit, I say.  I used an instant read thermometer to make certain that every pan of bread reached 200 F.  If she says anything negative about my bread this time, it will be the last time I chair it.  I am done with not being appreciated, when it is so much work.  And I know how to make bread, dammit, I've been making it for 50 years.   

The biggest problem?  I'm not Greek.  If I were, I don't think she would act this way.   I try, I really do, to understand where she's coming from.  She has a problem with letting it go, and her friends tell her she needs to be in charge.  But none of them know how, or don't want to put in that much effort.  So, we'll see what happens.  

********sorry, sort of went on a tangent there.

I haven't put any mouse traps out for a month, and haven't seen any evidence of any ~ until a yesterday.  So, I guess I'm back to putting them out again.  My tomatoes look terrible, but there are still tomatoes on them, so I guess I'll keep going until the first frost (unless they up and die).  There is one plant that hasn't really done well all summer, and I might yank that one.  But I still have 2 more that are ok.  I am ready to plant lettuce and spinach, but I'm waiting for the weather to cool a bit more.  All the recommendations say mid Sept., but it's still too hot.  I am excited to try it though, I've never tried lettuce before.

 Zoe is having her 3rd birthday on Tuesday!

Love, 365 

  

 

Morning glories!....

After months of trying to successfully grow morning glories, finally have growth and blooms.  I will start them in pots next year and then transplant them.  

I don't buy many plants from Lowe's but they had pots with black petunias in them, and I just had to!  They are so pretty.  The first time I had ever seen a black one was in Denver.

 

I took a pound of these garden tomatoes and made salsa yesterday.  Last night had Greek village salad and a toasted pita.  The tomato plants look so ugly by this time of the year ~ several of them are 5' high and all tangled.  I try to remove extra branches, but it still looks ugly.  They are not producing as many tomatoes either, but once the weather starts cooling off, I think they will put on more fruit.  

 A sunset photo I took recently.....

I recently had my skin cancer check with the dermatologist, and the area on my nose that I had been worried about proved to be basal cell carcinoma.  Ugh.  I have an appointment in late October for mohs surgery (they slice and examine the cells until they get everything).  Although I would have preferred to get it over with, I am glad I won't miss working/volunteering at the Greek Festival.  I also had the fun mammogram yesterday.  Ugh.

I saw on the news we will have13 new special shape hot air balloons for the Balloon Fiesta this year. 

 

These two designs are from Brazil.  

 We baked the last of the paximadia on Tuesday, and today we'll begin baking the baklava cheesecakes.  They are really popular.  I like them, but the phyllo dough doesn't stay crisp very long.  Soon all of the baklava we order from a Greek bakery in Florida (of all places), and thankfully there are other volunteers that package it.  It is so sticky and messy.  It seems like we just started baking and now the festival is a month away!

Our neighborhood and surrounding areas are having new fiber optic cable installed.  It is a real mess, and noisy.  Romeo is irritated because the workers keep blocking our driveway.  This morning it was completely blocked, so I went out with my phone and took a photo of the information on the side of the truck.  Next thing I know, the truck is gone.  I sure hope they finish quickly.

We have also heard of black bears being spotted in the neighborhood, mostly from security cameras.  Romeo told me there was one in a lawn chair, but I couldn't find that one!

 

You know fall is coming when we start seeing bears around.....

Love, 365 

Cooler temp's at last......

At last, my marigolds are blooming along with zinnias.  I'm still waiting on my 4 o'clocks, but I'm thinking perhaps in another week or two.  

My garden is doing well, and I expect my tomatoes will ramp up a bit without the blistering heat.  My basil is going great guns!  I will let one of the plants go to seed, and keep using the others for village salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, red onion, chopped fresh basil, dried oregano, a bit of fresh ground pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and a nice chunk or two of feta.  

Regarding the mice: I have not had one for 4 days running!  Either they have found other accomodations or there's a lull in the number that are making nests between the fences.  I do not doubt there will be more.  I do have two pests right now as I have hornworms eating at the tender vegetation of my tomato plants.  One night I found 5, and I had 3 a couple of nights ago.  Seeing the small branches without leaves is a dead giveaway.  They aren't as easy to find, unless you go out at dusk and use a uv flashlight to spot them.  They glow a light blue under the uv light.  

 

We've also had a lot of mosquitoes (apparently they are living in the grass) and my ankles were hit many times the first time I went out without repellent.  What a challenging year!

Tomorrow I pick up the second batch of peaches, so my weekend will be quite busy canning.  So today I'm chilling in hopes to have lots of energy to get me through the day!  I'll be canning slices and making some peach jam too.

Have a great weekend, and may your weather be fabulous!

Love, 365 

Killing fields.....the mouse edition.

 

Yeah, I know these are rats, not mice!  But it so perfectly represents the armageddon that is currently going on in my garden.

It is depressing to dispose of dead mice, caught in my traps, day after day!  Today was the first day in 5 that there weren't any mice in the traps.  I was surprised.  It is possible that one set off one of the traps but managed to get away.  My hairdresser was telling me about these traps that basically electrocutes the mice.  But really, $39??  That seems a little pricey, but she did say that it beats finding a mouse still alive with it's leg caught in the trap.  "shudder" I sure hope I don't have that happen, but I now know that it's a possibility.  I haven't been keeping track, but I figure the number is somewhere around 20+ since I started setting the traps.

Occasionally I find a trap that has been sprung with no mouse in it.  But they are certainly very sensitive.  We have been having very windy evenings ~ storms all around but we aren't getting any rain, darn it ~ and I suppose that a leaf or a wood chip could be blown onto it.  At least I haven't seen any nibbles on my fruit.   

This is my only living aunt.  I love this photo of her, even if it is not a current one.  She is a funny lady, she came with my Mom for a visit, and I caught her washing all the caps of my condiments.  Catsup, mustard, etc.  I just went about my business and let her. :-)

She is now in hospice.  At 95 she has had a long life.  It is sad to know that I won't have any living aunts or uncles when she passes, which I expect will be any day.
 

We did manage to make nearly 300 tsoureki in July.  Now we're working on koulourakia.  We manage over a thousand at each bake.  We sell a lot of these cookies, along with kourambiedes and paximathia.  Paxi's are next, and I love making those.  Especially taking home the broken ones!  I can make them at home, but it has been so hot lately, I am loath to turn on the oven.  I have also put baking sourdough on hiatus for the same reason.  This has been one of the hottest summers on record, and I believe that is true for many places in the northern hemisphere.  Ugh.  I am so ready for fall!!

It is funny, there are many different recipes for tsoureki.  Some of my volunteers commented that their yiayia's never put sesame seeds on their loaves.  Some use orange zest (we do) and some use other spices.  Maybe it's tradition?  Recipes handed down through the generations, made to their tastes I suppose.  I see the same for paximathia and koulourakia.  

Now, I hope I don't find any mice in my traps in the morning.  

Love,365
 

Morning glories and mice......

 This spring I planted some morning glories that I sprouted from seed....I remember my disappointment the next day when I came out to water them, and all the leaves were gone.  I assumed I had some kind of bug, like the baby grasshoppers I was seeing everywhere.  I put plastic cups over the next group I planted, and I had them on there quite awhile, but they didn't like that and wouldn't grow.  So I took off the cups and the next day ~ poof! ~ all leaves gone, just a little green stem sticking up. I sprayed.  I put out traps for the pill bugs (because they were eating my marigolds).  I resigned to the fact I would not have morning glories this year, and moved on.  I did keep a net tent over the freshly sprouted flower mix I put in one part of the garden.  But eventually the zinnias were bending over due to the tent. 

Then one day I saw something like this:

That was the day I knew that the pest I have been battling was not six legged.  I got out my mouse traps.  Three days in a row I had a mouse.  I continued for a few more days, but I haven't had anymore, and I hate loading the traps so I quit putting them out.  Luckily I haven't had any more tomatoes being munched on.  But today my neighbor who knew my sad morning glory story gave me a dozen morning glory seedlings.  So I am trying again, but I will set a trap or two just in case more interlopers join the party.

The fence behind my garden has our old wood fence, and about 8 inches behind that is our neighbors fence that she had built because one of her rescued dogs was constantly jumping the fence into our yard.  So, there's that bit of a gap, and that is where they had made their home.  And munching on my seedlings, apparently.  

I hate to use traps, and Romeo asked if I wanted a catch and release trap, to which I said no.  Where the heck am I going to release them?  I can just see myself walking up the hill to the foothills with a cage and a mouse in it.  

At least I finally know what has been feasting on my garden plants.

Love, 365