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