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