Happy Birthday Demitri.....

Oh boy!  Cake!

 

 

 

We went out for a walk early this morning and handed out blueberry muffins from Three Dog Bakery.  One of Demitri's friends, Fin fell in love with them.  I went to give one to Demitri and Fin snatched it as quick as you can say muffins :-)   All the doggies enjoyed them.  I also bought the cake you see in the photo, so cute.  I'd say they do a great business because everyone knew Three Dog Bakery, and most said that's where they go for doggie birthday treats.

He is 1 year old today, and we hope to enjoy many more.   

Getting ready to take a big bite!

The birthday cake toy!

Have a great weekend everyone, and if you're in the way of this heat wave, stay cool!

Love, 365

I've got practically nothing.........

It looks so lush and green, doesn't it?  This is one of the parks near our house.  I was trying to get a decent photo of the cottonwood fuzzies ~ it looked like it was snowing.  

 

I love the flower, it's so pretty!  But as with other pretty things, it can be prickly.

My tomato plants are doing well, but that's because I water them every day.  Coming up, I might have to start watering twice a day.  100+ for the next 7 days.

One of my teeny bell peppers.  Once they get to this point they grow really fast, but I know it'll take awhile before I pick one.  

I did bake two of the lemon-blueberry sourdough loaves.  We kept one and sold the other.  It's such a great recipe, and ~ so far ~ always comes out great.  

It's just too hot to do anything!  Agreed....

Love, 365

Apparently New Mexico is like my oven ~ preheating...

 

Flowers are just so cheerful....

Even the neglected hollyhocks in the park are blooming, whereas mine are just putting on more and more leaves.......

Out the door at 6:45am but it still just looks hot.  Also ran into Emily, a sweet lady who's 90.  She's a talker.  While waiting for her to wind down I stood there in the sun sweating my ass off.  

A locust tree/shrub.  They are blooming like crazy right now.

This loaf of lemon-blueberry sourdough is smiling at me, lol.

There isn't much going on.  The usual stuff, I have to pry myself out of bed early so that we don't melt on the morning doggy walks.  Demitri has lots of doggy friends ~ Romeo and I laughed that he probably has more friends than we do.  When a doggo doesn't come over to say hi, he looks at them like "hey!  how are ya!  come say hi!".  

We have been baking for our annual Greek Festival that our church holds every October.  Yes, already.  We sell a lot of baked goods ~ probably the biggest seller is baklava.  Which I hate making, it's just so fiddely and it seems like the phyllo dough is never quite fresh enough to be easy to work with.  The huge chest freezers we have are filling up.  We're also working on baklava cheesecake, another big seller.  It's only been three weeks, and we're already tired :-)  Luckily, our baking scheduler and manager is out of town so we'll get Tuesday off, and the week of the 4th of July off.  When I saw she had the 4th on the baking schedule, I texted her and said, no one will come on the 4th, what are you thinking?  Haha

My garden is doing well, and we've entered the daily watering stage.  I have lots of green tomatoes, and I can't wait until they ripen.  There are 6 bell pepper plants too, but no fruit on those yet, just blooms.  I had a visitor I noticed yesterday....

I noticed this catepillar on my dill plant and looked it up...it will be a black swallowtail butterfly someday.  I can't move it to my wysteria, because they like dill, parsley, etc.  I am just gonna let it go, and hope I get to see it emerge from it's chrysalis.  Although it will likely disappear and unexpectedly as it came.  

Well, it's time to clean the bathroom and then take a shower.  Y'all have a wonderful weekend!

Love, 365

Trials of life.......

 

A couple Romeo and I are friends with had plans to take a "round the world" cruise.  Then Covid came around and they weren't able to go for 2 1/2 years.....finally in mid-January, they were cleared to go.  Both really excited.  They have the finances to make it really special ~ a nice cabin with a deck.  

Two months into it, and the husband becomes sick ~ I'm still not sure if it was a urinary tract infection which spiraled into other things, or if it was a heart problem.  Next thing we hear, he's in the ICU in Dubai, where he stayed for nearly a week before being transferred out to a general floor.  In the meantime, Patti is going crazy, taking an uber back and forth to the hospital, worrying.  Of course, the cruise ship had to leave them behind.  Luckily, Patti is a very smart and resourceful person.  In order to get back home, they had to hire a traveling nurse (who knew there was such a thing?) who accompanied them on the flights home.  Patti said she was amazing, taking care of luggage and transfers, and of course, Matt.  My friend and I went to see tham a couple of weeks after they returned, and heard the whole crazy story.  Matt was lucky to be alive, and is now doing well, for an 87 year old.  Crazy stuff.  I think the moral of the story is don't wait to do those trips!  I think if Covid had not intervened the trip would have been without incident.  But who knows?  

About 6 weeks ago, one of our friends from our church was riding his bike, and said he was feeling odd, his legs felt weak.  He got off the bike and crumpled to the ground, unable to get up.  He had a rare spinal stroke that has left him paralyzed from the waist down.  One day, just doing his normal things, the next day unable to stand.  The doctors said he will likely never walk again, a devastating diagnosis.  He refuses to see anyone outside of family.  He did receive treatment relatively quickly.  He was one of our main chanters in the church.  Grew up attending, was baptized there and married there.  I think it's easy to say that his family is one of the cornerstones.  Now, he says he will not ever return, but I am hoping that it's just the anger and frustration that he is feeling.  Can you imagine being fine one day and paralyzed the next?  I can't.  I imagine I would feel angry too.  Hopefully he'll want to have visitors in the next few months, but I will respect his wishes if he continues to avoid non-family members.  So horribly sad, although he could have easily died.  I'm glad he is still with us ~ but I'm not sure at this point he feels the same.  

Love, 365

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 :-)

🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀

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