Author: iagardener55

For the first time in several months, (as you will know if you are “following the dream” with us,) I have had two, maybe three, nights of only slightly interrupted sleep. Yay.

Normally, we go to bed about eleven o’clock, and are up, again, about eleven thirty. We watch some computer stuff, then, back to bed, around twelve; up, again, about one am. Then, back to bed about three, sleeping, maybe, until five thirty. Up, again, then down about six. Some deep sleep after six, and, finally, up for the day around seven thirty, or eight. Ivan is usually up more often than I am, but sleeps later in the morning.

In the past few days, I have gone to bed at about the same time, getting up only once, about eleven thirty to watch a show, or two, on the computer, then back to bed about twelve thirty, sleeping until about three, not getting up, except to go to the bathroom, then, back to bed until seven thirty, at which time I have been getting up for the day.

My most productive time is in the morning, while everything is still a bit dark, but, more importantly, quiet. I really enjoy, sitting at the table, (read, the “office” 😉 having a nice big, hot cup of fresh coffee, listening to the different parts of the building, and our fellow inmates, arising to a new day.

I give a good look-over to all of the plants in the living room, and, adjust things accordingly; water this one, leave the rest alone. This morning I came out to see the heliotrope leaning over, hoping to be noticed. The water meter showed it was on the dry side, so, it got a drink. I will see if it helps.

We must be in one of the rainy seasons here, these past few days, as there has not been much sunshine. Fortunately for the plants, I have two new grow lights coming in the mail today. Thank you Amazon. Now, if I can find a couple of working outlets, things should improve.

That is one thing of which one can never have enough; outlets. We have counted, and, decided that we need about twice the number of outlets currently in the apartment. Not really sure how that will come about, as the walls are concrete, but, as I am not the contractor, it is not my job to figure it out. My job it to explain the need to him, and provide the necessary funding, and he can do the magic. Job done.

I am going to stop now, as I am trying to listen to a book on Audible.com, while writing this post, and, am having very little success with either. I cannot think, and type intelligibly at the same time. (Wow, that was an understatement, if ever I read one. Hahaha)

I am listening, currently, to the fourth book in the Cormoran Strike detective series, by Robert Galbraith, (a.k.a. J.K. Rowling; that is correct, the creator of Harry Potter,). If you think the HP series is creative genius, read the CS series. She goes from amazing Sy-Fy fantasy, to murder, without skipping a beat. It will keep you on your toes. Guaranteed.

Please, in the meantime, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones, will you? Thanks.

Post script: those with Amazon Prime Video, and/or, an HBO subscription, can watch the first two books as a TV series, starting with the Cuckoo’s Calling, then Lethal White. Amazing.

What did you find, you ask? The name of the flower that I bought called a Mona Lisa!

I searched the internet, for about thirty minutes, this morning, before finally giving up, and going to bed. But, when I got up, just now, boom. It hit me. Read on.

I have been up since about six thirty, after having, finally, fallen asleep, this morning, around two. I could not find the name of the very pretty plant that was delivered yesterday, called Mona Lisa. All I could find, under that search, was an obviously, very old, but weirdly familiar looking painting. Argh!

After a few hours of fitful rest, I got up, and searched for Monalisa, in Spanish. Here it is. Eschinanto. (Sleep is so highly overrated.)

Absolutely beautiful, is it not? Unfortunately, it is not identifiable in the plant care app I have, Plantin. I have sent them a request for it to be added, so I will see if that happens anytime soon. For now, however, I will have to get my care instructions from the internet, then, somehow, remember to follow them. What could possibly go wrong with that idea?!!

There are a few others I need to look up, but that I will do later today. Actually, I will probably wait until the sleepless wee hours of the morning, giving me something to do, since sleeping is out of the equation.

Now, if I can just find out what the common name for the Millonaria is. The best I can tell, it is a Swedish ivy. It does not look like an ivy to me. The leaves are growing directly out of the prior stem.

Until that time, please, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Post script: a very happy birthday to our wonderful b-i-l, Brian. Many more. Hope you are happy, healthy and safe, all the white enjoying a well deserved retirement.

I got another batch of plants today. So many of the herbs I bought earlier, drowned. I simply do not understand how that happens.

I am going to start hiding my beautiful watering cans; out of sight, out of my hands. Even the aloe vera drowned. Who else drowns their plants? Probably no one but me. If I was not in the apartment all of the time, maybe that would help. But I am, and there is no getting around that; not for the foreseeable future, that is.

Here are a few photos of our ever enlarging jungle.

This little beauty is called a Darling Orchid, of the common genus, Phalaenopsis, and is only about eight inches from flower to the pot bottom. I figured, it I kill it, it is so small I may not grieve too much.

I am trying to get the most use out of this one window box. Most of the plants, in the middle, are herbs; basil, sage, oregano, thyme, rosemary, lavender, parsley, a few scrawny chives, and some epazote. I was able to use some fresh thyme, and rosemary the other day, in a dish, and some rosemary tonight, when I basted the fish with butter, and rosemary. It was delicious.

We also got a new Areca palm, (five bucks folks), as the other one is, what? You got it; drowning. I bought twenty four plants total, for around ninety dollars. Five dollars for a palm tree! You cannot beat that with a stick.

Other than the pink orchid, the pink flowers, at either end, are Cyclamen; they are so pretty. I have never had the opportunity to grow those, so we shall see if I can grow them here.

The small orange flower, top photo, middle, front row, is a Calendula; it has medicinal properties, none of which I can remember at present. I have to tell you, though, that I tried growing this from seed from when we bought our first house, in Moline, IL, in nineteen hundred and eighty two. Nothing. They never grew.

The bright red plant in the middle, is known as an Anthurium; here it is called Anthurio. It is commonly called a Flamingo flower, because of the bright red flower disc’s. I am not going to explain it all here because A) I am too tired, and B) I really do not understand all of the terminology; (most especially at one o’clock in the morning.)

We wanted some flowering elements, so the aforementioned are the flowers I bought. Oh, I forgot, the Heliotrope; last photo, fourth plant from the right; three snake plants then the Heliotrope. It is tall with purple flowers; also medicinal.

Last, but not least, in the first photo, just to the right of the tall ZZ plant, is, what here is called a Mona Lisa. What its true name is, I cannot say. When I look it up, it says it is a lipstick plant. Not so, I say. The leaves look similar to a violet, and the flower is tiny, and looks like an orchid. Who knows? I certainly do not.

The Anthurium was the second most expensive plant, coming in at sixteen dollars, but the new Rubber tree plant won first prize, at twenty dollars. Each of the herbs were one dollar each. What is not to like?!

Until next time, please, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Well, sort of.

I have been blessed to have my health, and my sourdough starter, both, back in full swing. When I took ill, so did the starter. I am happy to say that we are both recovered, in good spirits, and doing well.

I have been busy, lately, cleaning the apartment, doing laundry, making more Kombucha, and, baking bread; forgetting to mention dehydrating some veg, and, my favorite thing of all time, dusting. Ugh!

Living with the windows open, twenty four-seven, comes with a price; bi, or, sometimes tri-weekly vacuuming, and, (shudder) dusting. I have no problem whatsoever with the former, but loathe the latter. When we get the totes up to the rooftop storage, and have acquired more horizontal, open space, I am going to have Liz help me with the cleaning. She offered, I graciously accepted; pleaded, truth be told.

We will be good company for each other, as she is a joy to be around. Plus, I will be able to pass along some of my knowledge, such as the different types of food preservation; dehydrating, fermentation, etc., baking. Also, while she helps me learn more Spanish, I can help both her, and Gaby, learn some English. Win-win, to my way of thinking.

I do, at times, forget that I am quickly approaching sixty six, and, cannot do all of the things I used to do. I have lost a lot of my strength, what with my recent retirement, and, then, this forced semi-incarceration. Nor do I have the stamina I once had. I have become more sedate; it does not look good on me.

I enjoy, however, the ability to choose how busy I am; the ability to decide that I will do this thing today, or, maybe, wait to do it until tomorrow. I am no longer forced to cram everything I want to do in the few hours I have between coming home from work, and going to bed, at nine o’clock. Now, I am as busy as I want to be, when I want to be. It is liberating.

In signing off for today, know that the plants are surviving, the fermentation’s are well, and fermenting, and we are healthy, and happy. We hope you are, as well.

Please, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Post script: here is a look at another batch of sourdough bread, using about ten percent sprouted Einkorn berries. It smells devine.

We have been introduced to the delightful fruit called lychee. It is used quite a bit in Oriental cuisines, and I have wanted to try it, but had no idea how, or where to find it. Or, if we would even like it if we did find it.

We found it, well we did not find it; it is sold on most street corners in Peróte, the “big city” outside of Los Altos. It is a smallish, round, reddish, fruit with a bumpy, spiked surface. Peeled, it resembles a large, peeled, white grape. There, the comparison ends, however.

Actually, it is delicately sweet, with a central seed that reminds me of a shiny, black olive pit. Thankfully, we were able to bring a kilo home with us, as they are difficult to stop eating once you start.

I will have to do some research to see if they can be frozen, to be used when my Oriental cooking is up, and running. Hope so.

Please, in the meantime, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

We have returned from spending another glorious weekend in Los Altos, with our newly acquired family; the Garcia’s, et al.

There is nothing quite like the peace, and quiet of the small town, puebla, that is Los Altos. There are less than five thousand inhabitants, however, you would never know there were that many people living there. As I already said, it is quiet; and, unlike here, there are no dogs barking incessantly.

The air is fresh, and cold at night, but fresh and cool during the day. We require a thermal shirt over a tee shirt during the day, so the thermal can be removed on the chance of it getting too warm. But at night, even in the house, a thermal, plus a vest, or jacket, or sweater is necessary.

There is no central anything in the house; nothing but love. It makes for the absolute best nights sleeping ever. The first night anyway. The second night is usually a toss up. But the first night, Friday night, we both slept at least seven hours; I think Ivan slept for nine. Talk about recharged! It was marvelous.

And no one cares that we were not up in time for breakfast. When we got up, Maria, Jesús’ mom, always has hot water ready for a cup of coffee for us. That, and a bag of pastries. Remember, here, the pastries are not cloyingly sweet. They have just enough sugar to be enticing, making you want to finish the piece; about two hundred and seventy degrees different than the pastries up North. That is another one of the myriad things I love about being here.

We are back now, and, I am happy to report, the plants have all survived. In fact, I do believe they have thrived without this worry wart always hovering. Lesson learned. Plus, do not forget that I have, and am following the new app I got, Plantin. It is just what I needed. One of these days I will upload some photos of the beauties.

Not today, however. Today is Monday, and I have scads of laundry to do. Please stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones. I am off to enjoy the delights of washing day. Adios.

Being ill has absolutely nothing to recommend it. There is so much to be done, once you feel better, that it is not worth the time, or effort, to be ill. I do not want to do that again.

We went out today, paid our utilities, went to Costco, then, in the same parking garage, to Soriana. It was mostly a vegetable run, as we were completely out of all edible produce. It is hard to put together a meal without vegetables. I wanted to go to the Mercado closest to us but I am still a bit leery about the crowd there.

A big concern for me is usually prepping the veg for storage, so that, when it comes time to use them, they are not all moldy, or wilted. From the course I am taking, about cooking what you have to hand, Mike Greenfield, the instructor, (you can find him at ProHomeCooks on YouTube, or, on Instagram at LifebyMikeG), showed us how to prep the veg to keep things fresh for the next week, sometimes two.

So that is what I did when we got home from the store. We ate lunch first, because we were starving, but after that I got to work on all of the produce. Here, you have to disinfect all of the produce before using it so everything has to soak in a disinfectant for fifteen minutes, then you are free to do with it what you will. For all of us, it is a timely process but a necessary one. There are dire consequences if one does not follow these dictates; hand to God.

I was going to explain all of the different things I had to do with each of the veg but, really, no one cares about how long that took me, except me. Let me just say, we bought four small heads of Romaine lettuce, and one head of green leaf; they were soaked, spun, dried, and placed in air tight containers. Next, came the large bunch of cilantro; the dead, or dying stems culled, then, soaked, spun, dried, wrapped in paper toweling, and placed in Ziplock bags. The large container of baby spinach, I simply transferred half to an air tight container, to be used as is; it said on the container that it did not require washing. The other half is to be shared.

The carrot preparation was, however, a revelation, to me anyway. Carrots, here, spoil about four minutes after they enter the apartment. If I put them in the veg drawer, by the third day they are shriveled, and unrecognizable. What is up with that? Anyway, I was taught to peel them, and cut them in quarters lengthwise, and place them in a Mason jar with our filtered water. Duh! Why I could not think of that myself, who knows?!

The eggplants, sweet potatoes, red and green bell peppers, avocados, and cherry tomatoes did not require anything on my part, so they were put, loving, in their respective places; the first four in the veg drawer of the fridge, and the last two, in the veg stand, on the counter. Do you remember the veg stand? I actually saw it, before I bought it a couple of years ago, on the show Elementary, starring Jonny Lee Miller, and, Lucy Liu. It is a really fun take on Sherlock Holmes, and Dr. Joan Watson. Hah!

The garlic heads we have had for a couple of weeks still feel solid, so, for now, I am going to put them in an air tight container, and, those that do not get used in the upcoming weeks, I will dehydrate when they start to dry out. Then, when needed, I will grind them into garlic powder; nothing wasted, right? You can do the same thing with onions; dehydrate them, and grind them into powder. I almost forgot dried chilies; make your own chili powder. Yay.

For the first time, ever, I bought celery sticks, precut, and in small plastic bags. I just do not use enough of it, or often enough to waste an entire bunch. It makes me think of the blurb I saw on FB some time ago; someone lamenting that they almost got out of the grocery store without buying the bag of Spring Blend lettuce that they normally throw away in two weeks, unopened, and spoiled. Unfortunately, that was me, before this class. I hope I will be able to use the beautiful produce we purchased before any of it spoils. Not “I hope”, but “I will.”

Listen to this. (You will not be able to hear it but maybe you can read it instead.) I am thinking about a menu for the next two weeks. I want to make Cream of Poblano soup; Ratatouille; some kind of fresh homemade pasta with sauce; Tortilla Española; tilapia with roasted veg; and a pork Ramen, with fresh veg, and medium cooked egg. I made two and a half quarts of pork bone broth the other day when I had a bit of energy.

For now, though, I am going to go watch another episode of Elementary; again. I have watched the entire seven seasons three, maybe four times. All of the times I “watched” it in Iowa, however, I was also knitting, and not paying much attention. Now, I can pay attention.

Please, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

I have no idea where it goes, it just leaves me.

Sleep, without alcohol, is fairly difficult to come by these nights. I am sleepy, so, I lie down, pretending I am going to fall asleep. Then, boom; my legs start jumping, and I am awake. Then, not much later, I have made enough commotion that Ivan wakes up.

Yoga. I think I have to give it a try. I have heard good things about how it will stretch the muscles in my back, and strengthen my core. It has to be better than standing at the kitchen counter, at one o’clock in the morning, typing a blog post, hoping I will be overcome with fatigue.

One can look at only so many recipes on Pinterest at this time of night. I keep telling my brain to shut off, but it refuses to listen. Ugh!

I am going to go back to bed, and see if, this time, I can fall asleep. Who knows, maybe I will be asleep by the time you read this. Please, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Today, I feel almost as right as rain. What I mean is, I am as good as I am going to be, I suppose. This lack of energy is more annoying than anything else.

Did I have CoVid19? As I have always said, “don’t know, don’t care.” It makes no difference to me/us, if I did, or did not. We did not go out of the apartment, once we came home from Los Altos, and did not come in contact with anyone while I was “contagious”. I feel confident that it was my newly acquired Spring “something”. Allergies? Who knows. Go to the doctor? Pashaw, I say. I am a nurse; we do not go to the doctor before being on deaths door. I still had a bit of distance before coming to that door.

Things need doing, however, so I do them. A Red Bull™ helps, for sure, but this lack of sleep is for the proverbial birds. I cannot seem to get into a “deep” REM sleep until almost dawn, and then, only for about two hours. If I take a Benadryl at night, to help me sleep, I have, what Ivan and I call a Benadryl hangover; it makes me sleepy most of the next morning.

The fever, chills, coughing, headache, and diarrhea are all a bad memory now. I am up, and on to other things. Seize the day – Carpe Diem, and all of that. So, I am.

There is a starter to feed; done. There are plants to tend to; done. There is coffee to be drank; doing. Oh, I also have pig head parts, (gross), on a simmer, in my Instant Pot. I am making a pork stock, to be frozen for upcoming Ramen dishes. I have never made a pork stock before, but I cannot tell you how glad I am that it is in the IP. It stinks!

I am almost through watching a course, online, on how to cook with the items you have on hand; either in your pantry, cupboards, fridge, or freezer. I have always wanted to cook like that, but had no idea how to adapt different foods to make different flavor combinations.

To some people, this comes easily; not to me. If I have a recipe to follow, I follow it; to the letter. If I do not have an ingredient I, 1) go to the store to get it, 2) omit it as if is was not really necessary, or, 3) not make the food altogether. Options two, and three, are the norm for me; I have never even considered substitution. What, and how, would I substitute something for, say, a carrot?

Since taking this course, I feel quite empowered to do the very thing. The other day, as an example, I was making Cream of Poblano soup, but did not have any carrots. The day before, however, I had taken the shriveling red, and yellow bell peppers, and two spoiling tomatoes from the bin in the fridge, along with a centuries old onion, in the vegetable caddy, on the counter, cut them all up, and roasted them; just like I was shown in the course. (Of course I cut off the bad spots, and threw those parts away.)

Normally, I would have chucked them all in the compost bucket, and felt shamed. Now, I have two containers in the fridge with beautifully roasted vegetables, ready at a moments notice, to be used in whatever dish I feel requires their addition.

So, when I did not have the required carrot, for the soup, I used about a half cup of the roasted vegetables; the soup was delicious. Substitutions, for me, are now a complete game changer. This may not be a big deal for you, but for me, mind blowing, life changing; Carpe Diem!

Now, if only I could sleep.

Please, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Post script: Happy birthday to my b-i-l, Moises, and my deceased grandfather, Henry W. Anderson, (Pop).

You may be interested to know that ninety five percent of the plants we have are still thriving. Yes, I have managed to “over love” a few, but, for the most part, they survive.

I found an app called Plantin, that helps me with the watering schedule. Finally, something that I can input all of the plants we have, and it notifies me when they need to be watered. I do believe this will help me learn their schedules on my own; maybe; after loads of time. Hopefully.

Thus far, it has kept me from doing my usual “you look like you need just a little water; it won’t hurt you” routine. I have so many plants now that I cannot remember which ones want water, and which ones do not. The app was about ten bucks for a year; well, heck, that has already paid for itself in the plants it has saved from my well-intentioned clutches.

Another thing I discovered was that the sun has changed its trajectory quite a bit since March, when I first began obtaining the “jungle”. The windows I thought would give them the most sun, have become only bright indirect sun light. That is fine; coming through the window covering seems to give the light a little boost without the heat. Though, it is only May, and the heat is coming, it is not too hot at present.

The other thing I learned was, in the evening, when the sun lowers significantly, I can turn on the lights at the West end of the living room, and, in the spare bedroom, (someday to become our office), and the plants respond as if it was a weaker version of the sun. How neat is that?!

Many of the plants I bought said they were capable of growing in “low light”, however, they do not thrive in the lower light. They are, now, growing nicely with the additional light in the evenings. Yay.

It seems like things will get better over time. We will be patient, and see. The plants, now, that do not make it, will probably not be replaced. I need to learn, for now, how to take care of what we already have, and be grateful for them.

I am.

Please, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.