I have found an amazing hack that has changed my plants, and my plant care routine forever.
What is it, you ask? Diluted coffee. Every other week, water your plants with diluted coffee, and see what happens.
Our poinsettias are still beautiful and red; the Wandering Jew has two new shoots, and the Peperomia has a new petal.
The smaller poinsettia. We have had these since the beginning of December. This is the bigger of the two but has a tendency towards a white powdery fungus. This Wandering Jew has two new shoots. This Peperomia has a new little leaf, to the left.
I forgot one; our new Kaffir lime tree. We just got it, a few days ago. When you see the photo, understand, I have not had the time to clean off the water spots from the leaves. I will get around to it, eventually.
This is our new Kaffir lime tree. It has just arrived. You can see the tiny little limes. We will be using these leaves to explore foods from other countries.
Soon, we will be exploring foods from other places, all around the world; America, Asia, India, Italy, and here, in Mexico.
I have purchased a three ring binder, folders, etcétera, and have started putting together recipes from each of the aforementioned parts of the world into the binder.
We have also sourced most of the ingredients needed, for the Asian and Mexican recipes, that is. Hence the kaffir lime tree.
We cannot wait to get going on this new adventure so, while we wait to begin, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.
Before I start my ramblings, I want to express our condolences to our best friend, Enrique, who has lost another brother. His brother, Armando, died recently of the CoVid 19 virus, and was only seventy years old.
I, one the other hand, it may interest you to know, am slowly getting a bit of my spark back.
Recently, I was pleasantly surprised to know that the sourdough starter I worked so hard to get healthy, is still alive, and producing bubbles like crazy. I mention this only because, in the last few weeks, while I was in my funk, I left it in the fridge, for three months, unfed, and, uncared for. I feared I would be unable to fix it, revive it.
I took the jar out of the fridge, mixed in the two centimeters of grey liquid floating on top of the starter, took out one hundred grams, put that in a new, clean jar, and fed it the same weight of water and flour. After a few hours, I put it back in the fridge.
This morning, the starter is happily forming bubbles, smells very happy, and will become a loaf, or two, of bread this weekend.
Similarly, we have two containers of kombucha brewing on the counter; both are happy and healthy. Five gallons of fermented probiotics, a drink that tastes differently with each batch.
The towels are to keep out the tiny little fruit flies.
The first nine bottles of this last batch, all of them, were flat, no carbonation whatsoever! So, last night, I opened bottle number ten, about ten feet from my glass, and proceeded to spray my lovely kombucha all over the kitchen!
It was everywhere– on the counters, on the walls, on the stove, even on the open swinging door to the kitchen. It took about half an hour to find, and clean it all up. Plus, I only got to drink what was left; half a glass.
On the up side, I have just made the best batch of egg bites to date. I ate them, for the first time, when I was in New Orleans, attending a conference for Operating Room nurses. There were two bites per portion, and cost five dollars a pop. They are available at Starbucks to this day.
As I am not interested in finding a Starbucks here, nor do I want to spend five dollars for two bites, I searched the internet for a few recipes and tried them.
These are the silicone molds I use, though others have used four ounce Mason jars in a water bath, in the oven.
These are so soft, and smooth, and made with two different cheeses, plus cottage cheese; so, actually that makes three cheeses.
They are made in my favorite appliance, the Instant Pot, and take less than thirty minutes, start to finish. The recipe is called Best Damn Instant Pot Egg Bites by Recipe Teacher. It calls for gouda cheese and heavy cream, neither of which I have on hand, so I improvised. Try them. Amazing.
That is it for today. I will try to find little things to tell you here on in. While we wait for that, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.
Today, I made a huge pot of goulash. My version, of course. It was pretty good, considering I have never tasted anyone else’s version of it.
I wished I had some celery, (apio), but I did not. It was okay, as I made it, a bit boring, but, while YKW, (you know who), was napping, I added a bit of fish sauce, and it became amazing!!!!
There is, however, about six liters of goulash to contain, which I need to disperse. I followed the recipe, closely, so I am going to hope that those, to whom we disperse said goulash, will enjoy it.
I must tell you, however, that this fish sauce, is a very underutilized condiment. It adds a touch of the newest flavor, umami, into a dish. You need to taste it in a small amount of whatever you are making before you add it to the entire dish. It is, actually, the essence of sardines. Who would have thought?
He has not tried it yet, so, please, do not email him that I have done this. I will let you know how it was received.
Until then, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and, protect your loved ones.
My husband trimmed my horribly nasty, full of split ends being pulled out of my head every time I combed it, my hair!!!!! He did a superior job of it too, I am happy to say. Unfortunately, I did not take a photo of the mess it was, however, it was at least two to three inches below my shoulders, and, it was a mess.
I lost an absurd amount of hair every time I brushed my hair, thinning my already too thin hair so, as I said to our cousin Marco last week, I look like a homeless woman, living on the streets.
I have not had my hair trimmed in close to a year now, with the current living situation as it is, high alert, salons closed. Well, I do not need one now, or for the foreseeable future. You decide.
That simple, loving gesture has made such an impact on my self esteem, I do not have the words to express it. Gracias, mi amor.
Anyone that really knows me, knows that I have struggled, all of my life actually, with low self worth. I will say that it has been my constant nemesis since I was in grade school. Were there, are there, times when that slips into the background of my thoughts? Absolutely. Thank you Lord.
With the quarantine, we have only gone to the store, delivered groceries where needed, and back to our luxury jail cells. Fortunately, we are free to move about the entire jail, and have privileges not known to many of the incarcerated; not those incarcerated down here, that is.
We have seen the US has a new President, President Joe Biden. This is not a political site, so I will not discuss my feelings on this platform. He is the new President of the United States, and that alone, demands our respect. Like him, or not, he is the leader of that free, and wonderful country.
All I am going to say on the subject is this- watch your civil liberties, people. Already, you have no freedom to express your political views on your SMS sites. Newsmen, real newsmen, are being cancelled, on the internet, because they have differing views about the things that are happening. Be prepared to have even more of your rights subjected to the ideas of his new government.
Let us put that on hold, while we wait to see what happens to your paychecks, those of you actually getting paychecks, in the next few months. While we wait, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.
Most importantly, however, happy something birthday to my youngest sister, Nancy. I will forever think of her as my “little” sister, as long as I am able to remember her. We love you dearly.
I have not posted anything for awhile because we are incarcerated here, in the condo. There does not seem to be any means of escaped, either.
We are going back to Los Altos this weekend to pick up Liz and Gaby, and bring them home. We will only be spending Saturday night, returning Sunday afternoon. That will be a short burst of Heaven, but I will take whatever I can get.
We are going to go through a house for sale while we are there. Hopefully something will come of that; who knows?
While we are waiting to go, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.
We have been to Veracruz now, a few times, and are looking at purchasing a second home in Los Altos.
We have not had the opportunity to go through it yet, but will, when we return at the end of this month.
It appears to have several bedrooms, is quite large for the village, and has been on the market for about three years now. With the smallness of the village, and the country in the grips of the quarantine for this past year, few in the village have the money to buy a home.
We will wait as patiently as possible to see what is behind the facade. Until then, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.
Wow. What a horrible weekend I just survived. I will say, simply, RESPECTO DE AFECTO!!!
Let me explain, if you will. We no longer drink alcohol during the week, and have not for the past several weeks. This past Friday night, we decided to try a bit of our favorite brandy, from Spain, called Terry. Ivan mixes it with a bit of carbonated water, here, the brand name is called Topo Chico, a little Coca Cola, and ice.
This brandy is smooth, but mostly, it is a bit sweet. (Much to my chagrin)!!! Little did I realize that, after a few hours, we had finished the bottle, and went to bed.
About seven twenty, Saturday morning, came the first of a thirteen hour fight to get to the bathroom in time for the rudeness that was to follow.
Never, in all of my sixty five and one half years, have I ever been that violently ill, for so many hours; relentlessly.
There was no respite, save for the hour between bouts of vomiting and diarrhea. As I was never sure when the next episode was coming, poor Diana got no sleep, and was so sore from vomiting I could hardly breathe. I wore my abdominal binder for two days, ate Ibuprofen like candy, but to no avail.
And now, we cannot find anymore Ibuprofen, because of the virus, so I have no idea what I am going to do.
As always, I will continue to survive, as I do, and should be back to my “norm” in the next few days.
Please, if you have an ounce of brains, learn from my mistake. Respect the affect.
Until then, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.
Another plus that has come with staying in the home of friends, most new, two- less new, is that one’s command of a different language increases exponentially.
When one is completely immersed in the experience, it becomes less scary and more loving. The family here, still in Los Altos, is multi generational, with Jesús’ parents being the patriarchal members.
Sr. Raymund y Sra. Maria
Unfortunately, this photo only shows about one third of the family members here for this celebration. I can, with some accuracy, pick out the siblings of Jesús, and, with marginally less accuracy, the spouses of the siblings. Their children, however, are completely undoable. (Not sure if that is a real word, but it is in this post).
Along with these sixty or seventy family members, comes the task of feeding and housing all of them. Here is a photo of the stacks of corn tortillas Maria, mother of Jesús, has bought twice already, in three days.
Each of the two bags on the left, were the same size as the one in the middle this morning.
All of these were made fresh today, and sold about one and one half blocks from the house. The cost for all three bags was about five dollars and forty cents, or twelve pesos per kilo.
I will try to write more often now that we into a new year. While we wait for that to actually happen, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.
Finally, it is here; the start of a new year. And here, in Los Altos, it is about forty degrees. I am finally cold.
This old man was burned in effigy last night as it represented the last of 2020. The shirt was filled with small fire crackers. It made quite the noise and flash. Happy New Year everyone.
Here is the final product of last night’s effigy.
Nothing left of last year’s affects. On to the New Year.
We are all still in our pjs, doing absolutely nothing but napping. Bedtime was two thirty this morning. Ugh.
During this new year, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.
We had a wonderful Christmas Eve, with the family of our friends Jesús, Lizbeht, their son Gaby, and Liz’s mother, Alicia. In fact, Ivan just told me “this is what Christmas feels like. This is where they needed to be”. I agree wholeheartedly!
They are going to stay here until we go back to Los Altos, on the thirtieth. We will be staying in a hotel in a city close to LA, called Perote.
We, more Ivan than me, have been “cleaning” for the past two days. OMG! I am almost paralyzed! The condo requires vacuuming every other day, as well as mopping the white tile floor. Have I done this, every other day? Peshaw! Anyone that knows me knows how much I enjoy (not) cleaning.
THIS PLACE IS IMMACULATE! This is our Christmas gift for them, the four of them. Take a look:
A few days ago, this room was filled with all kinds of stuff. Now, it is being used as it should be used- a spare bedroom. They are so happy to be sleeping in a space that has wiggle room; all except Gaby. Gaby is used to a smaller space, and is unfamiliar, here, with this amount of space. He has plenty of room to roam when they are in Los Altos, but not here.
Fast forward: today is New Years Eve, and, once again, we are in Los Altos, celebrating the end of a very difficult year, ushering in, what we all hope becomes a year better than the former.
Happy birthday to my BIL Larry. And a Happy New Year to all of you. While we wait to bring in the year with celebration, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and, protect your loved ones.
This old man is going to be burned in effigy later as it represents the last of 2020. The shirt is filled with small fire crackers. It should make quite the noise and flash. Happy New Year everyone.
