Author: iagardener55

I cut my hair. It feels great. Anyone that knows me, knows that there is absolutely nothing I can do with my hair. It is too …… thin, too sparse, too thin. Now, no more hair, floating around the house, the kitchen, the car, even; getting into things it should not be getting into. Yay for me.

Well, here I am, shorn to my desired length, almost. It is about a centimeter long; not quite. Longer than I will have in the future, once it “thickens up”. It has to thicken. If not, I just might shave my head, like Ivan.

We are spending this Easter weekend with Jesús, Lizbeth, Gaby, and “the family”, in Los Altos. It was amusing, the looks I received, when we got here. Not only did I not have any hair, but I actually had on makeup. This haircut really works best, for me, when I wear makeup.

Of course, no different than any of the other times we have come here, I have packed, for the most part, all the wrong clothes. As I am always so warm in the “city”, here, it is about twenty degrees colder; I do not care which system you use.

We got here about eight thirty, Holy Thursday, and had a few hours of talk, drink, coffee, etc.. When we went to bed, finally, about one thirty in the morning, neither of us could sleep! First, it is about forty degrees Fahrenheit, with no heat. (You change, from warm clothes, into freezing cold pj’s, just once, and you will see what I mean). The bed was equally cold, however, Lizbeth always makes sure we have plenty of blankets with which to cover ourselves. God love her! Second, it is so quiet, that takes some getting used to.

Here we are, though, Good Friday; relaxing after a wonderful breakfast of scrambled eggs in a red sauce; a fava bean croquette in a spicy mole sauce, if you will; black beans, and, best of all, coffee. Hot, unending coffee. Warmed the chilled bones, I am here to witness.

I must tell you, also, that it is so nice, talking with everyone, getting up in the morning, drinking a cuppa coffee, eating whatever is being served for breakfast, without being nauseous, or, having hands that shake, being thick headed, from too much tequila the lifetime before. Take it from me; do not try this at home. I have, so you do not have to.

I almost forgot; one of the ewes had a baby sheep, though, I am fairly sure a baby sheep is a lamb. Research ensues.

Research concluded: Results are thus- a female sheep, called a ewe, has a baby which is called a lamb. Goats, on the other hand, have kids. Moving on. As soon as I am able to upload a photo of her, I will. She is just as cute as can be. She will not be dinner this year.

As we wait to see what is for dinner, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

I am cutting my hair today; a buzz, to a half inch, actually. I cannot wait.

I just washed my “long” hair, for the last time. I just pulled out the last of my “long” hair. No matter how thin my severely short hair will be, now, it can only get fuller, over time. I cannot wait.

I am tired, my spirit is tired, of pulling out so much of my hair, just by the brushing of it. If I am not balded by pulling it all out, then, cutting it short should be a boon; allowing it to grow out, and become fuller.

Ivan, and, I have discussed it, and he is in full agreement with me. He has seen, first hand, how pathetically thin it is becoming. My hair is so thin that pulling it all out with a brush seems to be counterproductive. So, off it comes. I cannot wait.

For me, with the thinness, even with any kind of length, all it will do is go into a ponytail, then a bun. Wow. It does not get more exciting than that.

This will also give me impetus to get outside, and exercise. I will not have to worry about having to do something with my hair, before, and, after, going out. I cannot wait.

The blasted shears are charging, and, I cannot stop going to them, to see if they are ready. It feels like it is taking forever! Kind of “the watched pot never boils” way of thinking.

In the meanwhile, I have cleaned all my “hair things”, and will give them to Lizbeth, as she has long, beautiful, black, thick hair. She will keep what she wants to use, and give the rest to her family of female cousins, and, in laws.

I am finishing my breakfast, though it is close to noon, and then I will …… do something. What? I cannot say, just yet.

While I think of something to do, (the Lord knows I have plenty from which to choose), stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones. Please.

I started riding my bike today; finally. I rode it over to our cousin’s house, delivering a half loaf, each, of the last two loaves of bread I made.

I am so glad I did not have to watch myself ride away; it had to be comical. It felt comical; like I had not ridden a bike in years. Oh, that is right; I have not ridden a bike for almost three years. It was perfectly obvious to whomever had been watching.

I decided, when I got home, that I will try to ride at least thirty minutes every day; earlier in the day, though. By one in the afternoon, it is getting up in the upper seventies. That does not interest me.

I discovered how to pick up the bike, carrying it down the steps without falling down them. It is smaller than most, as it is foldable, and does not weigh all that much either. When I pick it up, I have to grab it at the base of the frame, in front of the pedals, resting the horn of the seat on my right shoulder. After that, it is balanced well enough that I can move around, using only one hand to carry it. Good to know. Right?

Tomorrow, I am scheduled to repot some of the bigger plants. I bought a few larger pots on line, and want to get these plants into some good looking homes as soon as possible. I have a bit of trepidation, but, as they say, in for a penny, in for a pound.

So far, they are all surviving, in spite of me. I did quite a bit of research before buying them, then, again, after they had been delivered. Now, I feel it is best just keeping an eye on them. I can tell when they need watering, when the leaves need to be wiped off, and when they need more, or less,, light. “I don’t need no stinking research!”

In this apartment, we have plenty of light; hence the jungle. I felt that, since we are not to go outside all that much, I would bring the outside inside. That is just what I have done. Now if we could just get rid of all of the totes, we would have a real living room.

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

I slept so very little last night, that I laid down for a “nap” this afternoon.

I do not know why I bother; I never actually sleep. My mother used to say, when she would tell me it was time for a nap, and I did not want to nap, that if I would lay down, it was only to rest my eyes, not sleep. Back then, I was asleep in minutes; now, I just rest my eyes. Bummer.

Today, however, while I was laying there, I noticed the very slightest of breezes coming in through the window. I could just feel it, lightly, caressing my skin while I was trying to relax.

It was wonderful, however. To have the time to lay back, relax, and enjoy some peace and quiet is something I have longed for; and now, I have it. Yay for me.

In the last few days, I have baked several loaves of bread, and made a dozen bottles of Kombucha. I made two loaves of artisanal style bread, one loaf of sandwich bread, and one loaf of banana bread.

The Kombucha was made using three different fruits, but all have ginger and turmeric. There are four bottles each of pineapple, blue berries, and blackberries. I am so thirsty for some right now, but have none, I want to shout. Not very good timing on my part, I can tell you. I will have to figure out a better schedule so I do not run out again.

Now that the really warm weather is coming upon us, I think that if I make a new batch every two weeks, that should be about right for supply and demand. After they are bottled, remember, they need to sit out on the counter for at least a week, to develop the carbonation. Once they are in the fridge, the carbonation slows down to a fizzle. Timing is everything.

But you know what happens now; we wait. And, while we wait, what do we do? We stay happy, we stay healthy, and, we stay safe. We remember to wash our hands, cover our mouth, and protect our loved ones, the best way we can.

We are getting our Mercedes inspected this morning, two months late.

How fun, though, to drive through the city at nine thirty in the morning, seeing people opening their small kiosks, getting ready for the day’s sales. We both think it looks like a border town, this area. It reminds us of walking around the streets of Nuevo Laredo.

We drive to the East side of town only for our car inspections. It is not the best part of town, but it is nothing dangerous, that I can see. Simply, there is nothing there we need.

Of course, we do not have everything they want to complete the inspection; that simply does not happen. We have another fine to pay; for whatever reason is beyond us. Nevertheless, to the bank we go.

Evidently the inspection is every six months, even under quarantine. Who knew? We can look it up on the government’s website, but it is very difficult to navigate. Not just because of the Spanish, but all of the departments are there, and what they do, etc., except the one that tells us how much we owe.

Once we found that department, and downloaded the information about the vehicle, it gave us a link to print out the form to pay at the bank. After that, we go back to the inspection place, and see what happens.

I have to wait outside the inspection center, on the sidewalk, as they only allow one person inside per vehicle. I am afraid that, standing out here, alone, being as lovely, and voluptuous as I am, someone might steal me for the sex trade. Hahaha. 😂😂😂 Sorry. I could not help myself. (It was funny.)

CoVid. I am sick of your constraints.

While we wait to see what happens next, stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Post script: I am done five point two kilos. Finally. And, have not been sold into the sex trade.

Have you ever cooked with a Middle Eastern spice called Turmeric? It is used, not only to flavor a dish, but to change the color to yellow, or orange, depending on the amount used. Here is it called cúrcuma, (COOR coo ma).

This is what Turmeric looks like before it is dried, and ground into the powdered form most often used in cooking. I know, they look like cocoons, but, really, they are small knobs of the spice.

The white mesh that you see is a reusable produce bag that we use to put our produce in at the store. We try not to get many plastic bags, if we can help it. We have about a dozen, or more, of the mesh bags. They come in different sizes; small to large.

I wash them, then cut them up to be put in the Kombucha. They give the drink flavor, color, and nutrition. I use them with fresh ginger, and pineapple; they combine to make the most carbonated drink yet. It foams like a beer, poorly poured. (It has been so long since I typed the word “poured”, I had to look it up 😉

Here are a few herbs, you may, or may not know by sight. Let us see how many you can identify. The answers will be at the end of the post. So, the next time you use the dried form of any of these herbs, you can see what they looked like in their natural form. (I cannot make the answers go upside down, but that would be fun.)

Since it will take a few minutes to upload the photos of some different herbs, I want to show you a photo of the hearse, in the form of a converted Mustang. Shield the photo, from the swath of the funeral logo, and you will see that it truly was a Mustang. I chuckle every time we drive by it. (I just realized that I have been typing the word ‘past’, when it should have been ‘passed’. What a dufous.) Anyway, here is the hearse.

I am done waiting for the photos to upload, and you are too, I suspect. So, continue to stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Answers to which herbs are which? L-R. Basil, Oregano, and Thyme. Bay laurel, Chives, and Thyme.

Everything is in bloom, and it is gorgeous. Let me show you, if I can.

There is another tree, one that I thought was the Poinsettia, but, in reality, is a Bottle Brush. They are blooming as well. I do not have a photo of them yet, maybe another time. They have long leafless branches with a red flower on the very end. Each looks like a “bottle brush”.

Caution! Subject change!

I have been in such excruciating pain, about a twelve on a scale of one to ten; especially at night, for the last three weeks, that has awakened me every night, leaving me unable to go back to sleep for hours. Do you remember that area of hardness I developed, by the ring finger of my left hand, that I thought was arthritis? It is almost completely gone. Right at the moment it is about a three, or four.

I have no idea why; the only thing I can attribute it to is that I am no longer drinking hard alcohol, though I do have an occasional glass of white wine, or a beer. I am also drinking at least one, if not two, sixteen ounce bottles of Kombucha everyday. I think the probiotics, and general goodness of the Kombucha may be healing whatever that was that was causing so much pain.

While I was waiting outside, on the sidewalk of the Inspection center, I just happened to grab hold of a metal post with my left hand, and noticed that I had very like pain; some discomfort, but nothing like even yesterday. Yay!

I am keeping tabs on what is happening to it, and will keep you folks apprised, rest assured. However, in doing so, you need to stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones, alright? Perfect.

This afternoon, eight small Sansevierias were delivered; I am so excited. I have been wanting these for years, and now, we have them. Both of the two other bedrooms have a “chemical” smell from whatever Martín coated the wood that he used.

Here are the newest plant addition; my favorites, anyway.

Of all of the plants we have purchased that are hard working, the Sansevierias are one of the hardest workers of all. They filter the air of Formaldehyde, Xylene, Benzene, and Trichloroethylene. Am just wondering who really wants to breath those things in the first place? As an added bonus, they give off oxygen at night, replacing the toxins with fresher air.

Normally, I would open the windows to the bedrooms, fully, but that lets in so much black dust it is hard to keep up keeping it vacuumed, and dusted. And, you know how much I hate dusting!

As of this post, I have placed one small plant in each of the two unused bedrooms, and will put two in our bedroom. We gave one to Jesús and Liz, for their living space, and one will go to Enrique, for his apartment. That leaves two; one for each bathroom, I think. They should survive in the darkness without any trouble. Time will tell.

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

I started my day doing pest extermination. Here!!! Where there are no pests. Or, so I thought.

First, there was this tiny, little, green, inch worm on the underside of one of the sage leaves, having eaten it, almost, completely. It met with an untimely, but, immediate “pool” date. None to soon, I can say!

Then, there was this! Powdery mildew; all over the sage leaves.

It was not there yesterday; fortunately, it has not touched any of the other plants. I decided, immediately upon seeing it, that if I have to remove all of the sage, I will.

Until such time, however, I have found a DIY solution that will, hopefully, rid the sage of the mildew. It is made by simply using one teaspoon of baking soda, a few drops of Dawn dish soap, in a quart of water, and is to be sprayed on the affected plant.

I will also try not to overwater the plants, as I have a habit of doing. I have made out a “watering schedule” but have failed to even look at it, as I am sure all of the plants are in need of watering; daily.

Tomorrow, the rest of the plants should be arriving; eight small Sansevierias. I am waiting, quite impatiently. They are a type of plant that many people have in their homes; just not ours.

Well, that is not entirely true; we have that very large one in the corner of the living room, which is, probably, several years old. I mean the cute, smaller ones; ones that sit on the bedside table, or on the chest of drawers, or on the shelf, in ones office.

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

The most recent batch of Kombucha was incredible. This batch had just the ginger, (gengibre, pronounced, hen HE bray), and turmeric, (cúrcuma, pronounced, COOR coo ma). And it tastes wonderful.

As much as one can get in the glass, that is. Most of it was expressed from the bottle as carbonation. Well done, I say, well done.

The combination of the ginger, and turmeric was just right. I have found several different flavor combinations on a website I frequent, ProHomeCooks, by Mike Greenfield. He has Master Classes on his website dealing with anything sourdough, as well as kombucha. I cannot begin to tell you how much I have learned from him.

That said, I wanted to show you a photo of the inside of the Mandarin cake, after one slices into it. Let me see if I can get the blasted thing to upload. Here goes nothing.

You may be interested to know, the inches, (here, centimeters), seem to be leaving me with regularity. This “baby” does not have much “back” anymore. Too bad for me. Hahaha. So much easier to eat correctly when one is not trying to recover from drink of the night(s) before. I think I will even be able to start wearing my own clothes in the very near future, if not now.

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