Author: iagardener55

I cannot tell you how lightened my spirit has become since I started receiving my SS benefits again.

We have been using our credit cards to purchase quite a bit of the renovation, the upkeep on the vehicles, plus, buying the new appliances for this house, and Juan’s. Now, I have paid off the small cards that we use at the grocery/big box stores, (that way we do not have to exchange money to and from other peoples hands), and have put a rather significant dent into the two cards that have the appliances/reno on them.

Now, I am able to sleep, or not, but if I am not sleeping, it is no longer because I am worried about our debt load. As I see it, we will be, once again, debt free before Christmas this year.

There was a large gathering the other day, in the El Zocolo, the center of CDMX, (Ciudad de Mexico), sending the president of Mexico, Mr. Obradór, off to the Yucatán penninsula for a “vacation”. The cars, driving around the square, had horns blasting, people cheering, banners waving. When I asked our cousin what all of the fuss was about, he said they are hoping he stays there a long time- maybe not to return.

As you may have gathered, he is not well liked here. He made no recommendations about the CoVid19 virus for several months after the US started quarantine. We were allowed to go anywhere, and everywhere for months. Then, a photo was posted of him telling the people here that his religious tokens, called scapular, would protect him from the virus. Nonsense.

Who knows, maybe he has contracted the virus, and does not want anyone to know about it. I hope not, because that is something I do not wish upon anyone.

Stay happy, stay healthy, wash your hands.

But who cares, really? Every day is just like the last one. Except for one thing.

I have all the ingredients, at the same time for BLT’s. Yes, you read that correctly- bacon, lettuce, and slicing tomatoes, plus, a brand new jar of mayonnaise. Oh, and do not forget the bread. We bought a new kind of bread, for us anyway. It is a light, whole wheat that is so soft and tasty. The last bread we tried was whole wheat as well, but too sweet. Yuck.

Yes, I know this is crazy, but we rarely have slicing tomatoes, usually we only buy Roma’s because that is what I use to make sauces, and soups. But, we have found a six pack of slicing tomatoes at Costco, and, after about a week on the counter, they are ready to eat. And they are delicious.

Let me tell you about the lettuce, though, as it was quite the achievement for me. Several weeks ago, we bought a mega pack of Romaine lettuce, at Costco, of course, and it contained six heads of lettuce. We gave two to Enrique, and had the other four in the vegetable crisper drawer for weeks. I kept thinking that I needed to make a salad every day for lunch, but that fell through.

Two weekends ago, I was getting ready to throw out all four heads because they had wilted so badly, then decided to find out what would happen if I soaked them in the disinfectant we use on fresh produce. What was the worst that could happen? They were already ready for the bin.

So, I did just that. I put them in my small salad spinner, filled it with water, and added about a teaspoon of the disinfectant, and left them to sit for the required fifteen minutes. When I returned, they looked they were fresh from the garden. I could not believe it- it worked. I spent about an hour and a half doing all of the lettuce in the spinner, then setting them on kitchen towels to dry off. When they had all been soaked, I used the spinner to finish spinning them dry. Now to preserve what I had done.

Several weeks ago, I purchased a small truck load of the best food storage containers that I have ever used. They are the Rubbermaid Brilliance collection, and they are wonderful. Between those beauties, and the altitude here, I still have about two heads of lettuce that looks, and tastes, as fresh, maybe fresher, than when it is first purchased. The leaves are beautifully green, moist, crisp- nothing short of amazing.

We have had the same thing happen with four loaves of bread we bought way back in April, when we first returned home. It has been in the cupboard for about eight weeks, no joking We have some of one loaf still left, and it has no sign of mold, or drying out at all.

The altitude has to play a major part because I am still having some trouble with my fermentation’s. Nothing seems to want to ferment. Though, when I did a search yesterday about the relationship of altitude to fermentation, the article said that over six thousand feet, it will be likely to take two to three weeks to start a bread or kombucha fermentation. We are at seven thousand fifty feet, or there about, so I am going to keep that in mind while I double my efforts.

Stay happy, stay safe, and stay vigilant.

I was just commenting to Ivan that it was getting so dark, I wondered if it was going to rain. One thing lead to another, and, after opening up the weather app, I changed it from the standard view to the satellite view, and this is what I saw.

I did not realize just how big the park in front of the condo really is. When we walked around it, before the plague, twice around was a mile, or, one and one half kilometers. We have not walked for several weeks now, but you-know-who keeps telling me we will start again, soon. Not soon enough by my estimation.

We have walked, twice, over to Enriques condo to take him food, and that was wonderful. We have gained so much of the weight that we lost, it is depressing. Do not worry about us, though. Once the quarantine is lifted, life will get back to normal, and we will, once again, put on our sneakers, and, our sun visors, and start off, walking, first the inside trail, then the outside trail. I cannot wait. “Normal” life 2.0.

Stay happy, stay healthy, and stay vigilant. This virus is not done with us yet.

We awoke Saturday to find out that we lost a much loved member of our extended family. Dr. Arturo Lara passed away from complications of the CoVid19 virus. He was, as you may remember, one of our cousin Paty’s brothers. If you remember the Halloween photos, he was the one with the axe through his head, and was wearing a blood splattered apron. He is deeply missed.

On a different note, you may be interested to know that I have finally begun receiving my Social Security benefits again. I have been in communication with the US embassy here, well, with one woman in particular, since sometime this past September. It has taken them all of this time, after numerous emails back and forth, to finally get the ball rolling again. But, they did, and that is what matters.

It feels like this quarantine will be coming to an end in the near future. But, as my opening paragraph indicates, the pandemic is not done with us. So, please, keep up your guard, wash your hands, stay home, stay vigilant because the virus is still aggressive. It has not given up, so let us not give up. Not yet. We will get through this.

So, still nothing going on here. How exciting is that? And, as of a few moments ago, we did not have internet. I find that I have been able to survive without many of the luxuries, and indulgences we were used to, but to be without the internet, that is asking too much.

As I type this I am unsure if it is still functioning, or not. I hope it is. If not, I may have to go do some work. I know the stove works, and the fridge, so maybe I will make something for brunch. I am hungry. Plus, I need to re-feed my kombucha today, and that will take most of the day.

I hope all of you are safe, even if boredom is upon you, as it is with us. We may have to start watching GOT’s again.

Wash your hands, cover your mouth and nose, or just stay home. But, be safe, stay smart. Do not let this virus get the better of us.

Post script: one needs to pay ones internet bill in order for one to actually have internet. This is what happens when one is incarcerated for so long. Well, it is saving me from actually having to work anymore today. Win, win.

Happy forty fourth anniversary to my friend, my husband, my love.

Even HE thought he was going to marry someone else. Little did he know that, until he met me, his life was miserable, lackluster, and boring.

When it was time to go to our Junior year Homecoming dance, he had already asked another girl, “Candy” to go. But, as I was walking close to the center of the main hallway, called the “M”, he yelled across the hallway, “hey, Diana, do you want to go to the dance with me?” All the while he thought I would say no. To his surprise I said yes.

Wow. What was he going to do now? He had already asked the other girl, never believing for a moment I would accept. Hah! I got him!

We went to the dance, and, as they say, “the rest is history”.

That was a long time ago, in a land far, far away. But we have been working at this romance for all of these years, with lots of ups, and downs, good times and bad. But we have come through to this time in our lives where we are happy, content, but still able to explore, and share what we like, what we want, and what we can do to please each other.

It has always been, and will always be a give and take relationship. Compromise is the key. We do not take, take, take. No one is happy doing that. We give as well as take. Actually, we both give more than we take. It makes the taking that much sweeter.

Wash your hands, cover your mouths, stay happy, stay safe, stay healthy.

We got quite a little bit done today. Not the towel bars, or the knife racks, but I made my second two gallon jug of Kombucha, plus, we set up our printer/scanner. That was a lot more work then I anticipated, let me tell you.

Setting up the printer was easy peasy. The scanner, however, was not so easy. Well, not until my sister in law, you know her as Mayra, told me about the HP Smart app!!! It saved me tons of time setting up things. She was able to scan some important documents to my email, I printed them, filled in the information that was necessary, and, with her help with the app, I was able to, using my phone, scan them back to her email!!! The twenty first century is amazing, is it not??

We got out for a little while, and went to our favorite store, Costco. Stocked up on tequila, since the president keeps changing the laws regarding its sale, we decided to go big. The last ban has been in place since the beginning of May, and was supposed to go through mid-June. Today, however, we were able to stock up, so we did. Better safe, than sorry. Right? How can anyone go through this incarceration without alcohol. Do not know what that man was thinking.

Anyway, the towel bars will be tomorrow, supposedly. Plus, I have just received another shipment of bottles for my Kombucha, so that will be tomorrow, as well. We stopped and got some fresh fruit from the green grocer, and I will use that, pureed, to put in the bottles for the second fermentation. Yay!

Wash your hands, cover your mouths, stay home, stay safe.

We are actually contemplating putting up the two towel bars in the two main bathrooms, and the knife racks in the kitchen. Oh, and, there is setting up the copier, as well. I am not sure if we are going to attempt all of those things today, or pace ourselves. We have been so busy I have not had time to post anything.

Ha ha ha ha ha. That was funny. It is boring as Hell here, as I can only imagine it must be for some of you, as well. I have voted that we do one thing each day, spread things out a bit. We certainly do not want to do all of that in one day. What will we have to do the rest of the week? We cannot put anything else away until our cupboards, cabinets, and shelves arrive, and that will not be until the end of June, by the sound of it.

Two people contracted CoVid19 in the small plaza where we do some shopping, so we are unwilling to go there for awhile. An ambulance came by day before yesterday, taking someone in the condo next to us, to the hospital. We have no idea why, but it brings everything a little closer to home.

Speaking of home, one of Ivan’s siblings, back in Iowa, my favorite, has also contracted the virus, but, as of yesterday, she is three days post fever and chills, with no respiratory distress, at present. Hoping that she only gets better from here. Love you girlie girl.

So, you see folks, the virus is still going strong, therefore, we need to remain vigilant at all times. Though it is difficult for us to leave the condo, we do so only when absolutely necessary.

Recently, there has been a restriction put in place, that, due to our age, we cannot go into many of the stores down here except between the hours of 7am-9am, and only one family member at a time. Really? Who in the heck gets up at that time of day anymore? We certainly do not, that is a fact.

Well, wash your hands, stay home, learn how to cook something new, and different. Try baking your own bread. We are back to brewing kombucha, but our sourdough just does not do well at this altitude, for some reason. I have ordered a culture from here in Mexico City, and, hopefully, that will survive. I will let you know how that goes.

Best wishes to all of you. Stay safe, stay happy, stay healthy.

I am sorry that I have not been journaling out quarantine as I should have been. I have gotten bored, lazy, and drunk.

Today, however, I have gotten so much done, I cannot believe it myself.

Last week we bought a pork leg, about twenty kilos of meat, that I cooked in my usual fashion, in the Instant Pot, (onions and beer), but had not “put up” in the freezer, vacuum sealed.

Well, today, I put up six bags of pork, one of chicken broth, one of Mexican fried rice, two of frozen scallops, five milanesas, cooked, and three uncooked thin cut sirloins. (Needless to say, we need to start eating some of this stuff, because our freezer is full.)

Tonight, for dinner, we had steamed mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, and corn), raviolis, with cheese and spinach, plus, pan seared scallops. Mi amor said it was one of the best meals we have had in our quarantine experience! Yay!

Have I been watching Hell’s Kitchen? Hell yes!!! I am up to season twelve, episode five. I can cook better scallops than any of those contestants, and I have never cooked a scallop in my life. Are they to Chef Ramsay’s standards? I have no idea. Were they good? Heck yes, they were great. (I have more in the freezer, and Costco has more in their freezers).

We got some disturbing news yesterday: my sister in law, Mayra, my favorite, has contracted CoVid19. She tells me she has only fever, and teeth crunching chills. She has not seen her children, or grandchildren is several weeks, but, at this post, does not need a ventilator, or any other means of breathing apperatice. She has been such a help to us, down here, that we hope you will all say a prayer for her, and her family.

If any of you have someone that is CoVid19 positive, and want a prayer for them, please let me know, will you? As there are a few people that read this post, we will, indeed, pray for those who need it.

I would ask that you, also, keep my brother, Eric, in your prayers, as he is traveling to Abu Dhabi, with other Mayo Clinic professionals, to assist in the CoVid19 virus there. He will be there for six months, returning to his home in Arizona for one week, every three weeks. Gracias, mi hermano!

Now, back to Chef Ramsay, and those dumb season twelve contestants!!!

Is it just me or has every day become Saturday? No where to go, nothing to do. We cannot even go to Costco anymore without a mask, and only one family member at a time. So, we bought masks from the guy on the street, and went in separately. Clever, I know.

Most days, anymore, I do not even care if I get out of bed. Some days I do not get out of bed.

Does not help my sourdough starter, however. It relies on me to feed it, so, no wonder it is failing. But most days, I feel like I am failing as well.

Getting very tired of confinement. Hope this ends soon.