Category: Initial post

For the past few days, I have kept Liz from coming down to help me clean; she, and Gabi have a cough, and, I want them to rest, and not pass along their coughs to us.

That said, I have had to do all of the cleaning myself. That means, in case you could not figure that out for yourselves, I sweep, and mop as needed. Dusting, in my estimation, is not a necessary activity, especially while one is in quarantine. We have lived all of our adult lives, Ivan, and I, in the presence of dust; a bit more is not likely going to kill us.

You may be interested to know that, while I was unable to sleep the other night, I started on the repotting of most of the still-living plants, here in the apartment. Yes, we still have living plants. Do not be cruel.

Yesterday was the culmination of said repotting. I spent most of five hours, slowly repotting the small succulents that still needed permanent homes. I found the little pots with attached saucers that I had purchased months ago, as well as the smaller terracotta pots, and had at it. Here are the results.

Ivan happened to find an old friend, who is now keeping his flippers on their plastic container, sitting guard. I was going to say he was keeping his eyes on them, but he is looking up at the shelf above him. Silly frog.

Clockwise, from the back, tall spiky plant, which is a Zebra Haworthia, next is a String of Pearls; in front, is, what I believe to be a Greene’s Liveforever. Around the corner, is the Aeonium Haworthii “Kiwi”, (it came away from the parent plant, the one in the back bedroom, while repotting it,) and the back left, is some type of Kalanchoe.

In the photo below, are the recently repotted, 1) Aeonium Hawarthii “Kiwi”; 2) the Orbea Variegata; 3) Anacampseros Retusa; 4) Escheveria Ronyonii (Topsy turvy); 5) I believe this may be a Sedum Morganianum, or Donkey’s Tail. It is a sedum of some sort.

The other neat thing I did was to divide all of the Sansevieria offshoots from their parent plants, and repot them all. The three pots on the left are all of the offshoots.

In the above photo, the tallest plants, in the back pink pot, will be transplanted as soon as I can gather the energy to do so. Not right now.

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

Would it be alright with you folks if I got a few hours of sleep?

Tried to get some sleep last night, but, no! My back, and legs were having none of it. Let me show you how I spent the wee hours this morning.

After two RedBulls™, beginning at about eight thirty this morning, I was able to get some work done.

Let me say that the living room is becoming the living room we both envisioned, more, or less, when we bought this place, a year ago. It sure seems like two, but, not so.

I was sitting here, just a few minutes ago, listening to a gentle rain, outside the open living room window. This is the latest view I have from the dining table. Awesome.

I am going to go watch some more episodes of Supernatural, season thirteen, take a Benadryl, and hopefully, get some sleep.

Now, I am not sure how I am going to go about getting said sleep, unless I indulge in another Benadryl. Not set against it; it just has consequences days from now.

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

Post script: You may be interested to know that, at about twelve thirty this morning, I was able to do my ten minute Daily OM myofascial back stretches, took the Benadryl, and slept all night. The end.

What is a person supposed to do when sleep will not come?

Hang fresh herbs. That is what I did the other morning; early morning, around one thirty. Neither of us could sleep, so I decided to dry the fresh rosemary, and some cilantro we just bought at the store. Here is what it looked like when I finished. I just wonder how many will still be hanging up later this morning. (Follow up: all of them). 😉

It kind of takes the “edge” off all of the knives. Right? Makes them look a bit less lethal, I think.

We had stopped at Soriana, after our monthly visit to Costco the other day, and, there, on the fresh herb shelf was all of that amazing rosemary. Further down the shelf, the cilantro. Both looked so fresh, and smelled Heavenly, so I had to have some. Bought some basil, too, but it spoiled practically before we got it home.

On the same shelf, as the basil, cilantro, and rosemary, are about a dozen and a half of other types of herb bunches; camomile, parsley, thyme, no sage, alas. There are too many to name, mostly, because I cannot remember them all. And some are unfamiliar to me at present. I hope that will not be so much longer, going forward.

Anyway, the kitchen smells amazing, and now, looks a bit more homey. Drying herbs like this has been done for hundreds of years, and, I have read, concentrates the oils in the leaves. Cannot wait to need some of either. I had to hang them in the kitchen because the pantry area gets too humid from the dryer, and too dirty, and dusty from the open window. Yuck.

Going to try going back to bed. Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

I think I will make a loaf of focaccia bread, and top it with some of the rosemary, and sliced, purple onions. Yum. Watch for photos.

Wow. We worked so hard today, it is hard to believe.

We have changed another half dozen totes; large to small, and vice versa. The living room is looking pretty good; the West half anyway. 😉

Things have been moved hither, thither, and yon. Unfortunately, there is still too much hither, and not enough yon.

Yes, I know the peace lily is drooping, in the middle of the table; tomorrow, I hope, it is going to get divided, and transplanted. That should help things immensely. There are four flowers on it, tiny, but trying to bloom. Without the needed nutrients, from some added soil, they are only getting water. We shall see what happens after the above transformation.

The large plants have all been sent outside the apartment; just into the foyer on our floor, outside our front door. Hopefully they will all survive better outside, than they have done inside.

I can hear thunder in the distance, and it feels like it is cooling off. Must go close the windows in anticipation of more rain.

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

Repotting day is at hand. I have been putting it off for some time now. I can do that no longer.

The peace lily is requiring watering every other day, and has been for the past few weeks. That tells me it needs a slightly bigger home, and more soil nutrients. Ok. Message received.

Both of the flaming lilies need repotting, as well. When I water them, the water flows, either right through the pot, or over the edge, not into the pot.

Yesterday, or maybe it was the day before, (I am so busy I cannot remember what I do from one day from the next,) I made nine quarts of chicken bone broth. When we were in Perote last time, I bought two kilos of chicken feet, and put them in the freezer, just for this occasion.

Also in the freezer were several zippered bags of chicken parts, from previous meals, both cooked, and raw. I took all of that out of the freezer, and got busy. It takes about two full days to boil down all of those parts, plus reducing the liquid a bit for more concentrated flavor, but it so worth the time, and effort.

I do not salt my broth until I use it, making it amenable to however I choose to use it. If it is salted while you are making the broth, you have no way to change that when it comes time to use it. Nope. That is not for me.

I have a large caldron that I use, so, to begin with, it started out almost full of chicken parts, and water. As I was cleaning out the freezer at the same time, and vacuum sealing different things, like the asparagus we bought at Costco recently, I cut off the bottoms of the asparagus and threw them in the broth. Then I added some dried spices, (less is more here), a bit of peppercorns, some onion, and let that simmer for a total of about twelve, or so, hours.

After that, I scooped out the chicken, et. al., and proceeded to put the resulting broth in quart mason jars. After cooling on the counter for a time, they all went into the fridge. Since then, most of the broth has become gelatinous, as it is supposed to do, from the cartilage in the bones, and feet.

I also wanted to show you an interesting thing; natural baby food. In LA, when they start babies eating strained fruits, and vegetables, they take, say, a half an apple, and use a spoon to gently scrape out a bit of the fruit for baby to eat. No need for jarred baby food. Just take it from nature.

One last thing before I go; can anyone tell me what kind of mushroom this is? I saw it at the store the other day, and had to take a photo of it. The stuff in the upper part of the photo is the famous, (in Mexican cuisine, that is ), cuitlacoche, or corn fungus. I am assuming the mushroom is edible, or it would not be in the store. Just curious.

Speaking of cuitlacoche, you cannot find it the US fresh, because of the pesticides used on the growing corn. Here, however, if cooked correctly, it is quite a delicacy; not to everyone’s taste, however. I have eaten it, exactly twice, and found it distinctly different, each time. The first time I had it, it was amazing; the second time, not so much. It was worth trying, and I am sure I will try it again, in the future.

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

Consider one’s natural immunity to the ravaging virus before you get on a bandwagon, denying people their personal freedoms.

Not new, really, just revised.

You saw the photos the other day; the ones of the new shelving over the top of the new cabinet. Well, I spent several hours, the next day, and completely rearranged the entire pantry.

Liz helped me clean off the metal shelving we have had since we moved in. We put everything into three totes; one that had all of the things I use most frequently, and two that have things I do not use very often. Those last two will go to LA, to be kept in “storage”. A lot of good stuff, in those two totes. I do not want to give everything away. I want them to be available when we need them.

This is quite a bit smaller than the metal cart we were using, however, I think, this is one of the best pieces of furniture we have had made thus far. There are a few more pieces coming, so this is not the end of the remodel. We are probably looking at next summer before we finish. Who knows?

In the photo of the first open cabinets, I have about fifty pounds of different kinds of wheat. There are four five- pound bags of Einkorn wheat berries, four five-pound bags of Bob’s Red Mill All Purpose organic unbleached flour, eight kilos of bread flour, and three kilos of whole wheat flour.

Instead of them all being in boxes, on the floor, I decided to put them up in the cupboard; hopefully, all of the humidity from the dryer will not affect the flour, now that they are out of the boxes. They are sealed in plastic bags, however. All good.

Anyway, that whole rearrangement took about six hours, and I am pooped. Did laundry on the side, but still have about four loads to do tomorrow. Cannot wait.

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

Remember those new succulents we bought a few weeks ago? I want to show you some of them. They are amazing.

This Eschevería is called a Topsy Turvy, because its leaves appear upside down, while curling upwards. Amazing, is it not?

This one, one of my favorites, is called an Aeonium Kiwi, and requires almost no water, even in its growing season. I will really have to watch out with this one.

We have a couple of different varieties of this, but this one, in particular, is called Pale Stonecrop. This is a more mature plant, like the piece I reallocated from the neighbors storage unit last month. For fifty cents, you cannot beat it.

This one is sometimes called a starfish plant, starfish cactus, or carrion cactus, and has small star shaped flowers that send off some sort of smell to attract insects that will help pollinate it. I found it absolutely intriguing. Do you see the flower getting ready to bloom, on the left? I will show you what the flower may look like.

The flowers are not as attractive as the Flamingo lily, that is for sure, but they are only there to attract insects for pollination. Evidently, they are the perfect color, and design for them.

I will continue to record the progress of any plants that survive my machinations, as well as those that do not. For now, however, the stairs are calling me. I. Must. Go.

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

Luis, and Martín were here recently. Look what they brought us; a new set of shelves, and cabinet for storage in the pantry.

I have a place, now, for my kombucha, the kombucha bottles, and the jars from the pantry; no longer will they be on the kitchen countertop. And this is only day one! I guarantee it will change, greatly, over time. The beautiful wood, on top of the cabinet, is our huge cutting board. I asked Martín if he would use it to make it my work surface. He did. We love it.

Right now, I have so many ideas, chasing each other through my brain, about where I want to put this, or that. It will be difficult to sleep, again, tonight. Oh well. What is another night without sleep. Just another night.

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 son, Joshua, who turns forty three years old today. Wow. He is getting old.

Good stuff, Benadryl. Not just for allergies, but as a sleep aid when one has been too long without several continuous hours of sleep.

We got back from LA the other day, still without having had much sleep. I took seventy five milligrams of Benadryl, with eight hundred milligrams of Ibuprofen, and slept, finally, from eleven thirty Sunday night, until almost nine forty, Monday morning.

Of course, now, after waking, and arising, the Benadryl hangover begins. It will last for a few hours, but, after that, it will be gone.

With coffee made, cup in hand, sitting at the living room table, I have been typing posts, like no ones business. I have to check back, to the photos I have taken, and write about them. This post, however, does not require photos.

It is going to rain again, soon. Stay happy, stay healthy, stay safe. Wash your hands, cover your mouth, and protect your loved ones.

Post script: I am sad to tell you that Cindy S. died yesterday, and Arturo V., an old acquaintance, died a few days ago; both from CoVid 19 virus. Cindy ended up with MRSA in her lungs, and Arturo died alone, and was not found for several days. Condolences to both families.

We spent some time in LA this past week, and weekend. We had the opportunity to go to el campo.

El campo is the family farm; an area, up in the hills surrounding Los Alto. Most of the different “plots”, if you will, around Ramon’s land, all belong to different family members. They are not just immediate families, but radial families, as well. Uncles, aunts, cousins, granddads’ sisters family; you get the idea. Ramon knows them all, and can point them all out.

I am not going to crop any of these photos; I feel you may want to enjoy the heights, and the clouds, as we do. These photos were taken within the same minute; moving from the right side of the mountain, with Los Altos in the background, to the middle, then left side.

Most of the crops you see belong to Ramon, and his sons, but some, as I mentioned, belong to other, more distant relatives. And, yes. It rained most of the evening, after those dark grey, rain-filled clouds rolled in.

In the photos, though, there are two main crops growing; obviously corn, that you recognize, but the shorter crop is fava beans; here they are called habas, (the “h” is silent.)

In this area, the corn grows on a purple stalk, and is surrounded by a purple husk; though, only the outer most husk is purple. Yet, the corn, inside, is sparse, with large kernels that are almost white. It is not the soft, sweet corn that is grown in the Midwest; mmmm, peaches and cream. This is what we corn snobs call field corn; corn which is grown to maintain livestock. It has quite a tough skin on the kernels, and not much sweet, if any. It serves its purpose for humans as well.

Fava beans are roughly the same size, and look quite a bit like the dreaded, and much loathed lima bean, but, fortunately, fava beans have a much better flavor. They are also a tiny bit sweet, and juicy, not dry, like the dreaded, and much loathed lima bean.

The family goes out, usually way before Ivan and I get up, and harvests large bags full of said beans. Then, Maria, makes a soup, or stew, with the beans, and sometimes adds meat, but, not always. It is always delicious, however. Even Gabi, who, like most four year olds, is a picky eater, will eat his Abuelitas bean stews.

The campo, not really a farm, but not really a camp, is an amazing place, a bit higher up the hills than the town. LA has a population of about forty five hundred people, but everyone seems to know everyone else. Love it.

I could write all day about this place; it is a place we want to make for our “forever” home. We shall see. To be continued.

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

Update on our friend Cindy: she is still in a medically induced coma, but now has MRSA in her lungs. Not a very good prognosis.