• Miscellaneous Monday

    Lest you worry about my whereabouts, I decided to post something today. But what? How about some randomness? I noticed the sign above on one of my morning walks recently. In the unlikely event that you’re unfamiliar with the Monty Python skit, you can watch it here. This is my favorite tulip tree in our area. This house has a much bigger one in the front yard, with darker colored blossoms, but this one charms me. I love the way they keep it shaped. One of our local public art pieces, nicknamed ‘Fountain Head’ was taken away for restoration the other day. Not my picture, I saw it on our…

  • Salad with Avocado and Pickled Onions

    I was scrolling through Facebook the other day, and Smitten Kitchen posted a recipe for a salad that looked really good. I decided I wanted to give it a try, so I made it for dinner last night. I made a few changes. I used romaine hearts instead of iceberg, I used feta cheese instead of cotija, and I used more pickled onions because I love pickled onions. I served it with a roasted chicken for Ted and myself, and with fake chicken for Maya. Delicious. You can find the recipe and her beautiful photos, here. Smitten Kitchen’s Baby Wedge Salad with Avocados and Pickled Onions Pickle your onions: Combine…

  • Friday Five

    It’s been a busy week around here! Here are a few things that are going on. Look at this Big Dumb Cup. My friend Neva gave it to me for Galentine’s Day. It holds 32oz, so I will not be dehydrated. I like having it at my desk. One of my bloggy friends (I forget whom) recently read Land of Milk and Honey, by C Pam Zhang. Based on your recommendation, I listened to it this week while out taking walks, cooking dinner, that kind of thing. I liked it a lot. The writing was lyrical in many places, which is interesting in a dystopian novel. Here’s the blurb from…

  • Monday Morning Musings

    It’s 6am on Monday morning. Usually I write my posts the day before and schedule them, but today I am writing in real time. I don’t have anything earth shattering to share, but want to post something, since it’s been awhile. How are you this Monday morning? Have you ever gotten Wordle in one guess? Do you use the same starter word every day? Do you even play Wordle? Any home repairs that are just too much money to contemplate?

  • Blustery Weather – Crab, Grapefruit, and Avocado Salad

    California was recently walloped by some fierce weather, especially down south. Our neighborhood got some rain, and some gale force winds. The winds knocked down some trees in our neighborhood, which always makes me sad for a life cut short. In better news, the wind also knocked a bunch of grapefruit down from a tree on one of my morning walks, and I grabbed as many firm ones as I could carry (3). I still had some leftover crab in the fridge, but not enough to make crab cakes*, so I decided to make a first course for our dinner instead. The result was a delicious and refreshing dish, above,…

  • Miscellaneous Monday

    Today’s post is just a bit of randomness. Before we dive in, the picture above is from Tug Dogs, an amazing dog training company a couple of hours from here. I first heard about them from BARK, the Keeshond rescue that connected us with both of our darling dogs, Mulder (2015-2023) and Genevieve (1998-2012). One thing they do at Tug Dogs is to take in dogs that have behavior issues, diagnose the issues, and help the dogs to feel safe and secure, so they can help them to understand how to live happily in a confusing human run world. I follow them on Facebook, and the funny picture above was…

  • Lessons from January

    The photo above is just a house on one of my morning walks. I wanted to show you how pretty the citrus trees are this time of year. This yard has oranges, tangerines, and lemons. Lovely! I took on a few challenges in January, and lessons were learned. TL;DR – I crushed my goals and am continuing them into February. I participated in Dry Damp January, I did Adriene’s 30 Day Yoga Journey, and I did a 30 day Fitness Challenge, that I counted as Strength. Damp January reminded me that I sleep better without wine. I get into bad habits, like having a glass of wine while I cook…

  • My Planners

    There has been some talk around the blogs lately about planning. Some folks use bullet journals, some use homemade spreadsheets, some use Google docs, and some use paper calendars or white boards. Here’s my system. At my work desk, I have a pocket sized refillable Franklin Planner that I bought perhaps 25 years ago on sale. I like the monthly tab calendar. I used to go into a physical store to buy refills every year, but those days are long gone, and I order them online. I keep track of birthdays and appointments, that kind of thing. Sometimes I keep a ‘to do’ list on a little yellow pad, but…

  • Recent Reads

    It’s been almost 2 months since I posted about my Recent Reads, so it’s time to catch you up. My book consumption habits are mostly audio books, as the only time I really read a physical book lately seems to be at bedtime, whereas I listen to audio books while taking my morning walk or while cooking dinner. I sometimes even listen while running errands, which gives mixed results, as if I get distracted, I miss things and have to rewind a bit. Anyway, here are the books I’ve read or listened to in December and January. Format – 1 physical library book, 1 physical book that I got for…

  • (Almost) Wordless Wednesday

    After Engie commented on Monday that I said Garbanzo beans while she says Chickpeas, I looked around the grocery store. Guess what? They don’t know either. I didn’t see any packages for Chana, which is what Ted’s mom calls them, since that is what they are called in India, and what she was raised to call them. If I remember I will look at the Indian grocery on Friday, I’m almost out of my favorite tea. I grew up calling them Garbanzo beans, and as Kyria pointed out, that’s probably because I was raised in California where Spanish is a large influence. I call them both interchangeably in my day…

  • Dinners Last Week

    I have some catching up to do around here, mostly on books that I’ve been reading, which is why I am late to my Monday post, and why I haven’t been to many blogs to comment lately. Hoping to come around more this week and catch up at your place. In the meantime, if you’re looking for meal inspiration, here is what we had for dinner last week, and some thoughts on what we will have this week. Monday – Black Bean Chili – This is an old favorite around here, I’ve been making it for decades, since I received the Greens cookbook back in the early 90s. It’s tasty,…

  • Facebook Friday

    One thing I enjoy about Facebook is the Memories feature, where you can see what you posted in a prior year on this date. I thought it might be fun to share a few with you. Sometimes I post something thoughtful, like a timely quote. Usually it’s more about what I’m doing in my life. Like whether I’m having a decent hair day or not. For those of you not on Facebook, it displays your profile picture and your name, and then your text, so I was doing a third person thing here. Why? Who knows. Clearly this is a different day. Sometimes, it’s a meme. There were plenty of…