Walking, bee spotting, roses and Cluny Brown

Today's unassisted walk got me closer to the pond, the current stretch goal.  And a long nap when I got home, so I'm still working on stamina. I'm starting Week Five, and all's well.

A new item in This Adaptive Life -- sweeping. I've been able to sweep floors, but not to pick up the debris on a shovel,  too far to stoop yet. 

Today I figured out how to use the ever vital grabber stick to hold the shovel still, then transport the contents to the garbage. Since I sweep the kitchen floor daily, don't like bits of food underfoot, this is a nice advance. 

Soon I won't need to be so careful with hip restrictions, by which time I'll be really expert at an obsolete skill.

This afternoon on the deck brought aerial combat among crows, three of them, probably two males, fighting it out over a female who probably wishes they'd get it over with.

And the first bee of the year, a  shiny-butt carpenter, too big to fit into the trumpet -shaped sage blossoms, but he spent a while working them over anyway.

He's near the rim of the pot.

I notice no insects are interested in the roses

Empty calories. What variety are they? Birds plant them all over. This one's not unwelcome, but it's not earning its keep in pollination.

Yesterday I made some sort of nicoise-like egg salad. It involved capers, bit of vegan mayo, olives, red raw onions, scallions smoked paprika, black pepper. 

I'm not vegan, but I sometimes use recipes that are. This one I basically invented. With toasted red lentil crackers, it was good. 

Then today I added in to the leftovers those black beans you're tired of hearing about,  with tomato paste, and declared it salsa. No picture, you can guess how it looked. 

Gary came flying in this morning to give me an update on the, great, graduation party of his granddaughter, and to give me this party favor, popcorn.

Note the Legally Blonde reference! Joy, we have another wonderful Black woman lawyer starting her career in criminal defense. 

Happy day everyone, I'm into Cluny Brown again, light and funny, just right for where I am.

I hope you have your match in reading. Also everything else.

Billie has yet to meet her match.

Meanwhile prayers and good thoughts for dear Joe. He never let us down. Stand by him now. And Jill.

Naan, flowers and a visiting bee

I'm running out of bread because I forgot to order it, so I made a batch of naan, using my all purpose dough. I've used this for pizza, pasties, flatbread, you can do all kinds of things with it.

Yogurt, flour, baking soda, salt, makes this dough, which you knead a bit in the bowl to bind it, then rest for half an hour.

Then cut into six pieces with the bench scraper which is the best kitchen tool I ever came across 

If you want round bread, you form the pieces into balls before rolling out,  but I wasn't fussy 

Then heat the cast iron skillet till a drop of water sizzles right off it, swipe just a drop of oil over the surface with a paper towel 

And start cooking. When you see bubbles rising, you turn it over and cook on. You see the output on the plate and the last one still cooking.

Today's lunch was the rest of a tomato, cheddar, miso tofu, egg bake, with a green salad, no dressing, sometimes I just like the greens flavors 

And a naan bread. This can be torn to help catch all the baked flavor, and it's flexible enough for a wrap. So I have five more naan to get me past my bread desert.

What I like here,as much as flavor, is the varied textures. Soft bread, crisp greens, the baked dish, all different and interesting.  Colors too.

During Handsome Partner's last years, he permanently lost taste and smell, sad rare prescription interaction. This meant I cooked with color and texture in mind instead, to keep up his appetite.

He was also paralyzed from C3, the upper spine, down, so he had limited use of his hands and couldn't use more than one table implement at a time. So I also learned to cook food that could be eaten with a fork and fingers. This meal would have fitted the bill. He'd have enjoyed this. I'd have torn the bread into manageable pieces. 

When I made soup, I'd bring it to the table and drop hot croutons into it, so they sizzled, which always triggered appetite. So I guess sound enters in, too.

Today's wild patio area 

See the tiny bee? Near the bottom.

Coleus sharing space with a weed which I like enough to leave alone, daisies coming out 

newcomers, different every day. It's attracting bees, butterflies and moths, as well as the resident praying mantises. Or mantes, maybe.

I really like this kind of untamed looking garden area, much more than formal pots of polite flowers.

Happy day everyone,  life's a banquet!