AROUND AND ABOUT FROM MONDAY, 11/18/24 to SUNDAY, 11/25/24

Hello dear family, dear friends, and dear blogging friends.  I hope you have all had a great time since my last post. As you have told me how you enjoy them, I am keeping these daily journals going, for the time being at least, even though they seem very dreary to me in parts. There are times I think reading this must feel something like watching paint dry, but I am an extremely detailed person and it all goes in here, so once again feel free to skip. 

Several of you have also heard about this knee problem I have and have asked for details, so I add  progress reports along the way. Not a lot of getting out and about lately because of it, and with the even more colder months heading our way, not a chance I will be going outside to dance on the ice. 

Thank you for the encouragement, and for all the lovely emails, advice and other comments you have offered. And it certainly is fun catching up with you.  

Monday - 11/18/24:

I stopped my pain medication three days ago, because of being warned by my doctor not to take them longer than two weeks. They are too strong. I have an extremely sore knee today. Very disappointed!  I had a bad headache all day, withdrawal maybe?  Knee pain is not as severe as before I got that injection so counting my blessings. Maybe a few more days before I get to Green Spring Gardens. I will continue with the strengthening exercises. 

Gregg went to CostCo. It wasn't a big shopping trip and I can only remember that he bought Popcorn. See note below.

One more delay on making our soup. We had an email from our local supermarket telling us of a serious issue with their carrots. There was a Listeria contamination. The number they gave was on our bag. This sounded very serious so they were tossed immediately. If we had returned them they would have refunded us, but they had already been thrown away when we found that out.  

Breakfast was at noon. I fixed myself a poached egg on top of mashed sweet potato on top of a Trader Joe’s scallion pancake, and 6 fl. ozs. of orange juice. (Gregg was gone for a couple of hours out and about.) My breakfast will end up in one of my Monday Morning Recipes sometime. Not much of a recipe, but I want to remember to put it in rotation. 

Dinner: Gregg fixed a chicken sandwich with lettuce, lacy Swiss cheese and a thin slice of a beefsteak tomato. It was very tasty.

Snacks: a bowl of organic popcorn from CostCo made with olive oil. Gregg read about it. Excellent snack and above all, healthier than the regular popcorn we have gotten in the past. I was never too fond of it before but I like this better than any we have ever tried. Being CostCo, the bag is huge. You could stick a pole in there and make a tent out of it.  But, we have a small dish if we feel peckish, and it is good to have around. It makes a nice change of pace from celery sticks, raw cauliflower or broccoli. We know someone who was able to lose a substantial amount of weight replacing regular snacks in part with this, so we are sold and will have them every now and again in between enjoying the veggies. Variety is the key for me.

Tuesday - 11/19/24: we go to McDonalds for lunch one day a week. Afterwards we stopped at the supermarket to pick up another bag of carrots. I stayed in the car and watched the world go by. People-watching can be fun. Not as much fun as watching squirrels. Yes, I am joking but no one was jumping over mounds of leaves in the parking lot because they would feel icky and sticky to the bottom of their shoes/paws/feet. Customers weren't chasing each other away from the food inside their shopping carts, or performing acrobatic jumps in the trees. So boring and triple smiles. The parking lot wasn't that busy and Gregg said the supermarket was quiet also. He wasn't gone for long. 

We spent part of the afternoon making a very comforting tortellini soup, which hopefully I shared yesterday if I was able to post it in time. A lot of prep work, more than the normal amount of ingredients to prepare. If I was doing this on my own in the old days, before Gregg retired, I would start early in the morning. These days we share the work and it went quickly. I sat at the kitchen table and chopped garlic, sliced carrots and diced zucchini. I didn’t have to cry dicing the onions or use a mallet to punch down on the knife I use for cutting through the cabbage, and he did all the standing at the stove, cooking and stirring the soup. Everything was ready by dinnertime. At six we were sitting down. I knew it was going to be a good soup, but this was above what we expected, very flavorful.

Christmas decorations have gone up at all the shopping areas. It seems to me they are earlier this year. I saw Christmas Wreaths outside the store as we drove by, plus other kinds of holiday decorations, and even saw Christmas trees for sale on our way home. 

In our neighborhood, inflated Tom Turkey was spotted in a few gardens. You can always tell where the kiddos live.

I also saw inflatable Santa Clauses and Christmas trees in other gardens and more. Even decorations in the neighborhood feel earlier this year.  

Wednesday - 11/20/24: Not much to write about today. I mentioned my sore knee previously but today it is okay. I have had two medications to take and I took the wrong one, the painkiller I was supposed to stop taking, except that it was still next to my other meds that I have been keeping close by and I got them confused. The pills I shouldn't be taking have been moved into the spare bathroom medicine cabinet. 

Breakfast: Weetabix with almond milk, a tablespoon each of dried chopped dates and pumpkin seeds, plus six almonds.

Lunch: Gregg fixed chicken sandwiches from our already cooked rotisserie chicken from the store. He is a great sandwich fixer.

Dinner: He is out with our son this evening and I heated up a bowl of the tortellini veggie soup we made yesterday. It is now my new favorite soup, rainy outside and comfort food inside, perfect.

I made a batch of cranberry sauce for a head start on Thanksgiving. The recipe has instructions on how to freeze.  A wonderfully simple recipe with no bells or whistles.  

Thursday - 11/21/24: I am hoping we are going for a walk around Green Spring Gardens today. I will take my cane so, fingers crossed.

8.29 p.m: I am happy to say we did get over to Green Spring earlier. I was so happy I was doing jumping jacks followed by cartwheels and yes, all in my head.  Everything is starting to go to sleep but there were still some flowers to take photos of and I made it as far as just beyond the moon gate. There will be photos soon.

It wasn't a long walk but it was wonderful to get out. Cold but not bitterly so. Enough to keep most people away though. There were two ladies getting their exercise as they fast walked around the green. There was also a lady my age walking with her daughter. At least I thought it was her daughter, but she could have been her nurse. The lady was like me, walking with a cane. She was much better at it than I was, moving along quite fast but more with a shuffling gait. My cane still feels awkward in my hand and not a shuffling gait but a heavy limp. Maybe there is a YouTube out there giving lessons. Of course, the best person to ask would be the physiotherapist when I go for my first appointment. Why am I so awkward with this thing? That would be my first question. As a child I was often teased, not in a mean way. My family nickname was Neesy, and still is with my family over the pond. My other two nicknames were "Born” and “Awkward" used together, relating in part to me being a bit stubborn, but also to my tripping over everything. Even as a child I was a wee bit klutzy. This lady at the garden was making use of all the benches as I did. Because of the chill in the air, those seats felt as though they were akin to ice cubes, especially the metal ones. I didn’t sit on them for long. Born Awkward decided she had had enough and off we went back to the car. The important thing is we got a little exercise, and it was a start.

Near the university we passed an electric scooter that had been left at the crosswalk. We see them everywhere now and you have probably got them in your area. They all have GPS and you can pick them up at their original station, and drop them anywhere, as in this case at the traffic light, next to the crosswalk. A business employee comes around in a van and picks them up. You use a credit card and slip that into the scooter slot to start, you are tracked and your card is charged. I wondered what their statistics are on theft? The wheels would automatically lock I imagine. No one can drive them anywhere until the process is started all over again. I suppose someone could pick this one up and go further with another credit card, unless its battery is too low. 

I find it extraordinary.  I still have one foot in the old world and perhaps a few toes in the new.  It’s this just being able to drop them anywhere that I find a bit mind boggling. Very convenient for those who need them for relatively short trips. Walking is great but if you are running late? I wonder what their range is before the battery runs out? A lot of people own electric bicycles nowadays and you can also rent them at stands like the scooters. I wouldn't mind one of those. Gregg looks at me and says no, I don't think so. Born Awkward asked why not? Of course, no way says I. He did mention that there are electric bicycles that look like tricycles, and that makes me smile, but with everything else going on I think Born Awkward may be having a daydream. 

I heard the forecast say that bad weather was moving into Virginia, with maybe snow! Not sure if we are on the edge but we have bags of snow melter for our driveway and path up to the front door, just in case. (Added note: Apart from rain we missed most this bad weather. I hope those of you who had it are okay, safe and warm.)

Friday, 11/22/24: I treated myself to two Christmas ornaments, and one of them arrived yesterday. The second one should arrive tomorrow. They will go on my wings themed tree, the same as last year. This will include angels, birds and woodland animals, the last not necessarily with birds or wings, but they are honorary wingers and are always welcome. I started this theme last year. I have a collection of different birds. I accumulated many over the years and thought I could put them all on one tree. Many were given, all have sentimental value, all loved and treasured. This one had a red heart, and it spoke to me as its description reminds us of loved ones.

I would like to get the tree decorated in our family room in time for Thanksgiving, only the one this year. It is smaller, narrower and fits against the window in the space between the kitchen and family room. With a lot of people it is tradition to get these trees up in time for Thanksgiving. I thought that is a lovely idea. It allows more time to enjoy. I will not decorate the front room tree this year. I am trying to manage expectations, energy, ability levels, and a flea in the ear by my dear other half. He nodded sagely when I agreed with him.

Breakfast: as yesterday, Weetabix with pumpkin seeds and chopped dates, warmed milk as I ran out of almond milk.  

Lunch?: I can't remember. I may have eaten breakfast late and didn’t feel like it.

Dinner: Gregg bought home rye bread earlier and he made a chicken sandwich with lettuce and lacy Swiss Cheese, and a small bowl of our tortellini soup. There is enough left for one more bowl. We have been told to cut down on anything white. He doesn’t enjoy wheat bread, and he looked up on Google what would be a good one for him. He was told sourdough or rye. We haven’t had rye in a very long time, but sourdough occasionally. He brought two half loaves home and put them in the freezer, leaving enough to make the sandwiches. He is also the Freezer King. 

So, do you eat bread and if so what do you like!  I am being a bit nosy I know, but always curious and looking for new ideas.

Saturday, 11/23/24: I was hoping to get out today but was feeling a bit off.  It certainly couldn’t have been the coffee and donut my dear other half brought home from the supermarket. Tomorrow it will be oatmeal but oh that donut was a delicious treat. Not complaining at all. (Tomorrow wasn't oatmeal as you will read in a little bit.)

So, breakfast taken care of then and eaten late.

Lunch was skipped.

Dinner: steak, rice and peas courtesy of Freezer King 🤴

We made stock today for gravy (Thanksgiving again). Trying to get a good head start. 

Early night needed and I am off upstairs at 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, 11/24/24: our son arrived early which is the highlight of our week, as you may know if you have been reading my around and about posts for a while. He carried the tree up from the basement storage room and he and his dad put it up. I am now decorating it in bits and dabs. Hopefully I will have it completed by next Thursday, when son and daughter-in-law come over. I promised other half I would go at a snail-pace, a few at a time. When I think back to when I was very young, my family didn't put anything up until Christmas Eve and always took it down on 12th Night. That hasn’t changed, I still put everything away on 12th night.

I have quite a few on there now, including the two new ones, an angel with a cardinal on her shoulder above, and the one holding a heart below the old one of the bear also with a cardinal. I have had a passion for collecting Christmas Ornaments the whole time I have been married, as did my mother before me, with me adding one or two a year. Then there are those precious gifts family and friends have given me. I love getting the older ones out of the box...

and I am happy with the two I added.

Breakfast: Coffee and Lemon-Poppyseed Muffin which son brought from our local coffee shop. It was delicious, thank you son!

Lunch: Chicken salad sandwich on Rye Bread, toasted. 

Dinner: We finished off the tortellini soup. It was excellent, but I am ready for a change now. I was going to freeze some, but the dear man said we wouldn't need to do that. He was right.

I put the stock made yesterday in 2 cup and 1 cup portions in the freezer. I only need 4 cups for the gravy on Thursday, and will keep the rest until we make something else that requires it.

It is 9.21 p.m. and I am going to finish off here as I am off to bed. 

See you next Tuesday with another Around and About, and…