Do you, like me,
have a Sunday ritual
prepping for
the work week?
and
- The Smoothie
A full Ninja pitcher supplies me with
5 days worth of daily 8oz shotsCONTENTS: 2 c. blueberries, 2 Grapefruits, 1 sm ziploc bag of my own frozen sliced peaches, unsweetened applesauce, unsweetened organic 100% cranberry juice, apple cider vinegar, matcha, whey protein, flax seed, honey.
- The Buttermilk Biscuits
After kneading, the dough is carefully cut with my trusty circle cutter before baking in order to produce exactly 11 -- for my 2 daily, eaten during my morning commute. And, if you were paying attention, you know there was one set aside - it goes to Arne.
Two tossed into toaster oven each morning. I slowly savor their buttery and floury texture along with the preserves I spread on their warm tops while I am listening to my podcast on my journey into work.
- The Meal Prep
I prepare a casserole, big batch of spaghetti, salmon portions, tunafish or, in winter, my various Instapot soups. Whichever it is, trust me, it includes Kale. Always, always, the Kale must be involved! Arne and I have a ritual saying in the kitchen. You've heard of "Release the Kraken!" He loves it when big daddy roars, "Release the Kale!"
Sigh, guess you have to be there.
The Meal Prep this Sunday:
Vegetable Soup containing
chickpeas, cauliflower, zucchini squash,
and, you guessed it, loads of kale.
Each daily serving gets sprinkled
with feta crumbles.
When microwaved at the office,
it melts nicely into the broth. - The Tea
Large pitcher preparation of loose black and [Gunpowder] Green tea leaves, that will resupply my thermos for the next five mornings. I drink this energizing and organic simplicity all afternoon.
It was still pretty chilly and wet in the morning so I intentionally took my time preparing. This entails pulling the flatbed trailer out of my pasture and ensuring it's ready to get on the road. I found one of the tail lamps had a loose connection so I worked on resolving that issue with some trusty electrical tape. Then found the tires low in pressure. The cold temps were a contributing factor, but still way under recommended PSI. So I pulled out my electric air pump and took care of that and the mower's tires as well. I grabbed the edger and blower and gas cans and threw those on the trailer before grabbing my final items from the house - couple of granola bars, my green tea, face mask and safety goggles - and I blasted off.
Later in the evening, Arne and I put up our small Christmas tree on the credenza.
See pic on our Holidays 2025 photo page.
(see my "Fall Recipes" here)
___________________
Sat. - Sun., November 22-23
yes indeed,
the slow evolution of the holiday lights
began this weekend.
After Mom passed away in 2023, the past two years I set up an 8 ft. Christmas Tree on my front patio done solely in red, Mom's favorite color, in memory of her. Passerbys sent me very nice compliments on the red tree that could be seen a mile away!
Not doing it this year. This year my nod to Mom will be represented by a large red-lit bow set before a trio of planters, each with a cedar bedecked in green lights.
I also started, not finished, my white fairy lights in the tree canopy over my back patio.
[See 2025 Holiday Lights, Decor, &
Gatherings as they evolve]
While visiting with them Margaret shared her Catholic tradition of St. Joseph with me as she knew I was trying to sell my place. It was very kind of her. I especially like the prayer card that was included with my little Joseph statue.
I did ask her if it would be okay that I did not bury this "head of the royal household," aka father of Jesus Christ, in my front yard (for fear of being struck down by lightning) and, instead, kept him inside near my front door? She said she thought that would be fine and equally effective in securing my sale.
Later, out at the church cemetery, Jan and I fulfilled our mission to bring a little Buddha to our old friend, St. Dan.
Sunday evening, I browsed the web looking for a holiday side dish that I might bring to the family Christmas next month. I ran to the grocery store to get all the ingredients and threw it together.
It passed the test, definitely going to bring this great Holiday Slaw! You should give it a try, I've posted it at Terry's Recipes.
_______________________
Thursday, November 20
an unhappy Arne.
We co-exist in a home the size of a studio apartment. As if the bathroom wasn't small enough, I have Arne's kennel in this space. He knows this is his place when Daddy is entertaining a guest (or guests) and obediently walks into it. I toss him a treat and shut the gate.
Apparently, Daddy exceeded his allotted time for personal gratification with others and should have returned his attentions to Arne much sooner.
So miffed was he at me that when it finally was our bedtime, there were no snuggles or cuddles. Arne hopped onto the bed and headed straight for the foot of the bed, heaving a big "Do Not Disturb Me" sigh.
I know when I've been thrown shade, and so
I thought best to let sleeping dogs lie.
_________________________
Thursday, November 13
A few nights ago I'd pulled a classic from one of my shelves, Robert Louis Stevenson's "Kidnapped," and last night had only a few pages to go before dozing off. Arne and I wrapped it up this morning and both of us really enjoyed this riveting tale of David Balfour.
After our breakfast, we headed outside to load the birdfeeder and tend to Walter and Ralph. While cleaning out their water vessels, a large lizard shot out from beneath one and gave Arne quite a fright. He then made a feeble attempt at pursuit, but to no avail.
Once back home I got busy on my patios. I found that a couple of my succulents had new blooms, including this one shown in the pic with cute little yellow flowers. The weather was picture perfect today so I blew the leaves, watered my plants, did some re-potting, and rearranged the inside of my garden shed. Arne laid out on the driveway in the "dead bug position" while enjoying the warm sun and pleasant breeze blowing across his belly.
Thrilled about the update my friend Shed posted on LinkedIn. His immunotherapy with Keytruda has been very effective. Continuing to keep him in my prayers. As well as my friend Jan who I visited with this evening. She and I found a little Buddha that we're going to set out on our old friend Dan Martinets' grave.
_______________________
Sunday, November 9
Rose early and did some stretching and lifting exercises with Arne. We then enjoyed several of our buttermilk biscuits made yesterday, before heading out to feed Walter and Ralph.
Arne caught 10 out of 12 throws of his favorite stick >>>>
I was sad that my friend Jan could not accompany me as usual to services at SGUUF. She has returned home from a brief hospital stay, but is continuing to recover.
San Gabriel Unitarian Universalist Fellowship had a good crowd this morning and Pulpiteer Eric Hepburn gave us plenty of food for thought on insights he had gathered at the recent Peace Summit at Southwestern University. I especially enjoyed hearing again the great Victor Frankl quote, "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose…” I also have been reflecting a lot on another kernel he dropped in the course of his morning message regarding “how to listen without an agenda.”
After the service, I went to HEB and Home Depot in
Georgetown. At HD I picked up a couple
of new planters and cypress trees for my afternoon project. Yesterday, I had the help of my wonderful tenants who live in the Main House on
my property. They assisted me with the removal of three dead trees and carrying the
debris to the burn pile in my pasture. One
of these was the tall Italian Cypress that’s been a familiar identifier for the past decade on my
home’s east wall. Following the Ice
Storm of 2023, this poor tree never fully recovered, and I’d grown tired of its
raggedy appearance, so I asked Andrew to fell it as well.
Problem afterward: the void.
The solution is pictured here:
I’m not happy with just the two of these planters. I think I’ll be adding a third, taller one on the right. I’ve always heard said from decorator queens I've known that these types of arrangements should always be in groups of three. I do miss the great height of the old Italian Cypress that had towered over my roof. Hopefully, these will attain more height in time.
In the evening, I whipped up something I was proud of. I browned both sides of some cabbage wedges with caramelized onions in the skillet, poured veggie broth and heavy cream over them, grated Gruyere cheese all over, and slid this into oven for half an hour. [RECIPE] Yummilicious! Speaking of Yummilicious, I devoured this while watching my new heartthrob “Maigret” on PBS Masterpiece Mystery.
Still wearing his Halloween costume (Superman t-shirt and cape) when I arrived home, Arne deftly vacuumed up a bowl of kibbles, quickly conducted his outdoor "business," declined my tossed invitation to play fetch, and insisted on immediately returning inside. I took this as his eagerness to proceed with the evening's agenda.
__________________
 |
| 93 Day Drought at my home has been interrupted... Hallelujah! |
I received two and a half inches of wonderful rain last night, after having resigned myself to the reality that it would never rain again.
A small chance of more is predicted for later this afternoon. And so I have my "Rain" sound playing on the stereo and am fully engaged at the moment with the Great Spirit that this will be so. We sure do need more!
And thanks, Uncle Albin,
for my patriotic rain gauge!
______________________
I invited my Aunt Angie to lunch at Taylor's new Main Street Deli (1426 N Main, directly across from the EMS station).
After our lunch, we visited Aunt Marie Ann (sister of my Aunt Angie and my dearly departed Mom) at the SPJST Assisted Living Center. Her daughter and son-in-law (my cousin Sherill and husband Rex) were engaged in the sad process of taking down her beautifully appointed suite she's had there for over a year, and preparing for the transition to a facility closer to their home in south Austin.
Angie and I then did some grocery shopping, mainly for me, as I had in hand a new recipe for a vegetarian take on Shepherd's Pie. After returning Angie to her home, I headed back to my place and got busy in the kitchen. It turned out great!
Sunday, October 19
_________
________
CEMETERY WORKDAY
I did my best to smooth each of these plots over nicely, ensuring it to be level with their encompassing grounds. Disappointingly, the dirt was very dry and filled with large clods. Hoping the winter period will cause it to settle and I can return in Spring and throw some Scott's TurfBuilder on to it.
Dinner & Dessert with Jan
Jan Pickett Rich and I headed in to Taylor to check out the new Goodwill. She found some cool vases. I found a DVD boxset of the Miss Marple murder mysteries and some new shirts.
We then headed to Taylor Seoul Food.
After great conversation and delicious meal, we went back to my house and I served up bowls of Pistachio Mochi before Jan departed home to Granger.
Family History,
Book Reviews, and Articles of Interest
can be found in the
Terry's Library
NOVEMBER MEDITATION
A Special ALL SOULS DAY Feature Story:
 |
| Anton Janyska Sec. 2; Row 7 machu-cemetery.org |
The Mysterious Death
of Anton Janyska
My investigation into the numerous tragedies in Anton Janyska's life developed while I was conducting a survey at my family’s 140-year-old cemetery …
…. there lying beside him is a 2 month old child named Vlasta Janyska.
His daughter? If so, isn’t the timing of this man’s enlistment only one month following his child’s death strange?
Why is there no wife buried beside Anton? Why would the mother of this child be buried only a year later in a different cemetery rather than here beside this child she bore?
I hope you enjoy reading
my investigation into the life of and
The Mysterious Death of Anton Janyska.
including my Short Stories, Poetry, Novels,
Family History,
Book Reviews, and Articles of Interest
can be found in the
Terry's Library
Music Reviews!
Featuring:
the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Highway, Multnomah Falls, Crown Point's Vista House, Silver Falls, Devil's Punch Bowl, Bridge of the Gods, Bridal Veil, Corvallis, Manzanita, Pittock Mansion, Lan Su Chinese Garden, Tillamook Creamery and much more...
Terry's Memory Lane
Enjoy looking through my Library
Avoid the 3 PsBsSs
Processed Foods, Phthalates, Plastics;
Beef, Butter, Breads;
you’ll be feeling better in no time!
Avoid the 3 F’s
misinformation, fear, anger and hate!
JOIN ME IN ENSURING AN EDUCATED CITIZENRY!
JOIN ME IN ENSURING AN EDUCATED CITIZENRY!
I drink it morning through late afternoon.
 |
| Best Bean Ever! |
While on vacation in Oregon I fell in love with the many varieties I discovered at Portland Coffee Roasters.
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