Today was not great, as I coughed and hacked most of the day. Bronchitis is a pain in the built, no, correction, chest!
Dr. Mary is taking care of me. We watch much TV, and she keeps the meds flowing correctly. When bored to death, I turn to the computer to fix “old broken links”. Today, I went through the “Friends Pages” and fixed a lot of broken links and updated the code.
We called the doctor because the original antibiotics were not working. He gave us his cell phone (probably because Dr. Mary is an MD). We got a reply within minutes. The doctors collaborated, and Zoom, Mary was off to the pharmacy.
The pharmacy was in Santa Ana and was called a “compounding pharmacy,” meaning the medications were fixed there on the spot. The prescription needed Bat Drool, Bee’s Brain, Cobwebs, Frog’s Tears, and Lion’s Whiskers—not ingredients one would find at CVS.
We stayed home, and Mary fixed a magnificent dinner. It looked just like a double In-n-Out hamburger, complete with French fries!
I am blessed to have an amazing partner in life whom the good Lord has given me. It’s comforting to know that she is always there for me.
We had a wonderful morning as we had no plans until midday. We just talked and held hands, since it was the first day we both felt better in almost a week. We went to the garden and developed a plan to capture the rabbits, including deciding where to deposit them once they were caught.
We watched a few short videos on YouTube, including footage of US Air Force fighters and the world’s largest passenger liner.
Mary prepared a delicious breakfast to use up everything in the fridge before leaving on our three-week vacation!
We had a DDT day! The first “D” stood for doctor, so we went to Mary’s doctor who is now also mine. We both got acupuncture treatments; Mary for her arm and me for sciatica and this horrible cough that I have been dealing with. The lady doctor practices Eastern and Western medicine. Everyone was amazed when I did not flinch with the many shots and needle stickings received during the procedure. We will see tomorrow!
The second “D” stood for dining or dinner. We had planned to dine at the Royal Khyber, but they were closed and we would have had to wait for 45 minutes. So, I suggested we try Darya, which was located a few doors down. Darya is a Persian (Iranian) restaurant, and I must say, it was first-class! The people are so friendly and speak English better than us!
It is rather large and is beautiful inside!
Mary had the ASH RESHTEH, a Persian soup with fresh vegetables, noodles, pinto beans, and Kashk (whey) flavored with sautéed garlic and mint.
I opted for the GHEMEH BADEMJAN, which is fried eggplant cooked in special tomato sauce, yellow peas, and onion sauce, served with veal and a side of Basmati rice.
We both had wine!
I always get the best seat in the house with a magnificent view!
The food is not only good, but the presentations are mouth-watering!
She gave me her onions!
My meal was pretty and filling. The rice was cooked to perfection, and the eggplant and beef were perfect!
Almost too pretty to eat!
We left Darya at 6:30 pm and made our way to Segerstrom Theater via the Westin Hotel bar, where we met up with Kiana. We enjoyed a glass of wine before the show and then walked to the theater. Our regular seats in Aisle E were perfect—close enough to see and hear everything but far enough away to avoid any “splatter” incidents. Feel free to ask me about it sometime!
The third letter, “T,” was for theater. While the show was OK, it was not for us. The dialogue was too fast and the music was full of drums and terribly loud. We stayed for the first half and then departed for home at 8:30 pm. We were not alone, several people walked out with us.
It was a great “production,” but not for us. besides, I could not get past his voice!
We brought Scout inside and Mary crashed. I still had some pep so I put some final touches on the vacation website and reviewed my third trip through the canal in detail! Tomorrow it’s off the the gym and stay home and begin packing.
It’s Monday, so here you are, music I grew up with and love!
We both canceled our gym appointment and took it easy as we’d been sick. We’re recovering, but it takes time at our age. Mary was feeling better today, and my bronchitis seems to be mellowing out.
Due to our being sick, we finished five books yesterday. And believe me, that’s a lot of coloring.
We called our neighbor Jeff to tell him we had been sick, which was why we had not visited.
We walked the garden, and lo and behold, the rabbits had found it. I went to Amazon and loaded up on supplies, including a cage, some netting, and 2,000 feet of high-voltage wire and insulators, complete with a 5,000-volt electric fence power source. In a few days, we will have no more rabbit issues; however, we will have rabbit stew for dinner!
Damned rabbits have been busy!
The grape vines are going wild. Now that their dormancy has ended, they are rapidly growing. We discovered some young plants that will produce table grapes for us this summer, growing inches daily. We found some babies that will end up table grapes for us this summer. We have six different kinds of grapes, from Concord to Thompson Seedless. We have no “wine grapes” as they require much more heat than in Orange.
Baby grapes are not forming.
We had cereal for breakfast, as neither of us felt good enough for our average full-fledged breakfast. We watched a lot of TV, but Mary, like me, couldn’t sit still, so she decorated for Easter. I got all the decorations out on Saturday, and Mary placed them today!
She is wearing her bunny ears and hiding from the camera!
We decorated for Easter.
Late in the afternoon, we had another homemade “Mary Pastrami Sandwich”; it was like dying and going to heaven. I have no idea what she does, but those sandwiches are AMAZING. Perhaps it is that touch of love?
I quickly took a shower before dinner. When I returned, Mary had dinner ready and was knitting. I surprised her with a rose!
I interrupted Mary’s phone call after my shower!
The dinner was fantastic, and we even enjoyed a delicious dessert. We also had a small glass of wine while watching TV.
While watching TV, I set up the laptop to update our vacation page while on vacation! Now, I can edit at sea and post to the website as we progress through the journey.
However, we ran out of napkins, and Mary asked me to fetch some. When I returned, she gave me a quick lesson on dinner etiquette.
Dinner behavior is being reinforced!
We watched TV until almost 11:00 pm and finally crashed. Scout got tired and went to bed early, and I did NOT wake him up to tinkle, so I will be receiving a 3:00 am visitor.
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I was up about 5:30 am and realized it would have been by the 36th anniversary today. Sad, no! Memories, yes! I thank the Lord every day for leading me to Dr. Mary, who I love with all my heart!
Mary woke up with the crud this morning, and we accomplished nothing except watching 16 episodes of “Hart Of Dixie.” I took a snapshot of her which she found not too flattering but hey, you takes the good with the bad!
Scout and I quickly ran outside until Mary finally woke up!
We managed to get enough energy to walk in the garden and make a list of things to do before we leave for our cruise.
However, we felt it was a beautiful morning!
The apple blossoms are lovely at this time of year, but in a few weeks, small apples will begin their journey toward becoming a freshly baked pie!
The apples are coming on strong.
The vertical gardens are great, but they had to be hand-watered, so I fixed that problem using Colleen’s timer, a few pieces of PVC, and a short hose. Now, they get a five-minute bath every day at 10:00 am. It seems to make them very happy.
The automated watering system for the vertical gardens is working well.
Froggy is always in a good mood; I hope he does not catch the crud.
Froggy says hello!
I was thinking about the natural laws of life:
Laws:
1 . Law of Mechanical Repair – After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch and you’ll have to pee.2. Law of Gravity – Any tool, nut, bolt, or screw, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible place in the garage.3. Law of Probability3. The Law Of Probability – The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.
The next, grapefruit crop is on its way!
Mary planted two boxes of radishes. One was Diakon, and the other was common Reds. They both are coming up well, and the race is on, but we know the Chinese Diakons will loose as they grow as large as cucumbers.
The radishes are making their appearance.
We dragged ourselves back into the house, and Mary fixed breakfast, which was excellent. She was pooped, so I asked her to watch TV while I cleaned up; that seemed fair.
WOW! A wonderful breakfast!
We sat all afternoon and evening, hardly moving except when nature called. We love the new TV Loungers in the TV room. We have had them for a year, and today was the day we sat in them the most. I remembered they had USB ports for charging our phones; that was excellent so that we could text each other all afternoon just like people in restaurants!
At around 10:00 pm, we finally went to bed. However, Scout refused to relieve himself when I took him outside. So, sometime between 2-3 am, I will feel a gentle nudge at the side of my bed. When I open my eyes, I will see Dr. Scout staring at me with a silly grin while holding his back legs together. Then, we will race to the back door to see who gets there first!
We crashed!
Tomorrow will be better!
Good night all and please make us better by morning.
This bronchitis better go away soon! I get grumpy!
We were up at oh-dark-thirty this morning as Mary must be in LA at 8:00 am. We tip-toed around so as not to wake the roosters in the hood. At 5:54 am, I was in the office and began the journey to our master bedroom. I had night blindness, and I thought the door was closed into the bedroom. When I reached up to grab the knob, it was not the knob I was looking for. We were both a little shocked!
Mary got ready in just one hour, which was a minor miracle. While she was getting ready, I made coffee for us and backed her car out into the driveway. Then, I drove it around the block to warm it up and ensured the Sirius XM radio was working properly.
She was out the door at 7:00 am sharp! Precious roared down the street, leaving a slight layer of burnt rubber behind and a cloud of dust! It is a one-hour drive.
This full-day conference will feature presentations covering various ophthalmic topics in neuro-ophthalmology, anterior segment, and uveitis. Doheny-UCLA faculty and alumni will present material on clinical practice, research, and diagnostic advances for improved patient care.
More CME Credits are on their way!
She knew most of the people being honored and was able to make contact with them about potential research projects.
Mary’s colleagues over the years. Left to right: John Irvine, Alfredo Sagun, Narsing Rao, Steve Feldon, and Larry Chong
I planned to take it easy but as things normally go, I managed to walk almost two miles around the house doing “stuff” like replacing our American Flag with a 4’x5′ version, cleaning out the entranceway closet, ordering vitamins, working on the website for tonight’s adventure, moving boxes into the garage attic, opening up and removing all the Easter decorations (Mary will “decorate” later), move the dog supplies into the heater closet, and about fifty other needed-to-be-done things.
A cartoon handyman holding lots of tools
I went into the shower at 5:30 pm, and I was transformed into Hoppa-Long Cassidy when she arrived at 5:45 pm. We departed for the Elks to get there at 6:15 pm. Tonight was the Spaghetti Western Night to raise money for the travel club.
Did You Know? The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone’s film-making style and international box-office success. Foreign critics used the term because most of these Westerns were produced and directed by Italians.
This YouTube is a three minute display of their playing at a local venue; the band was terrific for us!
We had a ball and were arrested twice by the local sheriff and thrown into the hoosegow (that IS how it is spelled, blame your ancestors) twice!
She did it; no, she did it!
Did You Know? In Spanish, juzgado means “panel of judges, courtroom.” The word is based on the Spanish past participle of juzgar, meaning “to judge,” which itself was influenced by Latin judicare—a combination of jus, “right, law,” and dicere,”to decide, say.” When English speakers of the American West borrowed juzgado, they recorded it the way they heard it: hoosegow. They also associated the word specifically with the jail that was usually in the same building as a courthouse. Today, hoosegow has become slang for any place of confinement for lawbreakers.
We dined, danced, and drank sasparilla!
Too much fun!!!
Mary and I went two-stepping and arranged to do the Cowboy Cha Cha along with Donna and Bob!
Bob got his new sheriff’s badge so we took a quick snapshot!
It was helpful having our lawyers with us this evening.
We headed out around 9:30 pm and went to Aces to show off our getups. Mary likes me to wear my new duster! We had one glass of wine and came the last two miles home before 10:15 pm! We crashed immediately.
We took off from the gym this morning, and I had a terrible night last night. I had a fever, chills, and that horrible throat/chest gurgle. Mary went through her medical supplies and put some pills in me. I hit the sack really early and felt much better this morning. I must admit, I was worried about the bottles that said “Bat Wings” and “Eye Of Neut”. The checked legs, however, did not phase me one bit. I was glad she ran the concoction through a strainer.
We went to the pulmonologist, who is an OUTSTANDING doctor. He is on the crusty side (meaning he is old and to the point), so Mary and I hit it off with him! He adjusted my CPAP machine and also prescribed some antibiotics for the damned recurring bronchitis!
Doing nothing made me feel philosophical, and I found this good set of rules!
Joe was over last night and fixed the roof cover, but we did not hear him! He knew I was sick and came to find out; he brought his ladder, got up on the roof from the front, tippy-toed around, and departed without saying anything. He is a good son, and I am so proud of him for being considerate.
The bronchitis was taking its toll, so we went out for lunch and returned home, where Dr. Mary doctored me. I felt “pooped out” all day and did not do very much, not even taking a snapshot!
I sat in the office for quite a while as I modernized/fixed our gardening website.
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We went to the gym and worked out for 90 minutes, hopefully relieving some of the anguish from yesterday’s visit to the tax man! After the gym, we came home and worked a little in the garden.
I keep mulling over and over why the government takes 30% off everything I make, and it drives me up the wall to think that money is being wasted. Boon doggle after boon doggle, these politicians should be kicked out on their collective butts!
We planted 95% of the garden and are now tuning the watering system to ensure it is watered while we are gone.
Mary fixed an amazing dinner using two types of pastrami; we were doing a taste test! We tested Ralph’s versus the local German deli; there was no difference.
The toothpicks revealed which side the meat was on was from the deli and which one was from Ralphs!
By the way, we had a salad after the main course, just like they do in Europe!
Everything except the egg was from our garden!
We baked some chocolate chip cookies for Jeff, took them over, and visited for a while. I was still struggling with the tax news and decided to crash early. I think I am getting a bug!
We woke early to make our 9:00 am appointment with Mary’s contact specialist in Tustin. Since we’re always on the go, she needed a spare pair of contacts.
We took a quick garden walk as it was a glorious morning! The flowers seemed to be jumping with colors. We stopped and admired the redist of the red! The Geraniums were fantastic.
I looked like a three-alarm fire!
Did You Know It protects against wasps and mosquitoes
Scented geraniums can help to repel annoying insects, and save summer evenings on the terrace or balcony.The leaves of some species contain essential oils whose scent is pleasant for humans.
For insects like mosquitoes and wasps, however, it is a deterrent.
Geraniums that emit a lemon or an orange scent are particularly effective in this respect.
The apple tree was in bloom and should be loaded with apples if the Santa Ana winds don’t knock off the blooms like last year. The tree is quite pretty and hosts a load of little bees which the garden also likes.
The blossoms seem to be ready for Easter!
Did You Know? Apple Blossom is a very versatile edible flower and slightly more robust than some of our other edible flowers. The petals and stem have highly aromatic apple notes, a citrus and sour flavor, and hints of honeysuckle.
Can you spot Mary? She looks to be behind bars!
Seeing Mary in the distance gives you an idea of how large the garden is!
In 50 days, each of these steel cages will be loaded with tomato plants that are attempting to escape. We will keep them trimmed. Some of these cages are fifteen years old! They were called Texas Cages when I got them from H&H Nursery in Lakewood.
The straw mulch is about 2-3 inches thick and protects the roots from the sun.
Tonight, at 8:06 p.m. California time, the vernal equinox arrives, marking the end of winter and the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Usually, the equinox falls on the 20th of the month, but because it’s a leap year, it’s a day early in 2024.
The grape vines are emerging from their deep winter sleep. In the next 60 days, they will become a jungle and, hopefully, be loaded with table grapes. We will be careful and learn how to properly trim them so that in a few years, we will have table grapes all summer long.
On our way home from the doctor, we stopped at Home Depot to pick up some last-minute items for our garden project. Mary fixed a great lunch, and then we headed to the office to collect our tax information for our 3:00 pm appointment with “the tax guy!”
We had our papers in hand and met with Doug, and our emotions went from ecstatic (we have a credit coming) to total demoralization (oops, I missed an item). We decided to file jointly to save some money, hopefully, and we did. We saved $1.03.
After the two-hour marathon session, we were exhausted, so we decided to go to the American Legion on Balboa Island for dinner, which was a mere few miles away. It was “Taco Tuesday,” so we placed our order and sat at the bar eagerly devouring a glass of wine. We thought about how we would probably have to sell the dog so we could eat and pay other bills.
Our taxes are the “Other Miscellaneous Receipts.”
When we arrived home, I suggested we go to the swim spa to drown our sorrows. We sat in the hot water for three cycles or 45 minutes. Finally, we began watching season three of Alien before crashing.
It’s Monday, so you will hear one of my favorite tunes when I was growing up.
We were up at 5:30 am this fine morning as we needed to be at the surgeon’s office at 8:00 am to get a little cancer removed from my neck. We wanted it done so it would have time to heal before the trip. We made it just about on time. Mary watched as the doctor took the scalpel to my neck.
I wondered why she kept shaking the pepper near the doctor.
That knife looked terribly sharp! I heard something hit the floor and someone else saying, “three-second rule.” I need to ask Mary what that means!
Did You Know? A scalpel, lancet, or bistoury is a small, extremely sharp-bladed instrument used for surgery, anatomical dissection, podiatry, and various handicrafts. A lancet is a double-edged scalpel.
Scalpel blades are usually made of hardened and tempered steel, stainless steel, or high carbon steel; titanium, ceramic, diamond, and even obsidian knives are not uncommon. For example, when performing surgery under MRI guidance, steel blades are unusable (the blades would be drawn to the magnets and would also cause image artifacts). Historically, the preferred material for surgical scalpels was silver. Some manufacturers also offer scalpel blades with a zirconium nitride–coated edge to improve sharpness and edge retention. Others manufacture blades that are polymer-coated to enhance lubricity during a cut.
Scalpels may be single-use, disposable, or reusable. Reusable scalpels can have permanently attached blades that can be sharpened or, more commonly, removable single-use blades. Disposable scalpels usually have a plastic handle with an extensible blade (like a utility knife) and are used once; the entire instrument is discarded. Scalpel blades are usually individually packed in sterile pouches but are also offered non-sterile.
After the procedure, we visited H&H Nursery in Lakewood, which has exciting plants. Mary found a purple jalapeno, a rootbeer plant, and several other interesting plants, including borage.
It is a huge facility going from Lakewood to Clark!
Rootbeer Plant is a perennial herbaceous plant with heart-shaped velvety leaves that can reach up to 30 centimeters (12 in) or more in size. Its complex flavor is not easily described; it has been compared to eucalyptus, licorice, sassafras, anise, nutmeg, mint, tarragon, and black pepper. The flavor is more robust in the young stems and veins.
We selected a trunk full of goodies!
After walking around, we were hungry, so we stopped on Katella at the Gourmet Pie & Bakery Company. I took Mary here years ago, and they still have amazing food. We arrived at about 10:30 am without lines.
Breakfast in Los Alamitos.
It was omlete time, and we had an Irish Coffee since we are in training for our upcoming trip to Ireland!
When I read the menu, it said “breakfast at any time,” so I ordered French toast during the Renaissance.
Breakfast is a morning’s worth of mood insurance.
Here’s mud in your eye!
After breakfast, we went to Mary’s seamstress to pick up her mother’s dress, which was being altered. I suggested to Mary that the dress would not require a hem if she grew another two inches taller.
We stopped by home to take our treasures out of the trunk, and as I moved the two-wheeled wheelbarrow down the side of the house, I felt I was being stared at! Sure enough, our trained security lizard had spotted me and was about to call the cops. I had to remind him that I lived there, but he was unsure. He does have an IQ deficit.
Our security lizard caught us!
One last stop: Home Depot. We needed sand for the carrots, Daikon radishes, and a new tower watering system adaptor.
Finally, we are home! Time to get down and dirty, with emphasis on dirty!
Purple jalapeños are smaller than traditional green/red jalapenos and have a pointed, cone-like shape. The plants are also more compact and less productive than most jalapeños. However, the plants are beautiful, often showcasing all three colors simultaneously during the growing season.
This should be interesting.
We needed to remove the celery from the box, but when we attempted to dig it up, it was a “no-go.” I flipped the box onto the grass, and one large clump of rootbound dirt hit the ground. We replaced the dirt in the box and then used a steam shovel to move the block into the trashcan!
Wet dirt is HEAVY!!
It was beautiful this morning, and then the clouds began to gather. When we started in the garden, they were to the south of us, and then they made a great circle around us and ended up north of us. It was weird!
We could hear the thunder and crackling of lightning continuously!
Out came the “Lightning Tracker” app; sure enough, there was a load of lightning to the north of us at 3:10 pm!
We could hear it all around us.
We ignored the weather because it was still in the high 60s, and we were working. Mary planted the towers while I planted six additional squash plants and fixed the watering system. The mulch, which came from several bales of straw aging along the back wall, was spread out evenly.
These tiny plants will be high in another 0 days and provide patty pan squash for the entire neighborhood.
BOOM! CRASH! Our video camera captures the moment.
It began to rain, and huge raindrops were splattering us. We rushed to get everything put away before the downpour.
It’s raining.
The tools are now safe in their homes, and we are safe inside the house. The thunderstorm came right over the house and watered our freshly planted veggies. I ventured out and used plastic bags to cover the new hose timers.
The weather could not make up its mind!
There was more lightning and thunder, and Scout began to bark at the weather. He was pretty convincing, and within thirty minutes, the storm was gone forever.
The sun came out, and we decided to go in the hot tub. After a salad from the garden, we began watching Resident Alien. We had five episodes to go, so finally, at 11:00 pm, we crashed. We completed season two and now have to find season three.
The sunshine came out and began to dry things out!
The salad was perfect for dinner, and we found some dessert in the frig and polished it off. We drank tea and some remaining juice while the alien created havoc on the TV.
It was a wonderful day working alongside my partner in crime. Tomorrow, we face the tax man, but we can disappear into Mexico together and never be seen again!
