Uluru: Australia: Today is the 13th day in a row I have updated this old blog. A very impressive feat as I do nothing except exercise, cook, and eat. We seem to be going to bed earlier and earlier... yet waking later and later each morning. We are even boring in our dreams.
The Governor of California has asked us all to stay home this week, so we are. I have received emails from four grocers we patronize stating shoppers will no longer be admitted inside the stores unless they are wearing masks. I am most curious if this will be the New Normal? The worst part is reusable grocery bags are no longer allowed on the check-out belt, but must be left in your cart, and shoppers must pack their own purchases if they bring their own bags. I know Dave and I could easily pack our groceries efficiently enough, but only one of us goes to the grocer - and it is me. I had Willy pack up my groceries in the store’s own plastic bags. Horrors. I honestly can’t remember the last time THAT happened. Yes, the bags are re-usable, but not by me at this time. They barely made it onto our campsite. I hope this procedure will be abandoned once things calm down... or just think of all the possibly-contaminated plastic grocery bags in the landfill, next to all our disposable masks, Clorox wipes, and disposable gloves.
Just kidding. No one has seen a Clorox wipe in weeks.
Good news! Lisa mailed us reusable/washable neoprene masks today.
Speaking of Lisa... the package I sent to her containing all the Spring Break activities and cute Passover napkins (they look like sheets of matzo!) arrived. Lisa quarantines all packages and mail for 3-4 days before opening the boxes outside, and sanitizing everything. (We do the same thing.) The kids put one of the puzzles together this afternoon - Lisa said it was about 10-inches tall:
The puzzles are available at areaware.com. I sent them the piñata puzzle and another little puzzle that is a bowl of Fruit Loops cereal, plus another “design” puzzle for the adults. Lisa said the cereal puzzle is nearly impossible.
The weather in Indio has not improved. Still cold. Still rainy. Still snowing in the mountains. The weatherman told us tonight, these are lowest temperatures the SoCal mountains have "enjoyed" in over 50 years. We waited until it warmed up a bit this morning before heading out to exercise. Dave jogged. I rode my bike. I am trying to ride my bicycle on Tuesday and Thursday, instead of wogging every day. It makes me use my bike more often than just a quick trip to the mail room, or to visit a friend. Remember when we could visit friends?
We did have a real visitor today! Mary and Captain Jim walked all the way to our campsite to wave to us from the street - nearly the entire length of this resort. Doesn’t sound like much, but Mary is not long off a double hip replacement! She is making amazing progress... though she has wisely stopped her visits to the physical therapy clinic, and does her exercises alone at home. Smart.
I cooked all dang day. I made chicken stock from the roasted Passover Bird, the bones from the lemon/thyme Dave grilled last week (frozen), and any and all vegetable scraps/peels from last week (also frozen). Man, did our bus smell good today! A normal person would have strained the stock through cheesecloth and called it a day. Oh, how I wish I had done this. After I strained it through cheesecloth, I decided to strain it again through coffee filters. THAT was a long project. I could have also just clarified the stock, but that would require using a precious egg.
I also made a smoked salmon spread using the remaining lox from dinner last night, fresh dill, capers and a bit of cream cheese.
You can probably see how excited I was about this plate tonight. Boring! At least the “salad” course only took 20 seconds - half an avocado, topped with a bit of tomato and dressed with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Look at that lovely clear stock... that I then ruined by adding the meat from last night’s chicken legs. Two big matzo balls each was plenty. The stock was really good, even I say so myownself.
Until my next update, which will probably be almost as exciting as today, I remain your weary correspondent.
Our grocer claims if you bring their bags back, they will sanitize and reuse. I got old fashion paper and used them to light our fireplace.
Know you can’t do that, but you might check if they will recycle for you. Thanks for keeping the posts going, something to read!
Hi Terry, how is the wound on your cheek doing?
It is fine. The bruising is really no longer visible and the pain/lump is pretty-much gone. Thank you for asking, Lynne.