Traditionally...

Den and I will be making Mexican food today.

We are making these...mine will only have a teeny bit of tequila in it...a nice calming amount since I believe I have made Den just a bit crazy this week with my sort of non stop barrage of fears and worries and what if's. Den can have as much as he wants in his! Whew!

We are making these! They are unstructured no fuss enchiladas from Food 52. Corn tortillas are layered with enchilada sauce and poached chicken and cheeses...yummy! We have avocados and other yummy stuff, too!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Loving this hauntingly good book...it's filled with sisters of all kinds!

Before I say "buh bye" I have to share Lucy and Roxie's kitnip box...it is actually Roxie's because she was so good with Bea Our Beloved Vet this week for her rabies shot...but Lucy wanted it too and sweet Roxie shared...

I am off to poach me some chicken for our no fuss enchiladas!

Hugs,

Patty

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Brrrr!

It's really chilly here today...so much so that I had on a thickish sweater and Den had on a jacket as we left for my cat scan appointment. A cat scan doesn't hurt, doesn't take long, you don't even have to get undressed for it but it causes me a huge amount of unexplainable stress. It's as though if there is one tiny minuscule thing wrong...the cat scan will find it and my life will be upended again. No amount of anyone telling me that it will be fine helps...I just get more stressed worrying that there will be a surprise and it won't be a good one. I am clearly not rational about this and I don't know how to get rational. At first I thought it was the actual machine itself...but it's not that. Months and months ago Den used to wear a protective apron and actually stay with me during the scan. I was having major panic attacks and it was the only way I could get in that donut thing. Den keeps asking me to try to explain why I get so upset and I have no explanation. Well...actually I think I do...the cat scan found my initial Ovarian tumor and I think I see it now as the moment my life changed forever. And every time I have a cat scan...I think my mind goes back to that. I am fine and strong in spite of my paranoia...but...and there is always a but...cat scans freak me out!

Enough of that...right? Right!

Loving this book...it's British, it involves a second wife who has to live in the footsteps of the first wife...who is dead...and deal with that wife's teen daughter...who is not very nice. The second wife thinks that a house in the country will solve all of their problems but...it's not quite working out that way.

Also reading this...and...it's too early to know how I feel about it...but I love that gown!

So...my day...

Den is mulching...I made more bread...I should be on the treadmill later today...I should be on it now but I am restless and out of sorts and maybe even cranky...yep...definitely cranky...sigh!

But...you should have a great day!

Hugs,

Patty

 

Posted with Blogsy

Life...

Finished this...as I said yesterday...I may be outgrowing beach books. Main character Darcy made me crazy in this book and not in a good way...she just cannot mind her own business plus she is annoying. Enough said! And she is way too needy...perhaps not enough said.

Reading this...so far so good...at least these characters are dysfunctional but not annoying...yet.

Yesterday I baked bread. The one I made is from Food 52. You don't knead it or even touch it other than with 2 forks. It bakes in cute round pans and makes the best toast. It even has variations...thanks to the ingenuity of Alexandra Stafford...its creator. I am excited to try the variations. This bread took minutes to put together and baked perfectly.

Variations!

I made Marcella Hazan's pasta sauce yesterday, too. Another classic that just simmers for hours on the stove and uses a whole sweet onion that you toss at the end of the simmering...a can of plum tomatoes and butter. Yep...butter! The sauce is light and so good!

Especially with my favorite pasta of all time...I especially love the giant rigatoni.

So...this week...

This week involves a visiting nurse visit...done...blood test today...not done yet...and a scary cat scan tomorrow...freaking out soon about that.

I don't even remember when I looked like this...so sad. And it wasn't even that long ago...really sad.

Now I have scars and I wonder about how my eyelashes will grow back...all at one time? One at a time? Evenly? Sigh...

Now that I have totally depressed myself...have a great day!

Hugs,

Patty

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Books!

Reading this...

And this...

Both are really good but I am starting to believe that I don't love beachy books as much as I used to...they all seem to have tiny little irritating things in them...character flaws or annoying things that the characters do...constantly. In secrets in summer...Darcy needs to leave her neighbors alone! Seriously!

New books! All are from Edelweiss and Amazon Vine. All descriptions are from Amazon.

 

From New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd comes a haunting tale that explores the impact of World War I on all who witnessed it—officers, soldiers, doctors, and battlefield nurses like Bess Crawford.

 

New York, 2118. Manhattan is home to a thousand-story supertower, a breathtaking marvel that touches the sky. But amidst high-tech luxury and futuristic glamour, five teenagers are keeping dangerous secrets…this is the sequel to The Thousandth Floor...which I have and will read first...of course.

 

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR GIRL IN SNOW BY DANYA KUKAFKA

“An exciting debut from a talented new voice. Girl in Snow is a propulsive mystery set in a suburban community marked by unsettling voyeurism. Danya Kukafka patiently reveals layers of her characters’ inner lives—their ugliness and vulnerabilities—in prose that sparkles and wounds. I couldn’t put this one down.”

—Brit Bennett, New York Times bestselling author of The Mothers

"Girl in Snow is a haunting, lyrical novel about love, loss, and terror. Reading it felt like entering another world, where things—and people—were not as they at first appeared. The world Kukafka so masterfully creates is suspenseful and electrifying; I was willing to follow her wherever she took me."

—Anton DiSclafani, New York Times bestselling author of The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls and The After Party

 

"From the first sentence, We Shall Not All Sleep whisks us off to the arcane world of the Quicks and the Hillsingers on Seven Island, a place alive with elaborate, arbitrary traditions and political and emotional tensions. Effortlessly interweaving intergenerational stories and cold war intrigue, the book explores the crossing of thresholds - between hearts and life stages, between islands and ideologies - and what such transitions cost. Torn between their desires as individuals and their duties to their wider group, Nagy's subtly drawn characters struggle to negotiate the gap between visible and invisible rules; between information and true understanding. Written with an exquisitely light touch, the result is an utterly compelling novel from a brilliant new voice." - M. L. Stedman, author of THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS

 

Inspired by a true story, a young woman is swept up in the glamour and excitement of chasing the title of Miss America 1950—only to vanish the night she wins.

“[A] brilliant debut... This novel has all the elements for critical and popular success!” —Graeme Simsion, New York Times bestselling author of The Rosie Project

Roxie was just a tad needy last night. She stayed at the vet's for over 6 hours...periodically getting her temp taken to make sure she didn't have a fever. When she got back to her house...she promptly ran upstairs to the room that is my favorite upstairs room...and curled up on the big white bed and slept...we kept checking on her but she wanted alone time. Poor baby. This morning she is her normal bouncy self...but clingy. This was her first time away from home for so long! I guess preschool and away camp will be tough...teasing! She is such a tiny kitty and she lost 3 ounces!

Off to read and wait for my visiting nurse...once a week I have to have this line in my arm changed...it's annoying but unavoidable and now with summer and short sleeves I had to find a cover for my arm...a sleeve that won't slip because I am wearing short sleeves! There is no where to try these on...it's an online order but thank God for Amazon...yet again. This is my solution...a sort of cut off sleeve...weird but it works...and I had to buy two of them! Not fun like buying shoes or tunics...that's for sure...sigh!

Off to read!

Hugs,

Patty

 

Posted with Blogsy

Monday's Issues...

Issue # 1...

This was an interesting weekend...a number of appliances continue to begin their decline...in spite of all of the chanting we have done to the refrigerator gods...the refrigerator still refuses to make ice and now the shelves are sort of falling apart...Den is off to buy a new one. And...the microwave is making weird popping scary noises...Den is off to buy a new one of these, too. And...the dishwasher detergent cup won't stay shut...so a new one of these is most likely in our future, too...sigh!

Issue # 2...

I bought the wrong Fitbit so Den is off to Tar-jay to return it because I already bought the right one...we both hate returns.

Issue # 3...

Our new leather furniture is making us crazy. Den freaks every time a cat jumps on it...he is keeping all of the blinds closed in the family room because of sun damage. I hate sitting in the family room. I used to love it. Roxie cries because she can't see out onto the deck and pond. So...over the weekend we moved all of the leather stuff into the living room...we ruffle slipcovered our old furniture...we slipcover it in the summer anyway...and moved it all back into the family room...which is now back to its happy place!

In the fall we will get new fabric family room furniture...I will then own 5 sofas!

It would have been 6 but we gave one away to Habitat For Humanity...sigh!

My happy family room with its old furniture which I still love!

Issue # 4...

Roxie is at the vet all day. She is allergic to her rabies vaccine so she is being pretreated and watched all day to make sure she is ok...there have been two rabid raccoons in our area so it is really necessary that she get this shot. One raccoon broke into a house nearby and attacked a cat and two dogs...they barely survived. We know this because our vet is the one who saved them. So sad...Roxie is so small and we are so close to all wildlife...I would worry every moment. Actually I do worry every moment!

This brings me to the end of my issues...for now...

Fun stuff!

I am joyfully reading this...and...it's summery and Nantucket-y and fun!

I found this amazing sort of Boho website over the weekend...filled with the kind of stuff I love!

I love shopping irresistible treasures! I love enjoying little things! I bought mugs and scarves and stickers! And a cool dress!

So...Lucy and I are the only ones at home while Den and Roxie are out and about. I think Lucy is enjoying some alone time. Or she doesn't realize Roxie is gone...

Hugs,

Patty

 

Posted with Blogsy