More Chicken Balls

 Someone asked what Fish & Chicken balls were - oops, I thought I'd mentioned them before - they're dumplings basically. I buy them frozen & drop them into simmering broth with chopped veggies to make soup. One of my oriental friends told me I could fry them - like a perogy - in butter as well. And I love them. I find I don't cook like I should when there's only me & too many things go bad on me. I hate all the prep & doing the dishes afterwards so I tend to buy bagged salads & cooked chicken a lot. Housework is boring enough without running out of oxygen if you leave the air hose off while moving around ties the damn hose in knots if you want to breathe. I need one of those wind-up hose reels on my hip!! I'd like everything chopped, sliced & ready to use in packages or frozen in bags with the recipe on the front. One of my old acquaintances moved to Viet Nam because he could live in a hotel with daily maid service, laundry & three meals for less than he could buy groceries for the month, here. Those Senior homes are looking better all the time .  .  .

Back  at the Shack - we filled one final bin with garbage this past weekend. The closets are empty, the garage is empty & the back room is empty. I have three partial VW bugs to dispose of in the yard. Marlow may come back to haunt me! We even found spare parts to my old AMC that I had hauled away for junk at least 30 years ago. I'm not sure anyone even knew they were still there in the back of the garage on the shelf. But it's all gone. When I sell the place & move, I won't have to worry about clearing it out.

Knitting - I'm down to the tops of the arms on my garter stitch sweater but it looks like I have to stop & wind some skeins into balls. Geeze, where the hell is my ball winder???  I don't know why I even ask .  .  . What a pain to have to wind them by hand!!!

Roast Pork & Chicken Balls

I prefer to shop for my own fresh food - yeah, I know there's people out there who will pick it up & deliver it to me & that's okay for milk, frozen stuff & canned goods but I want to choose the apple or tomato that I'm eating for lunch, thank you. And it forces me to walk a little more but not too much. Anyone can go to the mall & pick up tee shirts & sweat pants but I want some choices in my life. And if you don't use it, you become dependent. So, I've learned that I have to go more often & buy smaller amounts. Two bags. That's it. Good thing my Safeway has a Starbucks & a sitting area with tables & Henlong has underground parking!!

I love Roast Pork & Fish balls. Discovered Chicken balls this last time. I made a special trip to Henlong for them. Good thing the shop also has the freshest fruits & veggies in town too. In the winter, I eat mostly soup, stew & stir fry because they're cheap, easy & fast. It's so nice that Knorr also makes other broths besides Chicken & Beef. I can buy Fish broth for instance, frozen dumplings, shrimp and fresh veggies & make a wonderful soup that's fast & easy. Fish balls are one of my favorite things too .  .  .

This past week I've had a glut of field tomatoes. A buddy brought me three huge, firm, field tomatoes. One slice almost covered a whole slice of bread!!! I ended up with too many tomatoes because I bought some & another buddy dropped off two. Tis the season .  .  .  I ended up eating sliced tomatoes on bread with hummus spread for days. They were too good for cooking or freezing & once cut, have to be eaten quickly - field tomatoes like that are for eating fresh on good bread. Thank goodness I had some very good bread & lots of hummus to hold the tomato on. It's sort of like cherry season, you eat as many as you can because they aren't here for long.  

Knitting - yes by gawd Virginia, there is knitting going on! Started a simple, top down sweater - knit all in one piece in garter with NO SEWING. Raglan sleeve - haven't decided on ribbing or I-cord finishing. That's for then, this is now. Using Briggs & Little Heritage in a marled Blue - light & dark twisted together - because I have a box of the stuff I got on sale somewhere. Then I have another box of B&G in Red & Grey for another top down something or other. I need something soft & warm that's easy with a hose & oxygen tank.

Wheezing, Coughing & Breathing

 Wasn't that a storm out there a couple of weeks ago??? It banged, it blew, it rattled & dropped wave after wave of water everywhere. And it was chilly too but it cleaned most of that toxic smoke out of the air. What a change from the week before that!! I coughed my face off & my eyes wouldn't stop running! I wasn't aware of all the toxic chemicals from the fire just across the river until I heard the news in my car while I was out trying to breath in it .  .  .  .  

I had a phone appointment with my Respirologist two days later & got my meds changed a bit. Two days after that I felt like a million bucks!! So I went grocery shopping. Big improvement. I was able to bring in most of my groceries by myself in two loads as well. I had to go to bed for a nap but I did TWO errands & carried in most of the groceries all in one go. Wow. I took out garbage & brought in the rest of the groceries before bed too. I haven't been able to do that much activity in one day since before the lockdown. I was a little sore the next day but that was it. 

I did have to fight with my Pharmacist when I called for a new puffer - my doctor told me VERBALLY to change my meds but did not put it on paper for the drugstore .  .  .  the Pharmacist was horrified that I was taking twice the maximum dose of steroid every day & of course, the Province wouldn't pay. I felt so good I paid the full price & did it anyway. This past Friday the Respirologist called me to see how I was doing & was very happy that I followed his directions & was feeling so much better despite what the Pharmacist said. He promised to deal with the drugstore for me. 

I feel so much better I've been washing clothes in Marlow's old washer again. I suspect I have to replace it though - when I washed my favorite old quilt - and a pair of pink leggings - the leggings came out covered in stuff that looks like brown goo. I have no idea what it is. There's no pockets in leggings or a quilt to hide things in. It took several washes with vinegar & Borax to clean it the first time when it covered everything in white spots, now this??? Good thing I know a second hand appliance guy.

Now all I have to do is wash all the dishes I have piled up on the counter & in the sink. I did have a chair put next to the sink so I could sit & rest between loads but the fuzzy cat took it over. She sleeps there most of the time & has it covered in hair .  .  .  . Ahhh, a gimp's work is never done .   .   .   .