Cooking, Sasha, and Remodel Updates

Well, it has been a few days since I've posted to my blog so I figured I should catch readers up on several things.  First, my cooking is going along nicely I think and most importantly, I'm really having fun.  I've only used one actual recipe (for hummus and it came out great), but I've just winged it on a few other things and I plan to wing it for sure tonight with my first attempt at a stir fry.  I realize that this is also the way I quilt as well as the way I weave and so probably it will work just fine for cooking.  I now have lots of vegan cookbooks, some even gluten-free, and I'm enjoying reading them (another major surprise--who would have thought I would ever willingly read a cookbook!), so I'm figuring that some of the basics are no doubt settling into my brain, but I'm just taking ingredients I have a hankering for and combining them and seeing what happens.  I am going to try doing some Quinoa Flakes here in a bit for my late breakfast/early lunch, and that is sort of a recipe at least as far as the actual cereal goes, but I shall do it my way with cinnamon and raisins and then see what happens.


The other night when I was having a salad with my hummus and apple/carrots, I was delighted to have my own home-grown lentil sprouts to put on it!  Oh, what a treat that was!  It was so exciting growing the sprouts and seeing them happen and then getting to eat them was the best!  I now have more lentils sprouting and I've also got a sprouting kit where I have alfalfa sprouts started.  I think sprouting is going to be a lot of fun for me and hopefully I can get ahead of the game so that I always have some ready for eating as my patience isn't always the best and I really want more sprouts now but have to wait at least another couple days before they will be ready.  It really is exciting and I'm sure enjoying all this!  It is also my kind of gardening--inside, instant or near instant gratification, and tasty as well.


Yesterday I also took both Chauncey and Sasha to the vet.  Chauncey got off easily with "just" an ear infection (which unfortunately Cockers get a lot), but his skin looks really good, which is a blessing.  Sasha didn't end up with the antibiotic shot as the vet said there definitely was no infection with the tumor now and he wants to be able to save the antibiotic in case we need it later (or as he said, when inevitably we need it later), and I was glad for that.  But he said the tumor had definitely grown, which, of course, is worrying, although not unexpected.  However, Sasha, in her infinite wisdom, is having this tumor grow in a way that the vet has never seen!  It is on the outside edge of her mouth and usually those grow inside so that they interfere with chewing and get bitten all the time, but Sasha has seen fit to have hers grow outwards, allowing her to eat more comfortably, bless her heart.  And her weight has held steady, which is a very good sign.  We return to the vet in another two weeks when she will probably get the anti-inflammatory steroid shot to try to stem the growth.  Meanwhile, she is still sleeping on the pillow next to me and I treasure each and every moment I have with her.  I don't know why we need to be reminded of mortality to tell others how much we care, but I guess we tend to take things for granted until we are brought up short.  Personally, I'm all in favor of letting people (and animals) know how much they mean to me all the time as we never know what the next moment may bring.


And on the remodel front, things are also progressing well.  We have had an enormous amount of rain lately (as in 2 1/2 inches in one day!) and the rain has come in deluges.  The result has been that my crawl space has water, probably because the downspouts had nowhere to dump themselves.  I am now getting a sump pump installed and we have temporary drains for the downspouts with real drainage to follow.  But now that the crawl space has been bailed out, we can begin with the concrete footing for the post to hold the beams so that the last of the studs can be removed.  The ankle bone is connected to the shin bone, etc.  The link at the top of the blog will take you to remodel photos if you are interested, but much of this week's work is not visible (although extremely necessary).


So that's the update for a Saturday!  Hope it finds you all well and happy!