Sunday, January 30, 2022

Weekend

For those of you who do the majority of the cooking in your household, do you ever get tired of it or not feel up to making the meal? I've found I've cooked a lot more than ever during the pandemic and unlike some folks I have barely ordered food from anywhere to eat in or have it delivered. 

It hasn't been easy as many of you will already know to dine in at most places. Additionally I always think I can make dinner in the time it takes to place an order and have it delivered.  But every now and then I need a change. 

The dinner in the photo below was what we had on Friday. It is a Vietnamese dish of Lemon Grass chicken and rice noodles, salad and a roll dip with vinegar sauce. It was so delicious. I've yet to try making anything other than salad rolls (made with rice paper) and I know and I keep telling myself to get started learning how to at least make some lemon grass chicken and Pad Thai noodles.

 

Saturday night I made stir fried noodles with vegetables and spices (sweet chili sauce, garlic, onions, carrots, zucchini and bell peppers).  I made stir fried beef with onions in soya sauce to go along with it.It was quite nice too. Sunday dinner will be some roasted steak meat along with some roasted vegetables and salad. An easy dinner in the oven and a bag kit for the salad.


I had a bit of a sweet craving and I decided to use up a can of blueberry pie filling. I made a lazy pie with store bought dough, a can of blueberry pie filling to which I added some frozen berries. It was okay but I didn't much like the taste of the pie crust. I will have to make my own next time but I wanted to at least see how the ready made tastes.


 

Have any of you seen the Netflix series called The Woman in the House Across the Street From the Girl in the Window?  What did you think of it?  I watched all 7 episodes over Friday and Saturday. It's a dark comedy/thriller/mystery and "borrows heavily" from the movie The Woman in the Window starring Amy Adams. Overall it was okay but a bit hokey in parts and there was some weak writing here and there.  One such example is the overuse of the word "bingo" uttered by Kristen Bell who plays the series lead. This might not have been that noticeable except that it was used only in the last 1.5 hours of the series so came across as overused.

I also watched Room 2806:  The Accusation a documentary film following events arising from the 2011 sexual assault case involving French politician, Dominique Strauss-Khan (DSK). I had heard about the sexual assault allegation on the news but had not followed the case or known exactly what happened to DSK. Some of you might remember that he was head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the time of the charges against him and a very powerful person in the world's system.  He was heavily favoured to become the next Prime Minister of France after Sarkozy before the accusation ended his career and political aspirations.


Two books I picked up from the library on Friday are underway.  They are rather different from one another. The Lemon Tree Hotel is about a family run hotel located in the Cinque Terra region of Italy. It's a pleasant, romantic novel which makes for some lighter subject matter.  Not a Happy Family is a murder mystery of an elderly, wealthy couple whose offspring all have reason to come under suspicion for the demise of their parents. I haven't gotten far enough along to see what the details are as of yet but the author, Shari Lapena is Canadian and I've read another of her books, The Couple Next Door which I enjoyed.

I've had a good weekend so far.  On Sunday I have a lot of little administrative and paperwork tasks to do and I also hope to do some reading. Lest you think I only cooked and ate and watched television, I did manage to do some errands and wash and fold some laundry. 

Thank you to one of my blog readers, Jeanie from The Marmalade Gypsy who helped me figure out a way to leave comments on blogs once again. Saturday was the first time in a very long while that I was able to not only visit several blogs but also leave comments. Thank you too for your visit today. I appreciate you.


Friday, January 28, 2022

Snapshots over the Week

I had a good week. Though I got off to a slow start I made up for it by the end of the week. 

I had what is probably my last appointment with the plastic surgeon about my facial injuries. They have healed well. Though I have a barely noticeable indentation, it will likely continue to heal over the coming year. In any case, the specialist said I am not a candidate for plastic surgery given underlying health conditions. His statement made me all the more grateful that my face has healed so well. Honestly it looked a fright at the end of September. The difference is like night and day.

The photo below shows the atrium in the Diamond Pavilion of the Vancouver General Hospital where I saw the specialist. I think the ceiling is fabulous. Can you see the stylized canoe, paddler and paddle? A friend joined me as he had an appointment in the same building a few hours after me. We sat and enjoyed a visit over coffee.


 

He has been living downtown near a different hospital over the past months as he has required frequent visits to the hospital. I understand that he will now lose 3 more toes from his right foot after having lost 2 toes about 2 or 3 years ago. Ever since he had the amputation he has had nothing but troubles with his foot and infections in his bone which is why he is now having further amputation. Without it he may lose his entire leg.

The collage below shows some of the street scenes on my walk to the specialist appointment. You can see the day was a bit foggy. We've had a few foggy days this week but the week has ended with beautiful sunshine.



I picked up two new books at the library. Though I have a goal to reduce my reading this year, I find the first months of the year are good for reading when it is still dark and one doesn't have the energy or natural light to do much else like sewing or certain crafts which require light.

I was treated to dinner on Thursday night. I always love a night when I don't have to cook though I still have to do the dishes.

Thank you for stopping by for a visit.

Have a wonderful weekend wherever you are.


Early Skywatch

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