It's Been a Long Time

But really, very little has happened in the Nest. Several bad things at work, but this is not a place for whining. A sudden, sharp descent into perimenopause that maybe should also not be detailed (so as not to scare anyone under 30 who might read this). The onset of hot weather abnormally early, which suggests we're in for a long, hot summer, which will just make me yearn for more temperate, greener clims with water even more than I am already.

Mr. Big celebrated his 14.5 month birthday two weeks ago. The sudden onset of heat is hard on him, and his acupuncture vet was out of town for 5 weeks, so he became very stiff and very weak in the rear end without his regular maintenance. Hopefully, we can get him back on track now that she's returned.

I undertook the 28 Day Challenge that Prevention magazine hosted, and lost about 1.5 lbs. My personal goal was to do the weekly exercises so as to get back on track with my hand weights and exercises, since that's where I've had trouble since Biggie got sick and the puppy came. I think it may have helped with that, so I'm repeating the challenge on my own in June to see if the exercising can become more routine.  Keeping track of my diet for three months with the food app on my new phone shows that I am remarkably consistent with my diet, although there's always room for improvement.

And speaking of diets, here's my holiday weekend surprise discovery: grilled pineapple. Delicious! I can't believe how incredibly sweet and juicy this pineapple was. T came over, with her dog, and took the pineapple crown back to grow. In her garden, it will. In mine, it would have just been burnt to a crisp.

And let's see if I can upload a photo from my phone to this blog. My new mini rosebush that is my current centerpiece.

Red-tailed Hawk

There's a red-tailed hawk in a eucalyptus tree near my office. This afternoon there was quite a ruckus coming from the nest as Mama and Papa Hawk brought take-out dinner home. Tomorrow I'm going bet with a slightly better camera and my binoculars. I love their cry; it sounds so wild in the middle of this urban blandness.

Dash Away, Dash Away, Dash Away Home

Our desert gets a lot of winter visitors, both human and animal, who tuck their tails under and head for cooler climes before the summer heat settles in. Snow birds, we call the humans. Here are some of the real birds who winter here, and will soon be departing for summer vacations in the cooler north.

A white-crowned sparrow.He's going to summer vacation in Alaska and northwestern Canada.

A sage thrasher. They're not terribly rare down here, but one in the city is pretty unusual, and this one turned up in the park near my office. I love urban birding.

 See his streaked breast? Or can you? It's a terrible photo, I know. This little guy spent one day playing hide-and-seek with me, so I had to settle for what I could get. He's going to summer in the Rockies, lucky bird.

Ah, but this beauty will not desert me. He'll stick with us here in the brown desert, through the hot, hot summer, and through the cold winter, with its occasional hard freezes and burst water pipes. 

I just can't help but smile when I see a vermilion flycatcher. The burst of color in the drab desert winter--a brief moment of joy, just joy, at Mother Nature's gifts.

Wait? What kind of bird is this? A Harris' antelope squirrel, practicing acrobatics.

Phone Photos

I've finally joined the 21st century, a decade and a half (nearly) into it, and have a smartphone. Yes, it may be smarter than me. But I'm trying to get comfortable using the camera, and so here are a few examples of photos taken on a recent walk along the river park with this newfangled thingamabob. Not bad.

Virga over the mountains to the west

Anna's hummingbird

Anna's hummingbird

Anna's hummingbird

Phainopepla

Phainopepla

Phainopepla

Graduation from Class No. 7

...and she still pulls on leash.  Le sigh grande....

First year check up today, and everyone at the vet hospital mentioned how happy they were that she's survived last summer and how she was worth all that debt. She is, but that doesn't mean I don't get cranky that she still pulls on leash.

Cooking Without Photos

This week's Cooking Light recipes have been the chicken with mushroom sauce from the Jan. 2011 issue, the zucchini galette from the July 2012 issue, and the cucumber and feta cheese bites from the Jan. 2014 issue. It was impossible to get a photo of the chicken breast, which I modified by using a red onion instead of shallots; every photos is either blurry (dang you, camera!) or the onions and mushrooms look green and gelatinous. It was delicious; but then, how can anything with mushrooms and onions be otherwise?

I think I went a little too heavy on the garlic in the zucchini galette. And I didn't have time to make the crust so substituted a store-bought pie crust, which is never as good, but made this a very fast dinner.

And the cucumber bites were also very good. I was out of Greek yogurt, so used the plain nonfat yogurt I had on hand, which meant my filling was runnier than it should have been. I also didn't have any walnuts to sprinkle on top, but we all know I'm not slave to a recipe.

I'll try to post a photo of the galette, but it's on my Instagram account (account to right) in case you're interested. There are some breakfasts I want to try next, when I have a free weekend morning to savor the goodness.

What's for dinner?

I've been craving meat lately, so decided to buy a cut of meat I've never made before, which meat I had to go recipe hunting to decide how to prepare it. Cooking Light (Dec. 2002) to the rescue--boneless sirloin tip with horseradish-mustard sauce. The meat was perfect--rubbed with garlic, salt and pepper, cooked to 140 degrees (medium-rare). The homemade horseradish and mustard sauce is delicious and very strong--no sinus problems here this week, LOL. Meat needs potatoes, so a tried and true scalloped potatoes recipe from Better Home and Garden's cookbook accompanied them, although I tweaked the recipe and added mushrooms for some extra umph.