UPDATE ON THE NEIGHBORHOOD FIRE

 Today was a day to catch up with the neighbors to find out what happened with the fire. Turns out it was not a fire on the roof of the building. It was the small building next door. They have a small green house type building behind and they have a barbecue in it. I guess they barbecued and forgot to turn the barbecue off and left for the night (or weekend) and a fire broke out. I think it burned the back of the big building. I amend my story: Do not barbecue on the roof of a building AND do not barbecue inside a building AND do not leave the barbecue on when you leave your home. All good rules to live by. 

I waited around for the locksmith to fix one of the locks he installed. It worked but it was loose. When he arrived, my neighbor just coincidentally locked themselves out and he helped them first. It was an old lock and it took him an hour to get into their home. It wasn't the lock as much as it was the latch was old and the mechanism broke.  I have the same sort of latch but I don't use mine. 

Lucky and I went on a walk while we were waiting. Then after the lock was adjusted, I sat outside for a bit and read my book. I am feeling very tired today. 

I made a black olive pizza today. 

It was super good. 

Going to bed now. 

Until tomorrow...

PROGRESS ON THE FENCE

There has been progress on the fence. I got a phone call from the fence company. I almost fainted. I have been passed the first step and the fence has been shipped to the area. Next week they are going to give me a date. The main guy told me secretly I originally had a date of this Monday. But because I had not passed the first step, they had to push the date back. My fence will only take one day so they can do it rather quickly. 

I had my doctor's visit today with the ENT doctor. I researched what would happen before I went and I was not disappointed. I had a tube put down my nose. Even though it is numbed it is not pleasant. It actually hurt. (although I feel like I can breathe easier now!) He looked and did not see anything. He made me "he he he" over and over again. I guess that makes your throat do a certain thing. No cancer, polyps, or anything else. Good news. 

Now the plan is that I have to get an endoscopy and go see a laryngologist. I need to get an endoscopy to see if the problems (chest pain/voice) are from reflux/heartburn. I am going to see a laryngologist to see if the voice problem is not connected to the chest pain. It seems that this is a more complicated issue than I thought. It may be that my long term use of prednisone could have effected my voice. We shall see. 

I was making dinner when I heard a siren, then another, then another. I went outside and the apartment building across the street was on fire. Long story short seems that someone was barbecuing on the roof and it caught on fire. There were 10 fire trucks and 25 fire people.  It was madness. We all stood there. I tried in vain to reach my neighbor who lives next door to the apartment building. The fire was put out and everyone (including pets) are okay. I think some folks are sleeping in hotels tonight with smoke and water damage. Lesson: don't BBQ on the roof in a drought. 

I finally got inside and was starved. I shelved the idea I had for dinner and made a quick stir fry. 

I just have to show you this absolutely cut photo of Lucky. 

It is her favorite book about dogs "Letters to my dog". 

Until tomorrow...

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VEGAN CHOCOLATE GANACHE PUDDING

 I took the ganache that was leftover from the cake the other day and added more coconut milk. I put it in ramekins and put it in the fridge. I added a few jimmies and now I wait until it cools. It is a decadent dessert. 

I waited all day for the call from the fence people. No call. I spoke to the main guy and he said he spoke to the owner. The materials have already shown up in Southern CA so this company better get it's act together. The main guy said he was on the phone with Plan B when the owner of the fencing company called to say it was moving forward. At this point it is important to say, I have not put out any money on this deal. So I don't feel like I am scammed. I can walk away if I need to. I have even been told that the main guy is coming to make sure it all goes to plan. He was going to come my way anyway and now he is making sure he comes the same day just to make sure this project happens. It turns out he used to be a project manager so he will check it all out for me. I think I will sweeten the deal with an offer of baked goods. Good idea?? 

Tomorrow is my appointment with the ENT doctor. I am a bit nervous. I had to fill out paperwork on the website and it had information about all sorts of conditions. The more I read the more nervous I got. Tomorrow is not coming fast enough for me.

Until tomorrow...

GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS

 This is a good news bad news situation. I got a phone call early today from the main fence guy telling me the fence company would be calling me today to set up a time for the guy to come out and put the flags. I got all happy that progress was happening. Here's the bad news: no phone call again.  I told the guy yesterday that I was nearing the end of my rope with this company. Today was the final straw. The guy told me he was working on finding me a plan B. So we may have to cancel this contract and go with a plan B. 

Good new of the day is that I called the landscaper back and he is coming next week. I know it will be only a consult but let's see what happens. Just any progress at this rate! 

Besides that I never got out of my pajamas today. I was waiting for the phone call from the fence people. I did not want to miss it. Then I took a bath after business hours. 

I made a stir fry for dinner that was delicious using zucchini, red pepper, tofu and yellow squash. 

Lucky is asleep right now. I hope she sleeps tonight. Last night she had a stuffy nose and was up late trying to fall asleep. I finally had to give her cough medicine to make her sleep. She does not like getting knocked out but imagine trying to sleep when your nose is stuffy and you only breath out of your nose. (dogs only breath out of their noses when they sleep curled in a ball) She was miserable and I was wide awake. I will sleep well tonight.

Until tomorrow...

VEGAN FUNFETTI CAKE

 I woke up today and decided to bake a cake. I found a cake recipe in Real Simple that has no eggs and no butter. It is a vegan funfetti type cake. That is where you put jimmies in the cake. I had to scramble to get together enough jimmies to make the 3 tablespoons I needed. There are regular jimmies, Christmas jimmies and Valentine's day jimmies all mixed together. In the cake you can't tell since they get baked in the batter. I put chocolate ganache on top with more "jimmies" in flower shapes.The cake tastes delicious and is super moist. 

It was a warm day so I had to put this cake in the refrigerator very fast so the ganache would set.

It was a day of the gas/electric guy coming by again to mark the place where the fence will be built. Once again the fence people have not marked the area so it was another wasted trip. Then I had a food delivery. I also had a phone call from a landscaper. It was a busy day. 

Until tomorrow...

RICE PILAF WITH SAUTEED MUSHROOMS

 Today I made rice pilaf with fresh shiitake mushrooms. It tastes really good. I made the pilaf and then mixed in the sauteed mushrooms. Yum!

It was just a day full of work and zooms. Lucky went to the park and is zonked out on the couch. She has been so happy with her new toy.

I put carrot pieces in the hidie holes and she has to open them and find them. She still hasn't figured out that the orange parts move in a circle so the long white parts can move back and forth. She is smart and she will figure it out eventually. It keeps her entertained which is the most important thing. 

I am heading to bed. I am so tired but the soreness in my hands is not as bad today. That is a good thing.

Until tomorrow...

HANDS AND FEET STILL HURTING

 Today was a relax day. I have so much pain in my hands and feet that I need as many resting days as I can get. I was supposed to get some work done but I just could not. Instead I watched the end of the Disney series Loki and I sat outside reading for a bit. 

This extended flare has been really hard. I keep waiting for the Orencia to kick in. 

I need to get some rest. 

Until tomorrow...

VEGAN TOFU NUGGETS

 I had to walk to the post office today. I really did not want to because my feet hurt so much but I needed to get my mail. Lucky and I walked down and back on this nice sunny day. 

I sat outside and tried to read a book but I almost fell asleep so I came inside. Nothing worse than falling asleep in the sun and getting sunburned. 

I decided to try a new recipe for Tofu Nuggets. They are a little spicy but you can make them as spicy as you want. They are baked instead of fried. They are really good. I ate them with the yellow squash casserole I made the other day. 

Now I am off to watch Avengers Endgame. 

Until tomorrow...

CHAIR SAGA PART DEUX #4 THE FINALE

 I had court this morning for my ex-foster kid. It went well. It is now a hybrid. I was on zoom and he was in person. 

My handyman came and did some work. First he put together my replacement chair. It works great! It became clear that the other chair was not put together correctly. The back was not put on correctly. He took the old chair apart to move it downstairs. When he put it back together I thought for one minute it would not make that noise but alas, it still made the noise. That's okay. I am using the chair downstairs as a secondary chair.  He also moved my big green chair into the garage. I need to donate it but I am exhausted by all this moving right now. It will sit for a while. I put all my back up TP and paper towel on it. 

I made a vegan yellow squash casserole for dinner. It came out better than I expected. It has yellow squash, diced tomatoes, coconut milk, Italian bread crumbs and vegan cheese. 

Until tomorrow...

TIME FOR CELEBRATION

This is day four and I have been excused from jury duty. I do not have to appear. They never called my number. The gods looked down on me. 

A person with a Porsche parked part way into my driveway and all the way in my red zone. This has happened many times and many times I have "ticket and towed" the car. Today I decided to ticket the car. It maybe my new neighbors car and I don't want another neighbor upset with me. Although why they get upset with me, I don't understand. Who parks blocking someone's driveway without permission for hours and expects their car to be there when they return? 

Not much else happened today other than the fence company called to say I was not forgotten and they would be calling next week. I guess there was some sort of admin snafu. 

Until tomorrow...