The last half of April 2018

On my Tuesday Docent Day at the Desert Botanical Garden on the 17th, my morning shift was at the Cactus Station.  Next to the station is an arm of a saguaro cactus.  The story as I know it is that several years ago (I have heard as recently as 8 or 9 years ago to as most as nearly 20 years ago), this arm broke off a mature saguaro cactus.  It was trimmed at the base and put into appropriate soil and it grew roots, much like any cutting from other non-desert plants.  And since that happened it has more than doubled in height and is about six feet tall now.  And this year, for the first time it is growing some blossoms.

Those light green circles on some of the areoles will become blossoms

That horizontal line is the height when the arm was transplanted here

We made some additions to the kitchen cabinets that were installed for us.  Patty and I made these changes ourselves.  To the left of the kitchen sink, there were three drawers.  The bottom and middle drawers were deep enough to have an additional interior drawer added.  So we went shopping at Ikea and got the necessary parts, assembled the drawers and then installed them.  Instead of kitchen utensils being stacked on top of each other, these extra drawers make it easier to store and access the utensils.

We also added a drawer under the kitchen sink - no more getting down on our knees to find things under the sink.

I have started making soup.  Other than breakfasts and frozen foods, I have never been one to cook much.  But this year, I decided that I would start making some soups.  We had not used the Brussels sprouts and cauliflower that we bought at the Farmers' Market.  So I did a search on line and found a recipe for making roasted Brussels sprouts and cauliflower soup.  You cut the sprouts and cauliflower florets in half and coat them with canola oil, roast them in the oven and then add them to sauteed shallots and vegetable broth, then chop it into a creamy soup in the blender.  Here is my first attempt, with a few pieces of the roasted sprouts and florets left whole for appearances.  I have made it two more times since then, including a double recipe for the Tuesday Docent potluck luncheon on May 1.  I have also made some potato and bacon soup.  

Our friend Cathy called me for helping moving what she called an armoire to put it on consignment sale at My Sisters Attic.  I had anticipated a large armoire like I have in my room, some 22 inches deep, 36 inches wide and 66 inches tall.  Instead, it was a jewelry armoire only about 45 inches tall and 18 inches wide and deep.  It is a very nice piece of furniture that had been owned by her mother (her mom died last year).

At the Mesquite Station on my afternoon docent shift on the 24th, there were some very active ground squirrels, and as with the birds, they did not seem too scared of being near humans.

Back to our kitchen renovations, on the 27th, we took delivery of a sliding spice rack.  The top drawer to the left of the stove was completely filled with some 36 bottles of spices - I neglected to take  a photo of it before it was emptied; now holds kitchen knives.

From the aptly named Vertical Spice Rack Company, on Friday the 27th, we got this maple sliding spice rack.  The lazy Susan shelves in the corner cabinet between  the stove and the sink has about four inches of space on both sides of the rotating shelves.  This sliding spice rack is screwed to the bottom of the cabinet and has heavy duty metal slides which allow it to be pulled out of the cabinet.  It holds not only all the spices from the drawer but also some of the items from the rotating shelves.

And it slides back into the space and allows the door to be closed.  What an amazing item.

Last but not least, I have started on another project.  I do not like painting, but I have started to paint the walls in my bedroom.  Part of the room will be green and part will be red.  I will post more photos as the project continues.

Kitchen Renovation - 99.9% done, Friday, April 13

The contractors who installed the counter tops failed to drill pilot holes when installing the bracket that holds the dishwasher in place - this caused the panel next to the dishwasher to split.  They were going to cover it up with caulking compound, but I refused to allow that.  So we had to wait several weeks for a replacement panel to come and for a contractor to come and replace the panel.  That was done this morning, and the dishwasher is now screwed into place.  Other than a few touch ups of paint and trim, the kitchen is 99.9% done.  The color scheme is perfect with the two rugs we got during 2011 in Nepal when we visited the Tibetan Refugee Center while volunteering with Habitat for Humanity.

And now it is on to other projects.

Wednesday mornings at Saint Vincent de Paul, March and April 2018

Back at the beginning of 2018, I started volunteering at Saint Vincent de Paul with our long time friend Jane.  Jane's dad Bob had been a long time volunteer with SVDP back when he lived in Waltham, MA.  So Jane and I started scheduling a two hour shift in the main kitchen - they produce 4500 meals per day for the six dining rooms they have in the Phoenix metro area.  There are a variety of tasks and they are all done for large quantities of what ever we were assigned.

In January and February, it was mostly cutting up potatoes and carrots.  March 7, we cut up red and green peppers.

March 14, 21 and 28, it was cutting hams that had been frozen - slicing as evenly as possible then put 44 slices per large pan, four rows of eleven.  Then stack the pans on a cart.  When the cart is full, cover it with a large bag, mark it with the date and what is on the cart, then store the cart in the walk in coolers.

Last week it was peeling and dicing onions -  but I neglected to take photos.  This week it was opening boxes, then opening cans with a manual can opener mounted on the table, then draining the juices and congealed fat, then breaking up the meat and filling a large 55 gallon barrel.

Each week, we learn a little more of the system - where to put dirty knives and cutting boards, where the empty boxes are recycled, where the trash gets dumped and compacted, etc.  It is amazing to be one of the volunteers that work with the staff to produce those 4,500 meals, 365 days per year.

More birds on my brain, Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Tuesday morning I was at the Cactus Station for two hours - lots of visitors on Community Day (previously known as Free Tuesday) at the Desert Botanical Garden.  But it was not until my two hour afternoon shift at the Mesquite Station that I saw this hummingbird.  S/he rested repeatedly on this limb near me - so I decided to see how close I could get to take photos.  So I approached slowly with my arms outstretched with my cellphone and snapped this series of photos over a period of a couple of minutes.  My cell phone camera does allow for four times magnification so that is what I used for all of these photos, but that still means I got very close to this wonderful bird.

S/he was not deterred by me - but finally flew off after I had walked away after taking this series of photos.