This has been a mostly low key week around here. We started the week with a big storm and then Covid descended on the house and then the bitter cold so we stayed inside, didn’t go anywhere and cooked and read and played Wordle. Read on for more.
Update on Jenny Lane
John got back into his destruction mode. One very quick visit from our plumber who removed the radiators and put in some flex to keep the heat going and John was given the go ahead to take down the rest of the walls in the laundry room and bathroom. He could hardly wait. We have a lot of items on order before the guys can come back and start the restructuring so we wait.
After he took the walls down this is what we are left with for the time being. The green insulation will also go away but not until the new foam insulation can go in. We have a new window ordered for the bathroom and we are hoping to move the current window into the laundry room. All the pipes and wires will be hidden behind new walls and a dropped ceiling. The electrician needs to make a visit to put in the wiring for new plugs and lights. What is there now is temporary. Unfortunately when John took off the bottom part of the wall in the bathroom area he discovered that the drain pipe that was behind it was leaking. Surprise, surprise. We knew that corner was wet but we thought we had solved the problem by repairing the drains and removing the toilet that had a crack in the tank. Not so, the pipe is leaking and will have to be replaced. Fine with me. I don’t want any of the old copper pipes left behind our new walls. So the plumber will come back again and replace that pipe before any new walls go up. We are hoping that maybe later this week we will see some upward moving progress.
The copper pipe is the one that is leaking.
Covid Found our House
Last weekend Katie wasn’t feeling too well but assumed that she had her normal January cold. She did a home test and it was negative even though she had a cough and no voice. On Wednesday she still wasn’t feeling well so decided to do another home test before going into work. It was positive. It sucked the wind out of her. She has been ultra, ultra careful, masking up with KN95 masks and using hand sanitizer and cleaning with Clorox wipes everywhere. She was able to find an appointment at our local New London hospital for that afternoon for a PCR test just to be sure. After all she had one negative and one positive test so which one was right? Unfortunately the positive one was. She has been isolating in her room and only coming out for dinner. Always masked and at least six feet away from us if she was not. The nurse followed up and told her to do that for five days and then she could go out and about but she was to wear a mask for another five days. However, she is still not feeling very well and is very tired. Thank goodness she was double vaccinated and boosted. This isn’t fun. John and I were supposed to go away for the weekend but we didn’t feel that was the responsible thing to do so we canceled our trip and will try again in the spring. Now we wait to see if we get it or whether it will pass us by. Highly unlikely as we live in the same house but we shall see.
Exercise
The exercise bike got a big workout this week. As Katie has her office in the room where the treadmill is I didn’t go in there to use the tread. What I have been doing is broadcasting the Peloton classes to the big tv in the bonus room and using my very simple indoor bike to ride. They talk a lot about resistance and cadence. I figured the tension button would get me close to the resistance that was needed and I tried converting miles per hour to cadence but wasn’t too sure about how accurate I might be. Therefore, on to Amazon and I bought a very inexpensive cadence sensor for the bike pedal. It works pretty well and has given me a better idea of how mph translate to cadence. I wasn’t off by much. Sure was cheaper than buying another piece of exercise equipment. Did at least an hour each day and a couple of outside short walks with the dogs. It was too cold for them too.
Lots of Cooking
With Katie out of the kitchen it was left to John and me to do the cooking. I had some fun creating a few meals and made a couple of soups that were awesome. A goal of mine is to try and get us eating healthier again. We kind of let things slide for the last two years. I always go back to the 10-Day Detox Diet by Dr. Mark Hyman for inspiration. A number of years ago John and I did the diet very strictly and we both felt better for it. That wasn’t where I wanted to go this time but I did want to be reminded about some healthy eating tips. I found a great soup and made it as well as my favorite Big Batch Adventist Soup from Blue Zones. The two soups are very similar. Lots of wonderful vegetables and some spices. Very easy to make. Here is the one for the first of the soups.
INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
1 small chicken, ; cut into quarters (I used boneless chicken breasts)
3 medium carrots, ; peeled and sliced into half-moons
4 stalks celery ; diced
2 medium onions ; diced
1 quart reduced sodium chicken stock
salt and pepper ; to taste
1 cup kale or spinach
1 cup fresh parsley ; chopped
4 Servings
INSTRUCTIONS:
Heat oil in a medium soup pot over medium heat. Brown the chicken 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Remove and set aside. Add the vegetables (minus the kale or spinach) to the pot and cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Put the chicken in the pot, add the chicken stock, and bring to a boil Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for about 45 minutes, until the chicken starts to fall off the bones. Remove the bones. Skim any grease off the top with a ladle. Season with salt and pepper. Add the kale or spinach and allow them to wilt. Add parsley and serve with a green salad.
