Today's the Day!

I go to see Dr. K today and he will put that dreadful microscope thingy up my nose and down the back of my throat to see what is happening with my vocal chords. I think everything will be OK as my voice is fine although I'm still having some pain and bleeding. Anyway - what will be......

I made BBQ chicken breasts last night. However, the wind came up and blew the ash from the barbie all over the chicken. I hate when that happens. I had to bring my breasts in and wash them. In the end, they tasted great with BBQ baked beans, asparagus and fresh fruit.

I think we are going away this weekend to Temecula. Mr. Indi wants to take me to the country club where he had his works meeting a few months ago. He says it's fabulous and quite posh - ooo errr - I'll have to watch me manners! No belching allowed.

The pic is yet another flower from the Quail Botanical Gardens.

Anybody Seen Ginger?

A fellow blogger, Vanessa, had suggested that Mr. Indi try some ginger to calm his bumbly tummy following chemo - and, after she mentioned this, I recall that Ma used to give us Ginger Beer (no alcohol) when we were kids with a bellyache. So, on Sunday we went in search of ginger.

We didn't have to go far because the World Market carries all kinds of ginger products - many of them manufactured by a company called: the ginger people (gp) Here is a link to their web: http://www.gingerpeople.com/ and others by the Chimes Gourmet Co: http://www.chimesgourmet.com/ There were several products to choose from and we decided on 2 types of candy and a bottle of ginger drink.

Chimes ( distributed by Roxy Trading Co.) are little chewy candies made with ginger essence. They are quite delicious and VERY gingery - bordering on hot. Gin-Gins are a hard candy that are also very gingery but not quite as hot as the Chimes. Mr. Indi found both of them very soothing on his tummy and very refreshing on his taste buds which are still a bit fuzzy. The drink that we found is called Ginger Soother with honey and lemon. The sediment that collects on the bottom of the bottle was a bit off-putting but after a good shake, the drink looked quite civilized. I had a taste and must say it is quite lovely - very smooth and a little warm but not hot. Mr. Indi has had a glass of it each day before going to work and he says it is helping with his queasies.

If you are on chemo or know someone who is - get down to the World Market and get some ginger products for relief of nausea. AND - a big Thank You to Vanessa for suggesting this.

Today's picture is one that I took at Quail Gardens. It's some kind of a trailing vine. Quite stunning.

Beautiful Redlands

More about our visit to Redlands. The city is home to many buildings that are of architectural significance including the beautiful Morey Mansion - pictured here. The mansion was built in 1890 by David Morey, a ship's carpenter. It is considered one of the finest American Victorian homes in the West and has had many famous visitors including Clark Gable.

The grounds surrounding the mansion are planted with trees and shrubs that compliment the colours of the lovely building.

The Morey Mansion is now an upscale Bed and Breakfast Inn and if you would like to spend a few days there you can see the info at this link. http://www.moreymansion.com/rooms.htm

For our lunch in Redlands, we went to the Gourmet Pizza Shoppe on State Street. Let me tell you, this pizza is to die for. The ambiance is nothing to write home about - kind of like sitting in a giant warehouse with a very high ceiling and lots of clattering, banging and echoes swirling around. When we walked in there was a poor old chap with artificial legs sitting at the first table - he had taken his legs off and propped them up against the wall! As I said - not great in the ambiance department! BUT - I have never seen a pizza joint where you can get pizza with bacon and scrambled egg or mashed potatoes and gravy - ON THE PIZZA! Yes. I'll bet it's delish too. We had the Saucy Sicilian and it was heavenly.

On my way back to the freeway as we were heading home, I saw this sign. I stopped the car in the middle of the street - left it running - dived out with my camera and snapped it! Mr. Indi thought I had finally gone completely bonkers - but I had to do it. AND I hope she likes it! XXX

Hangar 24 - Pale Ale

Yesterday, Mr. Indi was feeling 100% better and wanted to get out of the house so I drove out to Redlands to visit the Hangar 24 Brewery. We had learned about the brewery when Mr. Indi tried their Pale Ale a few weeks ago at Mario's Place. The brewery really is in an airplane hangar at Redlands Airport and it's easy to spot because of the large vat or tank or summat to do with brewing that sits outside of the building.

It's a very small brewery with just one room (about 1/2 of the hanger) full of equipment. I just love these huge copper vats. I bet they cost a few bob! They have beer tasting on Saturdays from noon till 5 - so we had a little taste. Mr. Indi tried the Apricot Wheat beer. Yucko! I had the Pale Ale which is very nice and very close to an English beer in flavour. They are launching a new brew this month; Extra Special Bitter. We might have to drive out there again and sample

As well as beer, you can also purchase the obligatory t-shirt with the company logo. Very nice.

As you can see from the photo - they don't get too many jumbo jets at Redlands Airport - just a few Cessnas and a cement mixer - I wonder where he flew in from? We had a lovely day out as we explored other parts of Redlands too. Will share that in next blog.

Bedtime

As I was getting ready for bed last night, I remarked to Mr. Indi, who was already tucked in, that it wasn't but a few years ago that I used to go to bed with:

A birth control pill

A can of Bud

A packet of Marlboro

A Man

(Not necessarily in that order)

Now I go to bed with:

Pain killers for my arthritis and sciatica

Elixir for my throat

Nose spray for my sinuses

A pill to help me sleep

A couple of Tums in case I start belching

Gasex in case I start farting

An ice bag for my hot feet

Earplugs in case the neighbors dogs start barking

Eyeglasses so that I can see my book

What happened????

The picture is of the lovely chrysanthemums that S gave me xxxxxx

T.H.I.S - Thank Heavens it's Saturday!

Yesterday was horrible. No - it was worse than horrible. I wish that it had never occured! But - it did. Sigh!

Mr. Indi got really sick in the afternoon. He hadn't been feeling well all day and took a nap after lunch but when he woke up, he was unable to stand up without feeling like he was going to keel over any minute. He was very pale and his skin was cool and clammy even though he said he was sweating. I got him to lie back down on the bed and elevated his feet above his head. He has had these nasty turns before - usually within a week or two of having the Lupron shot. In the past, his blood pressure has dropped and his pulse rate has shot up and I didn't need to get the BP machine out to know that this is what was happening again.

I put my nurse's hat on and went to work. I made some beef broth - with extra salt to get his blood pressure up - and got that down his neck. Then I went looking for Gatorade (a good source of electrolytes.) I found a couple of bottles in the garage fridge with sell-by date of May 30 - hmmmm - well that's not long gone and May 30 is the sell-by date NOT the drink-by date. And, after all, beggars can't be choosers! I took a swig and it wasn't bad so told his Lordship to start drinking it. After the Gatorade was gone - he started on ice water. By dinner time he was stable and felt well enough to come into the living room and lie on the couch. He ate a good sized plate of pasta for dinner and went to bed early.

While taking care of him, I was having my own problems. The spasms and pains in my throat have been getting more frequent and yesterday I was having a really hard time with it all - plus the bleeding has started up again! Grrrr. I hope it's the after affects of radiation and not something worse. I see Dr. K next Wednesday - fingers will be crossed.

While Mr. Indi was laying on the bed, being very ill - our next door neighbor got his leaf blower out and marched it up and down the driveway at full steam! I think his leaf blower has become part of his manhood. He likes it too much! When the leaf blower finally stopped - his dogs started barking! Ahhhhhhhh. No peace for the wicked is there?

Mr. Indi feels much better this morning and I'm doing OK. We might go for a drive later on - or we might not! Today's picture was taken on the rocks at Cardiff-by-the-Sea.

Where's the Pepto?

Mr. Indi was queasy yesterday but he still got up and went to work very early - 3:30 a.m. but he was back at home by noon and wanted to go out for lunch. We decided upon Chilli's - we haven't been there for quite a while.

We were so pleased to see two of our favourite waitresses. They had both been out for a few months on maternity leave but were now back to work and glowing with pride as they showed us photos of their adorable babies; A beautiful girl and a gorgeous boy. Babies are just the most amazing little things.

His Lordship didn't do well with his lunch even though he had ordered the blandest thing he could find on the menu - a green salad and a bowl of chicken soup. He couldn't even drink a glass of cold beer - so I had to drink it for him! The queasy feeling just wouldn't go away. I drove back home and he put his head down and slept for over an hour - but when he got up, the tummy was still bumbly! Sigh. I wish I could help him feel better.

The pic today is another one that I took at Quail Gardens. This flower is on a tree but I don't know what kind of tree. It's lovely though.