Sunday, March 5, 2023

The Weekend

Freshly Baked Cinnamon Rolls from Daughter's Friend A

It has been a mostly cloudy and cool weekend, with some rain on Sunday morning.  I have had to increase the heating to 70F, but, more on that, later.

My daughter's friend A likes to bake and last year, she baked some cinnamon rolls and brought us some to try, and they were some of the best cinnamon rolls I had eaten.  Last week, I was wanting some cinnamon rolls and I asked my daughter to ask her friend if she could make me some cinnamon rolls that I would pay her.  A had replied that she will certainly bake me some cinnamon rolls, but, she didn't want any payment.  So, I offered to make her some chicken curry in exchange, and that offer was accepted!  A likes my chicken curry!

Saturday was the day when she was going to bring me the cinnamon rolls.  I made the chicken curry in the morning.

While I was waiting for A to arrive, neighbor S called me.  Her sister-in-law had made some lasagna and brought some to her; would I like to have some?  I love lasagna, so, of course, I said I'd love to have some!  A few minutes later, she brought me a plate of lasagna:


Lasagna from Neighbor S
(made by her sister-in-law)

We were both masked and we met outside the door when S handed me the plate of lasagna.  I appreciate the fact that she wears a mask whenever she meets me.

Daughter's friend A arrived a few minutes later, with cinnamon rolls that were still warm from the oven!  She, too, wore a mask when she came over (and I had my mask on when I opened the door).  She did come inside and I gave her the container of chicken curry that I had served for her.  I didn't realize that she had placed the cinnamon rolls in a glass baking pan until she had left, otherwise I would have given the dish back to her right away.  But, she has since said not to worry about it, that, she can collect the dish later.  She also said that the chicken curry was delicious.  

Then, it was time to pick up my groceries, so I did that.  After I came home, I warmed up and ate a piece of the lasagna  and then ate one of the cinnamon rolls!  It was delicious!  

On Saturday, I felt a little discomfort in my throat.  It wasn't a scratchy sore throat, but, it hurt to swallow.  I think my tonsils (yes, I still have them) were enlarged.  Otherwise, I felt fine and had no aches and pains or fever.  I haven't been anywhere except to the doctor's office and I wore my mask the entire time I was there and I am always masked when I meet people, so I didn't think I had caught anything.  But, I gargled with warm salt water, had hot soup for dinner (had half a bagel with cream cheese, later), drank coriander tea (our panacea for everything), ate a mandarin for the vitamin C and increased the heat.  The thermostat had been set at 60F during the night and raised to 65F when I woke up.  In the evening, I realized that the air I was breathing was so cold that I had pulled up my scarf to cover my nose so I could breathe through it to warm up the air I was breathing.  Cold and wet weather usually affect my asthma and the recent rains have raised the humidity levels as well.  So, I increased the heater to 70F and lowered it to 65F at night.

On Sunday, I woke up feeling just fine.  No difficulty swallowing, no swollen tonsils, nothing.  But, I've kept the thermostat at 70F!  It rained a bit in the morning and the rest of the day was cloudy and a bit chilly.  I had the other half of the bagel with cream cheese for brunch; dinner was a piece of lasagna and another cinnamon roll!  I was going to eat only half of the cinnamon roll, but, I ate the whole thing!  It was so good!

I've taken it easy, today.  I slept in, watched some online videos, spoke with neighbor T, chatted with friend R, did the dishes, cleaned the microwave, and, of course, cleaned the litter box.  

This weekend, I am grateful for:

- Neighbor S bringing me some lasagna
- Daughter's friend A baking me some cinnamon rolls
- My sore throat got better and turned out to be nothing to worry about
- Being able to pick up groceries
- A warm home

The weekend's joyful activities included exchanging food with friends and relaxing.

Plans for tomorrow include some paperwork and the usual Monday housekeeping, etc.

How was your weekend?  What are your plans for Monday?

20 comments:

  1. Keep warm, Keep well, my friend. I had my tonsils out in 1960 just before I was 5

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    1. Thank you, Angela. My mother said that my father (a medical doctor) always believed that tonsils were the body's first line of defense and didn't want them taken out. Later, I remember her asking my oldest half brother (also a medical doctor) for his opinion (I must have been around 10 years old, then) and, he, too, didn't see the need to have them removed. So, I still have them and every now and then, they remind me that they are still there! :D I am keeping the heater on for now and will pay the heating bill without complaining too much!

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  2. Those cinnamon rolls look so delicious and a nice exchange for your chicken curry and how nice of your neighbour to bring lasagna for you.
    It's cold here too and I'm glad your sore throat was short-lived. Similar to what happened to me as I had some 24 hour germ that made me feel so ill but I was feeling better by the following day. Take care and stay warm.

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    1. The cinnamon rolls are delicious! I warm them up in the microwave for a few seconds before I eat them as they are best when slightly warm and soft. I was happy to exchange my chicken curry for them! :D
      Yes, I think the cold, damp weather (it rained last night, too) is probably causing some mold to grow in the garden (wet leaf litter, etc.) and the mold spores are probably triggering some of my allergies. I turned the heater down to 65F, but, I have my heated rice pack around my neck to keep me warm. :)
      I hope you are feeling quite well, now, Eileen. Those 24 hour germs can be quite nasty.

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  3. I am glad to hear that you were able to nip what ever was brewing before it could be something. I also still have my tonsils, my Mother & Granmother both believed they were like the canaries in the coal mine, the body's warning system. How kind of friends & neighbours to bring you some delicious food.

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    1. Thank you, Mary-Lou; yes, the trick is to try to nip these things before they get a hold of you! I'm glad that it was something I could get rid of fairly easily. I was worried that it might have been the dreaded virus; even though I am always masked when I am out and about or in close proximity to people, masks aren't 100% effective, are they?
      Yes, the tonsils are supposed to be the body's first line of defense. :)
      It was a treat to receive the food from friends and neighbors. :)

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  4. I'm so glad that you felt better yesterday. I guess the cold, damp weather was really getting to you. I still have my tonsils, DH doesn't. It was very common to take out tonsils when we were children.
    The weather was sunny yesterday and we had a good walk and met a neighbour and chatted. It is sunny and mild (by Canadian standards!) today as well. DH is fetching up sap pails as it seems to be likely that the sap will run soon. But the snow is so deep that it will be hard to get to the trees! At least it starts to shrink when the sun is out and the temperature goes above freezing.

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    1. Thank you, Bushlady. I don't do cold and damp very well! It's 56F outside and I had the heater on at 65F and I was all bundled up and still feeling cold! So, I gave in and turned it up to 70F, again.
      I'm glad you are having some sunny and mild (by your standards) weather and the sap might start to run soon! :) I hope you are able to collect lots of sap and make plenty of syrup!

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  5. Hi Bless! What a beautiful system of sharing food! I've been craving cinnamon rolls!!! If the worst of your cold weather is over, maybe your heating bill won't be much higher if you set it warmer. Your proactive drinking of hot soup, tea, and gargling with salt water probably helped you fight off any germs in your throat! andrea

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    1. Hi Andrea, if you were closer, I'd have shared a cinnamon roll with you. :) I'm blessed to have friends and neighbors who share food with me.
      I am hoping that the warm weather will come soon! We are having an unusually cold winter and the price of natural gas has increased. I am not using more gas than I have earlier, but, my bill has more than doubled due to the cost of gas going up! I mustn't complain; I'm thankful that I can pay the higher bills.
      Yes, I think the gargling with warm salt water and drinking hot drinks helped! Good old fashioned home remedies!

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  6. The food exchanges sound wonderful. And good on you for overcoming your sore throat so fast!

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    1. Thank you, Jozien. Exchanging plates of food with friends and neighbors builds a real sense of community, doesn't it? I'm glad the sore throat didn't turn out to be the precursor to something worse! I'll probably continue to gargle with warm salt water for a couple of days.
      Hope all is well with you. :)

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  7. I'm glad you feel better today! Maybe you had a night sleeping with your mouth open and things got a little dry. Hopefully that's all it was!

    How lovely that your friends dropped off food. Both look delicious!

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    1. Thank you, Sharon. Yes, according to my daughter, I snore! LOL. I seem to have recovered from whatever it was, but, I am keeping the heater on at 70F during the day.
      I am blessed to have friends bring me food! :)

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  8. Oh my goodness. What an image those cinnamon buns are! And then to scroll down and see lasagna!
    I am sitting here with my morning tea salivating. lol
    The barter and trade system is alive and well and I for one am a fan.
    You made a nice trade of items with your chicken curry/cinnamon roll trade.
    I am glad that your scratchy throat didn't materialize into more.
    You were wise to raise the heat up. I hope your area warms up soon so you are more comfortable.

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    1. The cinnamon rolls are delicious (so is the lasagna!) Ha, ha, yes, the barter/trade system is very much alive and well! :D We each made something we are good at making and exchanged them. :)
      Thank you, yes, I, too, am glad that the sore throat didn't linger or become worse! Yesterday was a cloudy, high humidity day and my sinuses complained, but, today is clear and dry and my sinuses are clear, too! I'm keeping the heat turned down, today, but, I'll probably need to have it turned up on Friday when more rain is in our forecast!

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  9. I had been thinking that I hadn't seem any food sharing with your friends recently and here you are. Those cinnamon rolls look so good. I can almost taste them now. Glad your sore throat was short lived. I sometimes get sore throats from the dry air in the winter.

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    1. There wasn't much food sharing going on, earlier, because neighbor S had declined my offers of soup and muffins and she doesn't care much for cornbread. But, I had shared a few items with M and he has given me apples to try.
      The cinnamon rolls are delicious! I've made good inroads to them! LOL.
      My tonsils have subsided and the sore throat is gone. I'm glad it wasn't something too serious!

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  10. The cinnamon rolls looked amazing! I know those as cinnamon squares, so it's a shame you didn't have the craving last month as you could have submitted the photo for the challenge!

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    1. They are delicious! I didn't know they were called cinnamon squares! They are usually called rolls or buns, over here!

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