Sunset at the beach

Sorry I have no pictures due to moving chaos still not subsided enough to have a way to sync my camera...

Since we moved here I have tried to get down to the beach for sunset as often as I can.  Tonight I had a real treat.   There must have been fish in the water, because every sea creature except dolphins and whales were there having their evening nosh.  Pelicans, kites, gulls, cormorants, otter, sea lions.  I'm sure I forgot some.

The shore was alive.  And beautiful.

As I approached the stairs down to the beach, I could see the setting sun glinting off the brilliantly white kites soaring over the sand.  Later, the pelican's shadows were flicking across the lighthouse as they hovered and dove for their dinner.

Changes in gait indicate changes in brain

Footprints to Cognitive Decline and Alzheimer’s Are Seen in Gait - NYTimes

Five studies presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Vancouver this month provide striking evidence that when a person’s walk gets slower or becomes more variable or less controlled, his cognitive function is also suffering.

Coconut Curry Chicken -- definitely a keeper

I cooked the rest of the chicken tonight, using the mustard, curry, ginger, garlic mixture that had been sitting in the refrigerator for 2-days. One other change to the recipe -- instead of using sherry when I put the chicken into the oven, I used coconut milk. The chicken turned-out terrific! It was tender and tasty... I could not have asked for a better outcome. Of course it helped that I started-out with 'air-chilled' chicken, which is much more tender and tasty than conventional chicken. What's 'air-chilled' chicken you ask? It's a process where the bird is sprayed with disinfectant and then chilled, instead of being dunked in chlorinated water. It is more effective at disinfecting the chicken, and widely used in Europe and Asia. And it also leads to better tasting chicken and crispier skin when it is cooked.

iNaturalist.org

iNaturalist.org "Where you can record what you see in nature, meet other nature lovers, and learn about the natural world." If you are interested in tracking your observations, this looks like a great site to use. I have not explored its other features. My first entry was the Grossbeak I observed last week.

(Not my picture, but that's what it looked like.)

The one I saw was hopping around on a trumpet vine, pecking at the flowers.

Coconut Chicken Epilogue

I did try the Coconut Chicken recipe. However, I followed it only loosely. I did not use egg and flower, I just used the ginger, garlic, mustard and coconut. It was tasty, but a bit bland. I purposely did a small batch and held-out 3/4 of the chicken for the next try. At Thing2's suggestion, I decided to try it the second time with two modifications. 1) Add curry to the mixture 2) Let the mixture sit the the refrigerator over night so the spices have a chance to ripen. This evening I'll try it again with the modified process and see how it is. This is similar to what it looked like.

Need to try some new recipes

I am looking at recipes on epicurious this morning. Thing2 is losing weight, and needs to have some easy grab-and-go meals prepared. She's bored with everything we've been cooking, to the point where it is not appetizing any more. Coconut is something that we are trying to incorporate into her diet because it is easy to digest. I'm considering trying this Coconut Chicken recipe: Crisp Coconut Chicken with Roasted Red Bell Pepper Sauce

Restless legs

I was very tired tonight, and went to bed before 10pm. However, I suffer from restless legs, and I just couldn't stand to be in bed any more. So here I am, at 10:58pm, killing time and waiting for them to settle down. My brother took up running to handle his restless legs. I won't do that, but there is a racquetball court where we live, and I'm thinking that would be a great way to strengthen my muscles and wear-out my legs. I'm a good tennis player, but I've only played racquetball a few times in my life. I hope it's something that can be played alone, because I don't have anyone to play with right now.

Saturday Morning and it's time to make oatmeal

This morning I made our first oatmeal at the new place. This is a sturdy standby meal for Thing2. We do it the old-fashioned way. Thirty-minutes of boiling for those steel-cut oats. And we add dried wild blueberries, dried bing cherries, dried coconut, jumbo raisins, and fresh pear and apple. Put some nuts on it when it's done and it's quite substantial. We'll eat if fresh this morning and put the rest in the fridge for easy re-heat another day.

I posted this picture of a meerkat just because I like it. :)

Testing the Water...

It's been a long time since I posted -- It's kind of scary that this all just sits out there in the ether, waiting... Thing2 and I just relocated to a city near the sea... The move itself was easier than I expected. However, it's not really over yet, as we still have boxes blocking half the living room, and a pyramid of space bagged clothes spilling off the bed in the spare bedroom. The commute is better than I anticipated, although I understand traffic is lighter in the summer - so I'll just enjoy it now and not borrow trouble. This weekend I'll post the two dressers in the garage on CraigsList, and hopefully we'll get a TV and sign-up with Comcast in preparation for the Olympics. We left gave away our old conventional TV when we moved, so I've been 3-weeks with no TV. We had cut back substantially -- basically 30-minutes to and hour a day tops. But I find I do miss it a little. I also hope to sign-up for a library card tomorrow. I finished reading my current book last week, and all my other books are still in boxes. One other thing that still isn't unpacked is the keyboard to my home computer. When I get it set up I will be able to post pictures of the new scenery. I don't know if any of my old readers are still out there -- but if you happen to stop by -- please say Hi in the comments.