Change is in the air

(photo credit: The Values Pages Group)

There have been a few times in my life when I've just known things were going to change, and change in a big way. I consider it a gracious act by a loving Heavenly Father to allow His really-hates-change daughter to mentally prepare for what's coming next.

The first time was on the way home from church one Sunday way back in 1984. Within a few months we were packing up to move from Indiana to Florida.

During the summer of 1996 I was getting ready to visit friends in northern Michigan. Just the kids and I were going and, for some reason, I had a feeling it would be a life-changing trip. It was, but not because of the actual trip. While we were there, Ivan called and asked what we thought about him submitting his name to the church for consideration as youth pastor. Within six months he was called to that position, and by default I became a pastor's wife.

Fast forward a few years. We were going through "Experiencing God" with the youth. I had the feeling that God was getting ready to do something big.

He sent us to Africa, where we spent an amazing year in Uganda.

And those are just a few examples. 

What I've learned is that the nudge from God isn't a warning, like the robot in "Lost In Space" frequently gave.


God is not announcing danger, and He's not giving me the option to refuse the course of action.

When the feeling of approaching change settled on me recently, I thought it had something to do with selling our property and moving yet again.

And while those plans are still in the works, that wasn't it.

It started innocently enough. Ivan followed a link on his sister's Facebook page. That article led him to other ones, he asked me to read one of them. It was like a history of my life.

It prompted us to ask for an additional test when I was having blood work done a few weeks later. A negative reading would be 10 U/ml or less. My test result: 97.

I have celiac disease.  And folks, let me tell you, this is a life-changer.

It explains so much, now that we know. I'm a 'typical' atypical celiac who doesn't have intestinal issues but I have, or have had, most of the other adult symptoms:

•  unexplained iron-deficiency anemia
•  fatigue
•  bone or joint pain
•  arthritis
•  dental problems
•  canker sores
•  depression or anxiety
•  tingling numbness in the hands and feet
•  migraines
•  psoriasis
•  acid reflux and heartburn

Some of these have been life-long problems (anemia, anxiety, fatigue), but I also had other symptoms common in children while growing up. I was considered "puny" as a child, and delayed growth is one of the symptoms; it was 11th grade before I could stop shopping in the children's clothing section. I caught everything going around (well, except for chicken pox) and remember a lot of missed school and other activities because I was either sick or just didn't have the energy.

But lacking the chronic diarrhea which was considered the marker for celiac, no one ever put the dots together.

Although various symptoms have been evident for years, some became more pronounced after moving to Argentina. I don't think my blog is the place to tell you about all my aches and pains, like somebody's great aunt Myrtle, so I have seldom shared the physical struggles and limitations of recent years. Although we'll never know for sure, what we think now is that the combination of having parasites that first year (which went undiagnosed for months) and the change to a diet that's heavy with breads and pastas, simply overwhelmed my system. My body has not been able to recover from being stripped of the nutrients it needed by the parasites, and the diet kicked the celiac into high gear.

When we took the blood work results to our doctor, she took away any doubts we might have had. In fact, she said the number was so high she did not see the need to get a biopsy (typically done to confirm the diagnosis). I've since learned that, while the biopsy is a good tool if celiac is suspected and the blood work is negative, it is by no means required for a diagnosis.

I've done a lot of research, and little else in past the week, and am really grateful for what is now available online. The Celiac Disease Foundation, American Celiac Disease Alliance, Celiac Sprue Association, Mayo Clinic and more provide a wealth of information, advice and links. And do you know how many celiac-related blogs there are? Some focus on what's new, in terms of products and research. Others post only recipes. Still others talk about how to meet the challenges of traveling with celiac.  I'm finding new blogs daily, where pretty much anything and everything to do with celiac is discussed.

I don't intend for this to become a blog about celiac. But because this is part of my life now, I will talk about it occasionally. In fact, I plan a follow-up post about the week immediately following the diagnosis and how I'm learning to manage it while living overseas. Otherwise it's back to your regularly scheduled program of Project 365, crafty endeavors, my adorable grandchildren, and just life-in-general here in Argentina.

Oh, and occasional recipes too (although they will, no doubt, be gluten free). I'm relieved that some of my favorites are naturally gluten free. Like the creamy chocolate pudding I posted recently. Whew!

Of course there are plenty of favorites that are now forbidden. So tell me, are there any foods you can't eat for health reasons? Leave a comment and let us commiserate together.

Week 4: Project 365, the 2015 Edition

Tuesday, January 20:

Ivan returned from Totoral Monday night with nine kilos of fresh figs! He helped pick them at a friends' on Monday afternoon. They were ripe and needed to be used pronto. I sorted through, pulling out the ones that were more firm for whole figs in heavy syrup. I ended up with 3 kilos of those:

 (The scale is set to grams.)

Can you tell there are two varieties?

The remaining six plus kilos were rinsed and sliced to start jam:

To make the jam, I weighed the figs and then divided by two to get the amount of sugar needed. There was such a quantity of figs plus sugar I had to use my largest stock pot. I started cooking the figs about 10 a.m. and it still wasn't thick enough by the time I went to bed, so I left the pot sit overnight (just like I'd done with the plums the week before).

Wednesday, January 21:

After a doctor appointment first thing in the morning, I finished cooking the jam and was thrilled to end up with 12 jars, plus a small Rubbermaid container we're using right away:

I was well into my 30s before I had a fresh fig. Prior to that I'd only ever had Fig Newtons. This jam brings those soft cookies to mind because it has that same thick gooey goodness I remember from my childhood.

Thursday, January 22:

My friend (and former Spanish teacher) Marcela came over with her oldest daughter Carolina, who's visiting from Europe. Caro is a flight attendant and spends most of her time traveling the world.

It was so good to catch up with Caro and see Marce. Living so far from my own kids, I know how much Marce is enjoying Caro's visit and we appreciate that they carved out time to spend with us.

Friday, January 23:

So I didn't mention how I made the whole figs in heavy syrup. I found the recipe here but had to substitute homemade brown sugar for the hard brown cane sugar. Thankfully the substitution worked just fine. I also chose not to use any spices.

This was another multi-day process. On Tuesday I put the figs in water to soak. On Wednesday I cooked the figs in fresh water with a pinch of baking soda. Thursday I started cooking them in a mixture of brown sugar and water. Since I basically tripled the recipe, it took all day and then some, so I didn't finish them until this morning. I think because the figs were so ripe to begin with, a lot of them had started disintegrating by the time the syrup was thick enough. I poked through and pulled out the whole ones, filling two large jars. The remainder I put into a 4-cup Rubbermaid container and have in the fridge. They'll keep quite a while that way, and make a nice treat when we have guests.

Whole figs are normally served with cheese for dessert. We buy fresh farmer's cheese from friends in Totoral and I wish I could convey what an utterly amazing taste combination this is!

Keep in mind these are some of the less-than-perfect figs that had started to disintegrate. I sort of propped them up to look whole for the photo :) And I have to 'fess up and admit that after the photo shoot, I put two of the figs back because they are so rich, one was plenty with the three small pieces of cheese. So, so good!

Saturday, January 24:

Ivan had to replace brake pads on the front of the car this morning. I sure am glad I have a husband who is handy with tools!

Sunday, January 25:

Our friends received Rainbow Rhino, and thoughtfully took a photo of their wee one on top of it for me:

Look at that head of hair! I think she gets that from her grandma. Lois has such lovely, thick hair and so does her daughter, and now granddaughter. Lucky girls!

Ivan spent siesta time working out in the shop, "making sawdust" as he calls it. He has started on a little project:

Can you guess what it is, and what it's for?

Monday, January 26:

The grass seed is already starting to sprout! Not everywhere, but in a lot of places, and I.Am.So.Excited! We're finally going to have a lawn in front of the casita! Woohoo!

Week 3: Project 365, the 2015 Edition

Ivan was sick last Monday and it was my turn this week. Not only did I not get the post up yesterday, I didn't take a photo either. It was just one of those days. Thankfully I'm feeling fine today.

Tuesday, January 13

This is what the plums looked like after sitting overnight with the sugar on top.

Nice and juicy! After stirring them well, I let them sit another four hours before cooking them for 3 hours on low. Then I put the lid on, and let them sit.

Wednesday, January 14

Had to go to Tanti for some blood work. A small town not far from Carlos Paz, Tanti has a kind of Boulder, Colorado vibe. The office is next to this small park. There were a few people there and one of them offered to take our photo.

Ivan was able to get some nice, rich black soil for free. He just had to haul it from the work site to our house. He made two trips late Wednesday and several more on Thursday. For one of the loads, our neighbor was home and came over to help.

Thursday, January 15

Today was all about the jam. After cooking for four hours on Wednesday, today I cooked it another 3 hours before it was finally the right consistency.

We were amazed how much it cooked down. If you remember, we had 3.3 kilos of fruit and added almost 2 kilos of sugar. We ended up with 5-1/2 jars. The jars I used are about equivalent to a pint and a half; so just a little over 8 pints, more or less. We're really pleased with how it turned out, although mystified as to why it tastes a lot like grape jelly. Anyone have an idea why?

Friday, January 16

We tried to unload the soil in various spots, so it would be easier to spread. I couldn't get a good picture of the whole area but just imagine mounds like this one scattered all over.

Saturday, January 17

Ivan spent the day in Totoral. Some of you know that Ivan grew up in the Grace Brethren Fellowship and we stay in touch with a lot of friends from those days. The Totoral team hosted an asado for some of the men from the GBF, and several men who attend Bible studies in Totoral also joined the group. They had a great day sharing their hearts and what God is doing; learning from, and encouraging, one another.

left to right: Reuben, Juan, Steve, Daniel, Cristian, don Chavez, Walter and Joe (Ivan's taking the photo) 

Sunday, January 18

Here's a little collage of things we're growing in a container garden. We have a bunch of 20 gallon buckets and Ivan also built a small wooden frame for the lettuce and a few herbs.

The roses are beautiful and we are harvesting tomatoes, peppers, basil, dill, swiss chard, and lettuce. We are hopeful the rhubarb and cilantro will flourish as well.

**********

Ivan worked on spreading the soil just about every day, (mostly) finishing it over the weekend. He was gone all day yesterday and this morning he raked and then spread some grass seed. Now if only it will keep raining as frequently as it has been, we'll be in good shape. It rained last night, and today it's cool and overcast but no rain.

Quick and Easy, Rich and Creamy Chocolate Pudding

Even though we're experiencing a milder-than-normal January doesn't mean I'm in any hurry to turn on my oven. And since the upper element in the toaster oven burned out, I'm avoiding all recipes that have to be baked, roasted or broiled. I'll use my crockpot on occasion, but do you realize those things actually put out a lot of heat too?

I have a few tried-and-true dessert recipes that don't require any oven time, that I typically make when we have company over: no bake cookies, chocolate lasagna, tiramisu, or homemade ice cream. But sometimes I want something chocolatey and I want it quick. That's where this recipe from The Happy Housewife comes in. Because, start to finish? Ten minutes!

Chocolate Pudding

Ingredients:
2 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3 Tablespoons corn starch
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
In a medium sauce pan, whisk together milk (I use low-fat and it doesn't affect the creaminess at all), sugar, cocoa powder (we prefer the dark), and corn starch. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it comes to a boil. Boil two minutes, continuing to stir constantly, remove from heat and add vanilla, mixing well. Pour into dessert dishes.

Now, how easy and quick is that?!

If you have the will power, put plastic wrap on top of the pudding (push it right into the pudding) to prevent a skin from forming, and chill for a few hours. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream if you so desire.

But me? I prefer my chocolate pudding piping hot! Right-out-of -the-pan-steaming-so-you-have-to-be-careful-or-you'll-burn-your-mouth hot.  I also like to eat it with the tiny spoons typically used to add sugar to coffee or tea. Makes it last longer :)

This recipe makes one round of hot pudding, followed by a second of cold pudding, for the two of us. It's also the perfect amount for an 8x8 pan of chocolate lasagna.

You're welcome.

Recent Creative Endeavors

In October when I saw on Facebook that dear friends were expecting their first baby (a girl!), my immediate thought was: baby quilt! I also knew that a co-worker's mom would be visiting in December and might be able to take the quilt back to the states with her (no way would I ever trust the mail system here with a quilt!), so the push was on to get 'er done!

For inspiration I looked through pictures in my "quilts" board on Pinterest. My goal was to design something fairly simple, since time was a factor. It needed to go together quickly, leaving plenty of time for the actual quilting (I'm a very slow hand quilter). I found myself drawn to the animal quilts, like this, this, this, this, this and this one. There is so much cuteness out there!

It didn't take long to decide on a simple animal silhouette on a white background. My daughter helped me narrow it down to either an elephant or a rhino. My initial idea was to sew strips of green fabric together and cut the silhouette from that, but then I thought how much more fun it would be to use all the colors of the rainbow. Of course then it made more sense to do a rhino, because HELLO! it would be a Rainbow Rhino.

By mid November I had the rhino pieced and appliquéd onto a white background... and then I stalled. I came down with a bad case of bronchitis which stretched on and on and on... Ugh! It's exhausting to cough almost continually. I seriously didn't have the energy to do more than the basics around the house for weeks. I finally started feeling better the third week of December.

The down time did help solidify plans for the quilting though, and also gave me time to add another little detail to the quilt.

Tina was able to go to the baby shower in early December, where the ladies made little fabric birds that were then combined into a unique mobile for the nursery. Tina suggested I "put a bird on it" so I did, right on the rhino's back. Which is not out of character, if you've ever seen a rhino; it's an excellent location for picking off yummy insects.
 
I liked the idea of using different colors of thread and so did my SIL, who suggested flowers. I loved the idea of Rainbow Rhino surrounded by a field of flowers! I marked a continuous free-hand loopy daisy chain on the background.  It would have been great to have access to variegated thread but I didn't, so just pulled lots of colors from my thread box and went to work. Knowing I needed to have the quilt done by January 4th, in order to send it back with our co-worker's mom, meant I spent 4-6 hours/day quilting, clocking a total of 34 hours before it was done.

Ivan helped me choose the border fabrics because I was having serious DMD (decision-making disorder). I added a narrow 1" border in bright yellow, and then a 4" border using a lovely watercolor-like fabric in purple, pink and blue. But somehow I managed to shift the batting while quilting the background, so when I was ready to quilt the border I ended up having to trim an inch off each side so the batting extended to the edges all around. Knowing the binding would cover another 1/2 inch, leaving a not-very-wide border, I gave myself a break and didn't do any quilting in that area. I quilted "in the ditch" on the yellow and called it good. I'd also stitched in the ditch on the rhino stripes.

I chose to make the binding with the same yellow used in the border, mainly because I had enough fabric (starting to run low on quilting cottons and don't have too many larger pieces left). I wasted half a day and half a yard of fabric trying a new technique for making the binding that I'd found on Pinterest. Very frustrating. I ended up going back and making it the way I normally do. I used the machine to sew the binding on the front of the quilt, then turned it over and hand-stitched it down on the back. Because of insomnia I finished the last stitch at 7:15 a.m. on New Year's Eve -- ahead of schedule! Yay!

So here are photos of Rainbow Rhino, including a close-up of the quilting so you can see what I mean by using different colors of thread -- and how cute is that white-on-white footprint fabric?! Absolutely perfect for a baby quilt, don't you think?

My other crafty project was also a gift for a little girl, but this one a bit older. Delfina is 3 and, like any child, loves to play pretend. I'd seen this idea on Pinterest, using felt to create bird wings, and had been wanting to try it. I didn't have any pink so used blue, white, and a tie-dyed purple and blue for the "feathers" and the tie-dyed felt for the base as well. It took a full day to make the wings, but wasn't difficult at all. The directions said to just use large safety pins to attach the wings to the child's shirt, but I added brooch pins instead. I also covered the wrist elastic in cotton fabric (looks a bit like hair scrunchies) and added fabric binding to the straight sides (because it looked unfinished to me without that detail).

And that's all for now. My most recent creative endeavor was making jam the Argentine way. I'll share photos of that in the next Project 365 post. It turned out great! We were a little surprised at how much it cooked down, but what we did get is über delish. Wish I could share it with you!

Week 2: Project 365, the 2015 Edition

Only the second week in, and I already missed taking photos a couple of days. Es lo que hay.

Tuesday, January 6

Only one vegetable store in all of Carlos Paz carries cilantro. How sad is that?! And it's in the old part of downtown where we rarely go, and he doesn't always have it, so when we do manage to snag a bunch, I'm one happy camper. And when, on the very rare occasion, we actually manage to have cilantro AND tortilla chips at the same time? Bliss! Because that means I can make some homemade salsa to go with the chips. YUM!

Finding tortilla chips is even more of a challenge than snagging cilantro. None of the stores in our town carry them, and we hadn't seen any at the Walmart in Cordoba for almost a year. Then suddenly they were there again, and I did the happy dance right in the chips aisle.

However, once we got home and I opened a bag -- Hmmmmm. The bags carry considerably less weight than they formerly did. In fact, I'd say the bag was mostly full of air. What do you think?

Nevertheless, we thoroughly enjoyed our meager portion of chips and salsa. Especially knowing it might be another year before we manage to have both at the same time again. The vagaries of what the stores carry means we can never count on finding anything specific from one trip to the next.

Friday/Saturday, January 9-10

Went to Sta. Rosa to mow the lawn and take care of some other business. Because of all the rain we've been getting, the grass was really high. Poor Ivan had to take the carburetor on the mower apart four times, clean it out, and put it back together before he'd finished the whole lawn. It took most of Friday and a bit on Saturday. He would have finished on Friday but another thunderstorm rolled in when he was almost done. I don't think I've ever seen the lawn so thick and green. Normally by this time in January things have gone from green to slightly yellow because we lack rain. Not so this year! The grass wasn't the only thing that was overgrown. You can see we need to cut back the bushes and other plants, too. But not this trip.

First thing Saturday morning we took a walk and I snapped a bunch of photos of the crepe myrtle tree in front of my favorite house in the neighborhood. In the past I've shared photos of their gorgeous hydrangeas. This time the crepe myrtle caught our eye. Every branch is loaded with blossoms.

We headed home early afternoon, stopping for a bit in Belgrano on the way. The town was packed as it always is in January (their busiest month since this is when most Argentines take their vacation) and we had to park on a side street. As we walked into town, we passed this beauty:

It's hard to tell from my less-than-stellar photo, but this Ford Falcon is in great condition. Just gorgeous!

Sunday, January 11

In the evening we went to visit our friends, Julio and Magdalena, who are staying with other friends out in the country over the summer. Julio has designed and built a number of planes over the years (he's in his 80s) and his host, Cachi, is another aviation buff. In fact, he and his son own a number of aircraft and have an airstrip and several hangers on their farm.

It's a perfect place for Julio to rest and recuperate after being in the hospital. Everyone was sitting outside having merienda when we arrived, enjoying the cool evening breezes and watching the trikes take off and land. Of course the guys were at one end of the table, and the women at the other. 

Monday, January 12

Ivan was up all night with a stomach virus (which meant I was, too) so I didn't get much done beyond a little housekeeping and catching up on laundry. I managed to get three loads washed and dried on the line before yet another storm hit.

Late afternoon I did get started on some plum jam. My friend, Silvia, gave me a big bag of plums from her tree and also told me how to make jam the Argentine way (without pectin). Should be interesting to see how it turns out. It's a multi-day process which is kind of nice, since I don't have to spend a whole day on it, but rather spread it out over four days. First up: cutting the fruit into small wedges and taking out the pits (no need to peel):

Then I weighed the fruit (3.3 kilos) and used my calculator to figure out how much sugar to add. Silvia said the ratio for plums is 600 grams of sugar per kilo of fruit so that meant just under 2 kilos of sugar. I just dumped the sugar on top of the fruit, put a towel over it, and left it to sit overnight. For the next three days I'll cook the mixture for 2-3 hours each day. I'm a little nervous about just leaving it sit out between, but Silvia said that's what to do. We'll see how it goes!

Week 1: Project 365, the 2015 Edition

After sitting out for a year, I'm returning to Project 365. Mainly because it made me sad to look back over 2014 and realize I'd written very little and recorded few memories. In ten years (or even three), how will I remember what happened? As we learned while scanning hundreds of photos dating back decades, it's all too easy to forget people and events. It was embarrassing to look at photos and have no idea who those people were, or why we had taken their photo!

2014, despite the lack of blog activity, was a big year for us. We became first time grandparents (Simon was born the very end of 2013, and Adalyn in August) and it boggles the mind that I did not write more about them.

Of course we did not get internet at the casita until August, which hindered blogging greatly, and we had a lot going on otherwise too. But still, it's a shame that I didn't take the time to write more often. Project 365 will help document at least some of what's going on in our lives.

Trying to post on the weekend doesn't really work for me, so the goal is to get photos up on Monday.

Thursday, January 1

After a rare quiet New Year's Eve at home, we awoke to hail at 4:30 a.m. on New Year's Day. Hail on a metal roof is really loud! While we didn't lose any big branches (as we had during a storm earlier in the week), shredded leaves littered the ground beneath our elms. While sweeping off our little patio later in the morning, I went to move Ivan's work shoes (which he'd left outside because they are that cruddy) and about had a heart attack when a large toad popped up from inside one of the shoes. Oh my word! I laughed hysterically and it took a while for my heart rate to slow down. I snapped this shot as he left, looking for another place to hole up.

 

Friday, January 2

It's been a much rainier/stormier spring and summer so far, and the river often rises several feet, as you see here.

It's interesting that within 24 hours or so, the water settles back down and, other than some debris lining the banks, you'd never know it had been elevated.

Saturday, January 3

I went into sewing mode after finding out I could send things back with someone who is visiting Argentina right now. I'll write more about the baby quilt in another post (finished it on New Year's Eve) but I will share a few photos of the camera strap covers I made today. For once the project went smoothly, with minimal seam ripping and hair pulling. I kept this one...

...and am sending the others to my daughter -- late (really late!) birthday gift.

Since she has a photography business, I thought it would be fun for her to have a variety of covers to choose from, depending on her mood and/or whatever she's wearing. Why can't camera strap covers be a fashion accessory?! Two of the straps have flannel on one side. Mine does too, and it is soooo comfortable. Should help considerably with taking photos for Project 365.

Sunday, January 4

We had lunch at the Molinas, enjoying a wonderful meal and even better conversation. Jorge and Bilma are such an encouragement to us!

Monday, January 5

Today is Ivan's birthday! ¡Feliz cumple, mi amor!

I'll be talking more about this in the coming months, but for now I'll just share the sign we made and hung late last night on the fence out front. It was too dark then so I waited and took a picture this afternoon.

We don't have as much done on the property as we'd have liked, but wanted to get a 'for sale' sign up anyway because there is a lot of traffic in our neighborhood this month, due to tourists -- who just might be looking to buy property in beautiful Carlos Paz.

Although rain is not in the forecast for today, it sure looks like more rain is on the way.

Storms are forecast over the next several days. So glad Ivan finished fixing, prepping and painting the casita roof by the end of last year. Despite some serious downpours, we've not had any more leaks or problems.

[You see, this is what I was talking about at the beginning of this post. Because I didn't write about it, it would have been easy to forget the storm last October that revealed a big leak in the roof over the kitchen. Water literally poured into the house over several hours. By the end of the day, we had mopped up three buckets of water!]

And so concludes week one of Project 365, the 2015 Edition.