After ten days of the flu, pneumonia, and antibiotic side-effect bingo, I was finally able to move enough to feel human again. As I was craving potato salad, I made mayonnaise from scratch, and mixed a pretty good German potato salad together. My husband and Pepper also checked on the garden for us and found the first signs of spring.

My very short walk is turning into a little bit of an adventure. Oh boy. I guess, I’m climbing. Not what I had in mind when I went outside. And I am just about done for, so headed home.

After ten days of flu, pneumonia, and antibiotic side-effect bingo, I was starting to feel human again. I’d even come up with the energy to take a bath and wash my hair.

Enter the next patient.

Pepper stepped in something in the forest. We don’t know exactly what, some thorns or something. And they are stuck in his foot, but he’s such a little champion! He’s really, really good about letting us change the bandages and putting that strange salve on that I don’t understand. And he’s already doing a lot better.

And he walks so cutely! But anyway, he’s going to be fine. It’s just a few more days of him feeling like an idiot. And then, it’s going to be gone again.

I can also finally walk barefoot again. I haven’t been able to do that, because I just wasn’t able to wash my feet. So, I had to wear sandals to walk Pepper, because I just wasn’t strong enough to wash my feet, and that’s kind of necessary to go barefoot.

My husband took care of most walks while I was sick, so I hadn’t been out much. Feeling the ground under my feet–even this concrete ugliness–felt so good!

Pepper ditched the bandage the first and second day until I figured it out, so we had to clean the wounds a few times. Pepper was excellent at doing this when I was alone to deal with it.

Two weeks without mold maintenance made for some disgusting urgent cleaning once I could keep my balance again. Just like last winter, management doesn’t care that this is both their fault and their responsibility. We are sick of being blamed for structural issues, so we’ve given up. I can only fight so many fights.

After two weeks of eating whatever was easiest (and in my case often not at all), I was finally able to cook dinner. I’d been craving potato salad for reasons unknown to me, so I decided to make some. I asked my mom and a friend for recipes, and went to work.

It was still hours until dinner, but I hadn’t made potato salad in years, and the potatoes would need to cool down. So, I decided to boil them now, and finish the rest of dinner after Pepper’s evening walk.

It still rains most of the time here. When it doesn’t it is wet, gray, and ugly. Hopefully, spring will actually come. After our walk, I fed Pepper. Yes, yes, my floors need cleaning. I’ll get there soon.

I haven’t been able to clean in two weeks, and things had already been piling up because of my exams. As I didn’t get to write the second one, I guess I should say exam. I’ll have to sit environmental ethics in April.

But let’s return to my potato salad. First, I need to make mayonnaise. Darn, I’m still weak. But, I was managing. This is my third attempt at home-made mayonnaise. The first two were runny messes.

Earlier that day, I’d moved the coffee maker to the shelf, so I could get Marvin onto the counter. I am still not happy with where the coffee maker is, but I’ll figure that out at some point. But at least, I could reach the top of the blender to add oil. Already more functional.

I used one egg, a tablespoon of ACV, too much salt (I’d try a teaspoon next time), and a tablespoon of Dijon mustard.

The recipes had all said to blend until “frothy.” Is this frothy? I had no clue. But it looked bubbly. So, I went on.

Very patiently, I added the oil. I had 3/4 of a cup in the measuring cup, but some was left when the mayo set. When the blender started to sound different, I stopped the machine to check.

Success!! A happy dance and a coughing fit later, I could continue the salad. Home-made mayo doesn’t store well, so this will need to go very quickly.

I turned on the dishwasher, got myself some headphones, and finished my salad. A tablespoon of lemon juice, three tablespoons of yogurt, two tablespoons of my mayonnaise. I’d read a few recipes, and was kinda following a combination of them.

As I’d added too much salt to the mayo, I decided to only season with dill. Don’t ask me how much that was. A sprinkle!

I’d had very different plans for this meat, but decided we’d fry them up with the salad. I let the meat sit while I did the dishes that hadn’t fit into Bob. Some garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper, and olive oil later, dinner was ready to get cooked.

As my husband was stuck in meetings, I added dinner to the fridge, and finished cleaning up the kitchen. Okay, finished is maybe the wrong word. I finished the dishes and cleaned the tea bags. The floor is still dirty. There are also jars standing everywhere still.

Pepper and my husband had brought home plenty of Juda’s Ears mushrooms from their walks. I was too weak to join them, but got nice mushrooms to dry. We got five trays of these total over a few walks. I’ll be happy to use them up in the future.

They also found the first spring flowers in the garden. I can hardly wait to see them. I’m supposed to tell you the footage is shaky because Pepper kept pulling the leash. 😉

But we were talking about dinner. The meat was ready to come out of the air fryer, the salad nice and cold. This is way more meat than we usually eat, so there was a lot of left over for the next day. The potato salad wouldn’t make it through the night, though. Even the rest in the fridge was eaten up.

So long, and thanks for being here. Your support over the last weeks has meant the world to me!