around the house – PhotoKent's Musings

Fall 2025 Update

It’s almost Christmas here and finally, after 3-4 weeks of temps in the 70’s we get precipitation. ☔️. It should rain thru the holiday and we are tucked in.

HEALTH UPDATE: As some of you know, I was scheduled for a routine angiogram last August after our summer vacation to Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. When the cardiologist recommended this last May, I asked to postpone til then, due to our pending trips. He told me that, if I felt any chest pain, to head for the nearest ER. Though no chest pain turned up in our travels, little did I know what was in store. The angiogram turned out to be over 90 minutes on the operating table with rotational atherectomy (rotorooter), lithotripsy to breakup some calcium deposits, followed by the insertion of five (5) stents. 😳. It turns out Cardiac Heart Disease was passed on to me by both parents and so i need to be mindful of this for the future.

Needless to say I did slow down and spent a few days over in Sea Ranch on the Northern California coast with my good friends and did a little walking and easy riding.

We postponed several camping trips until 2026 but did manage to squeeze in a trip to Seattle to see some family members and tour the Dale Chihuly Exhibit, a Sraddha bucket list item.

In September i began a course of 3 days/week of cardiac rehab featuring treadmill and stationary bike riding while being monitored by the rehab team. Had a couple delays amidst the rehab due to a round of COVID and a cracked rib from a ladder fall 🙄. Memo: no one over 75 should be allowed up a ladder without adult supervision..

Rehab completed successfully in late December and now i am cleared for “easy” e-bike riding as long as the heart rate remains below 115. I do cheat a little bit, as ye olde ticker doesn’t always comply. With some dietary changes (some..) and some meds, health is great. I am planning to do the Lake Tahoe ride next June again and we are already planning trips.

December has been quiet and inward. Prepping the yard for winter, harvesting remaining fruit from trees to share with our friends. (We have 9 remaining productive trees in the yard). Hauling in firewood to stay warm and watching my beloved Seahawks as they march towards the Super Bowl.

If you missed it, here are the previous posts from this year.

Wishing you all the best for 2026!

Kent

Harvesting garlic

Lotsa people plant gardens and store for for emergency use. Few people include garlic. It is one of the essential food groups I love along with olive oil, chocolate and Parmesan cheese.

Last year we tried planting a pound of garlic as an experiment. It went well so we decided to plant 6 lb this season. Planting happens in November, about the only thing happening then. And not much to do over the winter but let it germinate and grow. We covered the beds with straw. Then we waited

We had planted 6 pounds of garlic in the beds. We watered a few times when it was hot. Mid May we trimmed off the garlic scapes which made for some fun dinner additions and in mid June we harvested over 120 garlic bulbs! We cut off the tops, trimmed and washed off the dirt, and laid them out on our patio table to dry off a little.

Garlic on patio table (right side in shade)

We bundled them up and hung them from the basement rafters in cooler dry air to season. Should be ready. We hope to use some bulbs for replanting in the late fall.

As for the chocolate, I will just buy and keep in storage.

Update as of July 1,2023. I had taken bulbs from last years crop to plant this years crop

No photos as I forgot. The winter snows devastated my crop whil I was away in the Grand Canyon. We managed to harvest about 40% of what we planted.

When it’s not a travel week

We spent this past week doing deep cleaning in the house. Perfect time since the arctic blast we had this past week made it more fun to be inside than out. The house has suffered from all our travels. Now, every room is refreshed, things we don’t need anymore went away and still more to come. Spring cleaning came early thanks to cold weather. We also found and hired a house cleaner to maintain what we have now even whilst traveling.

Feeling very uplifted in this endeavor. Also a bit sore and worn out.

We laid to rest a good friend recently, one of the reasons we returned early from last travel. Anandi was a very good friend and how she lived her life was uplifting to both of us, and inspired us to increase our meditations and other spiritual activities. A life well lived