Long story short… I got sepsis and it hit hard last Thursday. Kinda sketchy for the first couple of days because well, it was like being run over by a train… very sharp pain, like being sliced by a ringing cymbal and deep chills. High temp and general fuckery. But strong antibiotics helped calm it down and I was released on Sunday.

I still feel like I’ve been run over by a train. Go figure.

You all are probably as sick of hearing about medical stuff as I am experiencing it so let’s talk about other things.

I do feel like my brain is slowly cracking loose of the shell formed aroouond it. Yeah, it’s been a hard haul these past few years but the grey matter has shown signs of arousal… excitement even about writing. or rather at least constructing scenarios which is always good.

On the reading front, I’m going through the JJ Graves series which are a nice light cozy set about a small town coroner and her sheriff husband. Good constructed plots. Nice twists. There’s a bit of a twee thing going on with a faux-sentient laptop but I’m hoping that dies down soon. It’s kinda icky. It’s bordering on being a Cousin Oliver so I’m just sort of skimming at those bits but the rest of it is damned solid for a brain delve.

Finished TA Moore’s Dirty Job (Book 2 of the Dirty Deeds series) I really love that the MCs are not good guys. I do. Link to it here. Honestly, go check out the series. Such tight writing.

The Potato went to the vet on the same day I was entrenched in the ER. He has a fungal AND a bacteria skin infection so he has all the drugs as well as eye stuff because on top of everything else, his tear ducts don’t work.

Been playing Pokemon. Trust me. When you’re stuck in a hospital room, you either Pokemon or Read and Pokemon was easier because I hurt too damned much to keep anything I read. I’m getting kind of bored with the selection of pokemon popping up in the game. Needs a bit more excitement. Okay, for me it’s like stamp collecting.

That’s been pretty much my week. My arms are mottled with bruises from IVs and attempts to IV and also blood draws…and attempts to draw blood. Better than it was the last time but still, I come home looking like some kid got at me with a purple marker. Do not eat the food at the hospital. That’s all I’m gonna say.

Tofu Skin….

Pupper is helping….

I do love tofu skin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4GiAoIzMdU

Recovery is going rough. Today was really tremendously horrible and with luck, tomorrow will be better.

 

You’d think with as how much I talk about the Potato that he’s a very interactive dog. He really isn’t. He’s an old man who likes to eat, sleep, and roll around in the grass, preferably if the grass has fish emulsion or something stinky like possum poop on it. But he is a delight and in the past couple of years, has really enjoyed having people visit him. To the point where he is upset the UPS and FedEx guys don’t come in and pet him or when someone who is visiting leaves.

And in the spirit of the Year of the Tiger, he also got a spa day which he badly needed following the skin infection he’d gotten, which kind of left him with odd patches and we had to shave spots down so they could be addressed.

Our last dog groomer ghosted us because we TOLD her to not take off the muzzle if he was outside and she decided that no, she could. That did not go well. As all of you know, that’s imperative for Gus to feel safe and secure.

But we DID find an ANGEL of a groomer named Charity who owns and runs Raise the Wuff Mobile Grooming and had an opening immediately because she was in the area. Woman literally has a towable mobile salon attached to the hitch of her truck and we were given an iPad with a camera feed so we could watch him. If you’re in San Diego and need a dog groomer, Charity is awesome.

Because as soon as she came in, the Potato was in love. And when he came back, he was so sorry to see her go. But that said, look at the results! One Clean Potato. And his cat.

Not going to give you a long drawn out story about how my grandmother used to make this after working a long day in the cane fields because first, my maternal grandmother was Portuguese and secondly, she never made shoyu noodles in her life. But it’s a favourite of mine and can be found in a lot of Chinese restaurants in Hawai’i.

Shoyu Noodles

Ingredients

• 1½ to 2 cups protein of your choice (cut into bite sides pieces, optional)
• 2ish cups prepared thin yellow egg noodles
  (can be Taiwanese Noodles / Yakisoba, etc. I suggest “fresh” Yakisoba noodles because they are easy enough to find and you can simply run them in hot water to break them apart) You could actually also use the wider chow fun rice noodles but you’ll be making chow fun instead.
  

• 1 medium onion, sliced thinly. Can use shallots
• 8 oz mung bean sprouts (can use more if you like)
• 5 stalks green onions, mince the white part and cut the green parts into longer sections. Separate.
• 2 cups chopped bok choy, or any sturdy green of your choice.
  Like on choy, yu choy, mustard greens, collard greens, tatsoi)
• 2 tablespoon minced ginger
• 2 tablespoon minced garlic (or more if you like)
• 3 tablespoon shoyu / soy sauce
• 3 tablespoon koikuchi / dark soy sauce (If you can’t find dark soy sauce, double up a bit on the regular and add more oyster sauce…or even a bit of black bean sauce if you can find that. It’ll change the flavour a bit but still be good.)
• 2 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• salt / pepper to taste
• cooking oil
• toasted sesame seeds (optional)

You’re going to need a bowl to put the cooked veggies in while you cook the noodles so.. head’s up.

Directions
Cook the noodles per instructions if they need boiling. If using the precooked yakisoba noodles, simply run them under hot water until they separate. If not yakisoba, then once the noodles are cooked, dry them well and then add a little bit of oil to the noodles and toss lightly. Let them cool.

In a wok or a large skillet, put a little bit of oil and brown the meat with the sliced onion / shallots. When browned, add the greens, the white part of the green onions, garlic and ginger. Salt and pepper to taste. A few shakes will be good. Once this is all browned and cooked down, put them into that bowl I warned you that you’d need.

Next, brown the oiled noodles in the hot pan. They’re not going to get very brown but if you can get a bit of char on them, good.

Once they are a bit more golden, add the soy sauces, oyster sauce, and sugar. Mix well.

Add bowl of meat and veggies, mix well and then add the bean sprouts and rest of the green onions. Once the bean sprouts are a little wilted, it is ready to serve. Can top with toasted sesame seeds if you like.

 

I admit. I laughed. Because this is so damned perfect.