my skinny elvis

for some strange reason i had been graving for an elvis sandwich for days. my skinny version didn't have bacon in it, but the more i think about it...it might actually work (not very heart healthy, though...)







i have always been partial to crunchy peanut butter, but use what you like.







smush the banana (think baby food) and smear one slice of bread with the banana, the other slice with peanut butter (obviously...)







melt a comfortable amount of butter (you have to use butter, seriously), i used 1 tsp per side. place the sandwich on pan on medium-low heat until golden brown.







we shared this one, and it was plenty to satisfy my graving.







the dog loves peanut butter, but got to work for it a bit...







...he managed to lick the jar quite clean.

picking life up, slowly

9 days later...i have yet to finish the first book i started in the hospital (cornwell's port mortuary). it's not that the book is bad, i have had hard trying to pile pillows so i can read longer than 15 mins without...well, see for yourselves...







...and that is just for internet. luckily i only had to stay one night in the hospital (had hard time waking up...) it was kinda nice buzz, so i really didn't mind, and i wasn't sick at all, and i had that huge room all to myself for the night.

the good doctor ended up doing a re-hemiresectioarthroplastia et interpositio cum fascia lata DRUJ carpi l. sin. there will be a cast for total of 6 weeks, and i will have a 15cm scar on my left thigh (maybe it needs ink on it?)

the dog seems little baffled that i'm home all the time but don't take him on walks.







certain someone, well, he gets a bit confused at times but he's been cooking (will post about that later) and putting my hair on ponytails (i still have some hair left...) he actually went out today like this. complains that i give too many orders for him to be able to pay attention to everything!

this is it...

today is the day, as you read this, i'm hopefully under the knife. the wrist is finally being operated today. i'm quite ancious to find out if the good doctor has managed to get some bioabsorbable "padding" to be used inbetween the radius and ulna, or will he have to cut out something (ligament?) from my thigh...another scar here or there, i could not care less. just fix my wrist, please!

this time around i intend to make sure that i don't do anything to jeopardize the wrist whilst in the cast, therefore...







...i've got myself a few books to pass the time (there is some more coming from amazon). i've warned certain someone that he has to cook (we'll see how that goes!) and i've decided that i will go out to eat once a week, just to get out of the house (and not have any excuses not to shower and wash my hair...).

i'm trying the hardest not to think how tedious and challenging it will be to manage everything for the first few weeks with the cast up to my armpit. i'm hoping the anaesthetist doesn't mess with my head and i get to go home sooner rather than later. i seem to get a very bad hangover reaction to certain drugs they use for the narcosis...

i'll be back in a few days, once i'm sure i've worn off the mind altering funny drugs!

jaume who?

we recently got back from a holiday to the isle of majorca. on our first day the locals were wrapping up their yearly celebration of the conquest of the moors by king jaume I. we had booked one of those last minute deals and were blissfully unaware of any festivals and were surprised to find many of the local kids strange costumes. also, the locals started gathering already in early afternoon along the main street to secure prime spots to see the parade.







we thought that maybe this tourist hadn't noticed what was behind her...i think that cactus was too close for comfort.







the parade had moors on horseback, fair ladys of the king's court, knights and such.







there were stalls of all sorts by the main beach. the merchants were dressed in period clothing and selling, among other things, jewellery, colorful ceramics, potions and lotions, clothing, (very smelly) cheeses, toys. this lady sold artisanal breads and sweet pastries. needless to say, i ate way too many pastries...







the merchant of this tent was selling pastries and tea. we didn't have tea but had some pastries with all sorts nutty (pistachios, almonds) fillings.







these "knights" were selling pan dulce ala brasa. having sampled at too many stalls before this, we didn't taste any...







...but these kids we waiting to have some.







this stall had a huge wood burning grill for different kind of sausages and pork ribs. they also served cooked ham (the whole hind legs cooking in huge pots) and octopussy (which was yammy!)







certain someone was ecstatic about the tents and the fires...







...and the atmosphere. i wished i had taken my better camera with me. having decided that this holiday would be only for taking it easy and relaxing, i left that camera home.







the scenery was to die for. this at the southern tip of santa ponsa, calvià







the weather was balmy at between +28C to +30C and the sea beautifully warm. these nuns came to admire the scenery as well. i wish i had noticed them earlier to capture them with some bikini-clad tourists...







as my family can tell, i don't swim unless the water is warm (+25C). snorkeling was fun, plenty of fish to observe.







these green birds are monk parakeets. they were (outragiously) loud and flew around in big fleets.







a motorcycle hanged on a window? nope, that was an electric bicycle, they seemed to be the latest thing, and this shop had some fancy ones for sale.







when in spain...paella...







...sangria, olives...







...and something we hadn't tasted before, avocado with capers. i had grilled squid 3 times...







the sunsets were amazing.







sigh...







ps. i was pleasantly surprised with mallorca / santa ponsa. the island seems to have a bad rep from the 70's and early 80's. there wasn't much beside the obvious touristy things to do, byt our expectations were more or less on the weather and warm sea anyway. renting a bike, scooter or a moterbike would have broadened the experience. a couple staying the same hotel told us that they had toured the island on a motorbike and were amazed by the breathtaking scenery along the western side of the isle and the mountains. will i go again? yes, but with intention to see more of the island and perhaps a little later in the autumn, or earlier in the spring.

i will finally have my surgery next week. as of late, i've been kinda down as i'm quite fed up with this waiting and waiting, and as a result haven't accoplished much, including blogging. after the surgery i would assume that there'd be plenty fo time to blog, albeit one handed...

i saw a real prince!

i did too! H.R.H. carl philip, duke of värmland, almost run over my toes with his fancy porche. just kidding, but he did drive by as we were waiting for the green light near dramaten in stockholm. personally i think that pictures don't serve him right, he was rather easy on the eye...

certain someon and i took one of those "a day in stockhom" cruises from helsinki on tuesday and returned on thursday. here is part of helsinki harbour from a top our cruise ship.







dusk at sea.







inside östermalms saluhall. i love to see this kind of places in any village, town or a city i visit. it's always such a shame that i can't take stuff home and cook with it. although the inventory in swedish shops isn't that much different from what we have in finland, sweden is closer to the atlantic sea and its bounty.







such a pretty assemly of veggies, and several kinds of onions...







...and a somewhat ugly fish!







we walked from the värta harbour to the old town. passing the department store NK i saw several pairs of boots like these. somehow i don't think they were made for walking...







lunch at brasserie le rouge, what a cool idea to serve bread in a brown paper bag.







my ceasar salad was very tasty. it doesn't look like much but after mindless pigging at the buffet table the previous evening and a bacon breakfast on the ship, i probably could have managed with something lighter. well, we didn't pig out at the buffet. i'll admit i ate too much, but i did choose dishes that i don't eat at home too often, like onions, smetana and roe, salmon paté, mussels...







a square in the old town near the nobel museum. i wasn't prepared to seet his many tourists, but i guess the rest of the world still considers the end of august as summer and therefore time for holidays...







guards taking a break at the royal palace







after leaving stockholm (around five o'clock at least 6 apartment building size cruise ships leave stockholm, every day), the one behind us was going to tallinn. at one point there were at least 15 guys on jet-skis jumping the waves behind our ship, fun?