Contemplating Food and Friends.....

​     So we're having really lovely times at our little Mango Shack.  Jake has a colleague from Germany who's helping him figure out his material science synthesis for water desalination.  It's a pretty complex chemical process, and they're working on refining it so that it has greater capacity.  Apparently, his material is quite good and lasts for extended periods, which would also be suitable for battery construction.  The material is called Prussian Blue, and beyond that, I'm clueless.  In any case, having company over to our little shack is great.  We spend all our time outside enjoying the lanai and breezes wafting over us from the mountains.  Steve grills for us, and I do all the sides with occasional additions from Harold and Jake.  They joined their friends and traveled to North Shore on Saturday morning so that Luis, the guy from Germany, could see the place that everyone talks about when visiting Oahu.  I think our Bay is much more beautiful, and I don't understand why anyone wants to go to any other place, but it's great that he gets to see the sites.  They passed the Dole Plantation and stopped briefly, so that's a checkbox tick.  That evening we had ribs again and grilled some brats to honor our German guest.  In the meantime, I'm sticking to keto and creating new additions that make it enjoyable.  My latest is a lasagna made of cabbage leaves.  I'll take a picture and put a recipe up soon.  I'm also creating keto-friendly fillings for the tarts.  I mentioned doing a chocolate mousse tart and a lemon tart, and now I'm working on a raspberry tart.  The fruit filling is made with chia seeds and is really yummy.  I'm amazed at how versatile chia seeds are and contain very few carbs.  Of course, you must be careful using fruit because of the carbs.  However, blackberries and raspberries contain fewer carbs.  So, that's basically how the week went.  I also finished some writing and did more promotions of my historical novels and textbook about slavery.  Then, I spent some time reading my previous blogs.  OMG!  I noticed that I bounce from topic to topic, so I'll explain.  I often use a "stream of consciousness" method to write my blog by talking my thoughts into my cell phone notepad.  Sometimes I do this while walking around the bay, and sometimes I do it when just sitting and relaxing on the lanai and enjoying the breezes.  That's why my blogs often shift topics.  I'm following a series of thoughts that go right along with my tendency toward ADHD.  Therefore, after noticing the shifts, I decided to explain why this occurs.  This leads me to share that I'm working on another True Tail about helping my mom when she decided to shift into hospice care after discovering she was in heart failure.  I can write about it now that I have some distance from the actual event.  Looking back, I feel so grateful that I helped my mother pass comfortably.  I only wish I had been able to help my precious boy Bernie when he passed.  However, I'm very grateful his friend Gloria was with him, and I'll forever be thankful to God that he was not alone.  Helping loved ones leave this world is a blessing to all involved.