Everything sublime is as difficult as it is rare. Baruch Spinoza

Saturday, December 10, 2022

A Good Day

Another winter scene from several years ago taken with the Canon DSLR. 


I have no side effects from either of yesterday's vaccinations. Mark, as per usual, has some very mild flu symptoms. This is the second day taking prednisone and I'm surprised I don't feel like I'm on speed. Every time I've taken it I got slightly manic and I'm not. No complaints, mind you. I can feel it reducing inflammation. I'm taking another day of rest with hopes of tackling the neglect around here tomorrow and the following four days I have prednisone.

I have the woody ends of asparagus and vegetable scraps in the InstantPot on slow cook. I make broth with those unusable ends which I add to chicken stock and cream and whatever else I want. It's not really asparagus soup but it's good and I haven't wasted those woody bits. It always bothered me so I decided to experiment and it works for me. I took smoked pork shank stock from the freezer this morning for lentil and sausage soup in the next couple of days. I need to make room for more in the freezer. I'm making asparagus tonight so I'l be putting those bits in the freezer. I save my freezer bags when emptied by putting them back in the freezer until I need them. A bright bulb idea I had a couple of years ago. We waste too much plastic. There's nothing wrong with those bags. Mark used to call me pioneer woman until the person on one of the food channels used that name, Ree something? I asked him to stop after that, she kinda turned me off and ruined my Mark-given name! She did have Basset Hounds, though. One thing in her favor.

I've got lots of rambles. I am relieved I don't have to host Christmas. I am doing no decorations. It has taken a lot of pressure off me, I don't mind saying. I realized on Thanksgiving that the Specter of Holidays Past is starting to fade somewhat. I haven't had company on holidays here since 2018 but the day was always high anxiety for me. This past Thanksgiving I realized I was relaxed. It felt foreign. And good. There is hope.

I just saw the time. I do believe I need to start a fire, find my throne chair and finish my book. I have big hopes for tomorrow. Big in my mind, probably rather small in reality. Adieu.

12 comments:

Boud said...

I'm glad you're not having effects from the various meds. I was totally ridiculed by my sister years ago because I wash and reuse tinfoil, parchment paper and plastic bags. I reuse them many times before they're done for. I've been doing this for decades, just seemed wrong to throw away perfectly good items that only needed washing. I don't do it for chicken, but I so rarely eat anything like that it's not an issue. And now it's the thing to do! Too funny.

Sandra said...

Consider yourself a trailblazer, Boud! I do reuse foil which hasn’t been soiled but I have not washed it. Hmmm. I keep the bags I freeze chicken in in the freezer and do reuse them. If it’s frozen it can’t hurt us, right? Not yet anyway. I can’t knit a stitch but otherwise we have commonalities.

Boud said...

If you give me stitching and I give you horses..

Lori Skoog said...

So glad this was a good day for you with no side effects from anything. You sure know how to make the most all of the food you grow and buy! We have not had a Christmas tree in decades, but I do have a lot of Twinkie lights around here year round. Have no need for a lot of decorations. (Tho I am very envious of Val's Christmas Chair). I can just see you in your throne reading by the fire. Tho I like the stove in the living room, it just doesn't cut it like the one in the kitchen.

Val Ewing said...

I was just reading some articles which talked about the need to ... or not need to do Christmas like everyone else does or like we are 'supposed' to do.
The article related that sometimes a quiet Holiday is better than a bustling holiday with the angst of travel, getting gifts, decorating, and then meeting up with family just because that is how it is supposed to be.

Have a stress free time with just some quiet and something easy.

I decorate and mess around just for me and I like the nice lights that give off a warm glow on a cold night...much like sitting in front of a fireplace!

Pixie said...

My mum and dad grew up during the depression and lived through the war, nothing got wasted and everything was reused. I still wash and reuse my plastic bags until they've had raw meat in them. Mum was also very adamant that you never waste an egg. She loved eggs and during the war they each got one egg a week. I still can't waste eggs.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Glad to read that you did not have after effects from the vaccinations, Sandra, and hope that Mark will be feeling better. We are having asparagus tonight and I will save the woody ends after reading this post, most likely freeze them for later soup use. I also reuse any bags or aluminum foil that has not been food stained, but not any bags that contained chicken or meat and never heard of storing in the freezer, so a new tip for me. Hope you enoyed the fire, your chair, and finishing the book.

Sandra said...

It's a deal, Boud.

Sandra said...

Lori, I still haven't any side effects, yay! I used to decorate big time but over time I have given it up. I like candles. My throne is very comfortable for my back, but so is the Wassily chair. Polar opposites. Although a large expense for you to repair, I know you need your kitchen fire. In the meantime, it''s good to have the living room stove as a backup.

Sandra said...

Val, your Christmas chair is a work of art and a bit of genius! There is too much pressure during Christmas.

Sandra said...

Pixie, my grandma was a preserver. She canned everything. She was born in 1892 to immigrants who new how to make something out of nothing. My mother was nothing like her, she used to tell me I was too much like my grandma. Thank god for that.

I do put bags I have used for chicken back in the freezer. O have them marked to know it's chicken. My veg scraps bags also go back into the freezer. My grandma raised chickens so eggs were plentiful for them throughout the depression.

Sandra said...

Beatrice, it''s just something I started to do that seemed logical to me. If the chicken was ok in the freezer why wouldn't't the freezer bag it was in be ok kept in the freezer? I don't thaw the chicken in the bag, though. We eat a lot of asparagus and it just seemed such a waste to through so much out. Not everyone would like my strange concoction but we do.