I Gave My Word

 As a person of my word, I am following through. I give you...

Cat

Food

The General Mondanity of My Life

I washed the French windows yesterday on the inside. I had done the outside the day before. Today I do the French doors. I don't mind doing all those rectangles, for some reason. I also brushed the dead leaves out of the three Boston ferns that spend the winter inside. If this is putting you to sleep, scroll upward and notice the cat is sticking her tongue out at me. About sums it up.

I Promise, the Last I have to Say

He hits it out of the park. Now, I'll go back to cats and food.

The Day After the Day After

Frieda and I mirrored one another the day after.

Dazed disbelief to......

 Collapse 

Today we carry on. What else can we do? I found a Stephen King book through Libby I thought I hadn't read but as I go through it I realize I had. I remember certain parts of the book as I come to them but I don't remember what is coming next. So it's like I haven't read it before. Stephen King felt appropriate.

I plan to occupy myself with keeping up with cat hair and dust. This also feels appropriate. A problem that just keeps turning up.

1776 - 2024

Not Only a Right But A Duty

Voted!

 Please Vote

How I spent Saturday afternoon.

It's been a few years since I've made a bread that required more than mixing the dough, letting it rise and bake. I enjoyed the process. I've become used to making anything simple, meaning taking little time or thought. Not to say this is all that difficult, but it does take time. Waiting time. And braiding four strips of dough together.

I may make another bread, another one I need to knead. My nerves are raw from worry over the future of us all, including the rest of the world. It is not hyperbole to say this election is a worldwide threat. Pushing dough around, punching and massaging it into smoothness is one way to release tension. For awhile.

 

The first fire of the season.

I spent a pleasant afternoon and evening enjoying a warm fire and an audiobook, the audiobook in the afternoon. Mark and the cats in the evening. The snow has melted, the air is crisp and the sun is shining. Lori mentioned buying challah from a baker, making me think about making a couple of loaves. It's been years since I've done this. Maybe today, maybe chandelier cleaning. One or the other. Baking sounds more appealing right now.

I mentioned to Mark last evening that I am finally feeling as if I'm regaining some control and order in my life. Slowly but surely I am putting my life, which means my home, to rights. I told him to plan on us both doing a big dust and cobweb removal in the barn, hopefully next week. I have not taken care of the horses or the barn for four years and it shows. Mark has done a good job caring for the beasties and their stalls, but he only has time for so much. The barn looks like a haunted building.

Good Saturday to all.

What I did yesterday that did not require a ladder.

Neighbor Bill gave me a large box filled with Haralson apples a few days ago. I had phyllo left from the last galette so I decided to cut up most of the apples to freeze and made this with the rest. They make a good pie. The chandelier will be done. Really.

Let it Snow

I tried to get a decent photo of Crabby Tabby but he would not stop moving his head. So we have a Blurry Crabby Tabby. It's getting cold enough at night for him to spend some time inside the house. Of course he chooses to spend his time with CatManDo.

We are having snow, large and fluffy flakes coming down and sticking to the ground. Four inches is predicted. It won't last, but I like seeing it. Today will be soup and I think the first fire of the season. I made chicken stock a couple of days ago from the rotisserie chicken Mark had picked up. Let it snow!

I made a vegetable lasagna for last evenings dinner. It takes an afternoon to prepare lasagna. It is well worth the time. This was onion, garlic, spinach and broccoli. And cheese. Did I mention cheese? Ricotta, fresh mozzarella, gruyere, parmesan. Mark thinks anyone very thin is either vegetarian or vegan. I pointed out to him this is vegetarian and won't make you thin. I don't think it gets through to him. 🙄 

Today will be inside jobs. Anyone want to volunteer to clean my antique chandelier? It needs it and I feel, maybe, up to being on a short ladder. I bought it in 1979 in a small shop in Minneapolis. I liked it because it's beautiful, in my opinion, but understated. My father wired it for me. The chandelier has moved with me from house-to-house over the years. I'd probably hang it in a studio apartment. I have an attachment to the thing. It's never been grubby before, but it is now. I know you all needed to know this.

The news of the day. So far.

The past two days I have actually been productive outside. I got everything at the top of my list accomplished, making me a happy camper. I will see if I am able to pull on my big girl pants to face today's chill and mulch leaves. I have become such a delicate flower. It's sort of embarrassing.

Of course, it wouldn't be this & that without a food photo, specifically a photo of a bowl of pasta. All I had in me last evening was the energy for quartering tomatoes, cutting asparagus and garlic, tossing it into a pan with olive oil and butter. Pappardelle, asiago cheese and it's dinner. Pasta is so often my salvation.

                   

That's the news. Enjoy Wednesday one and all.