Seems like all my posts have become a bulletin board for my to-do lists [YAWN], so how about something more interesting? [tap dancing across the desktop]
weekend rain, and sun
What I learned this weekend: that clothes on a clothesline do not dry in the rain. That clothes left overnight on the clothesline, dry or wet, end up as playthings for raccoons. That wet clothes that get wetter in the rain will break the clothesline.
Now I have just one clothesline. Quite annoying.
Because it rained on Saturday, I saved a lot of energy by not doing much laundry, and attempting to hang out what I did wash…when it wasn’t raining. That didn’t work so well. Hey, live and learn.We did not use the heater at all this weekend, though it was chilly and damp (relative to the rest of all y’all in colder places). Socks, sweaters and blankies…lots of snuggling with library books and recyled cats and cups of organic loose leaf tea. (Mr Husband’s version was hot tea and a cat and the ongoing football games. Go, Bears.)
I got our local CSA (local farmer produce) box on Friday — which I’m starting to order again now that our garden has finished, and by getting it Friday, we no longer have that weekend-with-no-food problem that quickly leads to telephone-for-takeout syndrome. So instead, we ate well this weekend, with fresh strawberries, black grapes, apples, bok choy, celery, and more vegies than I can remember. All of that was local and organic. Yum…
The teenagers were out riding their fixies (fixed gear bikes) in the rain, which must be fun, since they have no brakes and have to skid to stop. They came in, a horde of them at about 6:30 p.m. I happened to have a jar of pesto in the cupboard, so made a vat of green spaghetti, a big salad and pulled a Safari’d foccaccia out of the freezer. As soon as they were eating dinner, I whipped up a quick coffee cake for dessert, with cocoa and walnuts on top, since we had nothing else to offer. Coffee cakes bake quickly, like 35 minutes, so before long the kids were eating warm cake with melting chocolate and chopped nuts. Mr Husband and I had our pasta with the last of the homemade garden tomato sauce from earlier in the week = no waste!
We had to feed all these kids again in the morning, so out came the wafflemaker and I made a fruit salad with seasonal fruits — persimmons, black grapes, apples, oranges. Yum. Plus a boatload of eggs. One of the teens actually got up and made coffee so it was hot when I came down. A miracle!
I made another pass at my living room, eliminating all the rest of the crap piles — ALL of them, and had my LR in order for a writers’ meeting Sunday at noon.
We had another clean-out-the-fridge soup on Sunday with a couple of packets of udon (thick Japanese noodles), our fresh bok choy, some mushrooms and onion from the fridge, and leftover chicken breast. I left the chicken in a dish next to the pot so that the vegetarians among us could eat soup without meat, and the omnivores could have it or not. We finished the weekend by sorting a big pile of laundry and *Putting It Away* (in our room, another miracle!) and watching a movie from our DVD collection. Free fun!
So there you go. Happy Monday, all.
blogging the sphere
Or should that be spearing the blog? Blogger tells me it is on a scheduled outage, so no telling when this will post. (!)
moments in time
What have I done for you lately? Not much. I’ve found that I’m on full-whelm, which is a shade below overwhelm. And doing fine here, thank you. I didn’t know I could juggle this well. Or at all. Clearly, I am learning.
What I did this week:
1. Didn’t receive hate mail from anyone. Did buy 1-cent stamps. Did send very small check to favorite political candidate. His name starts with an O and rhymes with Mama.
2. Made several school lunches that did not get eaten. Took one of those with me to work when daughter forgot/rejected it, only to have to give it to her at school because she had no money and really wanted lunch. Ate company-bought pizza instead of delicious homemade sandwich.
3. Ate leftover spaghetti Monday night when I got home from my women’s group. Made jambalaya in the Crock pot on Tuesday for when I was covering school board. Yum. Made a baked potato feast Wednesday night, when I was teaching a class on writing in the first person. No leftovers. Homemade chili from the freezer was Thursday’s meal, but we all went to yoga together and then came home and died on the couch afterward. Still dead now.
4. My tomato plants keep producing; last weekend I made a boatload of pasta sauce for the freezer (using my Seal-a-meal that doesn’t work = in other words, I ironed the tops of the bags shut.) This weekend: more tomato sauce (Gil Michael’s Nonna’s recipe = yum)
5. Had a massage to work out some of the knots and kinks from my fabulous sciatica. I love to talk about my sciatica. And my failing vision. And my blood sugar. And my aching feet. And my gums. How about some ringworm, anyone? Maybe some eczema for dessert? My whole body hurts from the not-so-tender ministrations of my favorite masseuse.
6. Mia bought her plane ticket home and will be arriving Dec. 20, for anyone who wants to see her. She is cuter than ever. Really.
7. NaNoWriMo begins Nov. 1. I may get back to work on my newest novel or the Year with the Saints pilgrimage project. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe.
8. Got the idea for this year’s holiday gift baskets. Have begun gathering the items in earnest. Fun stuff! Also began my holiday gift bartering and finding. I hope you all like antiques and vintage. That’s what you’re getting this year — that, or homemade. All of which is better for Planet Earth and my wallet than some crappy gift basket from Pepperidge Farms or whatever that sausage place is in the mall. Or a Precious Moments statuette assuring you that I wub you. (I do wub you, though.)
9. Halloween: No child this year means no outings, no dress-up. I’m giving away homemade treats, and if the neighbors don’t like them, they can say no thank you. Hope you kids like peanut butter cookies. Peanut allergy? How about some raisins?
10. Pumpkins: Success in the garden means 4 lovely large punkins for pies and breads and more. Success with corn means we can decorate with some dried cornstalks. Couple of gourds, too. It was indeed a successful harvest.
I could go on but you need your beauty rest. A couple of cucumber slices on your eyes will help with that puffiness. Take two naps and call me tomorrow.
10-02=08
A mathematical date today. A pity I missed 080808, but O-well.
Juggling balls and spinning plates. Tried to have a sick headache last night but was interrupted by life, kids, hunger and a cross-Island junket to pick up a teen and save her from a dark bus ride. But at least I had a chance to catch up with Mom on the phone.
Continuing my quest to be further-Compacty, I found my two fountain pens and got some artist’s ink. I was able to refill both cartridges, one with green ink and one with purple ink, and will be using these at work instead of my colored ballpoint pens. At least, I will try to make the switch. I just realized I was writing with a black ball point to take a message, and that my pens are in my purse.My fountain pens are old friends but I haven’t used them much. One is a no-name brand — something from an art store a decade ago, and the other is a very nice Waterman pen from Mia.
Mr Husband has given me a few quill pens, including one with an amazingly beautiful silver pen holder, filigreed, holding a feather, with a really nice nib. But that requires dipping into ink, while the fountain pens do not need dipping, as they have cartridge. I figure this will get me away from plastic disposable ball points.
* * *
And…it took me too long to finish the post so here’s what Friday morning was like…Guess what we had for breakfast?
We have the double-toaster, extra-wide for bagels. Yesterday I tried to toast some waffles and the left side wouldn’t go down/turn on. This morning I tried it again with a bagel for D#3. Left side didn’t work. Moved it to the right side and it was fine. Followed suit with my own bagel.
Daughter #2 came home from school to make cookies and said the kitchen smelled raunchy. She snooped around a little and found…in the toaster…our mouse friend from the dishtowel drawer.
Yep. Toasted mouse on the left side. No wonder the cats have been on the counter all week.
Say it with me…eeeeeeeeeewwwwww!!!!