handfuls of flour

 The sun peeked out from between the clouds a paltry number times and never for longer than a few minutes. I was tempted to turn on all my tiny lights well before noon but made myself hold off until late afternoon… Thinking of it now, it seems to be an arbitrary limit, a limit that is not joy inducing.

The dimly lit room bred a mood of similar lumens so today was a bit of a struggle, even though I’d taken the cbd. I had to work pretty hard at keeping an upbeat demeanor but managed quite well (another reason to turn on the lights early! dooh). 

What better way to get through a cloudy day than tossing flour around. First into the bowl, yeast. Our favorite recipe of Artisan bread was soon rising under a film of plastic wrap - this is a sticky dough and trust me, a regular dishtowel is a disaster in the making. As the yeast did its work I thawed a couple of bananas to make banana spice muffins. 

After a chilly play in the field with Adia we stepped into a house fragrant with fresh bread and cinnamon. mmmmmm….

I was attracted to today’s beer by it’s pretty blue can and fun name but I should have remembered that a pilsner is not a favorite for either of us. Will we drink it again… no. Sadly, I’m pretty sure there are a few more in our selections - note to self: stay with IPAs.  We had it with stuffed pepper soup and garlic knots.

“When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways--either by losing hope and falling into self-destructive habits, or by using the challenge to find our inner strength.”

~Dalai Lama XIV

dentist

 At 7:30 this morning the shock of sudden music blaring jolted me out of sweet dreams into the real world… the real world that included dentists… It was almost a year to the day that we last visited the dentist as Covid-19 cancelled our last appointment, but alas, the time had come. To add to the misery, it was snowing just a bit.

After the dentist we dashed to Costco so Carm could go foraging among the stacked pallets. He came out of the store with everything on his list, including 8 rolls of tiny micro dot led lights. My intrepid hunter :-)  A few more quick stops and we were driving through snow squalls on our way home. No accumulation thankfully. It was with no small amount of relief when we turned into the laneway.

Poor wee Spike had an accident while we were gone. He doesn’t have stamina anymore so I’ll try leaving out a pee pad next time we go out. If that doesn’t work he’ll have to be crated which will break my heart - he hasn’t had to be caged since before he was a year old.

Once the groceries were unloaded Carm hoisted the Christmas tree up from the basement. We needed to rearrange the furniture a bit (Adia’s giant crate was in the tree’s spot), but then with a flourish the tree was unveiled, already decorated and ready to be plugged in! Decorating the tree is my least favorite part of rolling out Christmas so it is a great pleasure to have it already done.

Finally, I cracked open the box of batteries to power the light strands. I already had several sets on the go - now, with today’s haul, I’ve got 14 strands distributed around the living room. I see one more spot that needs a little light. It brings me joy! but I do foresee a certain amount of time changing dead batteries...

Day 2 of our Advent beer. Space Invader was a pleasant IPA with a moderate amount of citrus. We’ll drink this one again!

“This is my simple religion. No need for temples. No need for complicated philosophy. Your own mind, your own heart is the temple. Your philosophy is simple kindness.”

~Dalai Lama XIV

in a pine forest

 Christmas descended on the house yesterday. Not full-on fairies but a woodland setting with garlands and greenery and multiple little trees. I consider these the winter decor which will stay out until March. I pack away other treasures to make room: rocks from our travels, horse statues, plaques and signs. They’ll all be fresh and new when they reappear in the spring. 

Next week a multitude of Santa’s and Angels will break free from their captivity to disburse around the house. Coloured balls and other festive chachkas will also emerge to brighten up the short days and long nights. I would have done it today but I want to spread out the joy (in other words, save it for another day that I feel dismal).

I had been feeling rather good in the morning, but then, as is sometimes the case, some thought triggered a downturn. I fought hard though! My day ended on a high note with a virtual visit with Olaf and Stephanie. 

Sunday was glorious! Stepping outside I could have been convinced that it was a late March day and that I’d miraculously slept through the long winter. Melting snow from the roof tinkled in the downspout, the sky was clear of clouds, and a slightly warm breeze warmed me. Alas, it was obvious by the low sun that it was still November. 

Carm quickly decided that we should get out for a drive (always a mood enhancer for me). A quick call to Kirsten to see if they’d be up for some company then cross-country we went. We had a lovely visit. It was meant to be only ½ hour but somehow stretched into 2 hours. I felt bad that we took so much of their time as I know they had tons to do but it was so nice to see them.

Today it’s been raining for much of the day. The ground is sodden and yuck with unraked leaves. A chill seeps into my bones. Overnight, a creature dug up our compost bin, strewing rotting food all over the ground creating a tempting feast for Adia... she’s such a pig… I just ran out to sprinkle hot pepper flakes over it… maybe that will keep her away!

Tonight we had our first ‘Advent’ beer. We’ll (try) to split a different beer every night until Christmas. We may get tired of drinking beer by then, but gosh, we’ll give it the old college try! 🤣  Tonight’s beer was a red ale that paired reasonably well with takeout Chinese. It’s hard to match anything other than bubbles with Asian food though.

“If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it's not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.”

~The Dalai Lama