database inventory

 Circles of gingerbread spun out of the oven a few days ago, a windup to Christmas baking with a special twist. Will I make 7 kinds of cookies this year? My head is saying no but my heart is saying an emphatic YES! It will be at least 2 or 3 weeks before flour will dust every stationary surface (and maybe some moveable ones as well).

I’m reading a book by Jack Keuroac about writing. It’s fascinating and inspiring but I don’t think it’s made a practical impact. He writes about keeping things simple and cutting out the excess, so I guess the paragraph above could say: “Made gingerbread. In a few weeks I’ll start making 7 different kinds.”  Or would it be “I made cookies, soon I’ll make more.” Which is better do you think?

After a day of rain and general yuckiness Thursday, we got some sun on Friday and Saturday.

We had supper at Trudie & Leo’s Wednesday night - Trudie and I had fun ‘cooking’ before supper so by the time dinner was ready we were starving and full of giggles. Crazy times!

I don’t know why but this year we are getting tons of leaves into the house. It seems like the trees outside the front door dropped 10x the leaves of previous years. Did they? Or has the weather been more conducive to dropping the leaves right under the trees rather than blowing them to the next township?

We had a fun virtual sibling night last night. Gosh, it’s not as fun as real life but much better than nothing.

Seventy two bricks of frozen ground meat & bone are safely saved in the freezer. It will augment the puppers suppers over the winter. We used to feed 100% raw but for the last 5 or 6 years we mix in some high quality kibble. Lucky dogs!

Driving home we passed close to a huge LCBO so we took the opportunity to get our Advent beer selection. Twenty four unique cans have been catalogued and photographed ready for the adventure. Of course I put on my geek cape and designed a database to store beer information. There’s even a page for each person to write a review 🤪

Awesome!

“walking down the laneway on a dark and rainy afternoon, everything is grey around me but as I walk towards the house I can see the glow of a welcoming light.”

“beef stroganoff dinner turned out great despite me not being 100% with it”

“with friends learning new skills”

“sinking my teeth into a perfect biscuit”

“pot in pot worked great in the instant pot”

vincent

Ever since the massive tidy-up last week I’ve been trying to keep up with the constant flow of stuff as it seems like things have a mind of their own and migrate to clutter spots themselves. Seriously though, I’m finding that it’s a near constant effort to keep up with it. I’m trying to work it into my routine (cause I’m all about routines!). On my way to bed is a  100% no go. I can fit in a bit while my coffee is making, but that’s also when Spike gets his eye drops and I take my CBD. What seems to work best is ‘see it - do it’... there’s a lot to see!

The tidying even slipped down the stairs to the basement pantry shelves. It’s one of our dumping off points so it was piled high with stuff and driving me crazy. It didn’t take long to straighten it out - how long before it’s a mess again?

Carm dropped me off at the drugstore this morning for my flu shot, only to find out that the message on their answering machine is WRONG and that they only take appointments… the message on the phone said walk-ins only. I did voice my frustration with THEIR instructions but the lady didn’t seem to get it. Argggh. She gave me an appointment for this afternoon leaving us just enough time to get to liquidation for a short shop. Then I got jabbed.

It was a nice day for a drive in the country with bright sunshine and dry roads. 

I went out with an empty stomach and by the time I got home was hungry with terrible acid reflux that still hasn’t settled.

Somehow the combination of all these events manifested itself into a wham o smack of anxiety and panic that lasted into the afternoon. It came as a surprise as since I started daily CBD I’ve only had a very few incidents. I feel that I should be able to get this in hand better but it was a struggle.

Sometimes it seems that keeping sane is a lot of exhausting work. At times there is a temptation to say to heck with it and head back to bed but luckily I have a little spark that keeps me going. Maybe everyone goes through this?

And then, just to make things worse for myself, I ran across this blog article: https://youdidwhatwithyourweiner.com/love-and-loss-letting-go-of-my-dog-with-dementia/

which had me bawling. We are (hopefully) a long way from this but it’s on the horizon. I suppose I’ve been grieving for a while… maybe that will lessen the impact of when the time comes.

Tomorrow they are calling for freezing rain and snow - ugh. Speaking of snow - yesterday we had our first tiny accumulation.

Pat came for supper last night: White bean & garlic stew. I’ve made it before but not for ages (maybe a few years) and had forgotten just how good it is. A dusting of pecorino would have raised this pasta fagioli (without the pasta),  from a solid four to a lofty five. 

A lovely treat surprised me at the mailbox tonight! Just when I needed a little boost :-) Thank you! I love van Goth and Starry Night is my personal favorite.

Awesome!

“getting the flu vaccine”

"Moon hanging in the sky"

“a surprise at the mailbox”

"And even though it all went wrong,

I’ll stand before the Lord of Song

with nothing on my lips but Hallelujah!” Leonard Cohen

pastis

 November blues are sending their tendrils of misery into my brain. I’m fighting it but it seems to be a constant battle. I feel like Gengis Khan fighting his way through Asia, always fighting, rarely resting but occasionally being rewarded by a bountiful pillage. It’s actually not that bad but the similie seemed fun.

Queen joined me in the tub today... lying back with my eyes closed, the music engulfed me with its awesomeness. It’s easy to forget about the world when I’m immersed in so many notes and words!

Carm did all sorts of get ready for winter stuff while I lazily prepped for tonight’s Vietnamese Beef Stew with Lemongrass & Star Anise. Together we got the slides on the camper closed, including patching a few holes in the slide seals. Fingers crossed that we don’t get water seeping through.

Spike has been in good spirits the last few days. No running off in the night, but some running up and down the laneway. 

The dogs have decided that squeezing in by my feet is the best place to spend the evening.

We’ve been following our 2019 trip to Europe - yesterday we were in the French Riviera on a tour of coastal villages. On one of our stops we stepped into a little bar to sample Pastis, a French abomination. In memory I dusted off an ancient bottle of Pernod (which is a close relative to Pastis). Our small glasses did not cloud over with the addition of water so perhaps the booze is too old (can that even happen?). We both choked it down and hid the bottle until next year!

Aside from the stop at the bar we toured an outdoor market where I purchased a heavy wool cardigan and some awesome soap. I’ve managed to keep the last sliver of soap going but it’s going to be done soon. Time for another trip!

Awesome!

“sous vide instant pot keeping the exact temperature”

“Adia zooming around the backyard”

“beautiful silver green colour of the fallen locust leaves”

“black rainy night”

“dry flannel shirt to cuddle up in when I got inside from that black night”