Daily Notes- Tuesday January 11th. ZERO degrees here in Maine. with Sunshine.

 A screenshot from somewhere.  The warm colors are nice on this sunny but now 3 degree day. Warmer?

I am getting dive bombed by Garnet Hill because I looked at a $189 sweater and a $149 pillow this week.  They think I am going to buy something- they would be WRONG.  Mainly because they are annoying me with endless email.  King Arthur has been doing it as well because I looked at an image of Pancake Mix in one of the many emails I get from them each day..  I was just looking to see if it was the same package I see on the grocery shelf.  It was.  If I want it I can just buy at grocery store.  They are encouraging I buy on line with my credit card.  No.  Will NEVER happen.  They think they are the sole sellers of parchment baking paper as well.  So...not...true.

I tend to buy locally.  Old fashioned as that might be. If it isn't sold here- I do without.

Dreams.  I am living over a Bakery.  Getting up in the dark to go downstairs to start the dough for loaves of bread and last night I even made bagels and a few cakes. In the dreams, I sleep most of the day and work at night. I've been baking bread for the last week or more- in my dreams.  I share the one room apartment with someone who works during the day and sleeps at night. Neither of us has any other Life.

Husband has just called- he has arrived in Lewiston to see his Dermatologist.  Husband refuses to apply sunscreen.  So the annual skin cancer review and painful removal of any he finds.  The roads were slow going so he has 30 minutes to wait...and he remembered to bring the book he is reading.

Truly amazing how much his memory has improved by not using his iPad (at all) and limiting usage of the iPhone to 15 minutes a couple times a day.  I think this should be the first thing doctor's do.  Limit screen usage.  My only screen usage is right now.  Writing this and checking to see who has posted.  Reading the posts, if any.  Then moving on to washing dishes, doing laundry.  I already made the bed, took a very long hot shower, ate my oatmeal and read the newspaper.  

My "new" Louise Penny book is as good as ever.  Less meals at the restaurant (COVID).  Last night they celebrated New Years no masks- last one not this most recent one (here in US we were just getting vaccinated at end of 2019/start of 2020).  And someone by the bonfire got the back of their head smashed in with a piece of firewood.  We have more than enough suspects at the halfway mark. I've made my guess as who done it and why.  We'll see.  None of the regular characters are doing much of anything.  The Painter isn't painting.  The Bookstore owner isn't open for business but is spending time in the restaurant by the fire- chatting and eating and drinking with everyone else who may or may not be the murderer. Gamache is setting up the incident room in the basement of a previously haunted house (another book) and is not happy about it.  Louise moves slowly and carefully into and out of the murders.

So, I am moving slowly as well.  I never actually want the books to come to the last pages.  I want to live in Three Pines as long as possible.

Daily Notes- Monday. Sunshine. Melting Ice. 24 degrees but feels much warmer.

 Squirrel.  When Riley was alive- this squirrel would have gotten the run of his Life.  Just for fun.  Riley was only interested in the chase. Riley's much repaired squirrel toy is on a shelf in my bedroom shoe and purse closet- eye level.  We look at each other when ever I need something in that closet. Like fresh slippers.  The original owner of this house must have loved shoes.

So......the Football was Ugly yesterday.  I have my Sports shows to watch.  Not much else going on. I am not cooking or baking today.  No Washing Machine Pages.  I did a bit of hand sewing later in the day yesterday.  I did quite a bit of unsewing.  Taking things apart.  It seemed like such a GREAT PROJECT years and years ago.  And now it's all taken apart.  It was never going to be what I had envisioned. And I can always use the pieces for something else.  Anyone else out there take apart their patchwork???

I had a few typos today.  Occasionally, I type without looking at the keys.  My memory finds the keys even though I am hardly conscious of looking for them. I was typing that this happened before  typing the Women's Club newsletter in the 80's but it was AFTER Germany..  When I typed the Leaflet for the Morton.Arboretum outside of Chicago.  And then I would drive to the Editor's house and drop it off.  A week or so later I would see it in print. I carried a disc to an office place to have it printed.  My job at work was on a computer as well. I was inputting all the advertising sales data.

 I had forgotten the chronological order of my life. Wow.....that is troubling.

At the time, I was taking a evening adult education class at the Arboretum.  Botanical Drawing and Painting.  It was quite enjoyable.  Not the Mix and Splash of college watercolor back in the mid-sixties. Though I was good at that as well....I really enjoyed the Botanical stuff. Still do.

Well, I have Sports Shows to watch.  Men bickering etc.  

Daily Notes- Sunday. Dismal. Drizzle. Dark. Depressing.

 Found a chair.  On some site. Thought you would enjoy seeing a chair here.  I love the background.  Huge swaths (love that word) of BLUE.  Most likely a very large painting.  Used as a backdrop for the chair.

Today.  Bleh....... It's cold in here even thought the heat is the same as yesterday.  I am going to go see if husband left the garage doors open after getting the morning paper..  The wall behind the couch here is also the garage wall.  We should see about additional insulation.  

But that would require building people who actually show up to do work........in Maine--showing up to work is a rare thing in the building trades.

The Twins down the street still....do not have their hockey rink.  In the front yard.  A barrier has to be put up- the pucks were going into the street and yards...some into the woods- where the new dog found and ate them.  They know this because dogs poop where owners can see what's exiting.  Riley memorably pooped a uninflated ball with a distorted clown face.  Scared (almost) the crap out of me as well..  

Watched the Broncos 49ers game.  I really wanted the Broncos to win.  I didn't watch the second game but saw the score- 50 to 27 and they still had playing time.  This is when the coaches should just decide to stop.  I was watching Repair on the discovery channel- a British show about repairing old stuff.  I found the stuffed animal restoration very informative.  

Taking the toy apart, lining each piece and making a new pattern for heavily damaged parts and then sewing it back together and re-stuffing.  A Panda Bear and a tall Lamb.  There was an old steam pond boat.  A large ceramic object hit by a ladder one Christmas and smashed a bit. I wished my Dad had been sitting nearby.  He would have loved it.  Perhaps he was nearby.  I now need to go into the ice cold garage and get the pattern pieces dad saved for new chair upholstery.  My dad was working on it.  Re-tied the springs. He thought the fabric I chose was too fancy for him to work on.  So work on the chair stopped. Not too fancy for the chair.  Just too nice for a guy like him to work with.  Sadly that's how he saw the World......for a guy like him.

Daily Notes- Saturday, January 8th.

 Cute squishy chair.   I have no idea where photo came from ....... little somethings?

Two visits to grocery.  I had forgotten husband's yogurt.  So a second trip but this time we took my car - to charge up the battery.  It's been weeks since I drove it.  Once it snows- I stay home or have husband drive me.  He has all wheel Jeep.  Streets were clean and dry.

I woke up and my back sort of felt like it couldn't hold me upright.  Like I would fold backward and then collapse. I just stood in one place, not moving, until it sorted itself out.  Now it's fine.  Sitting in the cute squishy chair might be fun.

I might have over sweetened my coffee.  It's pretty darned sweet.

I took the jigsaw puzzle back.  Our daughter suggested we dump it into the recycling bucket.  I told her it was library property.  Husband still thinks pieces are missing.  The entire puzzle was still together when I opened the box- just folded to fit back into the box.

I don't have much else to talk about.  One of the Radio On TV guys got COVID on his Christmas Vacation to Florida and the Bahamas.  His family (wife and two kids) did not get sick.  Even being in close proximity to him.  Weird.  So, he's been broadcasting from his basement where he has been living since they got home.  He looked like hell the first few days.  Yesterday he looked almost normal.

Well, nothing else to say.  We got about an inch of snow.  Maybe two.  Nothing like they were forecasting. Maine is now in severe drought conditions.  Weird but true.  Our natural winter is lots of 48 inch snow storms.  Not...... just under two inches. 

I did laundry yesterday so I could read today but at 4:30 we have Football and again at 7:30.  And two games tomorrow.  Weird.  Extra week seventeen to make things more profitable.  Not a fan.

Daily Notes- Snow. Not much as yet- our iPhones have differing opinions on what is coming or not coming.

 I kept this photo out of the garbage can of ads I get each days as MAIL.  Mostly the two black lights.  I need black lights like these for the wall sconces in the room where we eat.  When we first lived here in the early 90's the room was the Family room.  We watched tv, had the wood stove going.  To the left was the dining table.

The fireplace leaked- water ran down the bricks inside. The huge overhead skylight was rotting.  When the fireplace WALL was removed and the skylight had Carpenter Ants so a new roof was needed.  And all new windows- baseboard up.  Illegal but we have them and they are stunning. (if there were grandchildren we would have gotten standard windows. But no grandchildren.) 

Then the room got a huge table that my husband built from salvaged lumber from a barn.  That was lovely.  We had stacks of things on that table.  Then we had more work done and broke the table down into it's component pieces and have the old German/Swedish table here.  And the new bead board wall has two metal plates where lights were supposed to go.  Like the ones over the fireplace in this picture.  I could have art like that on the mantle.  On either side are bookshelf type cabinets in niche's where we have glass shelving- not installed.  I really want wood shelves.  And the area behind the couch- floor to ceiling book cases.  

I see them on the news shows when people have to broadcast from home.  They set up in front of bookcases.  And I want bookcases.  And I want to buy books.  Not borrow from the library.

I am reading the newest Louise Penny- The Madness of Crowds. The COVID pandemic is thought to be over. Little did the author know it would go on another year.  It is another dark book no matter how many gatherings the lovely people who populate Three Pines have. A wave of "New Suggestions" to balance the budget books of government and households- euthanize the old, feeble and disabled.  COVID gave them the idea.

The book is dark and disturbing.  There aren't enough butter tarts in the world to make it less so.

And, again, I will look up butter tarts.

Daily Notes- January 6th- Another Day of Infamy.

 This is what Pandemic Life feels like.  Living in a glass bowl.  I used to make these when I worked at the greenhouse.  I made up little stories and then designed the bowls to go along.  This one is quite lovely.

I am rather "attached" these days to gray and green.  Somber colors.

My daughter brought me a pair of beige linen Eileen Fisher pants from Goodwill.  For what ever I want to do with them.  On the table was the scarf DebL had sent me with her dye deck colors. Daughter said- send it.  Have her do things to those pants.  I am thinking a dark color.  My butt is too large to be walking around in light beige.  But with extra people in the house- I think the dye deck might not be working in 2022. Safety concerns.

In yesterday's comments- news of a new variant in France.  I am just starting to think this is all tied into Global Warming.  It's just a thought on the edges.  But...Fire, Drought, Flood, Plague.......... on Ancient Aliens ---Earth is sometimes discussed as sort of "experimental" ........ someone's science project???

I began the day with a shower.  Last night I was lost in my dreams and couldn't find my way back....... it wasn't the best dream.  I woke feeling....lost.  So.  I decided a hot shower was what I needed.  Later today I have two loads of Washing Machine Pages.  

January 6th is not a day I want to re-live via the news on tv. 

 Paula left a comment yesterday.  I am also lactose intolerant but I had never seen it as an opportunity to clear the aisles at the grocery.  Laughing.

Daily Notes- January 5th. Cold Earth surface, Warm Air, Rain. Maine is slippery today.

 What I'm eating but not as "soupy".   Pasta and Pulled Pork.  I could make mine soupy?? This (pictured) I think is a Ragu on Gnocchi with some sage leaves (not edible) just to make the picture less brown and yellow. I could toss something like frozen peas on my dinner??  I am almost out of cooked pasta and I now have Kraft Mac and Cheese so that might be next up with the pulled pork. I have a very large tub of uncooked pasta shapes..... daughter went a bit crazy. So Pasta every which way is coming soon.

We took the opportunity, after newspaper reading, this morning to dash to the library and grocery. I had books that were overdue.  I picked up magazines in the entry way- donated by Patrons.  I usually look at the pictures and then cut them up to use here on the desktop calendar.  Today I got images of a table and chairs and a painting.  the walkways in from of the Library were icy and as I exited- I saw a woman slip and fall.  I helped her up and brushed her off. She took a real hit.

I have acid reflux.  I ate orange slice jelly candy. Which I love.

I selected one large box of oatmeal....and then after the cheese, butter, milk and yogurt aisle- I picked up a second box of oatmeal.  I just had a "feeling" that was the thing to do.  After looking at the shelving.  Different Aisles.  What was there and not there.  I can always eat oatmeal.

I am not as cheerful......news last night and the words- "We are beginning the third COVID year."  Beginning. Third.  COVID YEAR.  I sit here thinking that next January I will be typing-FOURTH.

Already we are preparing for a second Booster. Children who are vaccinated now get a Booster.  It's coming.  Endlessly.  Endlessly. Like a long march.

Daily Notes- January 4th. Cold. Cold. Cold. Snow on ground is a shiny hard surface.

 Same old square with a new center.  I hadn't intended for the piece to get a new center.  I still am not sure I want to do all the unsewing this change requires me to do.

 And this is just sitting on top. Not stitched or anything.  I set the blue square on top just to make the pile NEAT.  And then I noticed.  And have kept on noticing.  Hell of a thing.  The 4 inch square is sitting on top of the patterned blue.  The orange stripe is sewn in.

I am thinking I had gotten too attached to matching things.  I am thinking I need to pay attention to this.

Sort of a Wake Up.

Well.  It's very cold.  I need another layer of wool.  A second sweater.  The house is so big and empty- it doesn't have any things to trap heat.  We never replaced the things we got rid of.  Three armchairs. Rugs. Curtains.  The wide expanse of hardwood is just that.  Wide. Bare.  Two couches.  One that husband naps on and one where I sit and read or watch Sports News and/or Ancient Aliens or Hallmark Movies.  I keep watching the waltzing movie.  Not much happens.  They dance.  The music plays.  People talk.

Yesterday's (and today's) book is Abbi Waxman's The Bookish Life of Nina Hill.  I finished reading it just before bedtime.  I may start it over again today.  A young woman who likes books.  Works in a book store. Was raised by a nanny while her mother traveled the world taking newsworthy photographs as her Life's work..  Abbi never  knew her father's name.  He dies. Has Abbi in his will.  So she meets 3 of his four wives and all her brothers and sisters etc. etc.  It's actually too much for her. 

Her dead father leaves her his favorite thing.  His black 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am.  That's the very end of the book and it's not really ruining the story or anything to mention it.  I doubt many of you read any of the books I write about here.  No one's ever said they have.  But one can hope someone will read them.  

My coffee has gone cold and I have a full wash basket waiting for me by the washing machine.  I have NOT done washing.  In awhile.  Sigh.  I don't think I want to do any today, either. so. I'll make a fresh cup of coffee and settle into the old couch cushions.  Again.  At 75... I think I can do whatever I please.

Daily Notes- January 3rd. Dark, Wet and Dismal. Outdoors. Not in the house.

 Breakfast Sandwich.  If I could make one wish and have it granted right this minute- it would be this breakfast sandwich.   I love an oozy egg yolk.  I would prefer bacon to the ham. But would eat the ham.

So, here we are on Monday- the first Monday of the New Year.  I don't really need groceries.  So I am skipping the usual Monday grocery and Library visits. G feels he needs orange juice and shredded Parm. He can wait a few days.

My neighbor across the street has had several home tests be negative.  But she has read that she could be positive again after her 5 day quarantine....... and  test positive again in the remaining 9 days.  So she is driving to Walmart - the drive thru- to pick up an additional box of antigen test kits.  One a day.  She must be really anxious to get back out there mingling with people. I think she was letting me know I could stop picking up her mail and tucking it in her screen door. Masked.

I slept late and husband got up early and then took a nap before even finishing breakfast.  He just woke up. 1:30 pm.  I put his uneaten yogurt back in the fridge.

I had very very strange dreams.  Very.  Strange. Too strange to write down here.

But I remember them.  Yep........hard to forget them.

Patriots Won.  The Jaguar quarterback sure loves his hair.  That was ...... not my dream. The guy should stop with the hair. Really.

We also watched the Bengals.  Cincinnati.  That quarterback...wow beating the Chiefs.  And Tom Brady even managed to pull one back from disaster with the Jets and we were watching when AB had his breakdown strip show. We were eating the Football Pizza I almost forgot to make.  And it was a great Pizza.  And the football, while stranger than Truth- was entertaining.

My sports tv people are back from two weeks of vacation time.  So...good times.

Daily Notes- January 2nd. Dark, Wet, Chilly outside. Global Warming Alive in Maine..

 Books.  January is the month for Books.  Fiction of course.....but also gardening, cooking and sewing. I have to expand my horizons.  I started "mending" last year around this time.  The Time of the  Siege of the Capital and Democracy & Intelligence..  Mending.  It seemed appropriate. But it hasn't helped......

I was tempted by Sourdough last year.  The creating and tending of a sourdough starter.  Still not sure I am that interested.  The Starter is like having a hungry baby in the fridge.  And we two, do not eat all that much (Breakfast and Supper). So daily loaves...not the best idea.  And husband likes store bought bread best of all.  Not homemade. Nothing really homemade is appreciated. He was raised on TV Dinners.

I am vaguely tempted by Crock Pot.  

I do have a Goodwill Crockpot ($4) out in the garage filled with black walnuts and pieces of rusted iron.  All I need to get it going is to plug it in.  Add water (perhaps melted snow which might have minerals etc. as I do not have a Pond anymore)  Then strain the contents and add cloth and heat.. and wait........

I might, first of all, cover the kitchen island and paint cloth.  I need a really great pink.  And a super blue. I want to paint something that looks like it was made in the dye pot. A good red would be pretty darn great. And a green- with acid or black understory.  The color samples in the book I got for Christmas have me wanting different, new to me colors. Madder. Indigo.

But today- it's Football and Pizza.  Got to see if the "sad and depressed" Patriots are interested in winning today.  They all seem to have lost energy and interest in the past few weeks.  I can identify with that.

I am reading (re-reading) the Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman.  Her middle book Ordinary People is not very good and book four was okay but dragged a bit too much.  Characters from three of the books mingle a bit in this book.  Especially at the wedding with the camel.  The Garden of Small Beginnings is first.  I got a copy as a gift.

But...Pizza today and Football.  No time for reading.  Husband continues to work on the jigsaw puzzle. I go over there and find a piece or two and then start sorting.  Last evening we discovered we had put the edges together incorrectly and now- except for one piece- it might be correct.  I even got the ruler and measured it.  That's when we realized we had a few extra edge pieces in ALL the wrong places.

Daily Notes- January First, 2022- Twenty Twenty Two. Wow.

 I used to have Apps on my desktop.  I no longer have a desktop page.  It went away.  Retired itself.

I miss the little Weather box.  I miss the phases of the Moon Box.  I miss the Horoscope Box. I think there might have been a News Headlines box- I don't miss that.  That's four- I can't recall the remaining two boxes.  

I never make Resolutions.  I just try...everyday.... to do a good job. Get one or two things done.  Not all the things that need being done. Just one or two of them. The vacuum hose has been on the living room floor for weeks.  You just plug it into one of the hose outlets in the walls and vacuum. Easy. Central Vac. But dragging the hose (which kinks) around makes me swear like a sailor.  I am attempting to keep all the wood floors dust free with my Swiffer.  That's a Resolution of sorts.  And our eyesight isn't as great as it used to be.  And dust is hard to see. Yep.

We had slices of the "loaded" Tiramisu Cake last night.  Someone went a bit heavy on wetting the cake slices (at the grocery store bakery) with liquor. Whoa. I can still taste it this morning.

Today is Saturday and I woke up expecting it to be Sunday.  It's been a really LONG WEEK.

Husband took down the old calendar we write things on- and hung up the new one.  For some reason January has pink geraniums.  I found the calendar (for sale) one day at the grocery store.  The colors seemed Happy. It was the same size as the past three years of calendar.  Good sized blank squares to fill with doctor's appointments, haircuts, the few birthdays we have in the family, and I guess that's it..... oh and car appointments for service etc.  Dentist.  Wild and Crazy times.

I have my new desktop calendar install here on the desk under the computer.  The computer weighs a ton and a half.  The first whole week is blank boxes except for tomorrow.  Which means down at the bottom two days are doubled up.  Already 2022 is causing problems.

Daily Notes- December 31st- Street and driveway are wet but no snow or ice.

 My "inner child" is tempted by the tiny gingerbread cookie houses.  There was a "time" in my Life, when I would have made these cookie houses for a Social Tea Meeting at my house.  I was very social.  I loved putting together a party or a lunch or anything.  I had everything from cocktail glasses to champagne glasses to tea cups.  Plenty of tablecloths.  Cloth napkins.  Ah.  And I had friends.  Had.  Most of them have already passed on to the next Life.  I already feel like the Bus has left me behind.

There were days when I couldn't get my grocery shopping done for all the stopping to have conversations  with quilting friends, work friends, with greenhouse customers with just "a question".  Life was abundant.

This simple little cookie house balanced on the edge of a cup of tea...........it's like opening a door to the past.

I managed to feed myself yesterday.  The Crock Pot Pulled Pork was  (is..as there is so much in the fridge even using the tiny crock pot) delicious.  I ate it with pasta.  It was cold here in the house yesterday.  A green salad felt too chilly to me.  Husband continues to eat the prepared (by the grocery) Chicken Parm meals.  Which is pretty amazing and easy enough.

I, just now, realized I have brown felt and white embroidery floss.  I could make a few little houses- six- for a Christmas Tree.  If I managed to ever have a tree again.  I was reminded that I had wanted to make a new ornament in early December but couldn't think of one.  And here it is- on December 31st.

I am thinking a tallish, skinny tree.  With wide spaced branches.  So I could fill the branches with all the ornaments in the boxes.  Lots of lights.  2022.

Daily Notes- Thursday, December 30th. 36 degrees, wet and dismal here in Maine.

 Well, almost done.  Record numbers of cases of "new" COVID here in Maine.  200K and counting. Our population here in Maine is 1.2 million souls.  So-- It's EPIC as they say.  I used orange crayon because orange seems to be the COVID color.

Grocery store visit today.  I bought a Tiramisu Cake.  Expensive but we are worth it.  I am also making pulled or BBQ pork in the crock pot.  First cooking was overnight. I did the shredding of the pork after breakfast and added in the BBQ sauce, some brown sugar and the cooking juices.  It smells delicious. I have some soft flour tortillas if husband wants to eat any.  I like it on top of a green salad. So I bought Romaine lettuces.

I am considering using the crock pot more often in the coming year.  I would welcome any recipes Readers of the Blog out there use and enjoy.  I am thinking my pasta sauce might benefit from Crock Pot treatment.

My husband drove me to the grocery today and gets to park up front with the handicap tag he has.  So, he got to witness an elderly guy in the handicapped car parked next to us---- get out of his car and "check out my groceries". I am laughing.             He also wanted my cart when I finished unpacking it.

When I got in the car...I mentioned to husband that he now "knew my demographic" for men interested in me.  "Good to know" was his only comment.  But he made sure the cake was in OUR car.

Daily Notes- December 29th. Cold with the Sun shining

 I wish I had been a better formed person when I was in college.  This is the sort of thing- not this good even in my dreams- but something simple and organic- that is what I should have been drawing. It's who I was and am even today.  But I wasn't well formed or emotionally healthy back then.  I was a mess. Just getting up on time and to the right class was EPIC ACHIEVEMENT on my part back then.

So my neighbor is home and beginning her 5 day quarantine.  She was in Boston and with New York City family members. (the NYC people tested positive).

So it goes after a indoor winter Holiday.  With eating and drinking so- no masks.

We had to shovel snow again yesterday.  This time I was exhausted and had to rest on the couch to regain the ability to breathe in and out with ease. Breathing in and out is something...not to be taken lightly these days.  Not one single thing on cable or on the TiVo that I wanted to watch.  The week between Christmas Day and New Years Day- stinks on television.

So.... I stripped the bed and did two loads of wash- turned the king sized mattress (I just spin it clockwise) and got all the fresh sheets back on and stuffed the down duvet into a fresh cover.  To say I was exhausted is to be too kind.  I felt every year of 75 when I was done.

Daily Notes- Tuesday, December 28th. More snow overnight.

 Dinner.  I prefer not to eat something cold like this in winter but....I wasn't interested in any of the leftovers yesterday.  Today I might be. Will be.  Or I will cook something.

 I ate this fruited yogurt while watching Ancient Aliens- Australia.  Did you know the Australian continent is one of the least explored continents?  And, it's isolated inhabitants have DNA going back 30,000 years?  Because no one arrived to dilute their blood until Captain Cook arrived. This is the sort of stuff that's on Ancient Aliens.  On the Regular.

I watched because they also gave me lots of lovely Ancient Art and Cave Wall Painting to look at. And after a wall painting/rock carving- I got to see the actual Milky Way and lots of Cosmos - so I could appreciate how similar they were in content.  I also got to watch the men mix Earth into lovely colored body paint.  And paint themselves. And, they also smoked and ingested various intoxicating substances to reach "a higher plane" and communicate with the Ancient Gods.  It was quite beautiful.

Certainly MUCH better than the extremely AWFUL football games.  OMG.  What has happened in the past 10 days to football?????   There was more excitement (less athletic ability) in the fist fights on the benches and in one case...on the field.  If I remember correctly. I've stopped watching.  

I spent the Time after Australian Ancient Aliens watching old recorded (TiVo) Christmas movies.  I watched the waltz one again (fives times in two days).  It's actually titled Christmas Dance.  And I watched the one where two children  are seated at the children's table at Christmas Eve Dinner.  We see them grow up.  Year after year. Until they break each other's hearts.  And I watched the movie where the marketing ex goes to Vermont to manage an old bookstore for a month.  Falls in love. Then leaves. Comes back.  There's one more I forgot to watch.  The "kiss in the elevator movie".  I hope I didn't erase it.  There were three elevator movies. Only one was good enough to see again and again.

Daughter called from a bookstore yesterday where she found shelves of romcom.  None of it was my kind of romcom.  I have two here on the ottoman.  And another five on the book table.  But my head and my heart are tired.  And sad. And feeling rather broken hearted.

It snowed.  So I shoveled my way out to the street to get the newspaper.  And then dragged the recycling can back up the driveway but gave up when I got to the sidewalk.  My chest hurt.  Difficult breathing. I decided not to have a heart attack and die in the driveway. Stopped shoveling.  Did you you know women rarely survive a heart attack???? Or heart surgery. Husband's surgeon and nurse told me. A Warning.

Daily Notes- December 27th- Sunshine. Clean Driveway. Bills Paid.

 We'll be going for a ride in the car in a few minutes to return books to the library.  It would be lovely to be able to walk to the library instead.  Daughter lives close enough, in Town, to walk (but she doesn't).  I have often thought it would be nice to live in Town.  To walk places.  To take a walk and get a coffee and read a book or have a short conversation with someone. Husband doesn't do conversation. Never has.

The car, and the need to drive everywhere, creates a wall of sorts between me and the Town where I live. Years passed with me not being the friendliest of people.  Now..I like to be around people for short periods of Time.  I often think....I could manage to be around people more often and for longer periods of Time. If I practiced.  I miss the greenhouse and the many people with problems.  I had lots of great conversations with them.  It seems like forever, ago.

So..the library.  And returning books and the one puzzle we managed to finish. The one on the table is taking a very long time.  Way too busy.  And there are only a limited number of piece shapes.  So easy to put the wrong ones together.

We had football pizza last night.  Ugh...the games were brutal.  The chat today on the one show I watched- equally as brutal.  COVID has ruined everything for many of the Teams. The Patriots played poorly. It was almost like no one was coaching them.  Well, I was...but no one was listening.

Daily Notes December 26th- Snowblower and Shovel Day

 Well, even when one doesn't bake...the baked goods seem to find their way into the house.  Yesterday I had a chocolate chip muffin.  Today Football Pizza which I make myself.  I haven't baked the Boozy Cake yet- maybe tomorrow.

And G used the snowblower and I used the shovel to clean up the mess that the snowblower leaves behind. We got rain followed by snow and then rain again so mostly we had a layer cake of hard and soft snow. Now it's all clean dry asphalt and 36 degrees.  Cross the street has a plow guy and it looks really awful over there and she's lost half the side lawn.. plow guy digs right into the grass.

Christmas was a lovely day.  Great gifts, Phone calls and the Christmas Burritos were very tasty and I got so many great books... and read one of them......delightful.  

Daughter also found a book titled "the Modern Natural Dyer" and it has a list of dye plants.  So I am making a list for me to have handy in my purse and one for daughter to carry when they go plant shopping next Spring for the Landscaping business. 

I know that Artist Supply in Portland has all the dyes for sale.  I could just visit Portland someday and buy them- it's just with reactive asthma I am afraid of the powders.  Inhaling them. Killing myself. So the plant material itself sounds safer.  The Maine plant catalog never has Madder root. Always sold out.  And then..I wonder if I actually want to get into this dye pot thing.  When I can paint the cloth the color of madder. I have a picture of the color-- I can mix color.  It's something I am good at.

The Patriots lost.  Sigh.  I had a few spoons of ganache to soothe myself.  Now a book to read.  

Six more days on my desk calendar page.  Daughter got me a new calendar- just like this one.  Perfectly DELIGHTED.  That's me.

Daily Notes- December 25th. Merry or Happy Christmas to All!!!!

 Merry Christmas.

Gifts were found on the couch where we sit doing nothing, sewing or reading or watching tv.  They got into the house all by themselves while we were sleeping.   Books.  Candy.  That's what I got and fruit flavored sparkling water (lemon and strawberry-rhubarb) that mix very well with gin and vodka when everything is ice cold. All from Trader Joes about a 40 minute fast drive from where I live.  

I still haven't gotten my wish for a local Trader Joes.

Husband got a stack of new coloring books of mandalas and a BIG new word search book.  He is circling words as I type these.

Our son called from California.  He has to get up early to make the call.  But he does it.  Lovely boy.  Lets us talk and ramble on and on.  A true gift from his heart.

We were eating breakfast at noon.  We are really degenerate adults. I am reminded of how I scolded the two 18 to 20 something -year old children when they got up past noon.  And now...it's me doing it.

I was up late.  Two of my old favorite sweet Hallmark movies on TiVo.  I watched them both twice.  The last- the Christmas Waltz (a busy business man learns to waltz) had such sweet music to accompany the waltz lessons.  I mostly just kept hitting rewind to listen to the music.  Like winding up a music box. I think I might have done it for a few hours if the hour wasn't so late.  I am going to check the CD's I own- to see if I have a waltz.  Last year it was Edith Piaf.  At full volume. In French.  Glorious.

Daily Notes- December 24th. Christmas Eve.

 Christmas Eve.  One of the Twin boys came by yesterday with a gift of homemade cookies.  And News. Regarding the hockey ice rink not yet built.  The Puppy who now outweighs both boys.  He said he couldn't visit longer as he had many cookie deliveries to make to the neighbors.  We wished him a Happy Christmas. 

An email from another neighbor getting her sleigh ready to travel to see her son and her three (or four) granddaughters.  Four if her daughter travels north as she is traveling south.  We are picking up mail and watching the house while she is gone.  We got a bottle of wine and a glass jar of Brandy Balls.  Yum.

Cookies, Brandy Balls and Wine.  I melted a can of sweetened condensed milk and dropped in pieces of Lindt very dark chocolate 85%.  Ganache.  I did a very very tiny taste test and am "sugar" dizzy - not even using the amount of chocolate asked for in the recipe- It's cooling.  Later today I am baking the Boozy Chocolate Christmas Cake.  And I might loosen up the Ganache with some Kahlua.  I need to make a quick trip to the grocery for Vanilla ice cream.   

I planned dessert but not actual food.  

And really....who cares????  I can have a Christmas Grilled Cheese&Ham Sandwich. With Cheetos. And husband will be happy with the usual Chicken Parm he has every day. I can buy something to eat at the grocery..  

I am not making the Christmas Eve Polish Potato and Sauerkraut Pierogi.  Making them last December nearly killed me.  I might be too old for it.  I tried to come up with some sort of "easier" meal that included all the Pierogi ingredients but didn't come up with anything....yet.  Any Bohemian/Polish Cooking People out there with ideas?????

So...Merry Christmas to all.......you mean the World to Me.  What a Gift you have been to me all these years.  

And, yes, Paula...send more yarn.  In a bag this time not a box and closer to February....when I have worn new holes in my socks!!!! Connie- how did you know my big frying pan needed a big potholder????? thank you.  

Daily Notes- Thursday, December 23rd Sunshine and 21 degrees.

 Occasionally, I use my brain to make life easier.  Today I pulled out the really old Scrabble game (we upgraded a few years (many years) ago to one with little indents for the tiles.  So they didn't move around. This old school one has a flat board.  

Husband was having difficulty with his Jumbles.  So he stopped doing them.  It's one of the exercises for his brain and thinking processes that I encourage.  So....I got out the little stand and assembled the letters and presented it to him and he figured out the word pretty fast.  So......that felt like a "good thing".

Nothing much on tv so I did a bit of sewing- felt bored and ate too many things- I tend to eat when not involved in doing something- be it tv watching, reading or sewing or even mending socks.  Today I have all the supplies for mending the underarm sections of my favorite sweater.  I have the cashmere donor sweater ready to cut into patches.  And my friend in Colorado sent me sock mending yarn so I will be using some of that for the patching.  I already mended my socks.

The sweater I am wearing is more patches than original sweater.  I have more of the donor for the sweater  I am wearing so eventually it will be a "new" sweater-all the sections being sandwiched and sewn together.  But who cares????  In Winter, I am wearing my old black wool ankle length coat. That's all people see.  The old white haired woman in the huge black coat.  When I do fall on the ice- I tend to bounce. Or at least I did bounce when Riley would pull me down to the ground on our snowy slippery Winter walks.  That old coat has saved me from serious injury.  Many times.

I mended and patched the sweater I have on.... on January 6th.  During the rioting at the Capital.  I was standing the entire time.  I could not sit down while all that violence was going on.  I patched.  And the patching looks like I how I felt that day.  This is the first time I have worn the sweater.  Since then. Pretty emotional.

I am thankful for my friend in Colorado (who I have never met) for sending the mending yarn for my socks..  I mended four pairs of socks that I love almost as much as these very old worn thin sweaters.  Daughter checks Goodwill on every visit for a black, dark grey or middle grey cashmere sweater for a one or two X woman. Even men's sweaters.  These sweaters are all over 20 years old.  One or two might be 30 years old.  They don't make them like this anymore.  New sweaters are very thin and they smell funny.

I  hand wash the sweaters with a very nice lightly scented body wash that Trader Joes used to sell..   They stay soft and bouncy with a neutral smell..

Daily Notes- ICE and more ICE on all walking surfaces this morning.

 My Sports Radio Show is playing all the hilarious stuff from the year.  Dirty Christmas Songs with the dirty words bleeped out.  Last song was all bleeps- which was actually even funnier than having words. And they are re-playing calls from listeners which are so so funny. Lots of Naughty.

The snow plow is driving around spreading salt etc.  To take care of that ice.  Husband has gone out to spread sand on the front walk and steps- where he face planted one year.  Wow.... was that exciting. Lots of bruising, swelling and luckily no broken teeth.  His nose took the major hit.  

We had pizza last night.  And watched the Washington /Eagles game.   Today Gary returns to Chicken Parm and I will be having Pantry Soup.  We got mail this morning- it came late yesterday- two Christmas Cards- one from my brother and sister in law.  I am still looking for some kind of "FANTASTIC" recipe to use up the two boxes of instant vanilla pudding mix.

My Master Gardener Friend Patty left us a stack of gifts.  I got really lovely boot socks.  Soft and cozy. And a puzzle.  Husband got rub on tattoos. My library friend left him a stack of new puzzle books.

The only "event" today is husband taking his car in for an oil change and state inspection.

Temps are now 40 degrees and snow melting pretty darn quick.

I managed to get two cloth items finished- added another round of strips -- and now have them starched and basted to batting.  Now I have to wonder what to do- hand or machine quilting.  Since they are almost 100% hand sewn, I think I need to hand quilt.  I am not that great at it.  But in the ditch- who sees it?

Daily Notes- December 21st- First Day of Winter. Cold and White outside.

 So here we are- First Day of Winter.  The Long Slog until March or April.  Sometime Spring is Late showing up here in Maine.   I plan to start seeds in my recycled milk jugs on the back deck the first week of January..  Mostly Marigolds.  They were very much appreciated last summer.  By me.

I have been thinking of growing my tomato plants in the compost bins this coming growing season.  It's sunny there.  Soil is deep.  Watering might be a problem as I will need to run a hose over there or carry water.  I didn't notice ANY pollination of flowers on any vegetables in the fenced garden the past two years. No blueberries.  Very little rhubarb.  I worked so hard over so many years to get that raised bed fenced area going.  It was great for many wonderful years.  Abundance. And now Old Age.

I have to admit- there are fewer and fewer insects flying about.  And they do the work of pollination. I have hand pollinated in my younger years.  Now- it's too hard for me to be out there everyday.

Sports Boston was dull and irritating.  The evening Football games- like watching high school football in August.  No one knowing what the heck they are doing.  And getting hurt.  When Omicron and Delta teamed up- everything should have been cancelled.  Or delayed.  I did hand sewing. My eyes got blurry.

Here in Maine the hospital numbers keep going up and up and the UNMASKED population stays unmasked.  I want to move to a State with good numbers and a population that stays masked.. I know- that's "crazy talk".   No State has good numbers and a population that stays masked.

I took inventory of the pantry and the freezer and fridge.  Seeing what's available for our Dining Pleasure. Today we'll be having Pizza with, hopefully, the Washington Football Game and the Patriots Practice Team Quarterback (with not even 7 days notice) leading the Team.  What could go wrong??? I guess it should be What Could Possibly Go Right.  I have a good feeling about this.  Washington has spunk.

Daily Notes- Monday, December 20th-- Snow Day!!!!!

 Snow yesterday- G and I got to clear the drive and walkways.  He used the snowblower and I used a shovel.  I had started to think we wouldn't get snow this year.  It's VERY bright outside with sun shine and temps going to the high 30's and even into the 40's.  Snow will become ice overnight.

Football.  I stayed up late last night and alone- the snow removal tired husband out--and watched the Saints take Brady and Tampa apart.  

One part of me felt bad- the other part just thought it was wonderful.  Brady can be beaten. And at the very end- 9 to zero- Brady smashed his Microsoft tablet and then threw it in the dumpster behind him.  And to add more battery acid to the burn- the coach that brought him down was the Saints practice team coach, I think------- everyone else had COVID. The Saints real Q-back has something wrong with his foot and he was on the sidelines screaming and yelling and so so proud of his TEAM.

Today (I think, but this week for sure) the Patriot's Practice Squad Quarterback is heading up the Washington Team. COVID is making opportunities for some bench players to SHINE. We'll see what this guy is made of.....And I like the Washington Team.  The resemble old school Patriots from years ago. Just get the job done guys.

Today the Sports shows have plenty to chew.  The Patriots epic mess of a loss and then Brady"s REALLY EPIC MESS.......I have cloth chosen, thread and a needle- ready to listen and hand sew.  Let the good times roll.......Soup is ready to eat when I get hungry.  Nothing to do but enjoy the day.  Sigh.  Happy Me!

Daily Notes- December 19th- Snow overnight. Possibly 3 inches.

Well, inserting the picture a new way and now all sentences begin in the middle of the page. It's always something.  You get this image because I made soup for myself yesterday while it snowed. And my soup looks very much like this image of vegetable soup off the internet. 

Cabbage, carrot, onion, tomatoes, white beans and two potatoes. Pantry Soup - Covid 2020.

It's very tasty and good to have in the fridge.  I added a handful of small pasta shapes.

We couldn't SEE the Patriots game yesterday as it was on a streaming service and nothing we have  "streams" and especially nothing that streams FOX. But I got updates of the score as it was happening on my phone.  We lost. I will need to wait until Monday's Sports TV to find out how and why.

Instead of Football I watched a very good interpretation of A Christmas Carol. And I enjoyed it very much. And before that a Lifetime movie which was pretty interesting.  We got to see the guy naked from the waist up several times which I didn't mind in the least- he's very good looking..  I was thinking the director was just inserting that footage at random times to keep viewers interested in a rather "nothing" plot.  And the guy brought the girl the same fake Irises, twice.  One flower bent to the side.

I'm going to put on my boots and heavy black wool coat and shovel the front steps and sidewalks. Husband is out with the snowblower doing the driveway in from to of the garage. A very large space that takes forever to clear.  We have done it with shovels before- when we could breathe.

 

Daily Notes- December 18th. Snow is promised by 5 pm. No sunshine. 45 degrees.

 Not Christmas but it's a tree and there is snow.  We are promised snow, bad traffic (roads) etc etc. (power outage is standard here in Maine) Husband is filling the bird feeders so the birds will be able to eat if it snows..  I have emptied the paper shredder into the compost bin.  The coming rain or snow will get it wet.  Decompose all the shredded junk mail.  For awhile there I even shredded the daily newspaper.  

Last night NOVA and the Milky Way.  And the Big Bang.  And in billions of years- the end of all this. So enjoy what you can.  It's not forever.  This Glorious Galaxy.  The Boston Public channel has an entire evening of the Great British Baking Show.  Our cheap ass station does not and will possibly do Fund Raising instead.  

 I made Confetti Cookies for husband yesterday afternoon.  I had to do so much clutter clean up to get open space for the Kitchen Aid Mixer.  And the cookie sheets and then the cooling racks.  I had to dig around for all the items that go into the cookies.  He forgot to eat them.......

I haven't written Neighborhood Cards yet.  Last year they all got a set of two handmade potholders.  But not this year.  And I am not feeling like I want to make more cookies.  I do intend to bake another Pumpkin Pie.  I enjoyed that.  Football Game tonight so we'll have Pizza.

Husband did a Word Jumble puzzle this morning.  He used to do one everyday and then they got difficult and he stopped.  Today...he unjumbled all five words.  Has the limited screen time been a factor???

Daily Notes- Good Morning. Promised snowstorm can't actually happen at 50 degrees.

 This small simple kitchen reminds me of my grandmother's small house.  Just enough room for a small table-my daughter has it in her house- and a few mismatched chairs.   On one visit we made strudel. And stretched the dough so thin with the backs of our hands- you could read through it.  Lovely apple strudel.

The weather was supposed to be wintery but I went out to get the morning paper and it's very warm- no coat or jacket needed.  And the driveway was wet- overnight rain. Global Warming is real in 2021 here in Maine where we used to get 48 inches of snow overnight- many times in each Winter.  No more of that.

Terrible Thursday Football.  The early injury.  We watched even though I have no interest in either team. The game was sloppy. Mismanaged.

I have a new 500 piece puzzle on the table.  We are picking out the outside edges.  To get started. Husband finished up the 100 piece children's puzzle.  I didn't get to do much beyond the edge pieces.  It's like that here.  Disinterest in something until I show interest and then-  the puzzle I  had hoped to add to my activities- no longer mine.  Perhaps that is how I should go forward with this memory loss thing.  Show interest in my own activities to get him to lessen the use of screens and then he'll take over my projects.  Screens which impair his cognitive skills and short term memory.   No new memories- so long term is wasted as well.

Let's imagine what the iPad is doing to young children. And their attention spans. What will their adult lives be like.  Who will change their diapers?

Daily Notes- December 16th- Haircut Day- Dark with Rainshowers

 I think these are chocolate ganache balls with additions of sprinkles and pretzels.

I got my haircut and was the only person in the shop wearing a mask. And I said "I wear it to protect every one I love".  Period.  Full Stop. And everyone went back to minding their own business. And not making eye contact.

Dee was right.  Hallmark 2021 is different.  Kissing.  Lots of it. And well done.  Public displays of Affection.  I'm happy.  Each new movie I have watched has been a delight and my old favorites are showing up and I enjoy those as well.  It's a Great Holiday Season.--even without a decorated tree etc.

I am liking this "easy Christmas".

I finally got a cabbage for Dee's Pandemic Pantry Soup.  Which I make all the time with the addition of a large squirt of Heinz ketchup. Last time I made it- I subbed Brussel sprouts for cabbage as the cabbages were HUGE at the supermarket.  Today- still big but not huge. So, let the good times roll....I am having SOUP.

I bought a few things for Christmas Holiday Meal Prep.  Not as much.  Daughter is still on the Leaky Gut Protocol and is now re- introducing food (very slowly) into her diet to see which re-ignite the inflamation. She has lost all the pre protocol swelling.  Can wear clothing a few sizes smaller now. So will not be having the regular Christmas Eve Food- possibly not ever again.  Reminds me of my brother. Allergic to everything.

I need to turn on my Sports Show- Urban Meyer got fired overnight.  

Daily Notes- December 15th. Hospitals here in Maine are overwhelmed. Unvaccinated people.

 My picture file situation continues to.....morph as the days go by.  Let's hope I can make it to the end of 2021.  That, I think is possibly doable.

After that...it will most likely just be word pictures here- Like the Washing Machine Pages.  And..well, that will have to be fine. I don't actually know, anymore, how many of you read these Notes.  At one Time I had "stats" and the numbers were quite astonishing.  But that was before everyone had a blog.

I removed images from the files yesterday or the day before- tidy work- ones I had already used and added a few more to the desktop.  This one just "showed up" and I had not seen it in the file before.  But I like it very much.  I like saturated color.  

I actually did some really good work when we had the Collage Challenge everyday before COVID- so more than 2 years ago..  Really good work.  It was an incentive to make ART each day.  And it felt so so GOOD.  

An extension catalog came in the mail last week.  Art classes the next Town over. Brand new high school just opened and it seems they included a fully functional Art Studio.  Printmaking. Painting, Pottery wheels.  Kiln.  These are things I had in college but wasn't mature enough to make proper use of.  I had too many mental health issues (severe depression). I couldn't get past my own problems to see any Future.

So that booklet sits.  And I am looking at it each day. MECA- Maine College of Art is in Portland. I don't know how I would get there. I actually would like to enroll.  And the local private college here in my Town has a well put together Art Program with Studio Art- I have been tempted to ask......they sometimes allow local residents to audit classes.

I'm not who I was back in my college days.  So afraid. So unsure.  Now...I guess I just have to spread my wings and give flying a try out...for the first time.

Daily Notes- December 14th- Sunshine, Cold- People are dying.

 Chocolate Shortbread Dog Cookies (for people to eat). An Early Christmas Present so I can eat them now.  And  you can see there are also chips of chocolate in the cookies.  Spotted Dog. Thank you, Sam.

I have been having fun with the half page listing a car dealership puts into the daily paper.  Listing the selling high points of the cars on offer.  Mostly used.  For some, it's that they are "clean" or have "recent oil".  Today it was that the car came with "records" ..of what?  Accidents? Owners? Parking Tickets? 

It's fun to circle all the ones with "recent oil" or "slightly used tires".   It's nice to find this amusement in otherwise pages of not so great news.  Maine is in the dark blue of High Numbers of RECENT CASES of COVID.  Mostly North. Non-Vaccinination people who won't wear masks.  Even vaccinated people are testing positive with Delta up there. What was that great Republican Quote? "I just don't care"?

Watched an excellent Hallmark movie  yesterday after Sports and then turned to more football.  Arizona v. the Raiders. Odell had a catch.  I was wanting Arizona to win. They didn't.

No reading yesterday.  Not all that much TV either.  Mostly just sitting.  Just sitting.  Reflecting on my Life as it's been lived.  How it could have been different.  Difficult to know if ANY difference would have been better or worse.  I think I will be thinking about that for the rest of my Time Here on Earth.

Daily Notes- December 13th- Not much going on.

 I ran out of Christmas Pictures so you get a  Christmas Dessert. Raspberry swirl cheesecake. Good!

I wore myself out with three and possibly four footballs game yesterday plus a Hallmark Christmas Movie.  It wasn't all that great until during the Green Bay game the camera found this guy in the stands- doppelgänger of Rogers.  The two live images next to each other just as the guy in the stands looked up right at the camera people.  Eyes, expression etc. I have Tivo so I can go back and forth with anything on tv- called husband over and ran it for him a couple times.  It was amazing.

Today the library and I checked out two puzzles ( I finished up the squirrel puzzle last night before bed) one puzzle is from the children's area (100 pieces) and the other the adult section (500) but images that are very bright and colorful.

Dropped off my Christmas Cards at the post office.  It was super busy- long lines.  And then to the Grocery Store because we needed Kleenex and milk and orange juice.  Again, very busy.  Now, I'm home and have the weekend book which I intend to read again.  I tried getting new books but none I wanted on the shelves. So I am going to have to request them from other libraries. And I do have a big book to read.  Serious. I have been putting it off.  I am not in a serious frame of mind.

I am going to be doing "not much of anything" for the rest of the day.

Daily Notes- December 12th- Yesterday it rained and today the Sun is out and it's in the mid 40's/

 Bad lighting but it's just to let you know I have a puzzle on the table that I am working on.  For some reason husband counted the pieces and found around 15 to 20 are missing.  So....makes it more interesting. This is a small 115 piece puzzle of a squirrel.  I thought it would be a good "memory exercise" for husband- time not spent on a tablet or phone. He doesn't agree. So...in the Spirit of Old Age- I will exercise my own brain.

Power went off at some point last night (as the storms passed thru Maine) and the computer- well, I think it might have LIKED being off and dead.  It has sluggishly returned to life-- the typing letters are appearing in a "current fashion rather than a delayed one" but it was a slog to get it going.

In reply to Connie- my daughter makes "quite a few odd recipes" (an understatement).  The Frito Bark has hot stuff in it so I didn't get any.  Melted dark chocolate, Fritos and the hot ingredient.  It's a "thing" I guess.  She is still On the Leaky Gut Protocol and is not eating any of the bark so I was gifted with left over supplies like Fritos and little square pretzels. She made something else with the pretzels. 

Snacks to fill my little one cup snack bowl.

She did stop somewhere in Portland on the way home to buy vegetable based pasta.  Lentil, Bean etc. And she ate dinner (with two friends) in a Mexican restaurant and had a big bowl of Guacamole.  That restaurant makes AMAZING Guac at table side. She's careful not to come in the house after seeing "people".

When I went out to get the Sunday Paper I found a Christmas Card from a friend I went to school with from 5th grade to high school graduation.  We still saw each other on college vacations.  Her parents wouldn't allow her to go to college. She went to work instead and lived at home.  Her father monitored our visits when I would be home for breaks and summer.  Like I was a "bad influence". I think he opened letters she wrote to me- often I never got them and she probably didn't get the ones I wrote to her.. 

I saw her many years ago- she came by my parents house to meet my 3 month old baby and bring me a gift.  I was living in Georgia she was still living at home. We did meet again- when my children were 6 and 4, I think, and she was married.  She is the caregiver for her younger sister who has had a stroke.  Her parents have passed as have mine.  I offer her my email address every year and the house phone number.  Sigh. She never uses it. She wants me to call her- I have given her my phone number many many times.  She hasn't called. I have never been a "phone caller" because I -100%- always choose a bad time and the call lasts 2 or 3 minutes and the person I call has "somewhere to be".

I have begun to suspect this is just something to say- "call me" and no one actually wants to get a phone call from me. I will WRITE, (and many women I have met on the internet thru this blog know this)- long emails and long handwritten letters. I will always WRITE to you.

Daily Notes- December 11th. Raining Quite Hard- Instead if Snow- which is fine with me. 35 degrees

 

Having a bit of trouble tossing photos.  They keep coming back.  Especially the soap image.  We might have had this one already but we won't again as I tossed it off the desktop.  Sorry about repeated pictures.

As I mentioned  in the header- RAIN.  Which in any other December here in Maine would be three feet of heavy wet snow.  But not in the Globally Warm Maine of 2021.

We set another daily record amount of new COVID cases- 1245.  One day. New Hampshire is SO MUCH WORSE.  Way low percentage vaccinated.  Merry Christmas ICU/Ventilators.  I was going to go political but no...don't/can't change minds.

I am going to suggest that every child bearing aged woman go to PP or their clinic and protect yourselves from ANY pregnancy.  Double up if you have to. Two different methods.  Of course that leaves rape- either by strangers or people you know. Is there somewhere to donate bus tickets???? to another State?

My arm started to hurt at around 8pm.  When all the resident internal bits and pieces noticed an invader. Sleep was difficult bu I don't feel sleep deprived so I guess I slept.  I never remember sleeping.  It's not like those pleasant commercials selling sheets. Waking up so damned happy.

I don't wake up happy.

Watched One Strange Rock.  I was reminded of it by a Hulu advertisement with Will Smith.  And then was all " why did I deleted them from the TiVo files?????"- I missed the first 4 episodes but I have the rest.  They put BBC stuff to shame.  And no animal eats, hunts or kills another.  Which I appreciate. No- one animal did get chased by huge hawks and eaten.  

I have a book to read and daughter has been sending images of the snacks she has made for a social gathering this evening.  Frito Hot Dark Chocolate Bark.  The Candy Factory where she works makes it every so often. So she made some homemade version. I didn't get any Bark- just the leftover bag of Fritos. I'm good. the Party Bark will be too hot (spicy) for me to enjoy.

Daily Notes- December tenth. Christmas Cards are written and addressed- just need the Post Office now.

 Remember--in the Beginning --when we desperately thought we needed more soap??? to wash things. To wash our hands 20 times a day.  I still love soap.  I love French soap.  Uneven chunky cakes of it. Some place used to sell it and I bought it...but I can't remember where or if it was even Maine.  Could have been Chicago.

Several Bullet Points :

Roethlisberger is 39.  I've spelled his name wrong (then went to look for correct spelling) but the point here is- 39.  How on Earth is he only 39??? How on Earth is he playing football as a Quarterback. Looking like he's 50 on a good day. Thursday Night Football he hit the ground, sprawled on his back, and none of his teammates pulled him up. He sneered something to the coach as he walked past- wow. Has he always been that guy??? Attitude is fine when you aren't losing the game.

My Sports TV Shows say the Steelers needed to draft a fresh new Quarterback last year. If they did- put him out on the field --can't be worse than Ben.

Snow last night- about a quarter inch of hard crunchy stuff. Snow Beads.  The plow came. We think to spread dissolver chemicals- which are very bad for the Earth..  So it would't ice up after dusk.

When I go have my COVID BOOSTER shot and buy Boozy Cake to celebrate.

Kim (most of the artist work here comes from her blog) made an interesting comment on yesterday's post.  Not being interested in doing things.  The COVID thing.  Disconnecting and then, now, thinking why bother to re-connect.  I get it.  And with me- there are some people- COVID brought out a side of them I don't like- so those people- not going to make any effort to re-connect. I'll make new friends. Or not.

And other things- ....maybe less in the fridge on a regular basis now..... Maybe...always having bread in the fridge for a sandwich is a Great Thing.  Toaster or Pan.  Because a sandwich is always doable with what you have around. And Oatmeal.  And Cheese.  And Carrots, Onions and Celery as staples forever in the vegetable bin. And Soup.  I also like having macaroni to add to soup.  

I was going to do Washing Machine Pages- but I "just don't want to".

Daily Notes- December 9th. Sunshine but 25 degrees. 1265 COVID cases in one day. One county. Unvaccinated.

 My Avocado Tree.  It's now 32 inches tall (includes the pot) and has quite a few leaves.  Every so often a few turn brown (which I don't understand).  And then it makes more new ones.  In the mid to upper right of the background is my other green houseplant.  A hot pepper plant I think.  It has gotten quite leafy but I can see it's veins- so something is not quite right.

Husband is still sleeping.  His arm hurts from his high dose flu shot yesterday morning.  He did not use his iPad all day yesterday.  I know that can't last but I think the "memory loss" wake up call made a dent in his enjoyment.

I am trying to think of a dessert item I can make for myself today.  I like cookies.  But I don't really like the mess of making cookies.  I might make pancakes.  It's not a dessert but it sort of fulfills the "want to eat something sweet" desire I have between breakfast and supper.  We're down to two meals here.  Works best for us.  Well actually, I think it's breakfast, lunch and dessert for husband but I don't buy dessert for myself.

I have this quote on my desktop "without the cacophony, the balance of the past and all it contained seemed to outweigh the future, my mind full of the things said and not said, done and not done.  I no longer understand how to move forward."

Spring will arrive.  I am counting the days.

Daily Notes- December 8th- Windy, cold, icy snow.

A late start here.  I went with husband to his annual doctor's visit.  Discussing memory loss is difficult. We will be trying a new medication going forward.  And we will TRY limiting screen time.  Husband can spend hours on the iPad or iPhone and turns out- these screens decrease husband's ability to remember. He is usually very very confused after the iPad. An angry confused.

But he is addicted to the screens.

I had to insert the photo in this post in a new way.  Last night I changed the batteries in the keyboard which caused the entire system to collapse and I had to do a manual shut down.  I am guessing certain functions might have eliminated themselves in the re-boot.  Like moving photos off the desktop.

I managed to snag myself a COVID Booster shot on Friday, the 10th at 5:15 pm BEFORE the malfunction..  Happy Dance.

I had been visiting the site (online) as suggested after 9 pm.  I did get the appointment by visiting at 6 pm. At my local grocery/pharmacy.  I can buy myself a celebratory piece of Tiramisu cake afterward.  The lines and congestion at the Pharmacy are now...complicating many Lives.  The store might need a security person. I have heard the f word used pretty often in the last few weeks in the line which snakes into Produce.

The Big Truck backed into our driveway yesterday with a Fruit Gift Basket from our Bankers.  I have already eaten the nuts and one orange.  The Big Truck has been delivering packages at a daily rate to the doctor and lawyer living next door.  Other houses on the street also are getting Big Truck visits.  

I don't know if it will actually snow today.  It's those tiny hard particles and not fluffy white flakes. Not Snow Globe Snow.

Daily Notes- December 7th- Pearl Harbor Day. I think.

 Reminds me of Christmas in Germany.  Bees Wax candles.  

So...The Patriots Won.  In 50 mile per hour wind.  At the very end of the game- with a chance the Bills might score- our power went off. Yep- you can't even know how that is here in Maine- Total darkness and then pop it all came back on.  I told husband to go turn on the non TiVo tv in the dining room.  See what happened as I waited for the TiVo to reassemble itself- it takes longer and longer or I am getting to be less patient.

We WON!!!!  Life is Good.

Also in the Life Is Good Column- daughter got her COVID Booster shot this morning at a Walgreens the next Town over. (where no masks are worn and no vaccine is needed)  I am now the only family member with No Booster Shot.  

I am not that worried.  I am ALWAYS MASKED and washing my hands etc.  I also do not go into any stores other than the grocery.  Which is large enough that I can maintain distances. I back up a lot. Leaving aisles that seem too crowded etc. My grocery has alcohol wipes available and I wipe down my cart.  My hands.  I do not wipe down my groceries.  I know several people who blog that did that.  I touch everything and then wash my hands really well.  No face touching.  Ever.

So.....I have written checks for the two bills that arrived.  I set myself up to do the Christmas Cards but then decided I wanted to continue reading a very good book by a Rom Com author named Sara Desai. In this one the love interest guy is a combat veteran with emotional problems and the gal is a lawyer with a very WILD streak.  This is book three.  Marriage Game, Dating Plan and last Singles Table.  

All the same extended family and friends. This book begins with a wedding party paint ball outing and our girl shoots the veteran in the ass with the paint ball gun- up close and personal- because she wanted to get the flag...... before he did. He's been seated (not comfortably)  next to her at the Singles Table at the wedding and she's spilled food and drink on him...of course- this being a Desai Rom Com- this guy hasn't a chance in Hell.  Read them in Order.  Or it ruins the Fun- not much but in order works better.  Didn't and was confused by the multitude of Aunties.

Daily Notes- December 6th. Monday, Monday. Rain here in Maine.

 This clipping holds an idea for a Christmas Ornament.  Over the years I handmade all my cards. At first from watercolor paper and scraps of silk etc.  Trees.  And then sewn on the card stock with the sewing machine --- straight and zigzag-- using gold and silver thread.  My neighbor across the street has her cards framed. They look amazing.  I wish I had sent one to myself.

In answer to your question- I used up all the small scraps of silks and velvet and bits of great old men's  silk ties over a period of three years.. some of the fabric went into the abstract art pieces I was making during this same time period.

And then I drew trees on smooth watercolor paper. Using my colored pencils- brown for the stems and branches and every shade of green pencil for the pine needles.  The trees were drawn into clay pots. One tiny red heart hanging from a branch.  Japanese simplicity.  Perhaps three or four Christmases.

After that, I bought brown cardstock and white ink pens.  I drew White Christmas trees and added  one little red heart to the branches like an ornament.  Those cards were achingly beautiful. I don't have one of those either. The making of the cards was very Zen. Another three or four Christmases.

The past four or more Christmases have been very nice commercially made cards.  Not "making" cards should have warned me that "danger was lurking ahead".  Not making Art.  That is never a good sign.

This idea in the picture.  Some stiff paper/board. Cut with mat knife into a tall triangle. Wrapped (around glue covered surface) in white yarn.  A small stick- (I like the idea of an unpainted twig) for the stem. I would need to find round wooden circles- perhaps something in the Tinker Toy container. And some fake moss. 

These couldn't be mailed... but for the neighbors???  Yes. Hand delivery. Sort of. Just to the Doors. Like last year's potholders. Drop off, ring the Doorbell and down the driveway I go.  Sewing the yard to cardstock would be very messy on the backside.  I thought of that.