Cold, Colder, Coldest

We are in for an Arctic Blast.  The evil Polar Vortex.  Sounds like something on the SciFi channel. Time to settle the cast iron soup kettle on the stove for the duration.

What I like about soup:  It warms you from the inside out.  Because it's mostly liquids--it fills you up. It's easy to make.  I think most of us could throw together an adequate soup with whatever is in the fridge and cupboard.  From experience I know that there is always one--or two---items in the recipe that I do not have.  Then I have to "make do".

Easiest for me to make today is Lentil Soup.  I have everything I need.  Even the fresh tomato to add the acid needed. And a pot of lentil soup lasts a long time.  Lentil soup isn't a very attractive soup.  Tending to look mostly lumpy and brown.  I am going to take advantage of the fact that I have celery, onions and carrots in the fridge.

Wednesday a friend from work came over (bringing chicken pot pie for lunch) and we looked at quilts and then settled down to work.  She was stitching a sampler and finding the work very satisfying.  I was working on those 12 inch squares for the interactive project at the library.  I decided to use a different batting (poly instead of cotton) and was psyched to find the poly was fusible (I have so much stuff in this house).  I fused all the squares with wild abandon.  The thoughts of pinning and even basting them had me very melancholy.  Now I have to quilt them--with the sewing machine.  Assembly line stuff--nothing inventive.

I am reading CJ Sansom's newest (to me) Lamentations (I don't know how it sneaked past me for an entire year).  Picks up right where he left off with Dissolution.  Henry is still alive but fading.  It is taking me longer to get "into" the book this time. I think I read the others pretty close to each other which worked.  I tried twice and actually finished Dominion the third time.  A different end for WWII.

I am finding it difficult to read for the hours on end that is (was) usual for me.  Right now I am blaming the cold meds.  I have chest congestion/cough, again.  The reactive asthma could be part of the trouble.  I fall asleep listening to myself wheeze.

My car was hard to start yesterday morning (I haven't been driving it) and I had no radio (due to the cold or the battery).  Strange driving a car in silence. And my being impaired by cold medicine didn't help.  I gripped the steering wheel and kept saying "focus" to myself as my mind drifted.  Then I started reacting vocally to yellow lights.  My reflexes were slower than usual and I was afraid I would fail to notice the yellow lights.

I managed to drive to get my hair cut, go to the bank, and then the library where I found the Sansom book.  Now, we, living here in Maine, are waiting for what looks like snow, rain and then below zero cold.  I LOVE when it RAINS and then FREEZES for weeks.  The entire house is coated in ice.  The driveway is a skating rink.  The house and garage doors are frozen shut.

Hey, if you know anyone living alone--give them a call.  The police here in Maine found a woman living alone--who had died in bed TWO YEARS AGO.  No one noticed. If I stop writing, have someone check on me--okay?