progress, and forgetting

 I was waiting for the cold nights to kill off the rampant weeds in my garden; I thought they might be easier to pull up. But we are also having a long drought - every day brings a fire warning. So, nothing is easy to pull out of a hard ground. 

Still, I went out today in the beautiful breeze and was able to remove some of it, and I guess I've got all winter to get it out of there, even till March. We'll see how diligent I am. 

I was noticing how the Japanese maple hangs on to its leaves when almost all the other trees have shed theirs. Some of the leaves look dry and deeper-colored, others look garnet with the sun shining through them.

"It is very often painful when the lovely images in the mind will not compose themselves into even reasonable facsimiles, in words. It can be so painful that I long to throw the typewriter out of the window and scrub floors all day. With a floor, I feel, you can see progress, you get somewhere."

                                               -   Gladys Taber

Oh, I was going to wash the bathroom floor today - forgot! 

finding the Babe in poverty

 "As our houses are deluged in a cascade of cosy Christmas images, glittery frosted cards and happy, holy families who seem to be remarkably comfortable in strangely clean stables, we can lose track of the essential truth: that the world into which God chose to be born for us was then, as now, fraught with danger and menace."

                                                     - Malcolm Guite, Waiting on the Word

Then did they know assuredly
Within that house the King did lie;
One entered it then for to see,
And found the Babe in poverty.

- from The First Noel

preparations

 Well, tomorrow's Thanksgiving, and I've made cookies, the sweet potato pie and the broccoli gratin. The pear sauce (pears were on sale when I was looking for apples, so I made pear sauce instead!) is defrosted. My brother ordered a berry pie from a customer who was selling some frozen ones, so I just baked that. I think that's enough for today. 

There were a lot of dishes to wash. I used homemade bone broth for the gratin sauce and forgot it wasn't seasoned - after it was put together it occurred to me, so I sprinkled some salt over it and will hope for the best. :)

It looked pretty good after assembling.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

not just death and taxes

 There are three things in life which you can depend upon: death. taxes. And me forgetting to send Gail a birthday card. (why, oh why??)

getting back to sewing

 I'm working on a summery blouse - Butterick 6455. The fabric is a soft, light yellow gauze type, with a stripe design. I bought it on a whim, and wondered for a few years what on earth to do with it. But it seems well suited to a peasant style top. I am making view A, with the ruffle on the sleeves and the hem. 

Wouldn't you know, when I cut out the sleeves, I mis-cut one of them, so I'll have to find a way to adjust. I do this kind of thing often. But I hope it will look well in the end.

does this remind you of anything?

 "What Rome was capable of, the achievement of her empire shows. The Roman character had great qualities, great potential strength. If the people had held together, realizing their interdependence and working for a common good, their problems, completely strange and enormously difficult though they were, would not, it may well be believed, have proved too much for them. But they were split into sharpest oppositions, extremes that ever grew more extreme and so more irresponsible. A narrow selfishness kept men blind when their own self-preservation demanded a world-wide outlook.

History repeats itself. The fact is a testimony to human stupidity. The saying has become a truism; nevertheless, the study of the past is relegated to the scholar and the school-boy. And yet it is really a chart for our guidance - no less than that. Where we now are going astray and losing ourselves, other men once did the same, and they left a record of the blind alleys they went down. We are like youth that can never learn from age - but youth is young, and wisdom is for the mature. We that are grown should not find it impossible to learn from the ages-old recorded experience of the past."

                                            - Edith Hamilton, The Roman Way

a day in the kitchen

I have a nice co-worker who didn't have to cook for Thanksgiving, and she wanted to work today, a half-day. So, she worked and I stayed home! I spent the day in the kitchen.

I always have more pumpkin pie filling than will fit in the crust, so there were three extra custards for dessert today.

The broccoli/cauliflower gratin is done.

Gruyere is often the cheese called for in these dishes, but I was in the middle of grating the cheese when I realized I'd bought gouda! I really couldn't find a huge difference online, and the sauce looks and tastes fine, so - it is what it is! As long as we can eat it and it's tasty!

I also made the gravy. There won't be drippings with a turkey breast, so I would rather do as much ahead of time as possible.

I wanted a cranberry apple pie, but didn't want to bother. I was going to make a crisp, but really wanted it in pie form. I ended up making a one-crust pie with crisp topping. (don't know what I was fussing about)

A lot of dish-washing, a minimal bit of cleaning, one load of laundry, and a small batch of cookies.

aging

The things are three

   Which I discern

Less easily

   As the years turn.

Three things seem sliding

   From my sight:

The line dividing

   Wrong from right;

Whereto we hie

   From where we've been to;

The needle's eye

   A thread goes into.

   

- Honest Confession, by Phyllis McGinley

curtains down and chickens in the yard

Since I love linen and cotton so much, I am ironing two or three times a week. But I'm in trouble now, since a little cat has come into the house; she just has to attack the electrical cord. So the second and third times I made an attempt, I waited till she was asleep. This meant nothing, of course - she didn't mind at all interrupting her rest when there was a cord to be chewed. I finally put her in the bathroom while I finished.

Of course,I heard a loud noise in there, and found the curtain and rod half down, needing the help of some pliers before I could set it to rights. And the toilet paper, some of it unrolled, of course. But I refuse to switch to polyester on her account! Otherwise, she is entirely precious.

The people behind our next-door neighbors have chickens; I love hearing them and have wanted to get a look at them, but I'd have to go way around, as there's a high fence between their properties.

Right after re-hanging the bathroom curtains, I decided to shake out a little rug near the back door. I hung it over the railing and when I turned to come in, I saw them out near the brook, alongside the bridge. They were looking at me. They had escaped their area somehow!

I hurried to google my neighbors' phone number, but I got a message that their voice mailbox was full. I rushed around our side fence into the next-door yard and up to the big fence, hoping I could see someone in their back yard, but it was hard to see through the chain link. I called out, "Patrick! Desiree!" Only the rooster replied, and I didn't want to get him stirred up.

I've read too many blog posts from chicken owners who've lost them to predators. I called my brother to stop at their house on his way home from work. Well, they were sitting outside; apparently they let them out now and then. But I don't think they realized they came through the brook and over to our property. If there is a next time, I will try not to panic about it.

another reason to be thankful, or Where's the stuffing?

but I didn't even really hear that question.

I worked hard Monday, yesterday and today cooking for Thanksgiving dinner. I suppose I was a little bleary-eyed when we sat down. There were three of us, and our friend and my brother ate heartily, seeming to enjoy everything, taking extra helpings. Afterward, they retired to the living room while I did some cleanup.

we had a chicken this year

I was downstairs at the basement refrigerator when I remembered - and let out a yell. My brother came to the doorway, What's the matter? Did Dolly poop on the floor down there? 

No, I said, nothing like that. I just realized that I never served the stuffing. The STUFFING! Can you imagine? And nobody noticed.

And all I could be was thankful that the people I cook for are content to eat whatever I put on the table. Meanwhile, there are always leftovers.

the coldest Thanksgiving Day on record

the advantages of a well thought-out shopping list

As soon as I entered the supermarket, I realized I'd left the coupons, the money and the shopping list at home. So I went from memory.

I didn't forget a thing, except the cans of beets for the local shelter! I guess my memory isn't as bad as I've been thinking.

a nice Thanksgiving

After working hard all week cooking things ahead of time, it was a berry nice Thanksgiving.

olives and rosemary

I was all set to squeeze out half an hour to bring Dolly outside today, when I remembered (thank goodness!) that I had bread on the second rise which might need to go in the oven. And, it did!  By then it was time to make supper.

I realized my pinterest board with bread recipes in it has been ignored for some time, so I thought I may as well choose a recipe from there to make today. It has kalamata olives and loads of rosemary in it - what a fragrance when it was baking! I threw in a little rye flour to make it better. I did not use a pot, or any part of her method, but just the ingredients. Yes, two tablespoons of rosemary - dried. It wasn't too much! And a good way to use up those olives in the fridge. I had a little, and then put it in the freezer.

I've got another crop of strawberries - they're larger this time, so I think they must not be alpines. Those are small, I believe. I'm also getting loads of plum tomatoes. I never got around to staking them, which was very bad of me, but so many plants seem to be propping each other up. Which is nice.