starting to panic

George Washington will be coming to the library soon. I was determined to have refreshments worthy of the honor of this visit, by which I mean: homemade stuff. A month before, I made a list of goodies  I've baked over the years and which I know are good (at least, to my mind). I thought if I baked one thing on every day off, I'd be in a good place. Well.

these were Christmas cookies

It often happens, doesn't it, that something gets in the way of plans. What I'm saying is that I have made only four things. He's coming in a week and a half. I've gotta get hopping. 

such good advice

From Brother Cadfael, as I love re-reading those medieval mysteries:

"Never go looking for disaster. Expect the best, and walk so discreetly as to invite it, and then leave all to God."*

                                                        -  Ellis Peters, The Virgin in the Ice

*emphasis mine

never a dull moment

I removed a painting of a Christmas tree from it's spot in the hallway and got distracted from replacing it. Later, while trying to have a quiet dinner there was a strange noise to be heard - the orphan had her eye on the small picture hook in the wall; she was jumping up and trying to get it. I saw her jump halfway up the wall! But that wasn't high enough and so she gave up.

Needless to say, I hung up another picture. It's never dull around here.

some pretty pink before sunset 

a little remembrance

Cyndi came by and we exchanged birthday and Christmas presents, because we just haven't been able to until now. And one thing she gave me was a little outdoor statue of a tuxedo kitty.

Reminds me of someone. We'll either put it on the back step, or near the kitchen garden, where he used to hang out.

choosing the better part

I spent an hour and a half this morning listening to the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from the BBC's website; it was the last day to do so, in fact I had until 11:30 and while I was tempted to just forget about it this year - since I had worked on Christmas Eve and then kept putting it off until time ran out - but no, I do not regret spending that amount of time just being quiet and listening to the service. It means I had less time to do other things, but - Jesus said Mary chose the better part and I think I did this morning, too.

a little extra work at dinner

I came home to leftovers of not-a-lot-of chicken, some veg and mashed potatoes. Naturally, I thought of shepherd's pie, so I heated up a roux with three tablespoons of oil and a quarter cup of flour, added two cups of chicken stock, marjoram and salt. I then had to mash the cold potatoes with some cream and egg. Some parmesan sprinkled on top and a bit of leftover cheddar and I was very pleased with myself as I put it in the oven at six thirty.

When I realized I wouldn't be eating it till at least ten after seven, I had to content myself with a bowl of broccoli soup and a few cookies. (yes, we are still eating those!) And when I did have supper, it was very nice to have a hot and thoughtful meal. It hadn't seemed like enough until I put it all together - way more than the sum of its parts.

January talk

When I was a child the weatherman would speak of a January thaw, which meant, of course, temperatures above freezing, in the forties and maybe fifties. You rarely hear them use the word anymore; we have had some very cold days this winter, but then it goes back up to the forties.

We had some lovely snow Saturday night. And that's how it's supposed to be in January where I live: snow often, and temps in the thirties, or colder. I prefer it to be the way it should be, but I have to say that last Sunday, the 12th, was well into the sixties, and absolutely dreamy. If only Easter could be so nice!

mending a favorite scarf

My beloved multi-colored Garnet Hill wool scarf has a hole. It's crocheted with fine yarn and for a month I've been putting off trying to repair it.

What was holding me back was the thought of trying to crochet it back together with a very small metal hook - I'm not a great crocheter. But after looking at it, an embroidery needle will do the trick and that doesn't scare me at all. And it just so happens that I've got yarn in a very close color!

weather

Today was dark and cloudy one minute, sun shining the next, and very windy. Just now I noticed it's snowing - I didn't think it was supposed to.

The sky is low, the clouds are mean,

A travelling flake of snow 

Across a barn or through a rut

Debates if it will go.

A narrow wind complains all day

How some one treated him;

Nature, like us, is sometimes caught

Without her diadem.

- Emily Dickinson

Roger Scruton, RIP

"The future of mankind, for the socialist, is simple: pull down the existing order, and allow the future to emerge. But it will not emerge, as we know. These philosophies of the 'new world' are lies and delusions, products of a sentimentality which has veiled the facts of human nature.

We can do nothing unless we first amend ourselves." (emphasis mine)

                                              -  Roger Scruton   May he rest in peace.

some extra vitamin C

The rosehips I picked in the fall - I finally used them: I made a decoction and used it instead of hot water with my Constant Comment tea.

running with cats

Orphan Annie was spayed on Monday, and now we are supposed to try and keep her from overdoing it. No stairs. Okay, we've got the basement door closed for the next ten days. But she's jumping on tables and chairs before we even know she's going to. My brother put up plywood "ramps" near two living room chairs. Does she use them? Well, she did the first day. And she walks *down* them. She jumps up on the chairs, though.  At least she sleeps a lot.

You see that thing in front of the chair is a ramp, with a throw rug over it. To make it more appealing, presumably.

The cats are being limited to the kitchen and living room mostly, and I've been sleeping on the couch to keep an eye on them. I keep the little Christmas tree in the kitchen plugged in for some light, and I've got the nativity for company with a fake pillar candle near it. It's enough to see them by, and makes for a very pleasant atmosphere. I also took yesterday off from work, but any ideas I had of hovering in order to prevent undue activity on her part were just foolish dreams. She is going to do what she wants, and be on to the next thing before I know what she's up to.

richness

"A rich man is not one who has much,

but one who gives much.

For what he gives away remains his forever."

- St. John Chrysostom

from "Theology of Home: Finding the Eternal in the Everyday" by Carrie Gress, Noelle Mering and Megan Schreiber

to us

To us a Child of Hope is born,

To us a Son is given,

Him shall the tribes of earth obey,

Him all the hosts of heaven.

His power increasing still shall spread,

His reign no end shall know:

Justice shall guard his throne above,

And peace abound below.

- John Morison, from Magnificat, January 2020

King forever

It's Epiphany; I got out the Three Kings. It was simple enough to swap them out for the shepherds in the living room, but the kings with the little nativity won't fit on that small shelf in the kitchen. I decided to arrange them right in the window.

The Holy Family and one of the kings:

with the other two on a shelf to the left:

I think it's a good arrangement.

"Born a babe on Bethlehem's plain

Gold we bring to crown him again

King forever, ceasing never

Over us all to reign."

persistence

I brought home a Christmas-themed cookbook from the library - several of the recipes were appealing. I started out with some cinnamon cookies which contained chocolate pieces, dried cranberries and roasted hazelnuts. I had all the ingredients in the house!

They are quite simple: You melt the butter and stir in everything else. Except that they're chock full of these bits, and the dough didn't seem enough to hold it all together. So, as I was trying to push the fruit, nuts and chocolate into the dough, it kept falling out and I ended up just snacking on it all, sort of an impromptu trail mix. But I liked them well enough to try and figure out another plan.

I thought if I doubled the dough part of the recipe, then added the pieces till they were fully mixed in, I could maybe add more and figure out the right balance.

Well. After they baked, they didn't seem as nice as before; they had less stuff in them and the cookie part wasn't anything fabulous on its own. What to do? I wasn't able to fit anymore pieces in!  I ended up molding them and then sticking more chocolate and fruit wherever I could squeeze it in. That was the last batch, what you see above. So, I guess I did figure out a way to do it.

nice and quiet

Striving for a little post-holiday relaxation time.

jars of cookies, fancy that

We are getting near the end of the home-baked cookies from my brother's clients. There were a few in this container, a few in that one. 

I saw this idea in a magazine. Assorted cookies, in a jar. Jars of cookies. Cookie Jars.* I have plenty of those!



*How many cookie jars have I seen, none of them actual jars, and I never thought about it? This seems hilarious to me.

wisdom from Dickens

"A nation without fancy, without some romance, never did, never can, never will hold a great place under the sun."

                                                            -   Charles Dickens,
                                                         from a webinar on A Christmas Carol,
                                                              with Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks

festive look for the front door

I find that I'm often drawn to American folk art type things. I bought this felt house ornament at a friend's annual craft event. It's a good size, larger than the usual thing you hang on the tree. I've been looking at it, wondering where it might belong.

I had thought about making a wreath again this year, after last year's success, but I don't know. I'd have to put Annie in another room, shut up, while I worked on it; I'm not sure I want to do that. Meanwhile, I bought this little fall-type wreath at the thrift store earlier in the month, so I hung it up. But it's small. I suddenly thought to hang the felt house with it.

the door knocker is visible underneath - it's a musical note

I like it!

decoration alteration

My brother's little rustic tree which I always put in the kitchen is really a tangle of raffia or long straw. I decided to trim it while still keeping its character.

It's hard to tell, but believe me - it looks much better. And I saved the excess for the Baby.

I had to put this nativity out of the reach of certain furry persons who shan't be named, but I like the new set-up. I also moved the woodland Madonna painting to the kitchen corner cabinet.

It looks very pretty there, but I've twice found the above right-hand tree on the floor.

the responsible party, caught red-handed but too fast to be photographed

As for the tree, I found more paper and cloth ornaments that I expected to, and it didn't look bad until the orphan started taking things down. When I hang them up again they seem to end up higher than before and today I noticed that it's all bare on the lower third, which makes it look very odd. 

a dry Christmas

A Merry Christmas, everyone! Now is the time to enjoy Christmas, and that's what I'm hoping to do.

Yesterday, after getting home from Mass, I had my hot cereal as usual. I thought it wasn't my imagination that the water pressure was not one hundred per cent, but my brother had gone out to find a newspaper, so I just kept on. Then I saw a white truck drive by with flashing lights - from the water company. Well, after a bit our water petered out - it was Christmas Day, and by noontime we had no water.

A water main on the corner gave out and it wasn't for at least an hour afterward that I got the official email saying they hoped water would return by later in the afternoon. We were going to Joanne's; I looked up and down the street, wondering how my neighbors were going to cope. By 2:15 we were very glad to leave and go to a place with two toilets where we could wash our hands as often as we wanted.

It was a good visit, a nice dinner and all was well here when we got home. What do you do if your water stops and company is coming? Wait, I suppose, until everyone shows up and then all just go out to a restaurant somewhere. But on the way to Joanne's it looked like a lot of places were closed.

There are many areas in the world which still do not have running water and I thought of them, too. But they have a familiar routine for dealing with it. The mind thinks of all manner of things at such times. I also thought about composting toilets. But it was a good day, and today was a quiet day at home.

My aim was to make a nice dinner, and when we were done I said we'd better see what the Polish lady had given us - she had told my brother to wait until Christmas! Well, it was kind of heavy and it might have been a fruitcake, but it wasn't.

It was the gingerbread! The gingerbread that I've never forgotten, the gingerbread I've wanted to try and copy, the first thing she ever made for us (my brother really - she doesn't know me from Adam). The gingerbread! Would you think a person could get so excited about a dessert? And why have I never tried to copy it?

Well, the only gingerbread recipe I'm familiar with is Anna's and it's dark and soft, not suitable for this. You can see this is lighter, and it's a regular cake consistency. It's a quickbread and she cuts it in half. The last time there was apricot preserve in between, but this time it's a dark fruit spread. She's apparently flexible. It has a chocolate coating, not ganache - that stays soft, doesn't it? This doesn't come off on the paper wrapping. The gingerbread is a nice, spicy flavor. To my way of thinking, it's a delightful dessert! Dziekuje bardzo, dear lady! I need to just find a gingerbread *cake* recipe, and just try to copy it! After we've eaten this, of course.

making ready

Cyndi likes crafting around the holidays, especially. She had wanted photos of the cats - for ornaments. I thought one with Mr. Kibble and one with Henry would be very nice. Then I asked her if she could make an extra Kibble ornament for Diane. She did!

Today was the day I was set on; last year, on Christmas Eve day Diane called me to say that Kibble had gone into her house on his own. I wanted to give her something to thank her for taking such loving care of him and letting us share in that, especially at the end. I brought her some cookies, a box of chocolates and the ornament. We were getting teary-eyed talking about him.

Cyndi also made one for Elizabeth with her dear Cleo on it.

"Advent is closing and the longing of the Church for light and for the spring, the budding forth of the Savior, is culminating in the mystery of Christmas, and we can put aside our cares to make the house of our soul ready for for the Child, with prayer as simple as a folk song, rocking the cradle of peace to the beating of the human heart."

                                              -  Caryll Houselander,  from Magnificat

still their heavenly music floats

Still through the cloven skies they come with peaceful wings unfurl

And still their heavenly music floats, O'er all the weary world.

Above its sad and lowly plains they bend on hovering wing

And ever o'er its Babel sounds the blessed angels sing.

winter reassurance

"It is a comfort in winter to see... signs of life on the long nights of early dark, we feel drawn towards them. When the leaves shut us off from one another again, and the lights are not lit until nine or ten o'clock, there is warmth outdoors, and light in the sky itself, and then people go for evening walks and meet in the lanes, stand to talk at gates, look over into one another's gardens. But in winter, when we all scurry back into our individual burrows, and no one lingers, we need to be able to see each other's houses and lights, for reassurance."

                                                                         -   Susan Hill,  The Magic Apple Tree

the goodies are pouring in

It's happening again - my brother's clients, the baked goods.

The first one was from The Polish Lady.

But it's in the freezer for now.

a bluebird house

A woman was selling bird houses at a craft sale after Mass; her husband made them. I was eyeing the cute ones that looked almost Tudor style, but when I asked my brother which type he wanted, he told me to get the bluebird house. I have never seen a live bluebird!

So exciting, but we will have to be patient till spring.

book snowman

Every year I show here what clever people I work with.

When I came upstairs to the children's section the other day, I asked who made this cute snowman. But before I could get an answer, I had guessed. Cheryl made it - apparently my boss had found it online.
Above the books, his hat is made of empty dvd cases and above that, cd cases. Pretty cute.

a gift

All day, sleet has been falling. Suzy Q, my boss, called this morning to say "stay home". This was very welcome - a chance to catch up on things!

I made some cookie dough - it's chilling. And wrote a few cards. A certain person tried taking me away from this task, but I persevered. I kept hearing her rustling around with the Christmas tree; I would get up, but when I rounded the corner, she'd run into a (conveniently) nearby box.

She knew I didn't want her climbing that tree! This went on for a while, as you may imagine. Until she grew tired and found a place to nap.

Didn't need the cushion, I guess.

I am grateful for this day of catch-up.

dolly-ism #4

No matter how busy your day, even a little time carved out for quiet meditation will make all the difference.

a prayer for Advent

                                  From outward turmoil and inner disturbance:

                                           - Deliver us, O Lord.

                                  From quarreling in our homes and war among nations:

                                          - Deliver us, O Lord.

                                  From the bustle that keeps us from prayer in this busy season:

                                          - Deliver us, O Lord.

                                                        - from Magnificat, December 2019