A new year and living realistically

Happy New Year's Eve! Hard to believe we start all over tomorrow. We really don't, but society tells us we do, so it must be true, ha ha. I have zero expectations, only hope, which is something I try to always hang on to. I don't need a new year to work on having hope, I let hope work on me all year round. Even on my worst days, hope hovers, ready to take the reins if I will let go and hand them over. Sometimes it's easier said than done, I know.

New Year's Day looks beautiful, 75 and partly cloudy with a slight breeze. I cannot imagine a more perfect weather day! I plan to enjoy it as much as possible. The cold comes back on Monday! It is December, but you wouldn't know it these past few days. I'm ready for the rain and the muck to end for a bit, though. I'm over it in a pretty big way.

The picture was taken on one of our fall drives, not too far from where we live. It’s one of my favorite pictures from the past year and sums up nicely the peace and tranquility most people crave. I literally stepped out of the car and snapped it on my phone. The picture doesn’t do it justice. In person, it takes your breath away on a golden autumn day.

Love to you on this last day in 2021. We’ll be here again soon. In the meantime, let’s make the most of it, shall we? Swords drawn, and away we go, straight ahead into the foray of 2022!

When cats have no thumbs and the good blue stuff

Yesterday was gorgeous - balmy (interpretation of that is windy), cloudy with the odd sunshine break-through, and 68 degrees at its warmest point. Today is a repeat with a high of 71. Heaven. It's incredibly hard to not want to plant the garden, which is ridiculous. You don't plant gardens in December in our neck of the woods.  I need a greenhouse. 

Speaking of balmy and warm-ish, look who changed their logo colors! I love the new blue. It's gorgeous, but I do miss the yellow and red that it was for donkeys years. I'm not complaining, though. Still got the same great ocean water drink with yummy coconut syrup in Sprite. I also ask for lime in mine. It's warm weather in a cup! Picture of it below, isn't it pretty?! I had this one yesterday in honor of our warm weather spell.

Kitties enjoyed (not really) time outside, too, as you can see, lazing around in the dirt and dead leaves. That's what cats do outside this time of year. We thought they'd enjoy going out after lunch, but no, they dragged around like they were dying. Apparently, taking them outside during what is their normal four-hour afternoon nap time is not the best idea. We gave up after about an hour and put them back inside their house. They did not put up a fight to go in and go to bed.

We've got house projects going on. Today will include some additional de-cluttering if I can get my act together. The guy below wants to help with contact paper in drawers. I personally think he's just going to make a mess, but he'll be cute making that mess. Seriously, ever try to do any project around cats?? They are "helpers" in the loosest sense of the word. They lay on everything, get in the closet or drawer you're working on and root around, get under foot, decide they need to lie in your lap for a while, then get up and walk around and yell for a bit. You get the picture. But they're fantastic creatures. They get a pass every time. If you've ever been around cats for any length of time, you realize pretty quickly how highly intelligent they are; it has creeped me out at times. I've got one that can let himself in and out the back door. Every now and then, when he does that, it makes me jump.

I've been giving thought to the New Year. By that, I mean mostly the garden at the bottom of our property. We are foregoing the pumpkins in that area this year. They've not done well the last three years, so I think probably it's best to grow something else there. Since that runs right up against one of the giant zinnia patches, I think I'll do haystack/branching sunflowers there en masse. It is in direct sunlight all day, every day, so they'll do well. We did a few there last year, and they were stunning.

We have zero plans for the New Year, we don't generally do much except maybe order a really good pizza and watch movies until sleep calls. No ringing in the new year for me, don't want the muddy brain that goes with it. Some folks do just fine with that, but I've always been the person that got the severe headache the next day from wonky sleep hours. Not a good way to spend January 1st, so we'll wake up refreshed and ready to celebrate the new year with waffles or pancakes, eggs, and vegan sausage or bacon.

Today is a cleaning out the fridge kind of day, then off to the store for some salad stuff and bread and milk. Rain system starts rolling in tomorrow, so I'll make the most of today for sure. Love to you on this last week in December and the last week in 2021. Hard to imagine, but here we are. Be careful with the new year, expectations can diminish quickly when met with reality. If you are a person who makes resolutions, balance your new goals with realism. Life will disappoint enough without self-sabotage. Be kind to yourself, create your own peace and happiness. Before you know it, we'll be at this place again with another new year. Each day is a chance to grow and learn and do; you don't have to wait for a new year to roll around.

I'm getting a second cup of coffee and a gardening book and settling in for a bit until the sun comes up. If you need me, you'll probably find me outside, avoiding the decluttering and playing just a little bit.

Jesus is born and the Jell-O got made

Merry Christmas, y'all! And more importantly - happy birthday, Jesus, my whole world!

As you can see, the Christmas Jell-O got made! I finished mixing it all up this morning. The Jell-O base set up beautifully, and it took a whopping three minutes to put the remaining ingredients together with it, bringing the 1970s to life once again. There's a close-up below . . . . this will go great with the 1970s earrings I picked out last week, ha ha. Always dress for the occasion (I rarely dress for the occasion, incidentally; just cannot be bothered).

Not spending much time in this space today, as there are things to do, but I wanted to take a moment to say hello and wish you a Merry Christmas. I've begun thinking about the new year quite a bit. I'm looking forward to the turn of the calendar page, hard to imagine that we are full-on into the winter season now, and it's supposed to be 70 degrees on Monday! Yep. I'm pretty excited!

Love to you on the Christmas Day, 2021. "Let the bells ring out for Christmas at the closing of the year!" - Trevor Horn/Hans Zimmer

 

Jell-O makes you lose your mind and other Christmas Eve ramblings

Good grief, Charlie Brown. How many times do you think I made the base for tomorrow's mandarin orange Christmas salad this morning? You gotta plan for Jell-O. It doesn't just happen. It's super easy, but also. You gotta plan for it. So this morning, on this blustery and starry-sky Xmas Eve morning, I made the base for the retro Christmas Jell-O salad for tomorrow's meal. Twice. 

No, I didn't have to use a second run of ingredients, but I did have to take that hot mess out of the refrigerator once and re-boil it as I recalled it needed to boil for five minutes and not just be "brought to a boil" (like my temperament when I started making it for the second time). The color has to be what you see below, nearly a clear tomato soup color rather than a cloudy orange color (this has pudding AND Jell-O in it, fancy, right?). 

Needless to say, the base of it looks correct now, and it will chill overnight. Tomorrow, I will add the drained mandarin orange slices and the Cool Whip and wah-la! 1970s on your Christmas table! It'll be eaten with the following items:

Ham (we are vegetarians, but there will be ham for the meat-eaters)

Hashbrown casserole

Green beans

Rolls

Magic cookie bars

Coffee, tea, soda

No over-doing it this year, just a good comfort-food meal with a nod to 1970s childhood and holiday citrus orange, which I love. You can see the ingredients below. I always gauge flavor versus cost, and for the few extra pennies, if I am making something that tastes better with name brand items, I will buy those instead of the store or generic brand. There's frugal, and then there's just knowing when spending the extra pennies is worth it for the taste. Nobody sponsors my blog, so these are 100 percent my taste and choice in the products. And for the record - you HAVE to use the cooked kind of pudding in this. Instant won't work. I'll try to remember to take a picture of the salad all put together tomorrow. 

Well, here we are at Christmas Eve already. We knew it was coming, but it felt a long ways off but then it really didn't, either. Time is flying. True story - we are heading into the low 70s for a couple days starting Sunday. I'm ecstatic! Monday and Tuesday look particularly beautiful, and I hope to be outside as much as possible, even if it's just sitting in a chair in the sun, reading a pointless book! The upcoming weather is God's gift to me, for sure. I hate high heat (sorry, out west, I think it's just miserable there for way too many months out of the year), and I hate uber freezing cold (sorry Alaska and parts of New England, you're beautiful but way too cold). Give me the in-between any day with four seasons thrown in! Right now it's 29 degrees, but we go to 59 today with sun, so I'll take it.

I spent yesterday wrapping presents, so it's really nice to have that already done. I'll do a bit of cleaning this morning, then we'll spend the rest of the day doing whatever we want. Salmon patties over a big salad tonight will be our Xmas Eve meal, no miles of finger foods and holiday goodies. I like all that stuff, but I find as I get older, too much of it just sends my body into gag over-drive, and a big goal of mine is to try to enter deep into my 50s and then my 60s without having to rely on any medications. Tweaking some things will be necessary but worth it.

Hard to believe, but we haven't had a cheese ball yet this year! I think we'll do that for New Year's Eve. I love a good cheeseball with crackers and a bowl of tomato or broccoli cheddar soup. I'll worry about that later, though. First, we have Christmas! 

Love to you on this Christmas Eve, 2021. I hope your day brings you rest and contemplation and peace. Christmas has no room for chaos or celebrations outside of its true meaning. It's a sacred acknowledgement of a baby sent to earth who would later on become the savior of mankind. Love came down that night, and I am redeemed because of that love. I am forever grateful. Peace to you. 🎄💖🌟

At 10:59 a.m.EST, please wish yourself happy winter on my behalf

It's hard to believe that we say goodbye to another season later today. I think we are going to have Japanese miso ramen bowls with Peggy Ann rolls to help ring in the new season. Buckle up tight, lets get through it together. I predict that winter will be very mild, right up until the time that I start to get excited about the gardening season, then we'll get hit with snow, ice, and  hard freezes. (Honestly, that's not really me predicting anything, that just kind of happens often around these parts.)

Our Christmas shopping is 2/3rds finished for the family gathering.  I already know the rest of the stuff that I need to get, so I will take care of that today. I'll wrap it all on Wednesday, and then we'll be all set, hopefully. Today, I have two lovely get-togethers to celebrate Christmas with friends who, over the years, have become family. It will be so nice to see everyone. One friend in particular has not been well, and I cherish every minute with them. 

I leave you with a truly beautiful version of "The Little Drummer Boy." The God-given voice on the guy with short hair is pitch perfect. His falsetto when he sings the harmony above the melody line gives me chills. And no matter how big or small, towards the end of the video, ya gotta love a drumline. It's shot in soft evening grays and blues and is wintery and touching.

Love to you on this Winter Solstice in the year of our Lord, 2021. Stay warm and safe.

Winter solstice and why it matters

Well, the shortest day of the year is nearly here. Two more days, a looong night, and then the days get gradually longer by seconds gained daily. It's a long haul, isn't it, waiting on a truly longer day? They eventually arrive, but it takes forever. Woke up craving that universal language of love, fried potatoes. You make fried potatoes, and you're a hero. Throw in some hard-boiled eggs, top all of it with a fake béchamel sauce or gravy, and you have a really good meal. The sheen on the potatoes is butter. Mmmmm.

It's pouring rain this morning. I am hoping the rain moves out and skies clear so that I can get a glimpse of the full "cold moon" tonight. Technically, it was full last night/this morning, but thanks to the rainy skies, we can't see it. The weather forecast shows mostly clear by 7 p.m., so fingers crossed!

The solstice is a turning point for me. It's when I get the signal/all-clear to break out the murder mysteries- books and shows/movies- and the Constant Comment spicy, warming tea, and any and every cookie under the sun, moon and stars to go with the tea. It signals the warm-ish day every now and then, when the cookies get to be too much, and I look at my husband and say "let's go for a run" and we go wide open until our lungs hurt from the cold. 

The solstice also reminds me that spring is coming. I don't like spring. Around here you can get tornados, destructive straight-line winds, hail, hard freezes in very late April, snow off and on regularly, and watery, thin sunlight that never feels warm and shows the grit and the dirt on all your windows. That's probably not what you expected when I mentioned spring, but there you have it. 

It's my least favorite season of all, but to get to summer and gardens and flowers and tomatoes, you have to walk through that less-than-impressive corridor of that dreaded season. I generally spend it looking through seed catalogs and plotting out the summer scary movies list that we sink our teeth into (lol, vampire pun intended) when the heat of the summer sets in for a few sizzling weeks.

The night sky is beautiful this time of year when you can see it. It's sharper than the softer summer night sky, and believe me - I know. For over twenty years, I've been up before the sun and spent time under the darkened skies, making sure to look up daily if weather permits, and to study the color of the sky and stars. In case you are wondering, the best skies are rich navy and the stars look nearly yellow in their brilliance. Ever seen a yellow diamond? Think pale, yellow diamond only a hundred times more beautiful. It's an honor to witness so many stars in a lifetime.

Before all of that, though, we still have Christmas shopping to do. I cannot believe it's less than a week away. I'm reviewing our flower set-up for one of the giant zinnia patches. I think this year, rather than growing a veg in the area next to it, I'm going to opt for cutting gold sunflowers. We grew a few last year, and they were stunning. They held up well in the wind, and when the sun hits them, they glow like you would not believe. That's something to look forward to, for sure.

If you don't want a depressing experience, stay out of the stores. Christmas stuff is on sale, and Valentine's Day is already on the shelves. I just ignore the hearts for now. I like Valentine's Day, but not yet, please.

Love to you on this rainy, muddy day. I'm heading to the kitchen to pour myself another cup of Peppermint Bark coffee. Below is a picture of part of my little home office, as you can see, it's lit up with tiny fairy lights. They wrap all around the quilt display and, paired with a small lamp I bought just for its tacky country farm scenes, it's nice this time of year. But once this winter solstice passes, I'll be laying in wait for that first truly warm day of the year. I'll open wide the two big windows in my office, dissipating that feeling of suffocation that really hits hard in the winter months. Coconut scented lotion, freezing cold drinks and iced oatmeal cookies will be here before you know it. My body, heart and mind will be ready.

                                                    

I just need the matching coffee cup

I am up early and getting a few things done before work. In between the tasks, I'm watching someone in Helsinki make a coffee-banana bread and am experiencing early morning salivating.

After today, I am on a work break for 17 days in a row. I get this break every year, but this is truly the first year where I won't have to still put in a billion work hours over the break in order to stay above water. I have one big house project planned, and I'm hoping to complete it, start to finish, minus the painting. Painting has to be done in warmer weather when windows can be opened so that fumes can escape and move on to wherever fumes go. 

Pictured below are a couple of my Christmas presents, ha ha. No, I'm not using them yet, I'll wait til Christmas day when my husband gives them to me (yes, he was with me when I pointed them out). The top picture is a cork-board coaster. I picked out three of these, this one is my favorite, all three are bee and flower themed. I'm actually going to hot glue magnets on the back and put these on our refrigerator to hold notes and appointment cards.

The second is the front of a shirt we found for a steal. For nearly two decades, my favorite sky has always been the night sky, followed by my love of the October blue sky in this region. Nothing beats those two skies. Now, I just need a coffee cup with a night sky to go with my shirt, and I'm all set for the summer months when the night sky is brilliant and you can go out with the border collie (she's a hot, beautiful mess) to run and play a little bit in the wee early morning hours under stars and moon and feel like the most blessed person in the world. The shirt even has a shooting star! I can make wishes galore when I wear it!

Until summer, we have some fun holidays coming up. I've got quite the handy chocolate stash for that February holiday of love that is generally defined by chocolate and flowers. I like both things, and in my opinion, no matter who or what you love, chocolate and flowers matter. You don't have to "be in love" or "have someone in your life" to celebrate Valentine's Day. When I was single, I was always happy to embrace the commercialism of that particular holiday and usually bought myself a box of chocolate candies and an inexpensive grocery-store bouquet of flowers. In an old, weathered vase with a bow on the outside, the flowers usually lasted a couple weeks and gave me a lot of joy.

I have a whole mixed thing about New Year's. I'm not a night owl. I don't stay up and ring in the new year. I hate starting January 1st exhausted. I've done that a few times in the past and, frankly, if you start the near year feeling wiped out, how is that a fresh new year? That's just a soggy-muddy brain fry right there, and no thank you. I don't toast the new year, and I don't make resolutions. I do, however, transition the house to winter rather than Christmas. The colored lights and Christmas decorations get put to bed, and the white and clear twinkly lights and greenery come out to play with the green and white trees and silver stars and snowflakes that make up my winter decorations. It makes the house feel clean and inviting and sparkly all over again during the setting-in of the gloomy months.

Love to you on this 17th day of December, 2021. I won't be waiting eight days to celebrate Jesus, I'll just go ahead and do that every day. I look forward to Christmas day with family and friends, but in the end, give me Jesus, my everything.

The one you forgot about that pulls you back to softer times

Every now and then you hear a song and there's that "oh, wow. . . . I forgot so-and-so recorded that." This is one of those songs for me. Re-introduced on a blog I read, I had to re-share. It's beautiful. It's summer and longing and those moments in time where we felt safest. No life-jading experiences, no realization yet that sometimes, although hope never dies, it changes unexpectedly and often not to our liking. Early in life, most of us subconsciously believed that hope was steeped in our own expectations and desires. As I grew older, I realized that hope is there; it just doesn't always result in the picture that I envisioned. 

There's beauty and wisdom in age. There's also loss, that knowledge of a far sweeter time in life, and now it's gone. Left in its place are memories that bring us happiness, but can also cause us to drown in the bittersweet of loss if we are not careful. I find myself at that road sometimes, looking behind me at the perceived smoothly-paved path that we often see through rose-colored glasses. It wasn't smooth, though. We've just chosen to remember the good stuff, and that's okay, sometimes. But it can be good to briefly remember the hard things that shaped and changed us, too. It's not fun, but everything we go through creates a definition of ourselves, the good and the bad and the in-between.

My mind and body responds to smells and places and food and funny, odd little dreams that pop up in my sleep and pull me back to the "long-ago." I don't stay there long. There's good and happiness and hope to be found looking at the way forward, just as much as there was in the long-ago. There's also going to be more loss and more of the hard things. But summer looms ahead, and with it comes more "stars lit up like candle lights" and beautiful, "sun-kissed skin." Even when summer ends, there is still the promise of that season to come again until we simply are no more.

Love to you on this 11th day of December. Hope can change and look very different from where we stand each and every day. The comfort is that it is there, sometimes buried deep, but it's there.

"I saw myself in summer nights
And stars lit up like candle lights
I made my wish but mostly I
Believed

And yellow lines and tire marks
Sun-kissed skin and handle bars
And where I stood was where I was
To be"

The fancy cloth, gettin' lit, and the front porch

For years, I have bought flannel-backed, vinyl tablecloths with the changing of the seasons. I won't pay a lot for these, and many times, I get them for a buck at the end of each season and use them the next  year. So, I'm fashionably late and very fancy, in a sense, ha ha. 

Frankly, I tend to look for tacky ones, the ones that make me feel like it's a bit of a throwback to the 1970s, particularly when it comes to spring and summer. I do love a cheap, white vinyl tablecloth splattered with bright yellow lemons for summer. You can almost smell the 1970s when you look at it.

I digress. It's December 7th, so this unveiling is the Christmas vinyl (not the Bing Crosby-type vinyl, although I do have some of that).  Ta-da! The pictures are crooked, I'm no photographer, but you get the idea. On December 26th, this vinyl will go away and be replaced by a navy vinyl covered in white snowflakes for winter. The vinyl pictured below has 20 days to live up to they hype of the holiday. 

This year's Christmas card, pictured below, is an Ollies' bargain, very sweet and actually has the word "Christmas" inside. I won't pay more than a dollar or two for a box of cards, and this was a big box for less than $2. I don't actually mail out cards. These will be used for family and friends nearby and for workmates. 

I used to mail out cards, but I'm sorry to say, that tradition ended long ago. While it does make life easier to not bother, it also removes an element of the season that used to be a real thing with many people before technology kept everyone connected on a much tighter rope. Remember long-distance calling plans? Now it's just easier to do the all-inclusive plan for cell phones because you know you're going to use a ton of data and make tons of non-local calls. In the end, the trade-off is good, though, particularly if you love your family and want to talk to them often.

We finally got the outside Christmas decorations put up in the back part of our property this past weekend. Just a few pictures below to help me remember what we did next year in case I want to repeat. Obviously, I'm not great at taking a picture that isn't crooked, but this is just for the sake of chronicling, so that's okay! With the number of lights, we are straight-up lit!

Smokehouse door, garage, front of smokehouse, the tree in front of the smokehouse that my dad made us, 150 feet of red and white checked bunting through the apple trees, two pictures of Georgie just because, peppermint stick ice cream just because, and the side of the smokehouse, which still needs a little something extra, not sure. We also put a wreath with a bright red bow on the gate of the fenced-in area.. I just forgot to take a picture. 

The front porch needs done, as well, but I think that this year, I'm going to do it in winter decorations instead. I have several wreaths left that we did not use in the back area of the property. I think I'm going to do some bows for the leftover wreaths in winter blues and whites to match our navy porch ceiling so that I don't have to take those down until March 1st. It's just easier. 

Geriatric kitty Georgie wanted to say hello. Hi, baby girl. 

This has been breakfast more than once. Darn you, Publix, and your addictive peppermint stick ice cream. Please, stop making it. Those of us with zero self control are dying out here. I've switched over to their rum raisin ice cream this week. Just as addictive. Sometimes, I sit and think about ice cream.

I'll be spending my lunch hour seeking winter ribbon for those front-porch wreaths. Wish me luck, my concern is that I'll only be able to find Easter or spring ribbon, ha ha. I mean, let's face it, consumerism doesn't often let us enjoy the current moment. We have to rush on to the next one.😒

On a final note, today is National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. On this day in 1941, the United States' World War II destiny was born with the killing of 2,403 Americans on the attack at Pearl Harbor. Sometimes, no matter how peaceful we want to be, there are days that we just have to stand up and fight for what is right and to seek justice and to protect freedom. 

In 1941, one of those days came along, and the history of the United States was forever changed. Enjoy the gift of freedom as much as possible. That gift comes with the dearest of prices, paid for by people we have never met. I pray for blessings on their future generations, that they may know and continue to know freedom and love and peace. Love to you on this 7th day in December. I'll be checking in with Santa soon to see who all is on the naughty list! 

 

December 1st and why hash brown casserole is nearly as necessary as oxygen

I find that most people have a food that they identify with as that one comfort food they never really tire of (and let's face it, it's not usually health food!). For me, hashbrown casserole is near the top of that list. I admit there are ties for first place - fried green tomatoes, hashbrown casserole, a hot and spicy massaman curry, a fresh oyster Po' Boy, the list goes on and on and as the seasons come and go, the top of the list changes out with the foods of each season. But overall, hashbrown casserole is by far the easiest to make and is a no-brainer all year long. 

While summer may feel too warm for a hashbrown casserole, it's really good in the morning warmed up for breakfast with a slice or three of fresh tomatoes that have been heavily salted and peppered. Throw an over-easy egg over top of the casserole and it becomes something I'd actually pay for in a restaurant as a main breakfast menu item. (I think that if you put hasbhrown casserole on a menu, it should never, ever be taken off; that'll anger the comfort-foodie mobs.)

As you can see, it was my craving when I woke up this morning, so in the wee, dark hours of the morning accompanied by Oliver and Lacey (cat and dog, respectively) and Christmas music and a mug of maple bourbon (flavor) coffee, I made a hashbrown casserole for tonight's supper. It's better re-heated, I think, rather than right out of the oven (but I'll eat it either way). It's oxygen, isn't it? Not the kind you breathe, obviously, but the metaphorical kind that gives you an extra-rich layer to life. The one percent wouldn't understand, I don't think. But the rest of us percenters, we get it. It's a hug, a pleasure, a feeling of being centered for those few moments that it lasts. 

It's December 1st, and many of us are a tiny bit in shock. Where has 2021 gone? Halloween and Thanksgiving blew by, at least it seemed that way to me. Life does this every year, the holidays show up, and for some reason, I'm always amazed that they're here and then gone. You'd think after all these years of living that I'd realize that's actually a pretty normal year! 

The plate pictured below has no great story behind it, just the fact that I bought these several years ago because the car pictured is kind of a dream car for me. I'm pretty confident that I'll never have this type of vehicle, but a girl can dream! I wouldn't want the tree, though, ha ha. A live Christmas tree looks and smells great, but you have to water it and vacuum up pine needles constantly. Plus, when you have the number of household four-leggeds that we have, putting up a live tree is just asking for trouble loud and clear. It would be stress rather than joy.

Plans are picking up as office parties and friend gatherings get closer with the turning of the calendar page. I hope you take time to slow down and enjoy something (maybe hashbrown casserole, just sayin') no matter how big or small it might be. As for me, I look forward to this evening with my loved one, our four-leggeds, the casserole and toasted Italian garlic bread, you know, the good and chewy kind that makes you want to finish the entire loaf in one setting. 

I really think we should think of December as the dessert of each year, having weathered course after course of life each month with the movement of time. I think I'll make magic cookie bars in a week or two or maybe this weekend (heaven knows I don't really need to get started on those). Love to you on this first day in December of 2021. May it slow down at least a little bit so that we can savor the last month of 2021.