well....not bad

 I am enjoying a hot buttered rum

    The recipe I used called for 1 tsp ground cloves, but I think the next time I will reduce that to half.  It just seems clovy.  If that is a word.

    But it is not bad.  2 oz run and 6 oz hot water added to the mix that I made and stored in the fridge.  I think there is enough for several more hot buttered rums.

    Julia comes home tomorrow.  

    In the newspaper field, that would be the lead on this blog, not the hot buttered rum.

    We are thrilled to have her home, although it will be strange when she does not go back to Switzerland.

    She has been there almost 20 years.  Jackie and I have gone multiple times to visit and really like the people she has befriended over the years.

    But all good things come to an end.

    Now it's find a job, get a house, adjust to life in the US...which I think will be the hardest thing for her.

    But both our girls will be in Illinois!  Emily won't be the only daughter who gets strange text messages from a doddering parent!

    It's funny how fast time goes.  I was 53 (almost, anyway) when she left here.  The past 20 years have been a blur, a mix of tears, laughter, concern, fear, thankfullness.

    Enjoy the time you have.  Relish it.  Don't blink or it will pass.

    Say, This hot botteredd rumn is tasting ightym goods!

Peace and Love

avast, matey

I am longing for a hot buttered rum 

    Mind you, I have never had one.  Never sipped, tasted, smelled or otherwise imbibed  a hot buttered rum.

    But the name has always piqued my interest, especially in winter.

    So I went on line to find a recipe.

    I found one entitled The Original Hot Buttered Rum.  (Surprise!  A recipe on line!!)  The first item it calls for four ounces of butter.

    That is one whole stick! I am NOT going to drink a stick of butter!

    But then I read he rest of the story.  (Homage to Paul Harvey).  The recipe is for a mix.  You use two tablespoons of the mix, add 2 ounces of rum, and 6 ounces of hot water.  You can save the mix for later use.

    That seemed a lot more reasonable.

    Today I was going to mix the concoction but Christmas cookies got in the way.  Jackie and I made two kinds, raspberry thumbprints and shortbread.

    The shortbread is from a recipe for a former student.  She made it for me when she was ij fifth grade and it was delicious

    When I was growing up, an elderly woman named Minkie lived with my Uncle Jim and Aunt Kay. 

    I may be wrong, but Minkie was Jim's mom.  I may be right.  (It just may be a lunatic I'm looking for?)

    In any case she was the sweetest, gentlest soul I have ever met.  She taught me how to drink pink tea from a saucer! (Pink tea is regular tea with cream and sugar.)  She had a thick Scottish accent and although she must have been in her 80s, her mind was as sharp as a tack.

    Each year she would make a shortbread for the families.  It was golden, crisp, and melted in your mouth. I usually ate more than my share.  I am not saying I hid it one year and ate the entire shortbread, but that is a possibility.

    I have tried for years to replicate that taste but it just never is the same.  

    Mae's recipe comes close.  It is the best one I have found and I have tried several.

    So now I make the shortbread, but I don't give it away.  It never lasts very long either.

    I may have over baked it this year because it is a little dry and crumbly.  That is ok, because the first try is a test to see how well the next batch comes out.

    Who knows.....tomorrow night I may be munching shortbread and sipping a hot buttered rum when I tell you about my boring life.

Peace and Love

odds and ends

 That pretty much sums up my day

    I finished a lot of little things.  Not all of them, just several.

    Jackie and I worked on Christmas cards today.  I lost my contact list on the computer and thought we could just hand address cards.

    But our handwriting is so terrible, that it seemed a better choice for me to recreate the list.

    Of the first 10 entries, I had 1 correct one.  Misspelled names, missed capitals, I abbreviated Illinois IUAL several times.  I think my fingers are just too fat for the keys, but that does not impact the A key unless I was shifting......

    I am glad it was a dreary day!  Finished a bathroom cleaning and a closet arrangement.  Tomorrow I hope to tackle another closet and find out what is hidden in the back.  

    I say that because I found several containers of disinfectant wipes.....7 to be exact... which means I really don't have to keep buying them.

    I also have collected 6 64 oz containers of Tide.  Target had a deal where if you buy 3 at $11.99 each you get a $10 gift card, which actually lowers the price to  around $8.99 each, which is a good deal.  And Tide does not go bad, right?

    I won't mention the paper towel and toilet paper situation.  It is getting out of hand again.  I have to resist the urge to buy.

    We also got in a brief chat with Julia, who is coming home Wednesday.  She sold her car today, which is great news!  Now she just has to get a Covid test to fly.

    We will be glad to have her home.

Peace and Love

 

double darn

 Sometimes I just get so flustered

    Today, for instance.  

    Went to print  my annual dreaded Christmas letter and  could not figure out how to get it printed correctly.

    After several trials, I finally printed it correctly.  It wasn't easy.  First one side printed upside down.  Then the black cartridge ran out of ink.  Then the yellow did.  Magenta was next and at that point I just went ahead and replaced the blue.  

    Then I went to do address labels.  I normally go to contacts, then print, then select the number of the label and they get printed.  Normally, that is.  Today I went to contacts and..... I have no contacts.  None.  Zero.  Zilch.  Nil.  How did that happen?

    I had four or five different lists in my contacts.....now I have none.  Huh.

    Went to see the VCCT radio play A Christmas Carol tonight and it was well done.  Of course, I always imagine me as one of the performers,  but I opted to sit this one out.  I love the story.  In fact, I am doing my annual reading right now and just ready to start the Spiirt of Christmas Present.  That's my favorite spirit.

    When I pulled into the driveway my headlights caught a deer in the field east of us.  I put on the brights and there were 8 or 9 of the critters, some just laying in the grass.  Jackie and I watched them for a few minutes and they did not seem frightened.

    I guess that explains Corki every night.  She stands out on the sidewalk and stares at the field every night.  I guess the little deers are there a lot!

    All in all, today was a pretty good day.  Now I just hope to finish up all the little projects tomorrow.  Being a little ADD means I have four things nearly done, but I have lost interest in them.

    Such is life.

Peace and Love

Meet me in St. Louis

 We are starting to watch holiday movies

    Some of the classics.....and maybe not so classic.  Who is to judge?

    I love Meet Me in St. Louis.  I don't think it is a Christmas movie as such, but Christmas is a big part of the movie.  The climax, so to speak.

    Judy Garland sings, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and I always seem to get a little teary eyed.

    The movie was released during WW II, and the song was included to tell people that the war was not forgotten.  Since then, it has been recorded by dozens of artists and is one of the most popular Christmas songs.

    I'm sure you have heard it.

    But what version?

    Here are the original lyrics as sung by Garland:

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Let your heart be light

Next year all our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Make the yuletide gay

Next year all our troubles will be miles away

Once again as in olden days

Happy golden days of yore

Faithful friends who are dear to us

Will be near to us once more

Someday soon we all will be together

If the fates allow

Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow

So have yourself a merry little Christmas now

    So here it is.  1944.  Next year all our troubles will be out of sight......someday soon we all will be together, if the fates allow......muddle throiugh somehow.....

    Pretty sad stuff for a Christmas song!

    But  hundreds of thousands of young Americans were fighting the Nazis in Europe, and the Japanese in the Pacific.  And thousands were dieing.  If the fates allow, we all will be together someday.

    There is sadness and optimism....next year all our troubles will be miles away.

    The song makes me sense the feeling of being a family during WW II, with a son, father, brother, friend, husband serving on the front lines while people back home are struggling to keep Christmas.

    They muddled through, that Great Generation.  

    I just hope we do to.

Peace and Love

lost is found

 I found my missing jacket

    I thought I should coat my outdoor furniture now, that way I don't have to worry about it next spring.  I will be able to just take it out.

    Since it was a little warmer today, I went out to coat the stuff.  I decided to put a blue plastic tarp down so I would not sprinkle the floor with oil and my coat was on top of the tarp.

    Honestly, I thought I threw out the tarp a month ago!

    And my coat is blue, not gray.  Now I have it again and I am happy.

    I had 6 errands to do today:  drop off some things at Hope, stop at the utilities with my last rebate application, drop off Tony's raffle ticket at the museum, get gas in the car, pick up a couple of things at Walmart, get more oil at Ace in case I can do a second coat tomorrow, pick up a couple of lottery tickets and grab a coffee at Cypress House.

    Imagine my surprise when I got out of the car at my first stop and discovered I did not have my wallet.  So I hit all the places that did not require any payment.  When I got home, I decided to just finish the list tomorrow.  

    Tonight I went to Emily and John's to feed and let out the dogs  because E an J  are at a play.  Imagine my surprise when I startled 3 deer grazing in the grass in my front yard!

    The hopped across the street and just watched me as I drove off.  I have not seen many deer lately, and don't think I have ever seen them in the front yard.

    One of these days I am just going to be able to sit and read or watch a movie.  But right now it seems I have a ton of stuff to do. At least I don't get bored, just tired.

Peace and Love

manger goes where?

 We have run out of room for Christmas stuff

    The only item we have not put out yet is the manger.  There is no room for the inn.

    Ironic twist on the time of year, eh?

    Going through the final tub was an experience.  Every time I pulled something out, Jackie said, "Where did that come from?"

    Of course, I am no help since I can't remember crapola.  I wnt into a store to buy two things the other day, came out with over $40 worth of stuff but forgot one of the items I was supposed to buy!  And I still can't find my working sweatshirt.  It has been two weeks now, and I have loooooooked everywhere.  BTW, all the os were intentional.

    Today I went to Rockford to buy the final piece to my bird bath puzzle. I now have all the stones, I just need to arrange them.  Maybe tomorrow, or maybe next spring.  Who knows?

    Any way, I have driven down Bell School Road dozens of times.  Dozens.  I was on my way to Woodman's and lord knows what was going on in my mind.  There is a T intersection by the private school and there is a 3 way stop.  For some reason, I can't figure out what, I blew the stop sign.  At 45 miles an hour.

    I did hit the brakes, but by the time I stopped I was 3/4 through the intersection.  If the person on the side road had California stopped at their sign, I could have hit them.

    I constantly complain about people who run red lights and stop signs.  Yet there I was, a moment's distraction and a blown stop sign.   I am still rattled by it, 7 hours later.

    Correct me if I am wrong, but this is the first Christmas in over 20 years when American servicemen were not stationed in war zones.  Am I right?  I know there are troops in hot spots, but not large contingents and I don't believe as active combatants.

    I am glad families will not have that to worry about this year.

    Peace and Love.