Last Day of the Year

7:30 am

                What a treat – all alone today! Well, me and Tigger…. Maybe I will spend the day spinning… yesterday I ended up doing far more cooking once again than perhaps I should have. I made another batch of the potato crisps and they are very tasty but they do take time. And I also made roasted garlic. It did not seem to be very popular. I ended up bringing a lot of it back. It ended up being a how to keep chickens gathering, which is I guess what K meant when he called it a chicken whisperers party. I was afraid, as the intent became more clear, that it was going to be a tuperware party for chicken keepers, with the presenters being chicken dealers trying to sell us chicken keeping equipment. But it was just a couple who live in Shutesbury and keep chickens, and other folks that I guess the host thought might be interested. And it turned out to be a reasonably nice crowd and at least it meant I could participate in the conversation reasonably well. One of his neighbors has a daughter who is in Portland OR working as a naturalist at the big Forest Park there. Would be nice if I could figure out a way to connect her with G, but I suppose she would balk at that.

                What else did I do yesterday? I did manage to do some spinning. Finished the singles of black angora, now I ply them and am done with that. On to the brown.  Tigger wanted to go outside and now he is out there barking. Well I am just going to let him. It is nearly 8, if anyone is not yet awake, too bad. And being winter everyone’s windows are closed, so I’m hoping they won’t hear him anyway. Yesterday’s other project was to attempt to feed Snakey. I took him out first while I got everything ready, then I put him back in with fresh water and a nicely thawed mouse, but he has not touched it. He did look like he will shed soon, so whether it is that, or that I bothered him by taking him out, or maybe he was cold while we were away and that put him off somehow I don’t know. G said to leave it there for a full day and maybe he would eat it. Otherwise take it out and try again next week. I guess I’ll wait until he sheds.

                Oh, the other thing I need to do today is lots of financial stuff. I will enter the rest of the checks for the year and go back to all those credit card bills and “split” them. I sure would like to start in on tax stuff early this year. And I will do the FAFSA based on last year’s tax. Tomorrow is New Year’s, so one more day home – yay! It will be first person at night, so I’ll need to go to that. Then back to work on Wednesday. And there is plenty to do there. First I guess I’ll continue the work sorting organizing and putting lab equipment away. And in between I can take some time to write up things from last semester before I forget. I also need to send a letter to the folks that signed up for my spinning class. I ought to do that today.

                Time to do stretches, get dressed and feed buns. Bart was not looking especially happy last night, he did not eat his food. So I gave him a dose of vasoline. I hope he is better today.

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Snowy Day and Cooking

7:30 am

                K is out shoveling, so I feel kind of guilty sitting here. And now the dog is whining to go out. Oh brother. Ok. Let him out. Now how long until he gets let back in and I have to take care of cleaning him off?

                Grumpy again, can you tell? Oh, now L is up, that is nice. She is here for a few days until she moves into her room that she is renting. And G is off in Oregon.

                What will today bring? We have the gathering at K’s friend’s. I may make the same oven baked potato chips that I did for the solstice party. They came out very well, and I certainly do have potatoes. But they were a lot of work: wash peel slice then bake and turn turn turn. And I was even thinking of roasting some garlic and making a garlic dip to serve with them. Too much effort? Maybe. The entire day before that party ended up being cooking and food prep, what with the chips and also making a buche de noel. And yesterday ended up being a lot of cooking too. I made a lentil stew with lots of vegetables that I grated and fried up and put in. Not as good as G’s but ok. What else happened yesterday? Oh, I did errands, which also takes forever, and ran into a friend at CVS which was good, and then Gcalled while we were there which was funny. Other than the errands and the cooking, what the heck did I do? Oh, well, the back porch was a solid chunky bunch of ice and snow, so I spent a long time chopping that off.

                And today, besides maybe cooking? I think there will have to be a lot of laundry done. Load after load and then sorted. I think K will go xc skiing, and L also wants to go. She asked if she could use my skis which is fine. I have not used them in years and don’t know where anything is. So she can go ahead and find everything.

                Looks like Tigger will be around for a while longer. K had talked about putting him down after we got  back, but then he said he does not like the idea of playing god, and now here we are again. It seems like we ought to get him a wheeled cart of some sort if we are actually going to keep him around. I hate to see him gimping along with his foot turned so he is walking on the top of it. That can’t feel good. And next week  K goes off to Haiti meaning I am left to deal with Tigger. I guess the night I teach my class I will have to stay home until after I feed him and then go in. This week I will be able to go in and stay because K will be home.  Actually there will be 2 weeks that he is not around. And the small car will be in Boston for the full 10 days that he is gone. Unless someone….wants to drive him to the airport. Not me.

                Time to feed buns.

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Home Again!

8:30 am

                Home again home again jiggedy jig.

                What will the day bring? Well first I must get back into the idea of feeding the buns. Soon K will go up to get Tigger. I don’t want to go with him, but I will be here when they get back. L wants to go to the used book store, and I need to get to the PO. I would also like to go to Joanne’s fabric to get zippers for 2 felted bags I am making. One is the plain white wool that I knit ages ago. The idea is to needle felt on it. Not sure if I will sew on the zipper first, or after. Probably better after. And the other is the big bag I knit for the computer to go in. then I will have to check out the sewing machine and see if it is even functional. I have not used it in years. I will also be needing it for the rag rugs, once they come off the loom. I suppose I ought to give my friend a call and see if she can come over to weave tomorrow. Oh, except there is also a party at Kent’s friend’s tomorrow. Busy busy busy. Another nice thing would be to do Misty Bottom later today. There is snow which is quite lovely. Supposed to be more coming tonight I think. K will go into work Monday, but I think I will wait until Wednesday. And either that day or Thursday I must haul all the spinning class stuff in and set it all up. Makes sense to do that Thursday and then just stay in, so I will have the car to come home after class. After that I should be able to take the bus home the next week, though the week after that I’ll have to drive again to bring everything home. I never did sign up for the greek desserts class, I wonder if there is any room left in it. That would actually be fun to do. Something fun….what a new and novel idea…

                The other big task for the day is to pay some donations that will count for this year’s taxes. I could either do it by check and get them to the PO, or do it via credit card. Easier accounting if I do it by check. Though there is also Pay Pal. Tried that yesterday but the phone number listed on the account was the old one, and so I had to change it. Maybe by now it is all set.

                Spinning – would like to keep working through all the angora I set up. And then set the table up downstairs for carding. Oh that will be lovely. And actually I already have a whole bunch of carded stuff that I did last summer that I can start spinning. I managed to knit 2 hats and started a pair of wrist warmers while on the trip. The warmers are finished except for sewing the ends into the last one and sewing the seam up. Oh and I made a whole bunch of hair ties. So I was at least fairly productive.  I can already feel like my little window of free time, this weekend through Tuesday getting filled in. oh well.

                Ok, gotta feed buns.             

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Asheville

7:45 am

                Ok. Tried to write yesterday, but it was not to be.  Had to dash over to the Father In Law’s to mope around until the very nice brunch at his dining hall. After which I disappeared with the car and wandered the empty streets of Asheville. The only people around were a few families (mostly Asian) and the homeless – to one of whom I actually gave a few bucks. Well he was young and cute and had a dog. But then I realized there were many and they all would ask for something, so I avoided. I managed to find all the places I want to go to today or tomorrow: the chocolate place, the amazing deals place, the firestorm café. And then there are the usual like Malapros, the coop, the guild…. Unfortunately, the plan is to go to FIL’s this morning. I might have to revise. I think I will propose that I either drive K down and drop him off, or that I just let him go and I will walk into town. It is only 2 miles which is certainly do-able.

                I am in the breakfast area of the hotel here and everyone is very chatty. Just found out that there is a Coca Cola museum in Atlanta. Very exciting. Especially the end where they have a room where you can get samples of all the kinds of Coke – for FREE. Wow. That is one place I’ve Gotta Go. What I must do now is figure out how to tell K that I am not going to B’s this morning. And how to actually write while this stupid TV is going here in the bfast room. I think I will need to go back to our room.

                Ok, back. Now what? Honest truth: I would rather be at home. I would rather be with my spinning wheel and radio. Is that lame? Well if it is, too bad. We met some interesting folks here yesterday who are truckers – well he is a trucker and he had to drive something to Tennessee so along came his wife and her son and they came here to go to Biltmore. Good way to do a vacation. We saw them again this morning and they loved Biltmore. To be honest I think it is a little sad that walking through an over-the-top mansion is so appealing to people. Kind of like that awful tv show I watched while running which was about famous people (like the guy from KISS and some mega basketball star) and their over-the-top mansions. Sicko if you ask me.

                On a cheerier consumer society note, I hope today to go to the store G told me about. She said they had lots of cast iron pots there. And I am hoping maybe they have socks because somehow in the rush of things I only brought 2 pair. And I’ve worn them both, and left them out to dry. They will start getting crusty soon. At least one pair is wool so they will still be warm. I could also see if the Mast Store has socks, but I bet they will be over $10 a pair.

                What else? I wandered the streets yesterday looking in windows and thinking about all the places to eat that I would like to go to. Part of it was that I really could have used a bathroom and I would have liked a nice corner to sit for a while. Now that there is an actual possibility, I am not really that interested in all that food. I suppose too many eating out experiences is too many. I had to hunt and hunt yesterday afternoon to find food, but finally found a nice Indian restaurant near Gpa’s and got some of that. All to avoid ordering from the Taco Bell. Which actually ended up being closed anyway. Not much is open on Christmas night. Could have gotten stuff from Hardees. Anyway, I got the Indian food and it was pretty good, but after the huge bfast at Givens, then this huge meal of Indian curry etc, I was feeling kind of ill. And there is a ton left over. But if it works as planned I will not be around for lunch, then we are going to Nicky D’s (?) for supper with K’s cousin. Very exciting. Maybe we can eat the Indian food for supper on Thurs. That would get us out of going out to Applebee’s, another of B’s favorites. It is now 8:40. I guess I will dress for action and think about heading north. Maybe I can get bus schedules once in town. Or here, on line……

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Grading is Done! Now For Fun Things

8 am

                Nasty start to the day…. Among other things, I ripped my toenail while of all thing putting on my sock. Oh brother. Well maybe it will be uphill from here. For one thing – I have NO GRADING to do! That is a good thing. I woke up thinking it was Sunday, and it is only Saturday which is another good thing. A whole free day. I have on the agenda today to make a bûche de noel  for the party tonight, and I may also make some veggie chips. And spin. I put together a lot of packages for spinning 1 ounce skeins of angora. I have 3 more ounces of the black, then close to 9 each of light fawn, darker fawn and chocolate. That should keep me quite busy all winter. And later today I would like to go to the rental house garage to see if there is a desk I could bring over to set up for myself. I very much need a desk. K has papers and stuff stacked everywhere and I feel squeezed out, so I need a space to organize for myself. So that is a big big project.

                What else? I just looked up bûche de noel to get the proper spelling and got distracted reading all about the tradition. Well for me, it is just a remnant from Madame to Manouille’s French class in 7^th grade. She gave us the recipe and there you have it. Well it will go well with a solstice celebration as it has pagan connotations.

                Yesterday I was doing some things, thinking about what would come next, was on the big computer for some reason (I was going to look something up. I had just looked up cactus farming in Mexico, one of those references in Under the Volcano that I wanted more info on) when G asked if I wanted to go to Lone Wolf. I am such a sucker – anything they want. Well really, for me, it is any time they want to do something with me, I am there. So we did have a good time. We had a waffle and some goat cheese and spinach version of eggs benedict. Then we ran errands – library, bank, so that was good. And then we got home and not only did I put together all those spinning packages, I also cleaned out the fridge…. Always a big job. It had been smelling rather bad lately, so I think that will help. I also started yogurt and buttermilk for quark.

                Ok this is the third poop I have removed from Tigger’s butt. I am getting sick of this. Everywhere I go I swear I smell like dog poop. Anyway time for K to shave or clip his butt hairs again. We’ll see how he does at the kennel. Poor dog.

                Maybe later today I will even start a new rag rug. I have lots more of the green bedspread from the farm and the old brownish one from my old childhood room all cut into strips and I think I will use those. Oh but first I must feed Bella and the buns. Just 2 more days then we head to A’ville and G to Portland. Not sure if she will come back here before she heads to A’ville. She is packing up a bunch of stuff for us to take down there. But not snakey. I get to take care of snakey, lucky me. And today I get to take care of Bella. Also lucky me.

               

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