Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Monday, December 23, 2013
I've done it both ways
It is that time of year when people make all kinds of resolutions but I am pretty much not a resolution person. I do things when I do them (I hand over what could be holiday/birthday gifts when I have them & I see you, if I remember making holiday gifts tricky to locate).
As for the usual resolutions:
I am already on a diet. I can live with it, but I am not losing weight hand over fist. It turns out I am built for famine. Seriously. I have often wondered what my evolutionary advantage might be: I have life threatening allergies to things that are commonplace, my eyesight is poor, I am clumsy, & while I am not the whitest, most easily sunburned person I know I am the whitest skin person many people know (just last week V** said to me "This chick was WHITE, whiter than you even".) The answer is I can cruise through my day on 500 calories with very little change in...well, anything. So I don't have the resources & skills to fight for food, but I can live on a lot less. There is more than one way to life.
I am already exercising. Okay, I was & I will again. I stopped because...no good reason, I don't want to talk about it.
I don't smoke.
I already enjoy life.
There are typical lists of resolutions everywhere & mostly I already do them, I will never want to or they just don't apply (more time with my kids, for example).
This year I am making a list of things to do this year, because this time next year we are hoping for a baby cow so by Jan 2015 my resolution will be hauling my ass out twice a day to milk the mama cow. & if the next time is anything like the last time, that will last 18months or so.
So this year's resolution: get whatever it is out of your system in 2014 because 2015 is going to be BUSY.
To that end, I have joined the 2014 Cotton Robin.
I have also already purchased my tea towel for the Tea Towel Challenge. I could show you a picture, but it is on order. I actually have a pile of brand new tea towels, because I have been acquiring them lately (& sending duplicates to my mom when I get those, because I have NO TALENT for saving gifts) & I thought I already had one in my hot hands. & then I saw this other one... It is entirely possible I will have the material for more than...two. I might make two for 2014 because I cannot make one in 2015.
& there it is, already over extended.
As for the usual resolutions:
I am already on a diet. I can live with it, but I am not losing weight hand over fist. It turns out I am built for famine. Seriously. I have often wondered what my evolutionary advantage might be: I have life threatening allergies to things that are commonplace, my eyesight is poor, I am clumsy, & while I am not the whitest, most easily sunburned person I know I am the whitest skin person many people know (just last week V** said to me "This chick was WHITE, whiter than you even".) The answer is I can cruise through my day on 500 calories with very little change in...well, anything. So I don't have the resources & skills to fight for food, but I can live on a lot less. There is more than one way to life.
I am already exercising. Okay, I was & I will again. I stopped because...no good reason, I don't want to talk about it.
I don't smoke.
I already enjoy life.
There are typical lists of resolutions everywhere & mostly I already do them, I will never want to or they just don't apply (more time with my kids, for example).
This year I am making a list of things to do this year, because this time next year we are hoping for a baby cow so by Jan 2015 my resolution will be hauling my ass out twice a day to milk the mama cow. & if the next time is anything like the last time, that will last 18months or so.
So this year's resolution: get whatever it is out of your system in 2014 because 2015 is going to be BUSY.
To that end, I have joined the 2014 Cotton Robin.
I have also already purchased my tea towel for the Tea Towel Challenge. I could show you a picture, but it is on order. I actually have a pile of brand new tea towels, because I have been acquiring them lately (& sending duplicates to my mom when I get those, because I have NO TALENT for saving gifts) & I thought I already had one in my hot hands. & then I saw this other one... It is entirely possible I will have the material for more than...two. I might make two for 2014 because I cannot make one in 2015.
& there it is, already over extended.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Today in cow
Dear M******:It as been awhile since I wrote one of these!
Today was the day for our Cowgirl romantic encounter to begin. Until this afternoon, I had not thought much past getting her in the trailer. To that end, we moved the trailer to the side pasture weeks ago. I never did see her get into it, but she got so she could be within charging distance of the thing. Yesterday, of course that all came to an end.
A went out to pump up the tires & refasten the license plate (we never put it on because I was worried the donkey would rip it off). Slowly everyone moseyed in to see what we were up to. Everyone except herself. Even the world's dorkiest thoroughbred came over to bump the door, but she stood as close as she could while still keeping the fence between us.
But in the end it happened & she had the usual panic attack she has when she found herself in an enclosed space:
The drive was uneventful, we helped with some rearranging & then pulled the trailer into the pasture. I looked in to check on her & see if I could get the rope off before we released her (I couldn't). I was pretty sure once I opened the side door to the trailer she would be out, but A had doubts (it is narrower than the width of her horns, high up & at a funny angle). I am glad the one of us who thought she could do it was paying attention & got out of the way; she sailed by my head a few moments after I jumped off the bumper.
A few minutes to get the rope off & then she took off. A few moments later the bull took off after her. Funny little sidebar: you know those testicles things rednecks like to put on their truck hitches? Well both me & A observed that Nick's were roughly the same size. Which, when you consider he is a smallish Dexter bull, & scale being what it is, they are advertising to the world how very small-balled they are.
As for today, I don't think I have ever worked so hard to make an animal happier in my life. At least, not all at once. & I do believe she will be happy, however briefly. Until this moment, I had not thought ahead 6 weeks to when we need to bring her back. Shit.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
52 Photos Project: Holiday Traditions
When I saw 52 Photos Project's Traditions, my first thought was holiday cards. I loved them as a kid, I love them now. I mostly stopped sending them because I stopped getting them & I didn't want to be the last dork... But they are back & I am back sending them again & all is good. I had thought I would take a picture of the cards that we have received so far, but watching Megyn Kelly clips on the Daily Show made me go through the old card file.
We sent these Santa cards X years ago (I honestly don't remember when because while I stopped sending holiday cards I never really stop-stopped sending them, I always send AT LEAST one holiday card to my mother). I know it was after Obama was elected the first time (she's a big fan; this last visit I gave her all the swag I could lay my hands on & she seemed happy to have it), because I made an Santa 'bama reference in my note.
Way-back-when I saw these cards in the Victorian Trading Company catalog (that I get this catalog & somehow order something often enough to keep it coming is hilarious in its own way). They are called Santa Greengloves (look closely, he is indeed wearing green gloves) & I was immediately in love. & I knew I had to have them & send them to my parents & I ordered them & sent them to my parents & a few other people besides & then I moved on. Sidebar// in one of those the coincidences keep stacking up kind of things, I included this year's card Comfort & Joy in the picture on the left there. I promise it was all picked out long before the last week's 52 Photos Project.
I have no talent for still lifes. I am told people who fail in still lifes tend to over compose, but I fail the other way. this is a complete fail on my part: it is where my quilts fail, my parties fail, etc. I throw everything in there & get bored & wander off. Anyway. I took this still life so everyone could see this traditional Victorian Santa card & then I could talk about the Big Scandal visible in these traditional Victorian/Edwardian Christmas cards.
Look carefully. Take your time. Do you see it?
That's right! Santa used to wear green gloves! Those monsters at the Coca-Cola company have been screwing with traditional Santa. They are the ones who changed his complete ensemble to match their logo. Last but not least, my mom will tell you those monsters at Coca Cola also ruined the song "I'd like to teach the world to sing". I admit, I have a hard time blocking out I'd like to buy the world a coke verse.
We sent these Santa cards X years ago (I honestly don't remember when because while I stopped sending holiday cards I never really stop-stopped sending them, I always send AT LEAST one holiday card to my mother). I know it was after Obama was elected the first time (she's a big fan; this last visit I gave her all the swag I could lay my hands on & she seemed happy to have it), because I made an Santa 'bama reference in my note.
Way-back-when I saw these cards in the Victorian Trading Company catalog (that I get this catalog & somehow order something often enough to keep it coming is hilarious in its own way). They are called Santa Greengloves (look closely, he is indeed wearing green gloves) & I was immediately in love. & I knew I had to have them & send them to my parents & I ordered them & sent them to my parents & a few other people besides & then I moved on. Sidebar// in one of those the coincidences keep stacking up kind of things, I included this year's card Comfort & Joy in the picture on the left there. I promise it was all picked out long before the last week's 52 Photos Project.
I have no talent for still lifes. I am told people who fail in still lifes tend to over compose, but I fail the other way. this is a complete fail on my part: it is where my quilts fail, my parties fail, etc. I throw everything in there & get bored & wander off. Anyway. I took this still life so everyone could see this traditional Victorian Santa card & then I could talk about the Big Scandal visible in these traditional Victorian/Edwardian Christmas cards.
Look carefully. Take your time. Do you see it?
That's right! Santa used to wear green gloves! Those monsters at the Coca-Cola company have been screwing with traditional Santa. They are the ones who changed his complete ensemble to match their logo. Last but not least, my mom will tell you those monsters at Coca Cola also ruined the song "I'd like to teach the world to sing". I admit, I have a hard time blocking out I'd like to buy the world a coke verse.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
It was cookie swap...again
The second Tuesday of the month is usually bookclub night, but we take a break in December (& July & August) leaving the 2nd Tuesday in December available for the holiday cookie swap. Which works in nicely with the month's Lotto Linky topic: FOOD.
I confess, a week before cookie swap I start kicking myself for not starting earlier, but it more or less works out in the end. Our cookie swap rules are simple: make cookies, bring cookies, exchange cookies. Still I usually manage to screw up in some way.
It all begins with the cookies. Make a couple dozen. Or more. Because all cookies are not created equal. I make sugar & walnuts things rolled onto balls & plonked in colored sugar. M****** makes mini-pecan pies. V** makes buckeyes, the original (& much better tasting) peanut butter cups. Their cookies take effort; mine really don't. So I kind of think of 1/2 dozen of theirs equals 12+ of mine. Maybe even 24+. Maybe even more. Seriously, I make them by the pound.
Still, it is worth the effort for all of us. Sure, your kitchen gets turned upside down making a bulk of one maybe two kinds of cookies BUT you unload the cookies you are a little bit sick of & get back a nice mix to make up very pretty plates for your neighbors & co-workers Or to eat on the drive home, your choice.
I made what I make every year (that is the beauty if cookie swap, you don't have to worry about too much of one cookie...yet another first world problem):
Christmas Nut Balls (indeed)
2 sticks of butter, softened
--I prefer to use unsalted butter & then I add sea salt. The general rule is up to 3/4 tsp of salt per stick, but you can do what you want. This makes it easier to make a low sodium version if that is what you want.
2 tsp of vanilla
--put them in the mixer & let it run for awhile
1/3 cup of sugar
--toss it in the mixer & let it run awhile longer
2 tsp of water
--add while the mixer is still running
2 cups of flour
--sift the flour. Add it to the mixer, while it runs.
1 cup of walnuts
--I take whole shelled nuts & pulverize them with a mortar & pestle. The largest pieces are maybe the size of a peppercorn or two...or three, but most of them are reduced to powder. Tip them into the mixer & let it run until it is smooth smooth smooth.
Yes, I could call these mixer cookies. It would be impossible to overmix them. All this mixing (& all that butter) means everything will go easier if you chill it in the fridge for an hour or so. So you can call them fridge cookie, too.
Preheat oven to 325 F. Spoon dough into balls (or roll using your hands), roll in sugar, bake 20-25 minutes. Cookies crumble easily when they first come out of the oven, but set as they cool.
Enjoy!
I confess, a week before cookie swap I start kicking myself for not starting earlier, but it more or less works out in the end. Our cookie swap rules are simple: make cookies, bring cookies, exchange cookies. Still I usually manage to screw up in some way.
It all begins with the cookies. Make a couple dozen. Or more. Because all cookies are not created equal. I make sugar & walnuts things rolled onto balls & plonked in colored sugar. M****** makes mini-pecan pies. V** makes buckeyes, the original (& much better tasting) peanut butter cups. Their cookies take effort; mine really don't. So I kind of think of 1/2 dozen of theirs equals 12+ of mine. Maybe even 24+. Maybe even more. Seriously, I make them by the pound.
Still, it is worth the effort for all of us. Sure, your kitchen gets turned upside down making a bulk of one maybe two kinds of cookies BUT you unload the cookies you are a little bit sick of & get back a nice mix to make up very pretty plates for your neighbors & co-workers Or to eat on the drive home, your choice.
I made what I make every year (that is the beauty if cookie swap, you don't have to worry about too much of one cookie...yet another first world problem):
Christmas Nut Balls (indeed)
2 sticks of butter, softened
--I prefer to use unsalted butter & then I add sea salt. The general rule is up to 3/4 tsp of salt per stick, but you can do what you want. This makes it easier to make a low sodium version if that is what you want.2 tsp of vanilla
--put them in the mixer & let it run for awhile
1/3 cup of sugar
--toss it in the mixer & let it run awhile longer
2 tsp of water
--add while the mixer is still running
2 cups of flour
--sift the flour. Add it to the mixer, while it runs.
1 cup of walnuts
--I take whole shelled nuts & pulverize them with a mortar & pestle. The largest pieces are maybe the size of a peppercorn or two...or three, but most of them are reduced to powder. Tip them into the mixer & let it run until it is smooth smooth smooth.
Yes, I could call these mixer cookies. It would be impossible to overmix them. All this mixing (& all that butter) means everything will go easier if you chill it in the fridge for an hour or so. So you can call them fridge cookie, too.
Preheat oven to 325 F. Spoon dough into balls (or roll using your hands), roll in sugar, bake 20-25 minutes. Cookies crumble easily when they first come out of the oven, but set as they cool.
Enjoy!
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