Ticking down the hours

 It was the day of small things, and I'm grateful for it, because this darned sinus stuff is waking me up throughout the night. I even got up at 3 AM and took a long hot shower just to see if the steam made it easier to breathe. It did. I got myself all warm and cozy back into bed and was able to sleep a couple more hours.

We had some pretty damaging winds here last night. We had no sooner climbed into bed when suddenly there was a bang, and it was followed by blue flashes coming from the window on the north side. The streetlights went out and so did all the lights next door. That scarcely registered when we saw blue flashes through the sliding glass doors on the west side of the bedroom. It looked like it was something pretty major, and we got up right away to unplug the computer. Surprisingly, the power was back on again in pretty short order. We didn't expect that. Turned out the power outages affected a lot of people on the western side of Pennsylvania, and there are some without power still, so we were lucky.

Still, Tim headed out to the new build to check on things there. Everything was fine. It is supposed to get cold, so he relit the heat in the house and out in the garage for the cats. He used the time to put the last breaker in. We are now ready for our final inspection. 

Being short sleeped, I appreciated a day home. I cleaned the kitchen and the bathroom, changed the bedding, did a load of laundry, vacuumed. All those things a body gets behind on when you're in the middle of a holiday and working on another house. 

The day started out with a call from Andy. A neighbor has died, and Mattie and Levi both are very busy with that. Since the funeral is on Tuesday, she doesn't have time to get off the hill and into town for their  pork loin and sauerkraut for their New Year's Day meal. They were hoping we wouldn't mind doing that bit of shopping for them and dropping it off at some point tomorrow afternoon. Of course we can do that.

I even remembered to call a prospective tax preparer. We have to find a new tax person. We liked the person that we used for many years, but without warning, he announced he was going in with another accounting firm in town. We used him that year, and then he retired. Much to our surprise, the charges for doing our taxes went up 30% the following year. They also had to file an extension. They missed the April deadline by 3 months. We explained it away to ourselves. Our federal taxes are complicated due to the multiple properties. We had to file the state taxes, of course, but because Tim worked out of state, he was required to file taxes for that state as well. Local taxes are paid separately. But last year, without warning, we received the bill (only after the taxes were done) for $925, which was an additional 30% increase from the previous year. There were only two forms to fill out: Federal and Pennsylvania. Due to our age, we don't pay local taxes and Tim doesn't have to file New York State taxes because he is retired now. We also break itemize the expenses for the properties ourselves, going through our own receipts and totting it all up to save time for them.  We dropped off our tax forms with the lawyer today, and, fingers crossed, we get a sensible estimate. 

A person stopped in to pick up some coffee I was giving away: 2 2lb bags of it. I used to drink flavored coffee. It was on sale a while back, and so I picked up three bags to go in the freezer. Just in case of the zombie apocalypse. I always like to make sure I've got a few bags of vacuum sealed coffee in my freezer. I just think that I'd handle a zombie apocalypse much better if I'm caffeinated. However, much to my surprise, it turns out that in my dotage, I've developed an actual aversion to hazelnut coffee. I was cutting it with unflavored coffee to try to use it up, but ack! Just aaaaaaaaack! Mornings are bad enough without starting the day with bad coffee. 

Tim and I met up after lunch and put the rest of the kitchen ceiling framework up, so that's done. Bathroom plumbing next. We're ticking boxes there, too. 

We dropped off the last of Grandma Violet's fruitcakes to where it needed to be, and since we were in that end of town, we stopped into a grocery store known for its meats, and picked up the pork loin for Mattie at a decent price, a whole one just over 10 lbs at $2.49 a pound

I ended up the night by folding laundry and doing some online research. I bought two smart watches, one for Tim and one for me. I'm drinking my third cup of brewed ginger and snorting saline. I just really want a full nights sleep. 

We have another storm moving in New Year's Eve. Sounds like a mighty fine excuse to stay home. Which we were going to do anyway, but really, it's nice to have an excuse.

What's up?

Answer: the ceiling!

We are putting in a new ceiling in the kitchen. The ceilings downstairs are over 9 feet. We are dropping the ceiling by a foot in the kitchen. The bathroom is directly above it, and both of those rooms were badly rain damaged due to a large hole in the roof that was left open for far too long. It was the first repair we made when we bought the house, but the damage required some serious structural repair. Since we are redoing the layout of the bathroom, the plumbing will be different. Tim got the idea that if the kitchen ceiling was dropped, the new plumbing could be run in the space beneath the floor joists, as could the ventilation from the stove hood. 

The contractor neighbor stopped in to jawjack, and thought that it was a very smart way to do it. The validation was nice to hear. 

In any case, that's what we've been up to today. 

I have a cold which seems to be turning into a sinus infection. Probably from dealing with 100 year old dust. 

A funny thing happened. Ms Moon was talking about chili crisp, which I'd never heard of. Yesterday, we had some errands to run. Supplies to pick up. We stopped in at Happs, just to see what they had, and much to my shock they had: 

Priced at 2 for $1. it was a deal too good to pass up, and man...that stuff is delicious. Excellent. Thanks, Mary! If I hadn't read your post, it would not have even caught my eye. I've had it two days running. I take a couple handfuls of cabbage and onion and garlic and whatever vegetables I might have and toss it in a skillet. I steam my vegetables in a bit of water, instead of stirfrying them in oil, and stir the chili sauce in. What a wonderful meal, with just the right bite!

Anyways, we put two boxes of good deals in the back of the truck and continued on to our Amish builder supply place, where you can save $2. each on 2x4s (and we needed a batch of them). We then circled around back to Jamestown to stop at Brigiottas, a large produce store. When we pick up produce from them, we always go out back to the warehouse. You can usually pick up a 40 lb box of bananas for $10, and we drop them off for a houseful of Amish monkeys we know. (Mattie says that 9 children will go through a box of bananas in less than a week.)

We got home and got everything put away and had our quiet supper. I took some tylenol PM and went to bed early. 

The last thing that I felt like doing was working on that house today, but I am glad that we were able to get so much done. We'll have the kitchen ceiling up this week, and most of the plumbing in. Everything is taking shape. Tim is curious to see what we can get done in a month. 

Right now, me and my sinuses are drinking a hot cup of very strong ginger root tea, and I will put myself to bed early again tonight. I haven't had a sinus flare up like this in a very long time, and I am grateful that I have a scheduled appointment this week. 

Boxing Day, American Style.

We had a nice Christmas. It started out at my daughter's house with her fiance and my grandson. He seemed pleased with Christmas. It is was his 3rd celebration. He's got one more this weekend. I think he's got everything a 13 year old boy could ever wish for. 

We came home and opened gifts to each other. That was nice. I got what I wanted. (Don't laugh!) A CD player. I have an awful lot of old CDs and no way to play them outside of the car. Tim didn't even think they sold them anymore. Lucky for me, he was wrong about that. 

Then we gathered up another load of gifts and headed off to another party. That was fun too. 

And now it is done. 

This morning, we were off to the rehab. We got the dining room ceiling finished. The other big project that Tim wanted to do was to get the cast iron bathroom sink off the wall. 

One of these: 

It is a nice sink, and it matches well with the clawfoot tub: 

(Both of these are stock photos)

We would have to reglaze both of them, which isn't a big deal. People like clawfoot tubs, and the bathroom will have a separate shower, which will mean that we won't have to have the clunky curtain surround. So that part was easy to make up our minds on. The sink though. People like counter space. There is no counter space for this sink. So. We're sort of debating back and forth on it. 

Tomorrow, we'll begin work on the plumbing. 

Broken

 The other day, Tim took himself to McDonalds to eat. I had a couple appointments, but I was also going to take advantage of the day to get some groceries for Christmas, and pick up a few odds and ends that we needed from various stores, pick up some pictures I'd gotten printed off, things like that. 

Anyway, later he told me about something that really bothered him a lot. There was a man sitting at a table in the corner with a cup of coffee. He was thin and tired looking, but he was quiet. Tim watched him curiously as he ate. The man dozed off. 

An indignant woman came up to the table and in a harsh voice, woke him up. "Get out of here! Kelly doesn't want you here! Go on. Get out!" 

The man quietly got up and left with his coffee. 

It bothered Tim a lot. "She wasn't anybody," he said. "She didn't work there. She was just another customer, and the guy was not hurting anyone, sitting quietly." 

We do have a homeless guy who sleeps outside. I'm not going to say where he is, because some high school boys found his sleeping place and took all of his things, his sleeping bag and his rucksack and threw it all in the river some time back, which I found horrifying. 

Anyways, today we drywalled the ceiling in the front hall at the rehab. It was kind of tricky because it is a small tight place with stairs on one side so it makes the work space even tighter, but we got it done with a minimum of problems. In fact, I think it is the first time that we've ever done a drywall job and got all the pieces to fit perfectly on the first cut. No trimming or rasping required. Maybe we'll be professionals by the time that this job is done. 

When we were done, we headed out. Tim said, "I want to go to McDonalds and grab lunch." I had an idea he was still thinking about that fellow from last week. 

We placed our order and sat down to wait. The place was hopping busy. I'm not sure what the hold up was, but we waited for a half hour. The table next to us had a snappish mother and two young children who were hungry and fretful. A small group of door dash delivery people stood at the pick up, waiting for their orders, talking loudly. people came walked in. People walked out. An elderly man sat at a table with a small cup of coffee, dozing quietly. 

I said to Tim, "Is that the guy you saw the other day?" Tim looked behind him. "Yep," he said. "That's him." We sat in that noisy place, waiting for our food, discussing what to do, and making our plan. In spite of that noise, the man dozed, his white head bobbing just the slightest bit.

A lot of people would see a broken man sitting quietly in the corner, trying not to draw attention to himself because it is cold outside. But as we eat, we watch the people coming and going, walking past him with their large bags of food to go, or the people dumping their partially eaten food in the trash, or the people sitting together talking merrily as Christmas carols play in the background. I think they must be broken too, that they cannot see, that they do not notice, that they are not moved at the sight.

3 Days before Christmas

 Since I got my sushi maker, I've been quietly collecting the things that I need to make sushi/kimbap. I've found everything that I need except for the nori. The good news is that I found a source for it about a half hour from here. Between the weather and the holiday rushing around, I just haven't gotten there. 

Anyways, a couple weeks back, I'd stopped by the thrift store to peruse the bookshelves for the box of books I was collecting for a Christmas gift, and much I was a bit shocked to see, right there on the book shelf where it absolutely did not belong, a little rice cooker. 

The videos that I'd watched for this sushi thing all acted as if a rice cooker was a necessity to make good sushi, but I didn't get that. I make my rice in a pan on the stove and it is okay. But sticky rice is a requirement. 

Was my rice sticky? I couldn't tell you for sure, because usually I'm adding it to something else, but I kind of felt like it would be sticky enough, and I hate sinking a lot of money into something until I'm sure that it is something that I'm going to do in the long term, so I decided against a rice cooker. 

Except, now there was one right there in front of me, priced at $4.99. The universe was whispering 'yes. You need a rice cooker.' So it came home with me, along with some books, and a Steeler's cap with tags that Tim found. 

Today, I used that rice cooker for the first time to go with stirfried vegetables and teriyaki beef and discovered that the universe knew what it was talking about. I did need a rice cooker. 

Anyhow, the big news here is that a local hot shot business man had one of his businesses burn down this afternoon. What makes this remarkable is that he had another business hit by a truck on the 21st of December 2023. He had a business burn down on January 30th, 2024. Another place burned down on April 18th. Now a third fire. 

One fire was determined to be caused by a gasoline spill. Another fire is undetermined. The investigation for today's fire is ongoing, of course. 

I can't figure out how he manages to get insurance coverage. 

Anyways, it is 3 days before Christmas. Tomorrow we'll work on the rehab.

 testing....testing....

Well, Thelma, save the tutorial. I have figured it out!

All is Revealed

I was very excited to get my sister's gift to her. I'd been keeping this secret for an awful long time. She had the lid but her dish came up missing after a family celebration. For two years, she has hoped for its safe return, no questions asked. Hope springs eternal. 

So...no Andrew, this did not turn out like an O. Henry story. She opened the box, was gobsmacked, leaped to her feet, went straight to her cupboard to grab the lid, and lo...it was a perfect fit. 

(that was actually my big fear...that the lid would be slightly different.)

 She had the picture on the family facebook page within minutes. So. That was happy. 

Last night was happy too, up at the top of a snow covered hill, inside a toasty warm wood heated kitchen. The lanterns glowed from their corners and the rockers had been pulled from the living room next to the wood stove. 

The kids burst out the door and quickly took gifts and warm pans, fresh from the oven and wrapped in thick towels. Rudy was delighted to see a package with his name on it. So much excitement. Even one of the older boys had to be scolded by his mother for 'snooping'. 

We enjoyed a leisurely supper, stretching it out just a little to pique the excitement, and then they were turned loose. 

It was over in the matter of minutes. They separated out two packages that were specifically for the younger two. David loves horses, and so we bought him a Schleich horse and a picture book of horses. There was a ball and a pull toy that was a line of ducks that quacked as it rolled along. 

Rudy got a box with his own ball and a school bus that was a toy, but also played a game with the kids asking for them to find letters. He started school this year. He also got a letter picture book. He loved that school bus. 

 Steve would have glowed with happiness to see them going through that box of books. It really does tickle me to watch how excitedly they sort through books. In fact, Andy was engrossed in one of them before the excitement even died down. He was anxious to learn The Secret of the White Tail Deer. A book about turkeys lay on his lap. 

We played several games of Shut the Box. I think they will love that. 

I had come across a book called 'Old Bear'. A large teddy bear held the book on his lap. They loved that bear. He passed from child to child, hugged and studied, his soft fur marveled at. 

There is something quite magical about sitting in a warm kitchen by a large woodstove, watching the kids all playing, from the oldest to the youngest. There was plenty of chatter as they all examined everything. The air was filled with the sound of happy farting. (They all got cans of flarp). When the first flarp fart was released, I saw Mattie's shocked face as she stared around trying to figure out who'd made that horribly rude sound. She was much relieved to discover that the sound did not come from one of her children, and burst out laughing. 

Except for the two youngest, there was no squabbling at all. They passed the things around agreeably chattering, and everyone seemed to gravitate towards something. Of course, David screamed like crazy because he wanted Rudy's school bus and Rudy howled because he was still playing with it. Two year olds are not so patient about waiting their turn. 

 Mattie said, "They will read those books and I will enjoy the peace and quiet." Levi watched Rudy playing with the perplexus ball and said, "He will sit there for the longest time trying to work that out." 

We watched them, as we drank coffee and chattered about this thing or that, and in that way, three hours flew by, the keywound clock ticking off the seconds from its place on the wall.  It was a contented ride down their hill and back home, the snow flying in the dark. 

I love that celebration. 

Secrets

 It was a long day. The wrapping is done, except for one thing that arrived tonight. And another thing which I found upstairs that I forgot, which should have gone into the package that I mailed. Oh...and a gift that was larger than any gift bag I had. (At this point, fearful of what I will find, I'm not looking around much.) 

Can you all keep a secret? My sister's birthday is Saturday. Her favorite baking dish was a yellow pyrex one, probably from the late 40s. She loved it. It had a glass lid. Somehow, under very tragic circumstances, that dish came up missing after a family party. She had her lid, but the dish itself was gone. She sent out a mass message to the family, but no one ever got it back to her. Every holiday, once again, she does a message about her dish, just in case someone comes across it in the course of getting ready for the big day.

Vintage pyrex is pretty pricey, and she's a practical sort who is not going to spend $30 on an old dish (it is genetic, I suppose), but she really did love that dish. Out of curiosity, I was looking on line. I found the same dish, the same size, even the same color! It was going cheaply because the woman did not have the glass lid that goes with it, which made me laugh. So that is my sister's birthday present and I honestly think that I'm more excited about this than I am about any Christmas present I have bought. I cannot wait until Saturday! If you see her, DO NOT BREATHE A WORD!

The day started early. I was up at 6:30 for an appointment. Then we went to the school to see my husband's grandson receive a special award. He is a math genius, in the true sense of the word. He loves numbers, and when other kids were learning to add and subtract, he had taught himself to multiply and divide by watching you-tube videos. He's a neat kid. 

Then it was off to take care of the cats and crows at the new build, and Tim had an appointment to get two new tires on the car. Johnny works at that garage, and it always gives me a chuckle to think that an Amish man is making his living working on cars. 

A nothing day, really, but I kept myself busy and I got a lot of nothing done.

 Tomorrow is a big day too. I've got pulled pork barbecue to do, a cake to bake, a pan of macaroni and cheese. At 5:30, we are headed over to have a Christmas party with Levi and Mattie and the kids, which is always a good time. When we pull up in the driveway, the kids coming running out. They are excited to unload the car. They carry in the gifts and stack them on a table in the corner, chattering away in Pennsylvania Dutch. We eat supper by lantern light, and the kids' eyes keep darting over to that stack of gifts while we eat.

It is just fun to watch their excitement. The big box on the end is something that will tickle everyone...it is full of books, and it delights me to no end how thrilled they all get over a simple box of books. There's probably 40-50 books in there, books for everyone, even grandma. The gift I am most excited about is a game. It is called 'Shut the Box'. I can't wait to teach them how to play it. I know that they will catch on very quickly. They all have very quick minds. 

On that bright note, I'm going to bed. I hauled the wrapped box of books out to the hall to put with the other things. It was heavy enough that it really aggravated my knee. I will let Tim haul it out to the car, and as I mentioned, we won't have to worry about unloading the stuff from the car.

 

Christmas preparations.

I went down to feed the cats today, and to pick up some extra insulation batts that we did not use at the new house, and brought it back to the rehab. It was snowing like crazy by the time that I finished there and headed out. Big fluffy flakes after a night of rain made for slush, and a tricky drive home. I saw spots where cars had slid around on the road and I was sick to my stomach as I drove, but I was awfully glad to get back into town. 

I dropped off the insulation. Tim was doing some wiring, and there was nothing I could really do without interrupting that, so I came home and spent the afternoon wrapping.  

I need to buy Tim's gift. I have one thing. I am getting one more, but it is kind of difficult when we're always together. We are not buying a lot for each other this year. He wanted a heated vest for hunting, which I found and bought for him, but there was no use making him wait until Christmas for it. He bought me a new stove and then we both picked out our flooring. That is more than enough Christmas, I think.

I bought two dozen farm fresh eggs for the Christmas strata, which is what we have for breakfast. I like it because you make it the day before, and stick in the fridge over night. Pop it into the oven when you get up the next morning, and you have a good breakfast that feeds whoever comes by. 

8 cups of dried bread, cubed (I like to use a loaf of Italian bread from the day old discount shelf.)

Brown the sausage. I also add my onions, peppers and mushrooms to that, and fry it up all together. If I have some spinach, I toss that in at the end. Drain off any liquid/grease, add it to your cubed bread. 

I use a dozen beaten eggs, 2 cups of milk, 3/4 cup heavy cream blended together. 

Season with 8 ounces of grated cheddar. 

I season with a teaspoon of thyme, 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 tsp of pepper, and a dash of cayenne, mixing it into the egg and milk mixture. Add that to the bread cube/meat vegetable mixture, and stir all together. Put in a greased 9 x 13 pan, cover with foil and stick into the fridge over night. Next morning, remove the foil, bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven, for 50 minutes or so. Watch it. It's done when it is puffed up and golden and doesn't jiggle in the middle. Don't overcook it or it will be dry. 

The cool thing is that if you are not a meat eater, leave the meat out. (If you do not eat eggs or dairy, well...I would suggest something else for breakfast.) You can vary the vegetables used. Just google 'strata' and you will find them, I'm sure. 

Put some juice on the table, and you've got your breakfast. 

My favorite carol this year: The Wexford Carol is the oldest known Christmas carol, dating back to the 13th century. It is as Irish as our Dave. Stop over and check out his dogs all done up in their Christmas finery. 

There are many version of it out there. 

It is a quiet Christmas season here, but there is peace, and that is good. I've been doing a lot of reading. The Tao Te Ching has been providing clarity to these days that I simply do not understand. There is a great deal of anger right now. "Fight, fight!" I don't feel that. What I believe is that we should pay very close attention to what is happening, believe what is being said, and plan accordingly. There is nothing to 'fight'. We can't fight about what will happen, because there are people who simply do not believe that it will happen. Their unbelief will not change the future, however. 

It seems wise to prepare. My sister asked me what I wanted for Christmas. Cow poop, I told her. I told her not to bother wrapping it, but I imagine she'll drive the tractor over, dump a load or two, and then put a bow on it just for giggles. After Christmas, I'll place an order for my seeds. 

Errands.

 Today was a different day. Tim found a factory on line. They custom make tongue and groove flooring, and we've been debating what to put down in the 'big room' which is the combined living room and kitchen area. He wanted to see what they have. They are located in Titusville, about 16 miles from the new house, so we did a bit of work, but quit early and headed off. 

First stop was to the post office to get a package mailed. I was waiting in a line that continued to grow. Behind me I heard a woman's voice. She was speaking to a man. "Here," she said sweetly, "you go first." He was a bit surprised but thanked her. She continued on, her voice losing sweetness "I could tell that you were in a hurry. I saw you whip out into traffic at the light on Third St and you had absolutely no business driving like that!" She continued to bitch him out loudly in front of everyone. He looked dumbfounded. In a jolly voice, I said, "Merry Christmas everyone!"  

Second stop: We stopped at the new build to feed the cats and to measure our room once again. Just for grins, we took a measure of the bedrooms as well. Tim was quite impressed that a large flock of turkey paid a call in the the yard. 

Then we headed off for our next stop, to find that factory. The address 701 E Spring St. covers probably 40 or 50 warehouses, which are home to about 30 different businesses. To make things even more difficult, we found a sign that listed our destination as building 29, which we found after much looking. It was behind building 63, which was across the road from Building 6...there was really no rhyme or reason to the layout. To make things even more 'interesting', we approached the building from behind, so we weren't even sure we had the right building until we circled around and found the front entrance, which did not look much different from the back entrance. There was no sign with the name of the business...only the building number. 

I didn't hold out much hope. I figured that they made the product and sold through venders. Turned out that I was very wrong. The business is owned by a husband and wife team. The wife was quite knowledgeable about her product, and she strode through the factory showing us what they made. We were able to choose hickory, circular sawn. Tim thought we should not stain it. It was light, like the cupboards, light like the walls. 

My fear was that without a little bit of contrast, our space would have all the ambiance as a card board box. Tim was convinced as soon as the lady said that they would give the boards a light stain using a wood dye that they import from the UK. She says that it doesn't coat the wood, it soaks into the wood, and that if we ever end up with damage to the floor, we can buff it out, and the color will remain consistent. 

It was more than Tim wanted to spend, but the boards were 3/4 inch thick, which is much thicker than any flooring you would buy at a big box department store. The boards were straight and true, nothing flimsy about them. 

So we took a deep breath and ordered our floor. We saw some other stuff that might work for the bedrooms. She looked at us, and said, "Do you hire out?" We said that we did the work ourselves. She was quite impressed with that. She said, "I don't know if you want to bother..." She took us into a back room and showed us some boards. They were too short for their purposes, but she showed us how they piece together to make a pattern. She offered to sell us those for $3 a square foot. Tim snapped them up. 

Do you ever get the feeling that you are meant to meet someone? It was just the most interesting thing. We had people in common, experiences in common. We talked far longer than we should have, but what a wonderful thing to find a kindred soul! She has a dog there, a blue heeler that they have to watch very closely. She's not a friendly dog, nervous, wearing a thunder vest. But we talked so long that I made friends with that dog. 

She watched me closely. I kept my hands in my pockets but leant forward to talk to her each time she approached. She'd look at me and back away growling. The dog was reprimanded sharply (she was leashed), but I had a hunch. I said, "She's making my acquaintance. I'm keeping my hands in my coat pockets so I don't get bit, but she's very curious. Let's let her decide what happens next." 

Before that visit was done, I was forehead to forehead with that dog, and her tail wagged wildly. I told her she was a sweet baby, and her owner watched with no small surprise. The detente was reached within an hour. I love that feeling, of seeing an animal decide.  You can see the actual moment that the decision is made to trust. You can see it in their eyes. Their whole body language changes. That is no small compliment there. The owner said, "You must have dogs." When I said no, she said, "Well...you should."

So today we made new friends, quadrupeds and bipeds alike. We also bought all the rest of flooring for the house for $3200. It is a lot of money, but we both felt that a cheap floor would cost more in the long term. We just want things to last. 

After that, we headed off to Corry for our next stop. Our old friend Geez needed to stock up on his grains and beans and asked if we would stop in at Happs, the discount grocery, where you can pick up the microwaveable pouches of organic grains for  59 cents. Since we've been meaning to go there anyway, we decided to tick multiple boxes today. 

We stopped to have lunch at a pub in Spartansburg between the two towns. We'd never eaten there before, and it was filled with taxidermy, deer and elks mounts, antler light fixtures, the like. Tim said there was a stuffed alligator there, which I didn't see, but I did see the porcupine standing on his hind legs next to a sign that said, "Don't be a prick. Leave a tip." Made me giggle. 

I had probably the best chicken salad I've had in a long time. Tim ordered a turkey and bacon salad. I'm not sure that I've ever mentioned this before, but if you order a salad in western Pennsylvania, you are very likely to get your salad topped with an order of french fries. True story. 

Our last errand was for Levi. He called and asked if we would be willing to pick up two bb guns for Ruben and Amos' Christmas. Sure, we said. He explained exactly what he wanted. He couldn't buy them. Walmart doesn't sell BB guns to the Amish. 

"WHAT????" I said incredulously. He said he had a friend who tried to buy a BB gun but they had refused to sell it to him. Craziest thing I ever heard, but we headed to Walmart. We did the rest of our Christmas shopping, and picked up the two BB guns Levi wanted, and printed out the pictures from our trip to the zoo this summer to put into a photo album for one of their Christmas presents. 

We went to the self checkout. When we scanned the BB guns, the sale was halted and an attendant needed to come over and verify that we were adults. She looked at us and scanned her badge to bypass that step.

So Tim told her about Levi's friend. She was a little bit shocked. All she was required to do was to make sure that it was not a teenager or a kid buying it. She mused for a moment and said, "Well, maybe the employee wasn't sure of the age." I laughed. That comment is sure to delight Levi who has a beard halfway down to his belt and it has plenty of gray in it just like any other Amish man in the community. 

Tim thought perhaps it was because he didn't have a picture ID. The employee explained that he did not need a photo ID, that a hunting or fishing license was adequate. She wondered if perhaps the other employee simply did not know. In any case, we can now explain it to Levi and the word will spread through the community. 

Amish Christmas will be Friday night. I am very much looking forward to it. 

Under the Cover of Darkness

There was a picture posted on facebook. A woman walking up to a door. It was a clear shot of her face being in broad daylight. She was carrying a McDonald's bag and an energy drink, a sweater over one arm as she came up the steps. As she went down the steps, her arms were even fuller: she had taken a box on the front steps. 

I believe that I recognized where the deed was done, and it is not far from us. We've ordered quite a bit of stuff in the last 3 months (only two orders from Amazon, I am proud to say). In any case, the new ways of tracking packages makes it nice. If I know that I've got a package coming in the mail, I simply make it a point to be home when the mailman makes his rounds. He's fairly consistent. If the package is being delivered by UPS, it's a little harder because they do not make consistent rounds, but we have come to find that they generally come in the afternoon, so that becomes a day to get my housework done and wait on my packages. Sometimes, a package comes by Fedex. We know there is no point in waiting. We simply go about our business. The package is invariably left on the patio a street over. Tim stops in and picks it up once the man gets home from work. 

Anyways, back to my story. I live in a small town. The comments came in fast and furious. "Doesn't she work at McDonalds?" and predictably, in the matter of hours, she was outed by name. Someone made a comment that this was was a pretty regular pattern of behavior for her. Being a naturally curious person (read: Nosy as hell), I typed her name into google and the first thing that came up was a police blotter writeup. She and her boyfriend were each arrested and charged with domestic abuse not long ago. I looked up their records on the UJS portal and discovered charge after charge of 'defiant trespass'. The boyfriend (although both of them are in their 40s) has been charged repeatedly with being inside of other people's sheds. Like 3 or 4 times in the last month alone. 

I went to bed thinking about that, about what happens in our town while the rest of us are sleeping. I can't wrap my head around the idea that you get arrested, and then go out in the same week to do the same thing, again and again and again. 

I know that there must be an explanation for this, and that it is probably something to do with substance abuse. Or maybe it's simply an inability to make ends meet? I don't know. I saw someone advertising an apartment for $1300 a month and to me that is mindboggling. Who can afford that? Especially if you are a person with a drug history. You may be trying to straighten up and fly right, but you're going to be barred from many jobs that pay a livable wage. $1300 a month is going to be beyond your means, even with two people working. 

I lay in bed thinking about these things.  In any case, I can only hope that there are no small children involved. When a child's reality is watching one parent or another arrested, again and again, what hope to they have of breaking that cycle. To them, it is simply a fact of life. It's normal. 

I lay in bed thinking about desperate people living desperate lives. Sometimes that desperation is a result of their own poor choices. Sometimes they are simply born into it. 

I fell asleep finally, and woke up about 4:30. I padded barefoot down the hall of my own old and comfortable house, and caught a glimpse of flashing lights outside the window in the office. I'm curious. I may not have mentioned this. I came out to see what was happening and watched the neighbor's car being repo'ed in the night. The man, with a headlamp, worked amazingly quickly.

I went back to my warm bed and slipped under the covers in darkness and fell asleep. 

The Last Day

Tim got up this morning and headed out. It is the last day of deer season. His one last chance at a buck. He went with his son, who wanted his doe, having already gotten his buck. Neither of them got anything but dinner out, so that was nice for them, and really, we did not need the meat, to be honest. Our freezer is well stocked. 

I spent the day home baking two fruitcakes, one to go down to my son's house for the family celebration. One to go to the Amish Christmas. I still have two more to make. One as a gift and one for ourselves. I will make them sometime this week. 

The fruitcakes take two hours to bake in a slow oven, and so I used that two hours to wrap gifts. I have one box to mail out Monday morning. My next focus will be getting the Amish wrapping done. Not sure when we are doing that for sure yet. 

So that was today. It was a quiet day in, but I made quite a dent in my to-do list. 

LATE EDIT:

Grandma Violet's Fruitcake Recipe

2 1/2 cups of flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 28 oz jar of mincemeat

1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk

2 cups of mixed candied fruit. 

1 cup of walnuts. 

I beat together the flour, the soda, the eggs. I add the mincemeat, the milk, the fruit and the walnuts. I divide that mixture between two loaf pans which have been greased and lined with parchment paper. Bake at 300 until they are 'set', about 2 hours. 

This is a recipe from my children's great grandma. My ex-husband's family always raved about their grandmother's fruitcake. Grandma Violet was such a dear woman, and we were close. So I asked her for her recipe, and she told me a secret. Her secret recipe was lifted from the back of a jar of NoneSuch Mincemeat! (I had the same experience with my daughter in law. My son had raved about my cinnamon rolls. He wanted her to get that recipe. I had to confess that my secret bread recipe was not special at all. It was from my kitchenaid mixer cookbook.)

Anyways, I got to wondering how old that recipe was. Short answer: I couldn't tell you. I found a Nonesuch recipe dating back to 1922, but it has molasses or brown sugar. If I remember correctly, it does not have flour. So...it appears that the recipe has evolved through the years. If Grandma Violet was simply making it from a recipe on the back of a jar from one year to the next, she probably did not notice the changes. I got the recipe from her circa 1990. 

Irony - the opposite of Wrinkly

 Well, as it turns out, it was very lucky that they did postpone the Lou Gramm concert. Erie is once again being hit by lake effect snow. They got twelve inches in two hours. This time, the worst of the snow has gone north of Erie and is hammering New York State. There are high winds in the Buffalo area and near white out conditions, with a reported three feet on the ground. Don't advise listening to this whole video. The fellow is annoying, but it gives you an idea of what the weather is like there. 

It was very cold and windy here today, but our snow was minimal. I guess that I prefer that. 

Funny story. The only real reason that I switched my family care provider was because they work in conjunction with the hospital, and without going through it all again, really, I think that our hospital is focused on maximizing their profits. I've discussed this before. I also am bothered by the simple inefficiency. Three visits to get lab work done because of a lapse in communication between the specialist (who works out of the hospital) and the hospital. A required EKG resulted in 'concerning results' which required yet another doctor to duplicate the test and could not see any problems at all. It just gets aggravating when the left hand doesn't know what the right is doing. 

Knowing that I am going to need a knee replacement in my near future, I made up my mind to switch practices to one that is affiliated with a different hospital. Tim is already a patient there, and his experience at that hospital was eye opening. The procedure was scheduled in a timely manner. The pre-op instructions were concise and clear. Post op care was very organized and we were out of there on time. I am sure that they have their glitches. Nothing runs perfectly, but this was a very coordinated team and we appreciated that. 

None-the-less, I did feel badly about leaving my practitioner. I really liked her a lot. 

So today, I got a call from my previous doctor reminding me of my appointment. I was a bit dumbfounded. It hadn't occurred to me to cancel the yearly appointment. I thought that would have happened automatically when they processed my release of information to the new primary care practitioner. I called right away and explained that. Much to my surprise, I was informed that I needed to tell the new practice that they needed to get my records. 

I said, "They did that already." 

She said, "They have not. I'm looking at your records right now, and there is nothing on this." 

I said, "Well, I'm not sure what to tell you. I signed the papers a long time ago. Probably at the end of summer." 

Impatiently, she said, "Well, you didn't tell me that. I thought you meant that it had happened recently." 

And that's the irritating thing right there. The right hand doesn't seem to know what the left is doing. I said, "Well, in any case, please tell Lindsey that it has nothing to do with her, that I thought she was great. There were just too many problems dealing with the hospital." 

My appointment with the new doctor went smoothly. They've had my records since early September. They listened to my concerns about my knee, made notes. They are getting my records from the local orthopedist at the hospital, and will forward them to the orthopedic practice at the other hospital. I will have that appointment by the time I have my blood draw next Wednesday (which is done right there in their building.) 

It was a much longer appointment than I expected. I stopped on the way home to get a frozen pizza, only to discover that I had taken my debit card from my wallet when I filled up the car. I had absentmindedly stuffed the card into a pocket instead of replacing it in my purse. 

Yes. I see the irony. One of those cases where the right hand does not know what the left is doing. Have I ever told you how much inefficiency annoys me?

Pondering This in Our Hearts

 Tim and I have been thinking a lot about the boy who broke out our window. The fact that he showed up in court by himself. That sad post to his father who did not call him on his birthday. It seems as if the boy was in a pretty rough spot. 

I put a call in to the Victim Advocates Office last Friday. I think the courthouse was actually closed due to weather. She called back Monday morning, and I talked with her. I told her that his situation bothered us. One thing that she clarified for us is that his parents were not there because although he was a juvenile when he committed this offense, he turned 18 before the hearing. His parents did not have to accompany him to court. 

But still...it just seems like a parent would like to stay on top of a situation like that. 

 I told her that we'd been thinking that perhaps it would be possible to wipe the slate clean here by offering to allow him to work with us for a month of Saturdays, but we were uncertain about it. We do not know his background. 

She seized on that enthusiastically. The judge has not set a date for his disposition yet. She said that we had every right to come to that. She said that she loved that we could see beyond the idea of his punishment to the idea of giving him a fresh start. She said, "I'll get a date for his disposition and then call you with this." 

I said, "Well, Tim and I would need to talk, but the thing is, there's a lot we don't know about this kid. I don't want to put you in a position to violate his privacy but we do have a couple questions. It would appear that this kid has been in trouble before."

She said, "Yes." 

My next question was, "Are any of these offenses violent?" 

She said yes, that his record involved two assaults.

Deep breath. "The next thing that we are concerned about is drug use. He told the judge flat out that he'd used marijuana within two day prior to his court proceeding." I explained that I had smoked pot for a while as a kid, but that it was something that I'd outgrown, so it wasn't exactly that I was holding this against him. We were mostly concerned because to have a young man like this working on our property involves being able to trust him. People with a drug history will steal stuff to finance their habit. 

She said, "Yes." She thought about it. "We could talk to the judge about mandatory drug testing." 

The thing is, that might show that he's clean while he's working with us. If he reverts to his old habits when he's done, he knows the house. He knows about the tools inside. He knows how to get in. 

I said, "Well. Get the disposition date. Let Tim and me discuss it. I don't think we can offer him work at a house, but maybe we can come up with something."

Tim came home about then. He agrees that having him at a work site is not a good idea. 

We both sat in silence pondering the situation. We both feel moved to intervene. I suppose the first thing to do is to go to the disposition and speak with the boy to find out his thinking and what he wants to do. We would also have a chance to talk with the judge and find out what is even possible to do. 

Have you guys got any ideas? Have you ever heard of a creative, positive way to handle something like this? 

A Day to Myself

Tim was out in the woods hunting today. Believe it or not, someone was walking around bear foot in the woods in the snow!

I sent the picture to my sister across the road. They've seen plenty of bear tracks around their house, but they haven't seen the bear. 

I've been struggling a bit this season, and so with supreme effort, I dragged the Christmas tree down from the third floor, the ornaments from the second floor, and I got that tree set up and decorated. That was my mission of the day. 

While I was doing that, I watched Pride and Prejudice. I had never seen it, and movies like this are not Tim's cup of tea, so it was a nice couple hours spent unpacking ornaments and their memories and watching a book that I had loved be brought to life. I had wrapped the garland around a book, Laurie's Village Christmas, and it made me smile to see it again. I'll curl up with it once again before the season is over. It's become a Christmas tradition. I can thank Dave for that. It was a pleasant day. 

We picked up William and took him to his band performance tonight. I was all ready to film it for his mother who is still sick with covid. It is hard to see percussion way in the back like they are anyway, but to make matters worse, the band teacher pushed her piano right out, directly into the middle of the stage and blocked our view of him entirely! I heard a lot of parents grumbling about that. I faithfully filmed it anyway, knowing that somewhere in the back of the band there was a gong playing, bell ringing grandson, shouting 'Ho Ho NO!' with all his might. 

It is a dramatic piece and you could tell that the kids were all very enthusiastic about it. 

Luckily, although the piano stayed right where it was for the entire concert, for the last piece, William moved to the other side of the stage to play the drums, and I was able to get a clear shot of him for the final 4 minutes of the concert. 

It is raining like crazy right now, and all that snow is gone at this point. But be ye not dismayed. We've got Lake Effect Snow in the forecast again for Wednesday and Thursday and Friday, although it appears we'll get off lightly again. As AC commented, the rapid snow melt has made a some pretty heavy fog...and it has lasted for most of two days now. 

Tomorrow, we will work on the rehab. I've got beans soaking for a pot of chili, which will hit the spot tomorrow night. The temperatures will be dropping again. Crazy weather. I need to get some wrapping done too. Life plods on, doesn't it?

See Ya Later

 Tim plans to get up and go hunting tomorrow, looking for his buck. He doesn't really seem to care whether or not he gets it. We've been very fortunate this season. 

We made the last doe a 'hamburger doe'. We mixed it with pork and then bagged it up. We just cut the tenderloins into small chops and we have a neck roast. 

It got quite warm today. I didn't pay attention to how warm it got, but all that snow is melting off at an amazing rate. 

My daughter had gotten us tickets to see Lou Gramm Thursday for our Christmas gift. He was the lead voice for Foreigner for many years. 

In 2003, after a falling out with Mick Jones, he walked away from the band. Kelly Hansen replaced took over as lead singer in 2005. 

It gets kind of hard to distinguish between the two leads, because Foreigner rereleased a lot of old Foreigner using the new lead singer, and to be fair, Kelly Hansen filled Gramm's shoes admirably, but because Tim and I grew up with the 'old' Foreigner, Lou Gramm is the voice that we identify with. 

Foreigner continued to tour, using all the old songs, and the question came up about Lou Gramm joining up for old times' sake, but the current lead singer did not want to tour with the Gramm. 

So, Gramm is touring on his own, and he is doing the old Foreigner stuff too. His back up band is Asia, believe it or not. Asia has gone through a lot of metamorphoses of its own, with Steve Howe from Yes, in my opinion the greatest guitarist ever to play. Greg Lake (Emerson, Lake, and Palmer) and John Wetton (King Crimson). 

It was a concert that we both wanted to see pretty badly, but in the end, decided not to spend the money, since the cheap seats would have been $94, plus those 'convenience fees' they tack on. But my daughter worked a surprise. I knew about it, but left her to be the one to tell Tim. He was very quiet when she told hm. Later, he said, "I never expected her to do something like that." 

Tonight I went to print the tickets off, and much to my surprise saw that the date had changed from December 12th, to April 4th, 2025. We'd received no notice that it had been postponed. Now, to be honest, I'm not really sorry about that, because they have another winter storm warning for our neck of the woods starting Wednesday and running through Friday. 

I called the Erie Arena just to be absolutely certain, and they confirmed that the show was postponed. I keep thinking, though, what about those poor schmucks that printed their tickets off when they bought them? Unless they receive some e-mail notification, they will have no idea. I would have found that irksome.

The Old Fellas

It seems as if our snow is done, at least for this round. Tim went up to go hunting. He got another deer, so he's pretty pleased. Do we have room in the freezer for it? Yes. We do. 

As for me, I spent the day at home doing house-y type things. Rugs got washed, floors got mopped. I was waiting for a delivery. A Christmas gift was arriving in two packages. It was probably about 3-ish when I looked out and saw a box on the porch. Just the one box. I spent some time tracking packages and found that the other package is now due to arrive on Monday. 

Tim suggested going out to dinner tonight. It felt nice to dress up and put on some make up. After that, we got a bit more Christmas shopping done. We stopped at the grocery store to pick up onions. I cannot tell you how that even happened, that I ran out of onions, of all things. It's like running out of potatoes or garlic. Anyways, we were coming across the parking lot, as a car pulled up next to ours. A man got out and threw his arms in the air and called, 'Hello!' 

It was a boy that Tim had in his Sunday school class long ago. We've always thought a lot of him, and there he was with his wife, who I'd never met, but seemed awfully nice. 

Justin complained about how poor hunting has been this season. I laughed and jerked a thumb at Tim. "This one got his fourth today." He didn't believe me. Tim verified it. Justin said, "Jees. I have a hard time even walking when the snow is this deep." Tim said, "I know it." Justin said, "Did you hear about ---------?" and he launched into a story about a local hunter who had died of a heart attack on opening day while dragging his deer out of the woods. He said to Tim, "You need to be careful..." 

These young whippersnappers can make a body feel pretty decrepit. 

We stopped in to buy cat food. All of a sudden the ferals we take care of here have begun turning up their collective noses at the canned Friskies (Now with Extra Gravy!) I am pretty sure it is what they've been eating right along. I tried to find something that might work better for the connoisseurs. Now we are trying the pate. The rejected cat food won't go to waste. The 'kittens' are not foodies. 

A very high spirited man about our age was pushing a cart along with an air mattress and a baby crib. His wife followed along behind with a cart full of groceries. Obviously had company coming in for the holidays. I moved back out of the way as he maneuvered the awkward cart into the checkout lane. 

He said, "Don't tell me. You're waiting on your husband!" I laughed and said I was. "He needed some Twizzlers." 

Looking over my shoulder, he said, "Here he comes, and with bananas too." He called out to Tim, "I asked your wife if she was waiting for her husband, and she said she was and that you were worth every bit of the wait." 

Tim said in a voice as loud as his, "Your wife is great too. I get all my drugs from her." He and his wife both burst into laughter as the people nearby whipped their heads around to look at us. (Spoiler: his wife works in the pharmacy.)

So. That was today. Tomorrow we will quarter the deer and get it in the fridge. The temperatures will begin warming tomorrow and it is not safe to let meat hang in 50 degree weather. We will cut early next week.

Our Turn

 After hearing about these lake effect snows for the last week, we got our own taste of it today. Tim wanted to hunt for an hour. He said the main roads were bare. I figured if he was going to the new build, I'd go too, and spend some time with the cats. 

I rethought that about 1/2 way there. It was snowing pretty heavily, and the roads were not bare. I said, "You know, I'm not sure this is a good idea..." but he said, in a very practical voice, "Well, we're half way there, so we might as well keep on going." I was not convinced of this. 

In any case, we did get there. I had a bowl of turkey for the kittens, the fatty stuff, the junk meat that you don't put in your soup, I'd set it aside for them, and ladled out a couple scoops of rich hot broth to pour over their kibble. 

We got to the driveway, and there was a mound of snow across it from the plows keeping the road open. Tim just drove the car straight through it. We started going sideways, but he simply backed up a little and straightened it out. It the first real test of the Suburu's 4WD, and it climbed right up the hill to the house with no problem. 

There was easily a foot of snow there. Tim gave me a pair of his taller muckboots, and for once, I was glad that for whatever reason, that man has a stash of boots no matter where we are. I slipped off my short boots, and headed out to the garage with a hot meal for the cats. Tim headed off to the hemlocks with his gun, assuring me that unless he saw a buck, he was not going to shoot. It was snowing like crazy, and the wind was gusting. I would have hated for him to get something and then have to field dress and drag in home in heavy snow like that. 

In any case, I opened the man door on the garage, calling for the cats. They all came tumbling down the ladder, one right after the other. They have a cozy nest down stairs with heat, but they really do seem to spend a lot of time upstairs. 

So I fed them and we played for a while. As usual, Minnie watched. She did come when I called. I swept the garage out while waiting for Tim to return. After a while, I headed back to the house. The snow was really coming down heavily. I can't tell you the last time that I saw snow like that. On top of everything, it was getting dark. I hadn't heard a shot, but....

In the end, he came in looking like the abominable snowman. I said, "We need to go," and he did not disagree. We drove home in a virtual white out. 

So...I will take pictures here, tomorrow, but it's been quite a day. The lake effect snow is supposed to last until 8 PM tomorrow. 

Erie is in the midst of an actual blizzard right now, so by comparison, we're still getting off pretty lightly, and the winds are gusting off of Lake Erie and coating their snow with a hard crust of ice. 

But...it could always be worse...California and Oregon had an 7.0 earthquake off shore, and had tsunami warnings. 

Has anyone seen a handbasket? It just feels like there ought to be a handbasket. (That's a joke, by the way. Monday and Tuesday will be in the 50s. Hopefully that doesn't lead to flooding.)

My daughter called. Covid has hit her house hard once again. She's tested positive and sounds awful. William is sick too. 

Here's my question of the day: 

A plant based broth that tastes like chicken but contains no artificial flavors. I did not notice this when I grabbed it. So my question is this: why don't they call it vegetable broth? 

And I keep thinking of things I meant to say. Tim went today to the hearing for the young man who pitched a rock through our window. He's a big hulking young man, freshly 18, an 11th grader. I found myself feeling sorry for him when I strolled around his facebook page. The part where his father hadn't called on his birthday hurt my heart. The young man has been in trouble since the night of the broken windows. He got caught with a vape pen at school and then got into a physical fight with the school officials. The judge asked him about that. He said something about 'losing it'. He was asked how long it had been since he used drugs. 'Two days,' he answered. The judge asked where his parents were. No one was there with him.

How freakin' sad is that? 

Just for giggles, the narcissist's love song. 

He's one of those guys that left her. He's in town for a couple days and wants to hook up, and he's already telling her that he is going to leave again. I hope she said no.

There's no business like snow business

 You're probably sick of hearing about this:

But wait! There's more!

We've got another lake effect snow coming even as I type this. 

It is expected to last through Saturday, with estimates of 10-18 more inches of snow. 

To put this all in perspective, Erie has between 4=6 feet of snow on the ground, depending on where you are. That's 48-72 inches of snow. Their average snow fall is 104 inches for the entire winter. At the extreme end of the spectrum, it is possible that some areas will see 90 inches of snow for this week.

The governor has declared Erie a disaster area. The National Guard is there, and snow removal teams have come from all over the state to help, bringing in equipment and badly needed manpower. They've got people working 12 hours shifts. Two house roofs have collapsed, and other people are evacuated because their roofs are showing dangerous signs. A barn collapsed killing five cows. Streets are being plowed by priority of traffic, and some back streets have yet to see a plow. An elderly woman was so grateful to be dug out today. She was running low on food. According to the reporting, she's not an isolated case. Scary stuff. 

We've had more snow in the past 24 hours than we'd been getting, and they have also told us to brace for another 10 inches before it is done.  That's not so bad, comparatively speaking. We've got everything we need, and we'll just stay close to home if we need to. They've canceled school tomorrow. I am sure that William is shedding little tears at that. (Not). 

Speaking of William, this popped up on my FB memories today, from a post I made 7 years ago. William would have been 6 years old. 

One of William's favorite things is slime. We make our own. When I found a recipe for gingerbread slime, I decided it would be a nice project. So yesterday we had him for a few hours, so we whipped up a batch. He poured in the glue and water, added ginger and cinnamon, stirred it all up and began to add the glitter. He was shaking it out, which would have taken forever. I was off to the side mixing the borax solution, so I said, helpfully, "You can just unscrew that top and dump it in, if you want." With his keen ear for rhymes he said, " 'Screw' and 'you'. That rhymes!" Wincing a little, I said, "Very well done. They DO rhyme." William stirred the glitter into his mixture softly chanting, "Screw you. Screw you." I said, "What rhymes with yellow? We came up with fellow, hello, bellow, jello..." Crisis narrowly averted.

Whoo boy. I do remember that day. 

Turkey carcass simmering over night in the crock pot. Tomorrow, I will strip the meat from the bones, and make either a pot pie, or soup. Maybe both. Depends on the weather, I guess. 

Oh deer.

 The things that I learn from blogging! For one thing, as stupid as it sounds, it never once occurred to me that I could make my own mincemeat. Your comments led me down a google rabbit hole for sure, and I found a recipe that sounds as simple as...well...pie. So I'm going to make my own mincemeat at some point. I don't know why I never thought of such a thing. Thanks.

Today, we spent the day cutting up and packaging the two deer for the freezer. It was a full days work. We got about 60 more packages of meat in the freezer: chops, steaks, roasts, and hamburger. Tim is very happy with the meat saw/grinder. We had the work done in probably 6 1/2 hours. All I know is that if I ever become a vegetarian, it will be after a day of meat cutting. 

Tomorrow will be cleaning the garage and getting that back to rights. 

They were calling for us to get a couple inches of snow last night and today. We got seven inches at least. It is still snowing, so hard telling what will happen. All I know is that 'Accuweather' doesn't seem to be all that accurate lately. There's another winter storm warning for our area, from the 4th-6th. They tell us to expect 3-10 inches of snow, and wind gusts up to 45 mph. 

Meanwhile, in Erie, it's still snowing. Not all bad news though. A guy found his car. 

The weather is calling for temperatures in the 40s and rain on Monday though. 

Mincemeat

A friend posted that she had tried to buy mincemeat (in Florida) but that it was selling for $37. a jar. I thought she was joking. When I had bought my dried fruit for fruitcake, I looked at the mincemeat, but decided to buy that a bit later, since I'd spent quite a bit that day. But I knew the price of it. It was $7.99 a jar. I laughed at my friend, and told her the price. 

She asked me how many years ago I had bought that mincemeat. And she showed me some links. Mincemeat was indeed $37 AND UP. 

My gosh. I nearly had a heart attack. I had all this dried fruit which was not going to do me a bit of good if I couldn't afford the mincemeat. I should have bought it back when I first saw it. 

I wanted to get to the store right away, but I couldn't. I was trying to return a car part for Tim, and I'd been wrangling with the company for several days. It all seemed pretty straight forward. They'd send me a UPS return label. I was told that I'd have it within 45 minutes. This was on Saturday. Of course the label did not come. So I contacted the company again. It seems as if there was a problem with that label, and it required special attention. I was assured that it would be there on Sunday. Sunday I was told that it would be Monday. Since it was a $350 part, I was concerned about this. (Spoiler for Linda: It was NOT from Rock Auto)

But Monday, wasn't there an e-mail for me, with the label. Tim was running some errands in preparation for our meat cutting tomorrow, so I asked him if he would stop into Walmart to pick up Cobalt Blue Printer Ink. Mind you, the label did not require Cobalt Blue Printer Ink, but the copier refused to copy anything unless I purchased the cobalt blue printer ink. 

He came home with the ink, and try as I might, I could not print out that label. I've never had difficulty printing something like that out, but this time I could not. It would only print part of the label. I tried resizing. I tried 'saving a copy as', but no matter what I did, it would not print out the label in its entirety. 

The whole time, I was trying to do that, I was also fretting about mincemeat. I needed to get to the grocery store. We were trying to meet the UPS pickup time. We finally just went to the library. I am not sure why, but I could not bring up the whole label there, either. It was the craziest thing. The librarian finally came over. She struggled with it a bit as well, and for the life of her could not figure out why this was not working, but in the end, she got it, the label was printed off, and we rushed out the door. 

We had just missed the UPS pickup. (Natch.) But at least it will go out tomorrow.

We went to the grocery store, and I grabbed two jars of mincemeat off the shelf. I was a bit concerned because there was no price marker on the shelf. For all I knew, I was carrying around nearly $80 of groceries. 

But they were at the same price as the first time that I priced them: $15.98 for two jars, $7.99 each. 

(whew!!!!)

The question begs an answer: how much is mincemeat in your stores? 

 This morning, I awoke to the news of a death. It shouldn't affect me, but I found that it did. More than I thought it would. I received a phone call, which was kind, and I struggled to say the right words of comfort. I closed with "I'm sorry. I know its just words..." and the sad voice answered, "you are so very good with the words. You always have been." 

I hung up the phone and wiped my tears. 

I wish I was as good with words as he seemed to believe. 

I'm not. 

This weekend has been a real heartbreaker. 

 

Tim and I discussed it a little tonight. 

He sat quietly, listening. 

He had no words either.

Sometimes there just aren't any. 

Late edit: snow is still falling, and they expect the lake effect snow to last until tomorrow night at 7PM. Erie has 5 feet of snow on the ground, and are expecting 8-15 inches of snow to fall. The National Guard is there and crews and equipment from across the state have come in for snow removal, but still, they warned that it would be a minimum of a week before things are back to normal. 

 We'll go back up tomorrow and finish getting our deer ready to process, with the intention of cutting and packing on Tuesday. One will be our 'hamburger' deer. With the exception of the backstraps, every thing else will be ground into burger and packaged into one pound packets. The other will be cut up into steaks and roasts. 

Backstraps, AKA 'Preacher meat', so named because it is the tenderest meat of the deer and the sort of meat that you'd serve your best company...like the preacher.  I'm pretty sure that you'd go to hell for grinding that up. 

So. That's been the project today. 

This is the high holy day of football. The first 'can't be missed' game was at 1. The Steelers beat the Bengals. The last game of the day is on right now. The Bills are playing San Francisco. For those who don't follow football, the Bills are from Buffalo, and Buffalo is in the middle of the big snow. Fans showed up to dig the stadium out for the game today. Six feet of snow. 

They got it done, though, and the game is on going as I type. The Bills are winning 21-3. To be expected really. Buffalo is used to snow. California doesn't see much of it, let alone 6 feet of it. It is snowing like crazy right now, nearly a white out.  It almost seems like an unfair advantage. 

The most amazing thing to me is that people are sitting there in a blizzard watching the game. My son and his wife had that experience once. As a surprise, his wife bought him tickets to a Bills game. There was a terrible storm, but they drove six hours to see that game anyway. We have wonderful pictures of two half frozen abominable snow people sitting in their bleacher seats as the snow fell heavily. One of them was still smiling. 

It took them way longer than 6 hours to get home, and the takeaway from this experience was that given the choice between freezing in their bleacher seats, and watching from the warm comfort of their own livingroom, they'd pick the livingroom every time. 

I cooked our Thanksgiving turkey today, and we were thankful.