Finished my taxes and the truck draft of Very Nice Funerals. Now I am broke but happy. The relief is positively gleeful.
What made you gleeful this week?
Finished my taxes and the truck draft of Very Nice Funerals. Now I am broke but happy. The relief is positively gleeful.
What made you gleeful this week?
Jennifer Crusie is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author and co-author of twenty-three novels, one book of literary criticism, miscellaneous articles, essays, novellas, and short stories, and the editor of three essay anthologies. She lives in a cottage in Pennsylvania, where she often stares at the ceiling and counts her blessings.
Find out more about Jenny’s published works by visiting JennyCrusie.com
106 Responses
My stepdaughter and her fiance managed to make it to Oneonta from San Jose, despite getting Covid 10 days before their planned trip. They had to come a little later than planned, and I didn’t get to spend as much time with them as I’d hoped, but she was able to take part in a close friend’s wedding (the purpose of the trip) and hang out for parts of two days early in her visit. I’ll be having lunch with them today before they head back to Albany, so that’s a happy too.
I’ve been feeling really overwhelmed, and a friend offered to help with research for the current nonfiction book. I’ll still have plenty to do myself, but having help makes me feel a little less overwhelmed, and since I’m feeling that way about almost everything right now, that’s a happy too. As is the other friend who is coming this afternoon to help me put the garden to bed.
So I guess you could say that my happiness this week (I am not quite up to gleeful) is friends and family. That includes you all, Argh.
Congratulations on finishing those two huge tasks!
Yesterday, my husband and I ate lunch with a friend from out-of-town. His daughter was there, too, and she was hilarious. While not achieving gleeful, we had a very good time.
Like Deborah, I’m not quite up to gleeful, but I am making slow progress . I was also pleased to discover that the makers of Murder in a Small Town are even more confused than I have been about where it is set, a quandary I mentioned in an earlier post. I’ve now seen the second episode, where Alberg is still a “police chief” rather than a “head of detatchment” or whatever the proper RCMP title for their top officer in the real Gibsons would be. Since I gather the RCMP handles only small towns in BC, I wonder if any Canadians here know whether the uniforms worn by the lower ranks (Alberg wears plainclothes) are correct for the RCMP or are some made-up compromise too.
>>Executive producer Kim Roberts said the show is intentionally vague about its location, in order to appeal to an audience outside B.C.’s coast.
Subtle hints about the location of fictional Gibsons, like the use of U.S. money, for example, are sprinkled throughout the premiere.
“A lot of U.S. media thought it was actually set in Canada, not in the U.S. They didn’t actually grasp that this wasn’t Canada,” Roberts said. “We wanted to make it just a little more generic … so that it would have the best opportunity internationally to succeed.”
From
https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7338181
RCMP are the police force in small/er towns and large municipalities in BC. And across Canada. Several cities have city police forces, EG: Vancouver City Police.
“and across Canada, except in Québec.” We have the Sureté de Québec.
Pardon. Right. My Quebec relatives are rolling their eyes.
As Carol says, the RCMP definitely serves communities small and bigger in all provinces across Canada, save for Quebec and Ontario which have their own provincial police forces for communities outside the larger cities called, respectively, the Sureté de Québec and Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). As for the uniforms, all RCMP wear regular uniforms that look similar to other police forces’ uniforms (grey shirts, dark pants), unless they are undercover. The familiar red serge that telegraphs RCMP or “Mountie” to most people, is a dress uniform. So yes, indeed, the filmmakers are being purposely vague in order to sell the series internationally, although I think this element is a misstep.
For those who are interested, I co-wrote a book about an RCMP troop a couple of years ago. Its cover shows the red serge.
https://www.amazon.ca/Faces-Force-Stories-C-1966-Troop/dp/1988783526
Helen, thank you for the link to your book. After I posted, I thought about the OPP. Boy, how un-Canadian of me. 🤦🏻♀️
I realized that the red was just a dress uniform but had no experience of the working RCMP one. (I’ve been to Canada multiple times, but not to small towns except in Ontario long ago.) The ones on the show are definitely not RCMP: I think I saw a uniform with a black top in the opener, but all the stills on line seem to show cops in street clothes except for a jacket with a shoulder patch which is not the RCMP patch (per my online research). It is in the wrong shape. It says Police on the bottom and is indecipherable in stills on top, but probably says Gibsons, making this a mythical local police force.
My happiness this week was making butter tarts for the first time. I want to make them for my book group this week and asked my brother for our mom’s recipe. Her butter tarts were a huge favourite amongst family and friends. He’s had a lot on his mind this week and only sent me the list of ingredients in grams (he’s a professional baker so weighs everything). I had to look up other recipes to figure out the directions. My team of taste tasters gave the tarts good marks for filling and pastry. My tart shells were a bit small but that’s an easy fix. Except for cookies, I’m not a big baker so happy to have this recipe in my repertoire.
I had coffee with my nephew’s girlfriend’s mother. They live in a different city but she lives down the street from me. Lovely woman with a broad range of interests. I enjoyed talking with her and supporting a local independently owned coffee shop.
It was DH’s BD this week and at his request, we spent the day at a local spa. It’s a Nordic-based spa with saunas and pools. Most of the social space is outside. It was a nice day and relatively quiet at spa. We had lunch on an outdoor patio. Weather looks like it’s changing this weekend so our patio season may be over.
OMG I love butter tarts! I’m over-the-moon gleeful for you. (I haven’t made them for ages because I’m trying to avoid sweets, sigh. Back in the day, my mum would make them for Christmas and I could gorge on them. No more, alas.)
Love butter tarts too. DH aunt makes delicious tarts. When we visit she sents 2 dozen home with us.
Now we face the age old Canadian questions about butter tarts, sure to divide the nation – solid or runny? Raisins or no raisins?
The best answer to this dilemma is, “yes.” As in either.
I don’t judge so made both. The filling was halfway between runny and solid, which is how I remember them.
I have never tasted a butter tart (I might be looking up a recipe later) but I am solidly in camp “Both.”
Nor have I tasted one, but research says they’re much like pecan pie without the pecans on top, and one of several theories about their origin is that they’re a modification of a pecan pie recipe.
Replying to Patrick, wherever this shows up: in that case they should be very like chess pie, which in my family recipes is exactly like the four different pecan pies.
I watched the first episode of Inside the NHL and it was quite dull. Nothing new or interesting to say, just a replay of the Boston-Toronto playoff series with a focus on the longtime friendship of Pasternak and Nylander. I watched an episode of For All Mankind to counter balance it. Way more exciting. Rather than watch that series, I recommend people read Gretzky’s 99 Stories.
Sorry the doc is called Faceoff – thank you, Christina.
Episode 1 of Face Off wasn’t anything new but still fun to relive — and there were details about the players that I didn’t know. That said, I found episodes 2, 3 and 4 to be more interesting than episode 1.
All right, maybe I will try another one.
Tammy: my son (39) came lately to hockey, now plays it avidly. Would you recommend the aforementioned Gretsky book as a gift?
Yes!! Beth, of course, I’ll defer to Tammy for her views, but I found that book to be a really excellent overview/history of hockey told by Gretsky through interesting stories of great players. I had trouble putting it down. And I will probably reread portions of it. Oh, and the audio is good too (i got both…)
Beth, totally what Christine said. It’s very accessible.
Thank you, Christina and Tammy!
Tammy, a friend and colleague in the film business shot the Edmonton parts of that series, which happen in Eps 5 and 6. I’m going to guess those are a lot more exciting, as they chronicle the Oilers’ comeback to Game 7 and eventual heartbreaking loss.
But then I’ll have to have my heart broken all over again!
Yup. Tammy, exactly. That’s why I haven’t watched the last episodes yet. I will eventually but…
My husband has been hospitalized for the past week from ‘I think we better get you to the hospital’ (me) to ‘call 911’ (him) after two weeks of me bugging him. I brought him a Jackson Brodie book but it has been forever between Brodie stories that reading it is dragging along. Gretzky’s might be just what he needs. Thank you.
Best wishes for his recovery!
More satisfaction than glee: got the mains doorbell working & (hopefully) the occasional leaks in the kitchen roof mended. Also emptied & moved the garden compost bin, which looks much better. Cleaned & tidied the garden shed, so I can use it as a potting shed over the winter. And I’ve weeded all the allotment beds I want to mulch & cover – for the moment, I’m feeling on top of things.
I look forward to cleaning the garden shed once the wasps have gone to bed for the winter. They have built a nest on the door frame so that every time I open the door they are annoyed. (Anything that would kill the wasps would also make me very sick.) This quite chilly early morning I sneaked carefully in and retrieved a hose I wanted.
They do build the most beautiful nests, but I had to get rid of one years ago that was right over my front door. I think in fact they mostly die before winter – their greed for sugar in late summer/early autumn is something to do with that.
As long as they disappear.
I had a nice phone chat with a long-time friend who lives far away now. Also, I know they’re vermin, but I’ve seen raccoons on the patio, cleaning up whatever the cats left, and they are so cute.
That’s what I’ve always thought. Even when they invaded my kitchen and stared me down when I told them to get lost. Cute little buggers.
Yeah, they’re cute and so bold. We got ants in the bag of dog food and put it on the back porch temporarily, but here anything temporary tends to become permanent. Fortunately, the raccoons dropped by several nights in a row and ate it all up.
I’m wondering if a raccoon may be trying to move in under our house. The wire-grid insert in one of the crawl-space vents has been pulled out twice this week and the metal mesh pulled away for something to get in. The vent is at the corner of the house nearest the street, on the driveway side, where we had a secondary plumbing cleanout added a couple of years ago. The gap for access is not very big, but an ambitious varmint could make it work. DH is going to see if he has a spare wireless cam to set up so we can put the mesh and insert back, then monitor to see what’s happening.
I’m enjoying baseball post season—a lot of exciting games with the lead switching back and forth. However it’s amazing how long the games, played under traditional rules, can feel after a season with time clocks keeping things moving . Last nights Dodgers Padre game did not go into overtime and still took 3.5 hours.
Our taxes are ready to be filed as soon as the retirement contribution goes through. That’s a big happy. And today I can file the last of the papers, aside from the 2024 health bills that I want to get started on for next years taxes while I am in the rhythm for it. Two big projects down.
I have reached the point in the election cycle where I need to kill something to manage my stress. Specifically, the grape vines strangling the trees around the creek in front of the house. Yesterday I got many of them while standing on the creek side . Today I think I will get DH’s fishing wafers and go in the creek to get some monsters that are threatening a beautiful big tree. It’s remarkably rewarding. There will still be many I can get from the creekside to get me through the elections season —but DH is gone next weekend and I figure it’s a good precaution to have him around in case I can’t climb back out or fall.
Another big happy is that DD got a graduation date for her PhD. So DH and I are heading to England right after the election. My friend will meet me there for our 50th friendiversary trip.
On the mom front, I may have persuaded her to try a rollator when she told me she couldn’t walk two blocks from a memorial service to a reception with her cane. My sisters may have gotten her back up by getting one lent to her without asking … they are remarkably tone deaf on what is persuasive to her. But I’m hoping it will happen anyway.
Waders! That’s the second time autocorrect changed waders to wafers on me!
That one was fairly easy for us Arghers to figure out. But autocorrect is awful on this site.
I don’t think it’s the site, at least for me. The corrections seem to come from my own software. I think I’m just wordier here while doing postings of mostly first drafts than I am elsewhere on the net. Also, some other sites allow after-posting correction, at least for a few minutes. (I almost wrote “post-posting correction,” a little unfelicitous.)
Still read as waders not wafers. Good luck with the grape vines. Took all the grape vines out several years ago. Miss the grapes, not the vines. The birds do too.
These are wild grapes and not edible.
Well, apparently they do still have time clocks in the post season.
So I have no idea why that 9 inning game was so long. It was high scoring but not ridiculously so.
Gleeful? Hmm.
Bob, haven’t you killed off anybody, lately?
Positively gleeful. Don’t worry, I’ll get over it.
So many happies this week.
Baseball playoff season is here and that makes me happy even if “my” team isn’t playing. Every game is fun to watch because the stakes are high. And as a subset to this, Dodgers player Shohei Ohtani makes me happy. He is a pitcher who is still recovering from surgery and isn’t able to pitch yet: instead has turned in an absolutely amazing record-breaking year in home runs and base stealing and smart overall play.
I am watching the Amazon NHL documentary “Face Off” and while there isn’t anything new for me in it yet, it is fun watching and getting me totally in the mood for the upcoming season. This also makes me actively happy.
Finally, fall bird migration which should be tapering off, is instead providing our region with tons of migrants this week. It has made for some truly wonderful birding.
I hear the migrating geese more often than I’m in a position to see them, but a flock flew by noisily yesterday evening.
Despite two quite wonderful recent events – yearly visit with my darling daughter and the international symposium we put on every year, this year in charming Bratislava, Slovakia which went extremely well, I have realized that it has been quite a long time since I have felt gleeful, or even cheerful about much of anything except for isolated events. I also realized that I ran out of grape seed extract 3 or 4 weeks ago. I take it for mood and apparently it works well! (Beware – some brands work and others do not. GNC is the only one I currently know that works.) I haven’t been off it more than a day or two at a time in 20 or maybe 30 years now. Yeah, 30 at least I think. It will be very interesting to observe the effects of taking it again after this long break.
The other useful factiod I know about depression is that aspartame causes severe depression in some people. Important to know.
I did not know that about aspartame. An interesting heads-up.
Aspartame and a number of other sugar substitutes have been shown to have negative effects on numerous brain issues, including depression, ADHD, and so on. I avoid it like the plague.
I am gleeful because a small black Opossum has shown up several nights, lately, and at the same time. I do love an Opossum who keeps to a schedule! It makes it easy to just put the food out about ten minutes ahead, and keep watch on it. Otherwise, the neighbors’ outdoor cats come by and eat the food. They don’t need it. They aren’t skinny or sick-looking. I can only stand at the back door, guarding, for a short amount of time. I was reduced to just leaving birdseed out. A raccoon who sometimes visits will eat that, but I keep an eye out for that bugger.
We are having cooler mornings, which makes walking easier. I love Fall!!
Simple pleasures here. My friend and I have solar Halloween fairy lights out on our decks. They come on at dark and run until they don’t without any plugging in or turning on. Around $10 for two strings of them. For some reason we both are really enjoying them. 🎃
I got the first of my eight books that I just got the rights back for up on Amazon again. (Publisher went out of business). I’m not exactly gleeful yet, but it was a good start. I tried very hard to do a table of contents, learned a lot of uninteresting stuff about Word and Kindle Create, and still didn’t manage it, but it’s fiction, dammit.
However, I will be extremely gleeful if Amazon links the previous and current versions of the book and my many reviews show up.
I haven’t gotten the first one up yet. I feel defeated but I will do better. Congratulations on getting your first one up Barbara and I share a Publisher. Soul Mate Publishing and they close their doors on September 30.
When I put mine back up, the many reviews had vanished, alas. Let me know if you succeed in that.
It takes time for Amazon to catch up and combine the reviews, but they do eventually do it. I republished my Helen Binney mysteries in 2021, and if you look now, there are reviews going back to the original release date in 2014. I originally thought I’d lost them, and was resigned to it, so I didn’t pay much attention to getting the reviews back, so I can’t say how long it took. “Longer than you’d expect” is all I remember. And I didn’t do anything special to make it happen.
I got my Halloween decorations up which causes me great joy. Now on vacation at beautiful Lake Michigan. Renting a different house than we have in the past; it’s nice enough but the only coffee maker is a Keurig that doesn’t take standard size pods, spits coffee and grounds on the counter, and makes very mediocre coffee. Headed to the hardware store when it opens Monday in hopes of buying a cheap one. Otherwise having a lovely time filled with sun and the sound of waves on the stony beach. Bliss
A while back I reviewed the audiobook A Short History of Ireland in 240(?) Episodes, based on a BBC Ulster series. I just saw that the BBC, perhaps deciding that they had made all the money they were going to off of the audiobook, has re-released the series as podcasts, and also has (re?-)released a second series starting with WWII. I’m not far into that one, but should review it if and when I finish it.
Not sure about glee, but a few happies. Like that I’ve now finished two baby-blankets, exept for the scary weaving in ends-part.
I was on a Whatsapp-call with my sib for a couple of hours yesterday, that made me happy. We didn’t do anything special, just hung out.
We’ve had a visitor over from England this weekend, a guy who acts camera-man for Sven when he’s at events, and it’s always a joy to have him here. Today, he baked me brownies and they were AMAZING. I also got hugs. And chocolate Hobnobs and shortbreads. This guy is a true gem.
Matcha has started demanding to share my chair when I practice guitar; she’ll go stand in front of me and shout at me until I either lift her up, or let her jump up herself. Then she lies squished in between my back and and the chairback and washes my arm when she likes what I play. The love.
Discovered that one of my favourite feelgood shows, the Swedish version of Come Dine With Me, FINALLY got another season, so sorta binging whenever I get the chance. Short season this time around, so I’m almost done, but it makes me happy.
I… just have to ask this: Will there be audiobook versions of Rocky Start + sequels at some point? I know Liz Danger took a while longer than the printed version, so I’m hoping it’ll pop in as a surprise when I least expect it too. Still………curious!
It’s always so good to hear from you Shass.
Wonderful to hear from you Shass! Glad for your “few happies.”
Shass, I was just thinking we hadn’t heard from you in a while! I’m glad for your happies.
I’m glad Matcha has good taste in music.
We’re a bit gleeful because on Friday one of our students (I’m not her main coach but I have given her a few lessons and coached her at tournaments many times) took 55th in her first national Junior competition. ‘Junior’ is Under-20, and she won’t be 15 until next month.
This week, plenty of work challenges, steady ploughing through key documents and making progress. Am loving the freshness of our first proper autumn in some years. Last week, there was hot chocolate, this week, a beautiful Greek bean soup. Dog is happy. Started writing again. Edits on an old WIP and planning and plotting for current WIP. Quality of sleep has radically improved since we moved and got better bed and good mattress. Rang Minion 2 in his second week at university – he dropped out three years ago because of major mental health crisis, but he’s back and seems to be in the zone – self-regulating, eating, sleeping, exercising, and enjoying lectures.
On sad side, heard that a former colleague died suddenly – he’d avoided doctors, was a heavy smoker and was diagnosed with lung cancer recently, died this weekend. But it has put me in touch with other colleagues and we have shared memories and celebrated his life on WhatsApp – we are all scattered around South America and Europe. It feels a fitting memorial.
Fast Women ebook is $1.99 today. Yay!
And the audio book via Audible is only $2.45.
My friend Linda came into town for the day and we had a very leisurely lunch and stroll together. We used to spend the second day of Rosh Hashannah together every year until covid and her 3 surgeries put a stop to that. But now she is mostly recovered and the weather cooperated so that we had lots of time to catch up. We checked out a pub that I’ve read about that specializes in English pies and sells several different imported and craft beers. We’ve both been to London at different times and I really enjoyed hearing about the differences in our experiences there.
But what I enjoyed most was just seeing that her personality and joy in life has survived even after a monstrous health scare. We just missed the train she planned to take for the return trip, so we had even more time to talk.
I tried to skype with my brother in France, but it didn’t work because my computer is all screwed up. We did manage to talk on the phone, but not see each other. I had emailed him a question about living with a chronic health condition since I knew that he had had some heart issues. Evidently, he had an angioplasty that resolved the main issue, but had been awake during the whole procedure. His surgeon worked slowly and periodically swore to himself as certain deposits were harder to detach than others and Mike heard it all. I’m surprised that his blood pressure didn’t go through the roof. I made a plan with him for how I want to address some of my health issues, but I didn’t write them down and now I can’t remember part of it Oh, well. I have tests this week and I will be careful to take notes when I get the results.
Good luck with your health challenges, Aunt Snack.
Thank you. I hope that tomorrow’s tests will shed some light, if only on the aneurysm. Which reminds me to make an appointment with the lung doc tomorrow.
I think I told you my DH has an aneurysm and they just monitor it and it’s not growing and they don’t seem concerned at all? Anyway. This is the case.
Yeah, but the guy who was supposed to monitor it totally missed my lung damage, so I don’t trust him to notice. Tomorrow’s test was ordered by the neurologist who I assume will have a better idea of what he is looking at. When I read the internist’s initial notes, they said that I had been having headaches for 3 weeks instead of 3 months.
The irony of the whole thing is that now, almost 6 months after they started, my head aches are becoming milder and less frequent. My fatigue, the internist thinks might be heart related, but there is a 1 month wait for a stress test.
I’ll be gleeful on the 10th, when I’m once again responsible for only my own office mail & docket.
Today is happy because it’s our anniversary and we’ve been spending more than the usual number of lazy hours together. Recently discovered the TV show “911” (set in LA) and its spinoff (set in Austin, TX), which we’re enjoying.
Yesterday I spent nearly an hour on the phone with my Mom & Dad, who made it through Hurricane Helene’s visit unscathed and are currently prepping for his 86th birthday dinner. He was gleeful because Friday was a good day for the stock market, and while his brokerage in Valdosta, GA has been offline due to storm damage, he was able to have a chat with his broker’s assistant about some trades he wants to make. Meanwhile, Mom is annoyed because the contractor who was (slowly) working on the basement conversion has called to say he probably won’t have time for their project until urgent home repairs around the county are done. A good problem to have, in the big scheme of things.
And today I submitted a new novella to publisher, for which I’m promised a contract ASAP.
Congrats on the contract!
Awesome!
Happy Anniversary!
Spending the first night in our new house tonight! Still lots of tasks to get done, but I can see a time coming when things will settle down.
I had good news from the two eye specialists I’ve been seeing. So while there’s no cutting what ails me, they’ve managed to slow the degradation down.
Congratulations on the new house! And slowing the eye damage.
Yay taxes done is a good feeling, even when uncle sam takes more from us than those who avoid paying.
I also love the wildlife that visit our yard, deer eat my roses but leave their babies with me for the day. I love that.
The opossum that waddles through scares me but I am grateful they eat ticks (deer).
The cutest fox came to my front door, but didn’t find food so didn’t come back.
My neighbors say there are coyotes, I am waiting for a peek at one. This is all new to me, we lived in apartments for 30 years.
Margaret, Opossums are very polite critters, and I don’t find them scary at all. What scares you? They do have an inordinate amount of teeth, but they are not very aggressive. They prefer playing dead, to fighting. Beware of the coyotes, though. They are known to eat small pets.
Thank you for that, it is the teeth and the hairless tail.
I did hear about coyotes taking small pets, that is scary. I
My grand puppy only weighs 11 pounds and he is such a trusting soul. I will watch out for him.
Two things that literally made me do a happy dance.
1) The six-month check-in with our financial advisor reassured me that we won’t be living in a cardboard box in our twilight years.
2) A Sunday morning emergency visit from a pest control firm revealed that the insects suddenly popping up in our bedroom are NOT bedbugs but beetles that want in before the snow falls and are gaining entry via our windows. Thank heaven that can be fixed with the company spraying along the foundation outside and along the baseboards inside.
Now, if I can just get rid of the anxiety rash … lol.
Diatomaceous earth would also get rid of those beetles. You can puff it around the windows and on the floor. It works for cockroaches, too. You can get it on Amazon, and a puffer for it, too. It’s not poisonous to pets or people.
Thank you, Jan!
I had a satisfying week. I’m keeping up with my end of summer projects. The window AC units are out and stored. My room is ready for overwintering some of my plants. And the lawn’s been mowed again, perhaps for the last time this season.
The meeting stuff starts up again-one last week and 3-4 this week. The election drop box wars continue.
So nice that the weather’s cooled down. So much more pleasant to walk Pixie.
While not achieving GLEE! I have managed happy. I dried my wet rugs and did several loads of dishes. Dishes in this case included several hydroponic units that had suffered slime outbreaks.
My Amazon subscriptions arrive tomorrow, except some came early, like toilet paper. Lots and lots of toilet paper. Also MREs. Not military MREs – things like Hormel Compleats and HMR entrées. I like cooking fresh food, but sometimes you just want to kick back with some Dinty Moore Beef Stew.
You just gave me a flashback, Gary. When our daughter was around 10, she and her best friend thought “Dinty Moore” sounded hilarious and made it part of their language. Instead of saying “goodbye,” one would call “Dinty now!” and the other would respond “Dinty Moore!” Or maybe it was the other way around. I’ll have to ask.
Tell them “Dinty Always” for me. 🙂
She laughed. And also informed me “dinty now” was “hello” and “dinty moore” was goodbye.
I finally took care of a project I’d been procrastinating for weeks — nowhere near as big as taxes or finishing a book — and I wouldn’t say it left me gleeful, but as always, it was quicker and easier than all the angst of procrastination, so I’m happy to have it done. And I spent a good bit of time quiltmaking this weekend, using up scraps from all the blue, woven-fabric tank tops I made this summer. I’ve got a quilt layout in mind, and I’ve cut up all the shirt scraps and started piecing them, but then I realized I need to add one more print (I made 7 tops, one with fabric that I’ve decided is not suitable for a quilt, and as with most design things, it’s better to have an odd number of elements, rather than an even number, so I need to find one more print to bring the total up to 7 again). Choosing fabric is fun though, so that’s a happy for another day, as I sort through my stash, which is particularly extensive when it comes to blues.
I just received an email that makes me happy. I have been nagging Harriet to let me contribute something to Friday’s holiday dinner and now she has asked me to bring dessert. Of course, what I’d really like to bring will not travel well, but I have several days to troll for ideas. And that makes me happy.
Oh professional chef, (if I recall correctly) please tell us what you would like to bring and what you end up bringing.
I would like to bring Maida Heatter’s Frozen Honey Mousse, which is light and sweet and fits in with the theme of a sweet New Year. But it doesn’t travel well and requires freezer space once it arrives. I’ve thought of bringing Key Lime Pie if Tom is not coming, because that only needs chilling, which a thermal bag with a gel pack can handle during transit. If Tom is coming to Chicago, it will be back to the drawing board, because he is mildly lactose intolerant. He has no problem skipping dessert, but I love to see if I can please him because he only makes it into town about every other trip.
I asked Harriet if her husband and daughter had any favorites, but she said they like everything. And Harriet, herself, doesn’t particularly care for sweets. So I can make whatever I feel like as long as it isn’t heavy on dairy products. I also do not want to bake an American style pie, because my sister Kitty makes them so much better than I do and we had her apple pie last week.
All interesting ideas I wouldn’t have thought of !
After decades of sharing holidays, a little variety is welcome.
I saw a bunch of shows this weekend, including “What The Constitution Means To Me,” which I’ve wanted to see for years. I also went to a yarn event and got more neon yarn, among other things.
I am happy I went hiking today, although I was somewhat crabby during the actual hike because my feet hurt (very over-used shoes are likely to blame, sigh). The area I was hiking in was badly hit by a wildfire four years ago, reducing 90% of the trees to charcoal and significantly affecting the landscape. Today, there were herds of mule deer bouncing around, mountain bluebirds flashing unreal colors from charred snags, and large flocks of chatty pygmy nuthatches having an absolute blast. And one complaining human (me), limping through and calling everybody a dickhead.
My recent happy was discovering that the BBC apparently gave up on selling the Repair Shop to an American streaming service and just put it up on YouTube. That show is nothing but competence porn. I love all the different specialties they bring in.
We also had beautiful weather this weekend, so I went on a couple of long walks.
Oh my gosh I am mesmerized by Repair shop! And I was just trying to see more seasons, but my britbox subscription was not allowing it. I cry every time they fix a teddy bear, and Kirsten when she fixes ceramic is unreal. Thank you for the YouTube information!
Congrats on completing the taxes, Jenny!
I’m cautiously optimistic about stress fracture recovery–my daily walk is up to 30 minutes! I got quality time in the art room this weekend. And our daughter is coming to visit!
Look at me, using all the exclamation points.
It’s too slow for actual glee, but my IT band syndrome is making slow, slow, slow progress towards healing. I see the orthopedist for followup in two weeks. My physical therapists keep coming up with more exercises for me. Work still hurts, but less every week. I’m still avoiding weeding because bending over is what hurts, and the weeds continue to win. But Progress.
Glee – I stood up for myself more emphatically than I normally would (it helps that the other person doesn’t like conflict as much as I dislike it, so it was a civil-ish exchange).
I’m excited for Very Nice Funerals, in part bc it reminds me of Buffalo, where I grew up and where two of the three biggest funeral homes are Amigone and Bury. Does this happen in other cities?