Covid Journal, Day 38: Homely Things

51 and stormy this morning. We've had sheeting rain, hail, clouds, high winds (again!) and sunshine today. April is such a temperamental month.

Since it was really nasty this morning, we both decided on inside work. I started my day listing things on ebay, which I seem to do better in the mornings. I think listing, and writing in general for me, go better with coffee. I got four items done--an antique lamp shade, a gooseneck lamp with no shade, an antique oil lamp without its burner or chimney (already sold), a set of 4 art prints of pretty birdhouses, and a Fenton glass bell.

The glass shade. Such a pretty thing.

 I was going to do more, but went to make more coffee and got sidetracked. I wanted something with the coffee, and we had no cookies or cake, so I thought I'd make some biscotti. To do that meant hunting up all the ingredients. Larry had rearranged my big pantry cupboard after spilling some honey in there, and I have not been able to find anything since. So I set to getting it back the way I like it. I found all kinds of things--the missing raisins, three opened bags of all-purpose flour, a jar of chocolate chips, extra jars of peanut butter. A lot of things. Then I got to work on the biscotti.

Biscotti isn't hard to make but it is time-consuming, a point I'd forgotten. You mix it, then shape it, bake it a while, take it out and slice it, put the slices back in the oven to toast on one side, take them out again and turn them over, toast on the other side, then finally let them cool on a rack. By the time I was finished, my coffee was long gone. But now I have two jars of a lovely treat to have with my coffee.

I do like these old made-in-Japan cookie jars. My mother disliked anything from Japan because she lived through WWII, and for years I carried on her dislike, until one day I realized that there really were some pretty things made there. And finally overcame my aversion.

When I finished that I put together a pot of lentil and ham soup, one of my favorites. I've been meaning to make it all last winter, so when I came upon a jar (actually, 2 jars) of lentils in the cupboard, I decided today was the day. There's plenty leftover for tomorrow, which is fine with me.

I'd no sooner got the soup on to cook when Larry came in with the mail and a box. It was my order from San Francisco Herb Company. I've ordered from this company off and on for 40 years. Their prices are so good--but you have to buy in bulk, and I believe there's a $30 minimum. But just look at these prices:

Now, a 1/2 pound of Chamomile is a LOT of chamomile; ditto the orange peel, pepper, rosehips and spearmint. I have plenty to blend my own herb teas now for a year or more, which is what I plan to do. A friend gave me a blend she made with spearmint, rosehips, chamomile and cinnamon and I want to make it myself, adding a bit of orange peel to the mix. And candied ginger is as good for my stomach as an antacid; this is far, far less than I would pay anywhere else for candied ginger. Coconut is always a favorite, and I'm thinking to make some macaroons soon. I would pay more than this for just a few ounces each of the things on my list. So I was happy to get them, but it was back to the pantry to put everything in containers and stored away.

When I finished with the herbs and spices, I got to work on the two painting projects I've been working on, and got them both finished and ready to take to the booth tomorrow. As I mentioned before, the antique mall is closed but the owner is working there on other projects and online selling, so we can take things in. I am so glad to be done with this because now I'll get my kitchen cleared out. I've had 4 chairs and the small table I was working on in there and it was getting cramped! Here's the dining table, all finished. It has a neat folding center leaf.

And the little table. This one has leaves too; the sides fold down.

Larry worked on the bathroom floor again, this time replacing some tiles. He's worked on this in fits and starts, and I think it may be midsummer before he gets done. Joking of course, but tile is not his favorite thing to do. He was glad when the weather cleared up and he could escape outside.

With these high winds, we had to tie down the two little greenhouses. I'd already tied the one with Christmas ribbon in the middle of the night last week when a bad storm blew up, but Larry found some actual rope to tie the other. All the plants are looking good so far.

The day ended with a beautiful evening, although the winds continued. Sometime maybe we'll get to sit out on the patio again and enjoy a fire, but not yet.

So that was our day. Nothing outstanding, just lots of little tasks that kept us busy right up to 7pm. Tomorrow I go back to the doctor to take this monitor back, and drop off the furniture at the mall. Maybe we'll take the long way home. Why not? There's not a lot of places to go these days!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.