Tuesday

9°f/-12.8°C, clear but windy.

I guess we are enjoying an Alberta Clipper, as the weather people call it, again. At least this brought no snow, although snow would have at least made it pretty. Instead, it is very cold, dry and, well, cold! The sun is shining but produces little warmth.

The house was pretty chilly this morning too, so I decided to cook up a big breakfast to warm things up. I had half an onion, part of a tomato, some grayed cheese, and a small piece of ham, and that said omelet to me. Then there were a few grapes and a couple bananas, so I pulled out a pack of strawberries I froze last summer, and made a quick fruit salad. Add whole wheat toast with Naddie's homemade butter, grape juice and strawberry jam from the cellar, coffee---and we had a feast for breakfast! I only remembered to take a picture of what was left of the fruit salad and my toast and coffee, so you will have to imagine the rest.

The bowl above is actually a pale blue casserole dish that has the prettiest lid. It's from the 30s or 40s, made by Fire-King and called Sapphire Philbe. 

Coffee in my favorite cup, which is actually a Cracker Barrel knock-off of Fire-King's Jadeite. I like it because I can use it without worrying 

about breaking an antique! I brought my toast and coffee in the lig room with me to enjoy while I write, since I was full after the omelet and fruit. So perhaps this is my elevenses?

Some recently learned trivia, from a story by Lillian de la Torre called The Christmas Box.  In the story she used the word coruscated to describe ladies' evening gowns. That was a new word to me and suggested rusted! But no, it actually means sparkling or glittering. In another part of the tale, her detective, Dr. Sam Johnson and his sidekick Boswell of English history fame learn that there was once an ancient Celtic written language called Ogam, or Orgham as it seems to be correctly spelled, that used lines like sticks as characters. I had to look that up and indeed, it is true. De la Torre used several other unfamiliar words in the story, so in addition to being entertained by a good tale, I expanded my vocabulary!

Not much on the agenda today except keeping the house warm and a few small projects. I will work on straightening up my workroom/stockroom, which is once again a right mess. That will probably result in more things to price, and additions to the thrift store pile. I have several aprons to iron for the booths too, and some ebay sales to pack. And that will be yet another riveting day in our ho-hum wintry life.

I know this is Walk Out America day, but we will not be going anywhere. Even the open mic tonight is canceled; we weren't planning to go anyway. Tomorrow it will be warmer and we will be on the road again, and so I am going to enjoy one more day at home.

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

Cozy Day

27°f/-2.8°C, a few flurries, then partly cloudy, very windy and cold all day. High of 28.

Today was a good day to stay inside. Which I did, but Larry of course, was in and out all day, and so were the dogs, so it seemed like doors were opening and closing every few minutes. Larry has been busy fixing some furniture, cutting 

firewood for the fireplace, making sure the critters are fixed up for the coming cold nights, filling tbe bird feeder, and just generally mucking about. He complains about the cold, but just try to keep him inside!

I, on the other hand, only stuck my nose out as needed. I don't mind cold but cannot abide a cold, strong wind like we had today. I had plenty to do, anyway, and it felt good to cross some things off my list, like:

*Canning some more cranberry juice. There will be no cranberries in the stores soon, so this is the time to make it.

I also cleaned my copper kettle, a job I put off but am always so glad when. I do get it done. I use this one every day, so it needs cleaning regularly. 

Then there was a bag of filberts given to us by a friend. Whole filberts aren't called for on any of my recipes, so I chopped them up in the food processor and vacuum-sealed them for the freezer. They will keep a long time that way.

While I had the vacuum sealer out, I cut up a large block of cheese into smaller blocks and sealed those up too. 

Last job of the day was to price the things from the auction and wrap them up in a tote. 

That job takes a while--I found that some needed more cleaning, then there was research to do to price correctly. The table is cleared off noe, and I also cleared a table in my workroom so that in future I can price and pack in there. Although, I must admit, I do like doing this in the kitchen. I guess I am just used to doing most of my work in there.

Pip was a big help!

Then it was time to hurry up and make dinner, because another online auction was closing at 6pm. Some quickly fried chicken tenders, leftover wild rice from yesterday, and a Waldorf salad took little time, and now I am monitoring the last of the auction as I write.

So that was my exciting day. I did squeeze in some reading time,  and listened to Celtic music on Spotify as I worked, so those were both pleasant asides.

Speaking of Spotify,  I found that some of my recordings are on there! I used to have my CDs on CdBaby, so they were available for purchase as hard copy or for download, and I  made a little bit from them. CdBaby closed their retail store but downloads are still available on Spotify, Amazon, and who knows where else. Now, I am not too worried about it because it's not like hundreds or even tens of dollars are likely involved, but I am wondering if I am still getting paid for downloads. Sure haven't noticed it, but I guess I need to check in with CdBaby and see. This digitsl.world sometimes seems too much for my 1950's brain! 

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

Over to Ohio Again

35°f/1.6°C, mixed showers/sleet/clouds/sunshine all day.

It was auction pickup day today, so we were off to Ohio. The photos, in true Blogger style, loaded in reverse order to the way I wanted them. 

So, on the way home Wednesday stopped in Mineral Wells for gas and Aldi's, and finally took time to photograph these two beauties.

But over in Ohio, barns were what caught my eye.

And signs, like this sticker in a truck window:

On the barn at the auction site:

And chickens! Japanese Silkies, I think?

Another sign on the barn:

I was trying to take a picture of the house, and the cat was a surprise when I looked later.

Surprisingly, someone seems to be living in this rough little house.

The old general store in Coal Run, Ohio.

We stopped for breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and spotted this truck with its interesting message.

And lastly, a beautifully maintained barn.

No great stuff from this auction: a few pieces of okay but not special glass, some power tools for Larry, a Ford gumball machine for my son's grandchildren (my son's last name is Ford). 

After a long, hard day yesterday getting our "man booth" reorganized and stocking both locations yesterday, and today's road trip, we were more than ready for our comfy chairs this evening! Temperatures are expected to drop well below freezing for the next few days, and I hope we can just hole up, rest, and enjoy being home.

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