Breaking Out

6°f/-14.4°C, clear. 

Sweet little guy waiting on the feeder. The birds have been busy around here, and Larry keeps them supplied with seed and peanut butter.  Look at all the tracks on the deck under the feeder! They have certainly smashed down the snow.

A warm-up on the way, starting today! Yesterday morning we saw -2°f, bone-chilling cold. That probably seems like a heat wave to those of you in Canada, though. The snow is hanging on, not really melting as much as packing down and evaporating. Rain is expected later this week, which should make a right mess of things. Ice, probably. 

So today I am breaking out of hibernation, not because of neccessity because we are still well- stocked. But I want to see the Ohio River, which is most completely iced over. That doesn't happen every year. So we will go look, and check on our booth in Ravenswood. Sales have been non-existent since January 22nd, which was, actually, the last time I went out. So probably not much is needed. Still, I have been pricing and pricing and have at least 8 totes ready, which is nice. Later in Spring when I am busy outside I won't have to worry about getting stock ready, right?

Did you watch the game yesterday? I'm not a fan of football so wasn't sad to miss it, but I did watch clips of the half-time show. What a party! What happy energy! I bet tourism to Puerto Rico skyrockets. I know there is plenty of criticism because the show was in Spanish, but how many hit songs have there been, here in the US, that were in a foreign language? As Bad Bunny pointed out, America isn't just the US. People forget that. More people in America speak Spanish than English, I'd bet.

Not much excitement around here.  I canned all the rest of the apple slices, and got 14 quarts.

I made a cobbler with some of them. 

What i don't use of these apples will go into apple butter in the fall.

I have never made apple cobbler before, but it was delicious,  like apple pie filling with a sweet biscuit topping. And I made one more batch of cream of broccoli soup, which makes 3 gallons tucked in the freezer. It is so good! So except for a lot of cherry tomatoes,  I am done with all that stuff that was given to us. It kept well in the back room, thank goodness. 

The only mishap was this steam burn. 

In all my years of canning and cooking, I have never had a burn like this. It's looking much better than when I first did it. It's what I get for not paying attention when I lifted the lid off that pot of apples!

Yesterday was house-cleaning day. Since it was so cold out, I snagged Larry's help. Nice to get all the high places done. I still have more to do, getting a bit of a jump on spring- cleaning I guess. 

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

Of Snow, Books, and Such

22°f/-5.6°C this morning. Snow began around 9:30am, expected to continue til late afternoon, but not much accumulation,  about 1-4".

Another snowy day here, surprise, surprise. This is such a beautiful winter, with enough snow and cold to stay pretty, but not enough to be a problem, except of course for the ice. Several friends have reported broken bones, sprained ankles, and even Larry took a couple tumbles before giving in and putting the Ice Traxx on his boots. Fortunately all he got was a slightly twisted knee, but it scared him enough to listen to reason (me!). He has had both knees replaced, and I think he was worried that he had messed up that one. 

The birds are happy---plenty of good seeds and peanut butter and set cakes are out there for them.

These two don't seem to notice the snow falling like rain. They love playing in it.

They like helping Larry too, as he fills the feeders and takes care of the chickens and rabbits.

Clyde, however, has found a box I emptied as I worked on the workroom, and he wants no part of snow.

Pup, worn out after hard play. He usually sleeps in this funny position.

In between working on my room and listing on ebay yesterday, I made these very odd cookies. I had a couple over-ripe bananas and wanted to see if there was a recipe for cookies using them and oats. 

These cookies have no flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, butter, oil or milk in them. Just oats, bananas, a little honey, salt, cinnamon, and chocolate chips. I added some hickory nuts too. They are actually quite good! Larry likes them, and they are a good treat for him as a diabetic, I think. Gluten- free too, I think?

I am afraid we are going to lose the gutter on the back room. It's full of ice and starting to sag. I took this yesterday, which was a bright, sunny day until the afternoon.

The moon last night was so pretty, but I could not get a good photo unless I wanted to wait up til midnight, when it would clear the trees. 

Recent reading: i bought this book to read at Christmas and then forgot about it. 

It was quite a good read, a bit simplistic in style and the plot was easy to see through, but the details about the life of the Wrens who manned the signal towers on Orkney Island during World War II were fascinating. I also learned some new words, some colloquialism and others to do with the signaling. The story follows three friends, all of whom have suffered personal losses in the war, as they try to make a good Christmas for an older Orkney couple they befriended. Add in a love story and a spy mystery, and there you have it. I admit, I skipped a lot of passages where the main character dealt with her angst over loving again after the death of her fiancé,  which I found repetitive and not moving the story forward. But the author certainly did her homework, and I appreciated learning about this facet of the war.

I have been listening to audiobooks while working too. I chose Agatha Christie's The Unexpected Guest, and found it a good read; although again I had figured out "whodunit ", the ending still had a surprise. Now I am listening to Murder at the End of the World by Ross Montgomery, and finding it delightful once I block out the f word--which, actually, is used by an elderly woman so is kind of funny. The reader is amazing, .managing to convey a great range of different voices. I must look up who he is.

Adding to my daily reading two books: The Book of Days by Kate Marshall Lee and illustrated by Kate Greenaway. I have owned this book for years and occasionally check a date to see what the book has to say about it, but now I am reading each day as it comes. Here is today's entry:

Another addition to daily reading is The Assassin's Cloak, edited by Itene and Alan Taylor. 

I saw it recommended by one of you (was it you, Jeanie?) and ordered a copy. What a tome, at 686 pages! And what a delight. This book is also arranged by date, and features excerpts from diaries of all kinds of people dating back to at least the 1600's. Fascinating stuff. 

Simple meals this week-- mac and cheese with some broccoli stirred in, cabbage from the freezer and sliced tomatoes one night, cream of broccoli soup on another, and last night spaghetti and meatballs with salad. Kinda pasta-heavy but given this weather it seemed fitting. Tonight, a loaded salad, and tomato soup from the cellar. 

That's about all the news. Maybe next week I will get out again, but currently i am still enjoying my housebound days.

Stay safe and warm, friends.

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

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Bookshelf

20°f/-6.7°C, mostly clear after a snowy day yesterday. It snowed all day but melted as it fell, so only an inch or two accumulation. Yesterday was our first above-freezing day in several weeks.

A few vignettes of the big old bookshelf. This was the first "built-in" when we but this house, in place before the walls were even finished. It's about 8 feet by 8 feet, and 10 inches deep. 

Jon, and his White House commendation from his 4 years in the White House Communication Agency.

Funny old nag, a gift from a friend.

Blenko Glass stars

And then, a view out on this cold, frosty morning.

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