My everyday life

For years there were no baked goods on Etsy but then some restriction on home baking for money was lifted and Etsy became a bake shop. I've ordered cookies from various Etsy shops before and always been disappointed. But, I tried once more and think I've found my cookie home.

I got 1 pound of assorted cookies from Lynn's Cookies and Pops. The shipping rates were really high but when it got here, I understood. This woman could safely send babies via USPS. Holy moly. Also, each kind of cookie was wrapped separately so their flavors/scents don't mingle. I only ate 1. A molasses cookie. It was enough for me to know that I am a repeat customer. She also does special orders so I can get exactly what I want. I'm so jazzed.

I just discovered yet another gift that the pandemic giveth. The Seattle Mens Chorus Christmas Concert. My very favorite but often a bitch to get to. Last year they held it in a concert hall that is horrible to get to and they had no matinee. So I didn't even go. This year... it's online!! I don't know how they are going to do it but I don't care, I'll get to 'go'. Yeah!!

And finally, I dug this old tuffet/cat be out of the closet a week or so ago. Biggie was ignoring the not-nearly-as-pretty cat bed he loved last year and I was tired of looking at it. So I put it away and brought out this one. He ignored it, too. Until today. He's been taking all his naps right here on the sofa next to me. I love listening to his little snore.

Biggie continues his obsession with New Stickie. I woke up this morning and was so relieved not to find the damn thing in my bed. (I had put it away - not completely out of sight but behind a cushion so success!) But the minute my feet landed, they landed on New Stickie. He carries it from room to room and when he's ready for me to join in, he brings it up here on the couch. What a cat.

Today is Friday so Bake Off on Netflix. I'm enjoying the once a week drop. I'll miss it when it's done.

But, today I have a new project. Yes, if you are counting 'new projects' your counter is probably broken by now. I'm still on a color kick. I am very good at matching prints. But, solid color skills are not that great. There are a couple of knit and a whole bunch of crochet designers who can put together the most delicious color combinations but I'm not one of them. So I'm trying a new approach. Find a picture who's colors I love and create the scheme from it.

Damien Elwes is a painter that daphnep turned me on to. I love his colors. So I picked one of my favorites and a pattern that calls for only six colors.



I'm using the colors for something kind of like this. But the squares will be a little bigger.





A few weeks ago, I signed up for a Costco deals email list. I knew it was not a good idea but I did it anyway. I don't need or want a new TV or tires or insurance so, so far, it's been fine until today. My new boots will be here Tuesday. What the fuck do I need boots for? I'm not going anywhere and it rarely snows inside this condo. Sigh. Easy returns.

Time for a shower. Biggie usually hangs in the bathroom while I shower and, I suppose, today, Stickie will as well.

Now that baseball is over and the pandemic is not, my life is dirt simple and plain. No plans, no activities, no todos. On the up side, I probably won't need to buy more gas until 2021.

The house cleaner put Stickie up on a side table when she was here yesterday. I saw it there this morning and thought, whew, I won't have to mess with that for a while. WRONG. Biggie found it first thing this morning. He wants to me to play with it and him constantly. Part of the game is I throw it across the room and then, after a bit, he brings it back. It does give me a bit of a reprieve. I honestly do not find playing with it as appealing as he does. Also, it's time for a new Stickie. This one is getting pretty battered. Fortunately, I have a stash.

My latest blanket-that-may-become-a-jacket is coming along nicely.



So there will be more work on that today.

And whatever else comes along. I have some spare time.

The housecleaner came 30 minutes early! Nice. I was at Goodwill where I did not find what was on my list this week but did score a light weight hoodie that is going to be very nice to have this winter. Oh and a Joseph Joseph spaghetti measurer still in its original packaging. $.50.

Then on to the grocery store. I didn't really need anything at Trader Joes and since she was early, I did not need to kill time.

I got everything on my list and some other stuff. I was careful not to get freezer stuff since my November shelf is full but I loaded up on produce. Salad and fruit.

They had the funniest thing on sale. Peeled tangerines. That's right. Tangerines with no skin on 'em. Cheap. So I bought them - a bowl full. So handy!

My fridge is stuffed to the gills. I'm set for at least two weeks and maybe more. Whew.

I did take the long way home and drove through neighborhoods - as opposed to using the main drag which is mostly shopping. I saw 2 yard signs for president. Biden/Harris. I saw maybe 5 other yard signs for local elections but that's it We are really NOT a yard sign town this year.

I did this this which cracked me up. I do love Seattle.



The groceries are all put away and the house is clean and all is good. At least here.

I've got my list. I've got my plan. I'm ready to venture out. I have a new mask that covers a bigger area of my face. I feel kind of ok about going out but still. Yesterday I did not even open the door to the hallway once.

Last night, they pulled a Dodger in the 8th inning because his COVID test came back positive. WTF??? They played without test results? Then exposed everyone on the team? Then, when they won there were hugs and kisses and kids and babies - it was a massive germ fest.

We are turning the corner all right, and look what's there? More cases, more hospitalizations and more deaths. And way more people who don't give a shit.

OK, I'm done. I'm going out. And then coming back for another two weeks of not going out.

My Smart Car is serviced by the Mercedes dealer because before Smart Car quit sending them to the U.S., Mercedes owned the U.S. rights. I have a love/hate relationship with my Mercedes dealer. I've only ever dealt with one guy and he's fine but the rest of them try hard not to physically turn up their noses when I drive in.

Anyway, yesterday I got an email from the dealership saying that they were giving me Car Fax. Since I have not purchased a car since 2011 and before that 2000, I'm only vaguely aware of current car buying tools. But Car Fax is interesting. The dashboard shows every single service on my car since it was born. I kind of like that. Also it says I can get $3,500 in trade in. I paid $17,000 for it. I don't want to trade it in anyway. You can't buy them here any more and in 2016 they changed the design and made them longer so that's a non starter. But, fun to have facts.

Time now to get into the shower and get ready to get out of here before the house cleaner arrives.

The Smalls was a lap cat. You made a lap and he was in it. Every time. Biggie not a lap cat at all. He likes to stand on my legs and drape himself over my arms when I'm typing but never sit and never in my lap.

Until this morning. He is, as I type this sitting on my lap. Wonder what the deal is? Last winter he had The Smalls for snuggling so maybe it's a warmth thing.

I'm reading a perfectly delightful book that falls outside my usual read. I usually avoid stories that don't take place now or in the last decade. Had I stumbled over this one on my own, I would have given it a pass. But, siobhan63 recommended the Sean Duffy series by Adrian McKinty and recommended it highly. The first book in the series - the Cold, Cold Ground was available at the library so I grabbed it. It takes place in Northern Ireland in the early 80's. I can't say I was hooked at the start but I am now halfway done and so grateful it is a series and there are more books like it to come! Plus he even has other series and stand alones. And, I am a sucker for an Irish accent.

And the new Jack Reacher is out today. And Tana French has a new one out this week. It's book Christmas!

Tomorrow is house cleaner day but the house is pretty tidy so no todos there. I do want to get my shopping lists in order. I don't need or want much so I want a good list I can stick to.

I crocheted so much yesterday, my arm ached as I got into bed last night. Wonder what the difference is between building up working muscle and repetitive stress injury. I may have to switch over to some knitting today just to give the arm something different to focus on.

So I made my Minnesota hot dish. Rice and chicken and Parmesan cheese with some cream of mush and artichoke hearts. And it didn't work. Not enough rice, too many artichokes and seasoning that was off. I've had worse. I ate a full lunch's worth but it wasn't heaven.

I had two lunches worth left so I dutifully put them in containers and labeled them and put them in the freezer.

I folded all the laundry and did some more chores and then went back to wash the dishes and clean the kitchen. As I'm doing that, it suddenly dawned on me, that casserole is not going to get better with age or with freezing. Those two containers will be in that freezer for years until the next time I get fed up and clean it all out.

This is how it starts! This is how I get a freezer full of food not worth eating.

So I got them out of the freezer emptied them into the trash and washed the containers. I hate throwing out food but better to throw it out now than in a year and a half.

Just in the past week, Biggie has decided that he moves when he wants to and not before. He thinks he is the boss of him.

Used to be, in bed, he'd scamper off at the least disturbance. Then he got so where, when I got up to pee, he'd just not move. Or move to take over more of the bed. This morning, he was asleep on the duvet when I wanted to get up. Only I couldn't get out of the bed because he had the damn duvet locked down.

We discussed it. He refused to move. I finally had to show him the math. His 12 pounds. My 200 pounds (well, 236.5 as it turns out on the scale this morning but whatever).

He likes to nap on the clothes folded up on the shelves in the closet. Used to be, I'd open up the curtains (which I use instead of doors) and he'd scamper away. Then, he took to not scampering but leaving in a huff. And then, really not leaving at all. Sometimes I'd go in there, get what I wanted and not even know he was there. His black blends nicely in a dark closet.

This morning I went to get out a shirt and he was laying on two different stacks. What I wanted was on those stacks. He would not move. He just glowered at me. Finally, I was able to wrangle out one of the bottom of one of the stacks.

Turns out it was my Biggie and The Smalls shirt. I wonder what The Smalls would have been like at this age (18 months). Probably double the trouble.



(For those new to here. I adopted Biggie and The Smalls when they were youngins. The Smalls had feline leukemia and lived not quite one year. The drawing on this shirt was done by ani_mama of the two of them playing with Stickie.)

I started to say that I am not a fan of holidays but then I realized this is not entirely true. I'm not a Halloween person. I don't enjoy being scared. I'm not a fan of orange and black. Or children begging. But I do like Halloween candy. Particularly candy corn and candy pumpkins.

I'm not at all a fan of family gatherings which works out nicely since my only family is my brother who is too far away to gather with. But I like a nice Thanksgiving meal.

I don't like a lot of Christmas things - parties, ceremonies, hoopla, family gatherings but I do like Christmas carols and I am beyond fond of Christmas cookies. I can never get enough of the latter.

I do take great joy, after every holiday, at not having to put away and find storage for, a bunch of decorations.

So... as we head into holiday season, my stand is pretty much, bring on the food, but you can skip the rest.

I just did a little mini shopping for Christmas cookies on Etsy. I found several excellent options already. Heavy duty shipping charges and expensive but, hey, they should be. That's a lot of work to make delicious Christmas cookies!

And, speaking of making stuff. When I did my freezer cleanout yesterday, I liberated a package of cooked chicken. I think it's probably from the last Costco chicken I bought. I had a nice chicken sandwich last night but there is a fair amount left. I think I'm going to whip up a Minnesota hot dish today. Rice, Parmesan cheese, chicken...

We are full on into winter now... With global warming, this is likely exactly what it will be like from now until next April-ish. mid 30's (1c ish) in the mornings - going up to mid 50's (12/13c) in the day. Some rain days, a few sunny days and the rest overcast. I love it for sleeping. I don't mind it at all for the rest. At least I know how to dress. I won't get too hot and the sun, mostly, won't get in my eyes.

I have a new blanket started. I want a smaller one than the last one. It's squares again so it might well end up being a cardigan. I have a fair bit to go until I have to decide for sure. So I'll be working on that today and maybe a little laundry.