December Diversions

 

2 – National Fritters Day

The only fritters I have ever eaten are apple fritters, and I just adore them. They’re not terribly sweet and go so well with coffee. I’ve never had to opportunity to try vegetable or meat fritters, but I wouldn’t be averse to giving them a taste. I will never make any myself, because I don’t want to deal with deep frying. I used to have a small Fry Daddy many years ago and I enjoyed it but absolutely hated the cleanup. 

 

 7 – Letter Writing Day

Even though this is pretty much a lost art, I LOVE sending and getting real letters. That was one of the reasons I joined a post card group. I’ve sent and received post cards from all over the world. And you only have to write a little bit, because there isn’t much room on a post card. Through this group I recently gained a penpal, because she isn’t on social media at all. Check out postcrossing.com. It’s free. 

 

 

18 – Bake Cookies Day

It’s time to get cracking and make those cookies so you can share them. Spend the day making them and freeze them for when you can plate them, cover them with fancy Saran Wrap, put a bow on them and deliver them with a Christmas card. My favorite go-to recipe has always been the basic Bisquick recipe: 1 small box jello instant pudding mix, 1 cup bisquick (or any baking mix), ¼ cup oil, 1 egg. Mix all together, form into small balls, put on cookie sheet and flatten. Bake 350° for 5-8 minutes. The beauty of this recipe is that the flavor of the jello is the flavor of the cookie. You can add choc chips, colored sugar or sprinkles, M&Ms, whatever you want. 

 

 21 – Winter Solstice

Shortest day of the year. Also my Dad’s birthday. Have a nice dinner with candle light. Drink hot chocolate or a nice toddy. Scamper about outside under the moonlight. Howl at the moon. Whatever you want. I don’t judge…

 

 

26 – James Mason (not the actor) patented the first coffee percolator. Growing up, we had this exact same type of coffee maker. I remember when we got that fancy new-fangled thing – The Electric Coffee Maker!! All you had to do was prep it and plug it in!! On Christmas Day, my brother and I would get up early, but we couldn’t wake our parents until after we’d plugged in the coffee and the little red light showed that it was done.

 

Musings From The Moon

 

Not really. I was just feeling capricious today. I’m still on this plain of existence. Maybe.

 

What’s the strangest thing in your refrigerator?

Two examples. Back when we had a fish tank, we would have a container of live tubifex worms in the fridge to keep them fresh. One time the container got knocked over in the fridge. Bleh.

When we were having our family room remodeled, the painter had to take a break between coats to let the paint dry. To keep the paint in the container from drying, he had me stick it in my fridge.

 

Would you rather hear the music of Johann Sebastian Bach played by a barbershop quartet, or a heavy metal band?

Heavy metal, every time! Although I did find a pretty darn good barbershop rendition. Listen and judge for yourself. Barbershop: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?extid=SEO----&v=2956898987687326

Metal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxvOXsv6eQw

 

What weird food combinations do you really enjoy?

I’ve already blogged about my peanut butter and _____ combinations, so I won’t repeat myself. And I’ve already made my stand for having pineapple on pizza. The only other thing I can recall is having buttered bread and dill pickle slices as a sandwich when I was young.

 

What’s the most interesting building you’ve ever seen or been in?

The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. 50+ years ago my brother, my dad and I visited Aunt Bernice in Missouri and made a side trip to see Uncle Jimmy and our cousins in Chicago. Wonderful place. Too much to see in one trip.

 

What movie quotes do you use on a regular basis?

I absolutely LOVED the movie Cold Comfort Farm, and there are two lines (among many) that I love the most. The one that I actually use is when I’m complaining and I try to downplay it by saying that I’m “just moanin’ abaht.” The other line I don’t get to use that much. It’s when asked what I’m doing, I say, “Weavin’ me own shroud, belike.”

 

What would be the best thing you could reasonably expect to find in a cave?

Slime, bats, mold etc. That’s the reasonable thing. The BEST thing would be a large chest full of pirate gold.

 

What would be the most unsettling thing to keep occasionally finding around your house?

Random body parts.

 

Garfield Was Right…

…Mondays Suck!!

 

This week started out with a Monday bent on vengeance. Actually, it started on the previous Thursday when I broke a tooth. Thankfully it didn’t hurt, so I was lulled into thinking everything would be OK.

 

The dentist couldn’t see me until Monday. Which was fine. As I said, I had no pain, but knew it needed to be taken care of BEFORE it hurt. I had to cancel my PT session, though. They said they could get me in earlier in the morning, which would leave me plenty of time to get to Chico for the dental appointment. Again, everything seemed to be fine.

 

I got ready for PT and walked out the door. I got in the car and found that I had left my keys inside the house. Which was locked. Entirely. I tried to go into the garage though the front, but it had been fixed so it couldn’t be opened. I called Marv to make sure that was the case before getting a neighbor to help me lift up the door. Marv took his lunch hour to come home and get me in the house so I could get ready for the dentist app. I had to cancel PT entirely.

 

I knew I would need some fairly expensive dental work done because there was a second tooth about ready to kick the bucket as well. Fine. I was prepared for that news. I did my usual run to Barnes & Noble for a Starbucks (I always do that when I’m in Chico) and found a Cards Against Humanity set for FAMILY. Cool!! Once more, I thought Monday would be salvaged.

 

I ordered a caramel frappe and sat at one of the little tables and opened the CAH box to look at some of the cards. I then dumped my frappe ALL OVER THE FREAKIN’ PLACE!!! I shouted “I need some help with a towel!!” A gal came running over with a bunch of their tiny little napkins. No towel??? I guess not. I said I would need some more napkins. I was SOAKED from the chest down. Even my shoes got frappe on them. I mopped up some and took it all to the trash bin. Shoving it into the bin, I managed to dump what was left in the cup all over the front of the bin and on the floor. I started mopping that up when a girl came over and said they’d take care of it.

 

I ordered another frappe, which they would have given me for free, but I insisted on paying because it was my fault. I drove home sitting on a towel on the car seat. When I got home I took a shower. The frappe was delicious as always, but wasn’t as comfortable wearing it.