Back to Reality

Christmas is over, the gifts are unwrapped, the boxes and stockings are carried downstairs for another year.  I've left the tree and decorations up until next weekend but didn't even turn on the tree yesterday.  Since we don't really New Year's Eve anymore, for us the holidays are over.  I got a call from Mrs. Boss the other day that Mr. Boss has to work Wednesday after all so I get to work from 10-2 on Wednesday.  Not a full day but not a day off either.  Oh well.  The first paycheck of 2015 won't be quite as anemic as today's which will have only one day's pay on it.  Oh well.  Good thing we're not destitute or starving.

I finished the soup cozies for me and Durwood, got his gift picture hung up, doctored up the peanuts in my efforts to train the squirrels that the peanuts aren't meant for them, and got out thank-you notes to be written and mailed today.  That means that all the to-dos on my list got crossed off yesterday.  Hooray, me!  Oh, and here's a picture of the fabrics I bought on sale (no, that should be ON SALE because they were both such bargains), the green with the rings is a remnant I paid $5 for and the tan with the stripes was on the "markdown" rack and I had a 20% off coupon.  Score!  I have a few more things I want to make before I plunge in but the temptation is great and I might not be able to wait.

The pork roast I made for Christmas dinner was very dry the next day, even swimming for a while in a pan of gravy didn't really help.  Durwood had the idea to grind up the meat and put it in gravy with veggies and potatoes but I had what I thought was a better idea (I'm not much of a gravy fan).  I treated it like the ground meat for bolognese sauce but used a jar of Rinaldi Chunky Garden sauce and a can of diced tomatoes with basil and garlic, sauteed some onions, a handful of diced baby carrots, and bell peppers, added a half-pound of sauteed mushrooms, and some Italian herbs.  It's not bad, it's not simmered 7 hours and full of wine (although I could have tipped in a shlook, and might do when I reheat the remains) like a true bolognese but it sure saved that extra dry pork.  Next we'll see if we can make a passable potpie with the rest of the ground pork and remaining gravy for later in the week.  I'll report, and I'll take a picture of the first attempt at dry-roast-salvation tonight when we have some of the leftovers.

After supper I set myself down to work on mitten #3 but when it came time to add the thumb gusset I had way too many stitches.  It took me a few minutes to realize that I'd misread the first row after the cuff and added waaaaay too many stitches but I managed to frog back those rows and pick up the cuff stitches and get them back in order, then I had the right number of stitches and could carry on.  *sigh* And there I was so proud of how far I'd gotten in a short time the night before.  *sigh*  Three steps forward, two steps back--that's the story of my life, especially when I get to feeling smug.

December 29--Miskin & Amir Khusrau Dihlavi, Bahram Gur Sees a Herd of Deer Mesmerized by Dilaram's Music.  The light was playing tricks on my eyes, I was sure of it.  It had been a long day on the road and the radio had erupted with static a few hours ago.  My scattered thoughts and the hot wind that blew through the cracked window were all I had to keep me entertained.  Wyoming is beautiful in a stark, rocky way and I'd enjoyed the drive.  When the sun started to set behind me the light changed and made weird shapes appear on the mountainsides ahead of me.

Durwood said it was snow flurrying during the game yesterday. He saw it on TV but there's no snow on the ground today, only much colder wind blowing around like winter's back.  Goodie.  Longies, wool socks and boots today.  Yippee.  Time for breakfast and zooming off.  Seeyabye.
--Barbara