Not Talking About Style Today

So you're saved a repeat of yesterday's whine, although I will say that the brown boots are going back to DSW.  I meant to wear them to work today but walking around the house I noticed that the top digs into my lower shin when I walk.  I'm not a fan so back they go.

I made those baked apples I talked about yesterday.  Durwood found a Weight Watchers recipe for baked apple apple pies, we had the apples and some aging pie crust dough so off I went.  The recipe said to cut the core out of the whole apple, then scoop out the flesh with a melonballer, leaving a 1/4" shell.  To me that sounded like a recipe for frustration and disaster.  Plus each serving was meant to be an entire large Granny Smith apple.  That seemed like a lot, so I cut the apples in half, stem to blossom end, cut out the core with a paring knife, and then used a grapefruit knife to cut out the flesh--and I still pierced the skin in a couple places.  Then you chop up the apple, toss it with brown sugar and cinnamon, mound it back into the apple shells, put on a little lattice crust, and drizzle it with a mixture of apple juice and maple syrup, then bake for 30 minutes or so.  They were good, not sweet enough for Durwood, but good.  We'll make them again, next time using Honeycrisp apples.

A couple weeks ago Kay on Mason Dixon Knitting talked about a new journal she's keeping and put on the link to the method.  I clicked and was intrigued.  It's called the Bullet Journal, subtitled an analog journal for the digital age.  So far I'm really just using mine as a calendar and to-do list but I can see how it will soon become a repository for creative ideas, menus, Investment Cooking plans, etc.  A couple years ago DD gave me a gridded notebook that I used a few pages of to organize novel ideas but that didn't pan out so I razored out the first couple pages, unearthed my Waterman pen (a real fountain pen with real ink cartridges and everything), watched the video, checked out a few journals on Pinterest, and plunged in.  I love writing with a real pen again.  It seems so... civilized.

Focusing on sock knitting for the last month motivated me to unearth the Jelli Beenz sock and work on it again.  Last night I finished the leg, knitted the heel flap, and turned the heel.  I'm not sure I'm a fan of the flap, I may rip it out and have another go at it but, look, sock!  I finished joining Sudoku block #6 and weaved in the tails this weekend too.  Six down, three to go.

January 25--Rae Russel, Delaware Elder.  The last time I saw my grandmother Irene Pounding Waves was the summer after my freshman year of college.  Mom forced me to go along, all four of us kids crammed in the minivan with the luggage.  My nearest brother, Tim, two years and eight days younger than me, sprawled across the way-back seat with his headphones clamped on his ears like he was on life support.  The littles, Gina, seven, and Dougie, four and a half took up the second row of seats with their booster car seats.  That left me riding shotgun next to Mom.  Dad stayed home.  He had to work.  I wanted to work too.  Mrs. Sampson needed help at her grocery store parking lot plant business and she said I could work as many hours as I wanted.  It was easy work and I liked plants so I was all set to start but Mom said first I had to go see Grandma Irene, that she was old and sick and wouldn't be around much longer.  I thought if I had to hear Grandma's rambling stories about how it was in the old days I would scream.

It is so dim and so dreary today that my instinct is to burrow under the covers and just let it pass but I have to go to work because Mrs. Boss is off diving in Dominica this week and somebody has to work.  That'd be me.  I'm off.
--Barbara