Keepin' Busy

We are well into winter, with its short daylight hours and long nights.  I start getting more depressed this time of year - especially after the abrupt halt of fun activities leading up to Christmas and the New Year.  One thing that I typically do in the (long, long) evenings this time of year, is puzzles...or if I get a new set for Christmas...Legos.

Luckily, I did get a new Lego set for Christmas, the Himeji Castle.  It is already finished, but it was fun to do and fun to play with the lights now that it is finished.

We have had snow on and off for the past few weeks...about 4.5 inches of snow for New Year's Eve... requiring L's party guests to spend the night.  Following that, we had a big thaw, with temps on Friday topping out in the mid-60's.  Today it is cold and snowing again.  We are getting whiplash around here!  While walking in the snow last week, I found this interesting print in the snow.  It looks to me like a bird of prey (likely a red tailed hawk, as we have lots of them around here) caught a tiny beast in the snow!

The other after Christmas activity that always happens is the Putting-Away-of-Christmas-Gifts, which occasionally requires the Clearing-Out-of-Old-Crap activity.  I had actually done a bunch of the second activity well before Christmas, and stuff had been sitting around in boxes in our storage area for a couple of months, making it difficult to get to the wrapping paper!  In addition, I could no longer close the door to the garage closet where we keep the recycling and burnable trash.  So last week one day became the Getting-Rid-of-All-That-Stuff day.  I took 4 boxes of stuff to Goodwill, and dropped off the recycling on the way, since we no longer have a recycling facility in our area, and also burned the burnable trash in the incinerator.  I put all of the seats in the Highlander down, and the back was completely full!  So.  Much.  More.  Space!

Of course, since I was at Goodwill, I had to look around a bit.  I came home with a complete set of "Planet Earth" DVD's that looks new, a 3 disc set of "Finding Dory", and a brand new puzzle for a grand total of $11.38.

It came in a cute little box that looks like a book!

Currently, I am waiting for JP and J to let me know that they are on their way home from the city so that I can start dinner.  J is coming home to have a combined birthday celebration for L and me.  L slaved all evening yesterday baking a Turtle Cake for the occasion.  

Tomorrow, L heads back to work.  JP and I will take J back to the city, but first will take her and her roommate to pick up a second hand kiln that we will be storing here until they have space/need for it.  We already have J's used pottery wheel in the barn.  They are gradually acquiring the things they will need for their own studio one day.

L and I also put together this puzzle.  It was also thrifted, and was missing a piece.  😞

I'm staying busy enough lately that I haven't yet sunk too far down into the doldrums.  Let's hope it stays that way!

Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal

The above quote is from "Home Alone 2" - the first "Home Alone" movie is in our regular Christmas rotation.  Another favorite of mine is "A Christmas Story."  I just finished reading the book that the movie was based on, In God We Trust:  All Others Pay Cash, by Jean Shepherd.  I was disappointed that the book did not include the famous tongue on the flag pole scene, or the swearing during the tire change scene.

It has been very cold again, temperatures in the teens, and we got 3-4 inches of snow last night.  The chickens are doing fine, although they do not like to go outside in the snow.  They are not particularly filthy animals, but they are pretty dirty.  We get 7 eggs from the 7 hens on most days.  We have these very nice and clean nest boxes that 6 of the hens always lay in, but one lady insists on creating her own nest on the floor!

J was able to come down to help decorate the new Christmas tree the Monday before Christmas.  Stella was obviously NOT in a holiday mood at the time!

My parents and J's friend, P, were here for Christmas dinner, which was delicious.  JP did a strip steak roast in the sous vide and then grilled the outside for a nice crunch, which we devoured with a bit of compound butter, along with melting potatoes, and asparagus with hollandaise sauce.

Shallot and Parsley Butter (Recipe from America's Test Kitchen)

- 4 T unsalted butter, softened                

- 1 small shallot, minced                         

-1 med garlic clove, minced                   

- 1 T finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

- 1/4 t table salt                                        

- 1/4 t ground black pepper                      

Mash all ingredients together with a fork in a small bowl, then dollop onto wax paper and roll tightly into a cylinder and twist the ends closed.  Store in the refrigerator but remove it to soften slightly about 10 min before using.

J had to return to the city the day after Christmas, and JP had to work.  I drove J back to her apartment and then visited the nearby Oriental Grocery where she used to work.  I had a short list of things I needed, but browsed for a while, wondering about some of the more unusual items, such as these:

L's 20th birthday was 2 days after Christmas.  JP was supposed to be off, but got called in for 4 hours as the clinic was super busy.  I made L's favorite cake, Tres Leches Cake, and we had a small celebration so she could open a few of her gifts.  We will have a combo party for she and I when J can come home again later this month.

We have still been in party mode this week, as it is New Year's and work schedules have been a bit more lax for some of us.  L invited several friends over for a New Year's Eve party, and they stayed overnight due to the above mentioned snow.  This made it a good time to stay in and enjoy some of my Christmas gifts:

Cocoa with cookie man

I got these fun glow-in-the-dark plant magnets!

Cozy socks by the fire...

So here is wishing you all a warm and happy New Year!