Thursday, December 14, 2017

It's Time

Inspirational song: Up All Night (Boomtown Rats)

I didn't intend to stay up super late tonight, but I think I'm glad I did. I complained heartily this week about how warm the weather has been, and lo, out of the blue (or gray, as it were), it is now snowing lightly outside. It clouded over this afternoon, and as my daughter and I were walking across a parking lot, I heard her say, "Well, now they say 60%." There wasn't snow in the forecast any time I looked in the last week, not for today, but here it is. Just before midnight it started hinting at flakes, and now the road is wet, the grass and flower beds have a lacy white drape, and there's a fine mist of  falling snow visible in the streetlight. It is time to forgive Mother Nature. She wasn't trying to punish us with warm weather. She was just giving us an opportunity to truly appreciate the snow when it came.

It occurred to me halfway through the day just how far into December it is now. I have presents I'm making for several people who live out of state. If I'm going to finish them and get them in the mail on time, I have to kick things into high gear. I went shopping with my daughter to get the last of the, er, "ingredients" shall we say? We poked around the hardware store front to back, looking at everything from tools to the huge kitchen section. We went to a chain craft store. We were somewhat disappointed with the things we found (or failed to find), but got enough to press on for now. I've been working on crafting and personalizing and planning several things since I got home, and it's probably good that I'm a bit wired and unable to sleep. I have so much to do, I shall be sitting up in bed, doing handwork while I work my way farther through the stored up Dr Who cache on the DVR.

I want to make Christmas cookies. I've been craving speculaas, the super spicy shortbread cookies traditionally eaten around St Nicholas Day. I made them for the first time during the last winter holidays when I was still eating wheat. Since then, I've practiced a couple of times making them gluten and/or grain free. I think I can perfect them this year. I was taught to shape them in the simplest possible way, rolling them out and cutting rectangles the size of a business card. While we were rummaging through the hardware store kitchen section, I found a gnome shaped cookie cutter. That sealed the deal. I'm going to be baking this week, spicy little gnome cookies. I wish they were already done.


(This is Harvey's brother Ziggy, who climbed up a curtain that had a photo backdrop tucked on it.)


(Harvey pretending that he is the "good" brother)

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