all for swinging you around

Cyclamens, January 2006.

As my pal, Y would say --righty oh. What a day I have had - calculating populations at risk from inundation waves - always a happy topic, going to my seminar on representations of Rome and sneaking out at lunch to actually see the sunlight. Wow, what a concept - leaving in the middle of the day to run silly errands and to photosynthesize.

Now I must bid you all adieu to do the mundane tasks involved in getting ready for tomorrow.

nm

relentless

When I was a young buckette and was a sea going one, I was sort of excited to finally get to work in the Bering Sea. However, one day, one of my work colleagues described the Bering to me as being grey. Basically, he held up a grey file folder in front of my face and said "This is the what the Bering Sea is like - the sky is grey, the water is grey and there is no difference between the two". Well, my experience up there was not that grey. On certain days, it was beautiful, sunny and calm and nothing like the greyness that we have experienced here in Seattle in the last twenty three days.

On way in today it was grey upon grey. Grey sky, with darker grey clouds overlaying the mountains and grey asphalt on my way to work. I try and get in before eight thirty most days, but these days, it seems I'm getting in later and later just to experience a bit of lightness before going into my interior office for the day. The forecast says rain for the next week, unless things change, we're going to beat the 1953 record. Nice if you like that kind of thing, I guess.

I'm happy to say that at least this week I'll experience a few hours above the clouds flying and that may improve my mood.

nm

comfort food 2

TH and I love tapioca and tonight was definitely a tapioca night - rainy and windy. I don't mean that wierd tapioca that is made by Jello and is not only full of big irregular glutinous chunks and tastes of cornstarch and fake vanilla that they plopped on your lunch tray in elementary school. It is my opinion that a real homemade tapioca is something to be celebrated. Smooth, not too sweet and real with the small pearls. I make a chocolate version, which I like when it is still warm.

Here is the classic recipe with my own notes:

3 T small tapioca (INSTANT)
1/3 cup sugar (I use only 2-3 T)
2 3/4 cup milk (1% is fine)
1 egg (beaten)
1 t vanilla
2 T dutch processed cocoa (I used the new Hershey's Special Dark, but any is fine)

In a pan (heavy bottomed) combine milk, egg, tapioca and sugar and stir together. Add in cocoa and whisk it in. This is where using a bigger pan is a good thing. Let the mixture sit for at least five minutes to combine.

Over medium heat with constant stirring, bring the mixture a boil and let it continue to boil for a minute. The balls will start to rise and the whole thing will start to thicken. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour into containers and enjoy hot or cold.

Note: The Hershey's Special Dark cocoa purchase was sort of a mistake. I was surprised when I opened the container and saw its color. Its quite dark and may not translate well in some recipes, but in a brownie, delish.

worker bees

Daphne Odorata, January 2006.

Sunday night is one of my least favorite times of the week. It really starts if I happen to open the Parade section of the Times and see the Howard Huge cartoon. When I see that St. Bernard doing something silly, I know its over -- there is homework to be done and all the fun is over. Even as an adult, I still get morose when I see Howard, it means that Monday is back to the same old stuff.

What didn't we do this weekend?

The rain held off today (Sunday) until nearly four. We managed to finish planting bulbs (not a word,folks), rake up more leaves, feed the ever hungry worms, deal with cutting up the christmas tree for mulch and dead head plants. I planted peas in hopes the maybe they'll make it. If not, well, I'll do it again. Its still early I know.

We also managed to clear out my study (mostly) in hopes of getting in there this week and starting the painting process. Our main floor bathroom is now a sea of boxes and in the whole process I have managed to locate a few gems that I have yet to read, so I am excited. However, I am currently also exhausted. At least the hardest part is over, that room is a pain to empty as it is floor to ceiling bookcases. It should be lovely when it is repainted and the floors refinished.

Other than that, nothing more than the mudaneness of laundry, cooking (jam, pizza, soup and stock), sorting and purging. Note to self: Ironing thirty placemats and napkins in one sitting is too many. I am quite content as travel and craziness follow in the next few weeks, so catching up with life at home is okay.

Now, back to sitting with Nigel's Appetite and trying to get motivated to finish putting back the guest bedroom to its pre-Christmas shape.

nm

peek a boo

We saw blue sky this morning for a few nanoseconds. It was amazing. In the emerald city, we have had twenty days straight with measurable precipitation. This is not a record, but it can be a bummer. I was happy to see a shadow this morning and on my way to the Winter market saw the first of many crocuses (crocii?) to bloom in the lawn.

The winter market is a great things - we loaded up on tulips, cabbage, arugula, pears, carrots and potatoes. Good hearty basics that we will transform into a few yummy side dishes this week. We have also gone out on the hunt for boxes. We're not moving, but having our floors refinished on the main floor of our house and that means basically moving everything and we have alot of books. It also means painting my study which dear readers could use a bit of jazzing up...

So, off to Ace I go in search of some color with a name like "dry sandstone over bile green" from some Home and Garden TV host's collection. Hmm, maybe I'll invite over R. with her great eye to give me a suggestion or three.

Have a great and productive Saturday.

nm

latest obsession

Suduko love. Image from http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk

Okay, its been a long week and I admit it after a yummy bowl of tortilla soup crafted by TH, I'm knackered. Tonight I will relax with the puzzle that you see everyone hunched over these days - a suduko. I first saw these in London in August and wondered why anyone would waste time trying to figure out the way to fit 1-9 in each box and in each row and column. Well readers (the four of you I know of), it is addicting and confounding. I spend a goodly amount of time on planes these days sudukoing with the sounds of Aimee Mann, Cowboy Junkies, New Pornographers going through my head. For one thing, it makes you think in a different way, I like that.

This year, I have the suduko a day calendar on my desk, its not elegant, but its a nice way to keep my sane during short breaks in the work day.

Once again, I'll say -- Try it, you'll like it.

nm

spring planting

Kitchen Garden at Blue Hill at Stone Barns - Pocanito Hills, New York, September 2005.

Okay, it is a little early and really really wet in the Emerald City, but the seed catalogs are coming fast and furious and on same days I believe the same can be said true about spring. I have already ordered some replacement raspberry canes for TH's christmas present, the first crocuses are starting to pop up, so I'm thinking ahead to what we're going to plant and where we're going to do it.

Things are starting to change in the back garden of chez nm, with some new beds to build and one day (I hope) we'll consider constructing the JCDM memorial library with the RPMM terrace in front. The beds are a must do, the old ones are falling apart. Anyhow, it makes us stop and think about what we're really trying to accomplish back there.

We grow lots of stuff in our nearly 800 square feet of PPatch we cultivate each year, so other than the desire to run out and pick a tomato, some parsely and basil for dinner, we can take care of most everything else at Picardo. I think this year I'll make sure the beans we plant are ones we like and ones that will pickle well. I know that I'll stick to canning type tomatoes with a few slicers and saucers. We'll continue planting pumpkins and hubbard squashes and hopefully put in a few rows of carrots for our new dog in hopes he will love them as much as Jacques did. The seed catalogs give me inspiration and hope that I'll wake up one morning at 6:20 and it will be light and bright out and I can return home in the light, change clothes and run up to the garden to weed, water and pick the first few peas and some lettuce.

Here are some great seed resources out there for the gardener:

Territorial Seeds - great for the Northwest

Johnny's Seeds - amazing selection

Seeds of change - great old seed varieties

Abundant Life - great old seeds varieties, rare ones

Happy dreaming.

nm

little miracles

Collismo XL ready to go! Paris, December 2005.

There is something about giving someone something to mail and hope that they will actually do it. In my case, it is also learning to trust that something that I ask someone to do will be done, that is my box is not sitting in a coat closet waiting to be mailed. Well, my second collismo has arrived full of silly toys from muji, bars of chocolate from bespoke chocolatiers, some really heavy books and some fleur de sel with herbes de Provence. I'm thinking of a quick trip to Paris soon just to bring back the fleur de sel that Poilane sells by the kilo. Imagine that. Even I would check my bag for that joy!

So, I now have my Larousse du chocolat and some little guide books from the Paris est à nous collection that I really like and I hope you will too. As with the Larousse, you will need more than a passing knowledge of French, but they are great little guides, great for trip planning and small enough to carry around.

This trip we picked up Les meilleurs restos à petits prix (good but inexpensive restaurants), Cuisiner comme un chef à Paris (How to cook like a chef in Paris) and lastly, to add to our ever growing fondness for Parisien chocolate -- Paris Chocolat. You can peruse more of their selections at the Parigramme site.

Well, I think I have my work cut out for me. TH is asking for madeleines and I may just have to try the chocolate and lemon ones in Larousse.!

nm

oh joy

Moss detail. January 1, 2006.

Back to work after a slacker month (one week of work, ten days or so of vacation, being sick (really), christmas, being sick (really), new years)). I can't say I'm very excited, but I guess I'll just start in and see what happens at the end of the day.

Must improve mood. Must really improve mood for everyone's sake.

Other than that, still fighting this cough. Going to see the doctor today.

Have an excellent Tuesday, unlike JK, I did not go to the gym yesterday and it started pouring when we started up towards the library/top pot, so we got into the car. No gold star for me. J, I'll mail you a sheet today.

However, I'm on it this morning. Really.

nm

calendar girls

Hydrangea quercifolia, January 1, 2006.

TH and I spent part of yesterday putting away paperwork for 2005 and scouring the web for dates of note -- meeting dates in the future, dinners, academic calendar dates, plant sales, music festival dates and garden walk dates. Why? Because we needed to fill in the calendars.

This is not to say we live and die by the calendar, I am forced at work to use a on line calendar and mine is pitifully empty unlike some of my east coast compatriots (I like it like that), but having everything written down is both useful and at the same time restrictive. TH keeps a three month calendar that puts everything into one place - this is a great technique, but I wish it was more user friendly for the the novice user/reader of her age old system.

We do the same to plan trips. Right now, we're trying to coordinate a quick trip to Chicago with JK to go to the Berghoff before it closes. Should we go on MLK's bd or just do it is a quick overnight knowing that TH and I will be in Chicago for a week in March? I haven't even started planning any long distance travel because nothing excites me right now...

Anyhoo, there is still something lovely about putting the first commitment in pen for the new year even if its as tiny as the first crocus siting of the year -- yesterday!

Have fun doing the same folks.

nm

Happy New Year

Galanthus nivalis, January 1, 2006.

Happy New Year from chez nm.

Started the morning out with some fabulous smoked halibut that M. smoked for us (yum) on a freshly made baguette that P. dropped by yesterday when he brought Miss M. and Mr. J over for Christmas presents. J's brownies rocked as well.

I think the food year is starting out most excellently here. I take it as a good sign of things to come. We were thinking of going to CUH for a putter, maybe when it stops blowing and raining horizontally.

Take care all...

nm

mulching to cover

TH and I did some garden clean up today, nothing too exciting, but realized that everything does better with a bit of mulch -- bulbs to keep the evil squirrels away is a good example. Things look pretty decent considering this spring we're going to have to build some new beds and rethink the garden and if we want to build a taller fence against our northern neighbors.

I can't say our garden will win any awards for its design, beauty or plant collections, but it suits me just fine. I saw that the hellebores are really starting to pop up and the daphne is showing color. Our sarcocca is smelling very lovely and in the squirrels cool their jets, we may see some early bulbs soon enough.

Tonight, we're going to Nell's for dinner. Honestly, we have eaten at home twice in the last eight days and those were haphazard meals. I guess its nice to be festive and eating close to home will help. We went to the first of the winter farmer's markets and picked up some stuff for the new year. I plan to start it off with a nice tom yum gai, a sauteed chard dish and something that uses a roasted chicken.

Happy New Year y'all. May 2006 blow 2005 out of the water.

Really.

nm

Review time?

I got this idea from Jen, who got it from her friend Amanda's blog . I could bore you with the pathetic details of my life, but this is better.

JANUARY

1. Did you have a new year's resolution this year?: Sure, lose weight, get a new job, not start shooting up heroin or start smoking. I managed three out of the four, all but the weight.
2. Who kissed you at midnight?: TH, if we were both awake. I can't remember.
3. Did it snow where you live?: No, thankfully.
4. Have you ever been to Times Square to watch the ball drop?: No, I love NY , I hate NYE.

FEBRUARY

1. Who was your valentine?: I had three - TH, Jcdm and Rppm
2. What did your valentine get you?: I can't remember, I think it was a external hard drive.
3. When you were little, did you buy valentines for your whole class?: Of course, didn't everyone?

MARCH

1. Are you Irish? No.
2. Did you wear green on St. Patty's Day?: No.
3. What did you do for St. Patty's Day?: I can't remember, I may have been in Rome or was it London. I can't remember.

APRIL

1. Do you like the rain?: I have to, I live here.
2. Did you play an April Fool's joke on anyone this year?: No.
3. Did you get tons of candy on Easter?: Yes, a very large egg from Cammerino that had a very small bear in it. We must have hidden 300 eggs for our easter egg hunt this year. I found one a few months ago!

MAY

1. What's your favorite kind of flower?: spring flowereing bulbs and hellebores
2. Do you like the spring? Of course, I'm a life long gardener.
3. Finish the phrase: "April showers bring...": plant sales every weekend.
4. What would you think of as a spring color?: The chartreuse of the first flush of bracts on the euphorbia and the butter yellow of the ranunculus that pop up in the lawn.

JUNE

1. What year did you graduate from school?: Uni - 87, grad school the first time 93, the second 98.
2. Did you go on any vacations last June?: Nope, I had a bit of business travel.

JULY

1. What did you do on the 4th of july?: Flew back from Woods Hole/Boston in the morning to have dinner at home with some friends and run to the secret parking garage to watch fireworks.
2. Did you go on any vacations during this month?: Nope, all work related travel.

AUGUST

1. Did you do anything special to end off your summer?: Went to London for a few days to see my aunties.
2. What was your favorite summer memory of '05?: Nothing positive as the spring/early summer was hell.
3. Did you go swimming a lot in the summer?: No, I wish I had.
4. Did you go to the beach a lot?: Not at all.

SEPTEMBER

1. Did you attend school/college in '05?: Yup, Winter, Spring and Fall - finishing up my certificate in Preservation Planning and a project management class.
2. Who is/was your favorite teacher?: I have two that stand out, one is DCS who is a professor in Landscape Architecture at the University of Washington and Gail Dubrow, who helped guide my thesis work. Unfortunately, she's moved on to deanship and it is a loss to scholarship in historic preservation in general.
3. Did you like fall better than summer?: Yes, because fall here is much prettier.

OCTOBER

1. What was your favorite halloween costume ever?: When Jacques went as a s'more.
2. What's your favorite candy?: Depends, I like anything sour.
3. What did you dress up like this year?: Nothing, I was at home handing out candy and getting ready for a redeye to DC.

NOVEMBER

1. Whose house did you go to for Thanksgiving?: My parents.
2. Do you like stuffing?: Yes.
3. What are you thankful for?: My family, my health, my parent's health and love, my partner , our relationship, our friends, my education and as hokey as it is, having the "freedom" to travel throughout the world .

DECEMBER

1. Do you celebrate Christmas?: Yup.
2. Have you ever been kissed under mistletoe?: Yup.
3. What did you want this year for christmas?: My condo to sell.
4. What's the best present you ever got for christmas?: I can't remember, they are all excellent.
5. Do you like cold weather?: Not really.
6. How would you rate your year on a scale of 1-10?: 5. Not too great, i'm sorry to say. However, there is always room for improvement. ;)

Portland wrap up

Portland was great. I love this city, did nothing of note other than eat, eat, eat, window shop and eat. We didn't have a car, so we did not venture to the Hawthorne hood or the NW 21st and 23rd areas, next time, with car.

Where did we eat?

clarklewis -- the Portland darling, all over the foodie news and lived up to its reputation at lunch. We had both read reviews of dinner there -- so dark you had to use a flashlight to read the menu in the middle of the room, loud and poor service. None of these issues were apparent at lunch. I would give it two thumbs up! We took Max from the airport to near the convention center and then took a bus there, how is that for dedication?

A small lemon tarte at TH's Portland hangout, the Pearl Bakery for a mid afternoon snack. Yum. Tangy, small with the right amount of crust/curd.

Window shopping around the Pearl District (where did all those chains come from?), a frustrating Powells visit (where did all those cell phones come from?) , a nap, a bit of book reading, followed by a visit to Pioneer Place mall. Mind you I said visit, not a shopping trip!

Dinner followed at Park Kitchen, in the North Park Blocks. It was amazing. We had the chef's tasting menu which was really good - baccala fritters served with malt vinegar, duck crepes to start. That was followed by two salads with different things including a duck liver vinegarette (I'm telling you this nose to tail thing can be a bit strange). Our mains were great - pork for me and lamb for TH. Dessert was also great- chocolate pot de creme for TH and a pumpkin/cranberry upsidedown cake for me. I would highly recommend it there.

We were going to toddle to the Heathman bar for a drink, but the night was getting cool and I was getting tired.

Next time.

One more trip to Pearl and then a not as bumpy ride home.

Where did we stay?

Westin Portland. This is a serviceable hotel, we got a decent room based on TH's status (better than mine) and since they now allow dogs, may be our hotel chain of choice in a few months.:) There are lots of great hotels in Portland -- go to the visit Portland Big Deals site to find more.

How did we get there?

The SEA/PDX shuttle (free microbrewery beer) and MAX. Max rocks - 1.80 from airport to downtown. I love it.

I'm done flying for the year. No tickets booked yet for the new year, I'm working on it!

nm

meet the f*&@$ers

Or, should I say our new neighbors.....

Looks like two more college boys complete with a low rider, tinted black windows and Texas plates.

I think the house owners of the rental next to our house really really hate us because if we have a problem with their quality tenants, we tell them - morning, noon or midnight.

Good thing we have their number memorized, the number of the non-emergency police, the fire department and the neighbor on the other side is on the same side of the hating them as we are.

Can it be possible to get renters who 1. will not be young and stupid 2. will bring in their garbage cans in a timely manner 3. be quiet when entering and leaving the house 4. realize that they have moved into a neighborhood, not frat row?

Sigh.

I really think they hate us.

nm

lessen the impact

Zuppa di Verdure, Rome December 2005.

We had an interesting conversation at dinner on Boxing Day about organic v. locally grown food, that is if organic food is trucked from a 1000 miles away is it necessarily better for the environment than conventionally grown food grown 20 miles away. Which is a better choice for the planet?

Anyways, it got me thinking. I know that this concept has been beaten to death by the well known food bloggers who have taken up a challenge of eating locally (100 mile radius), could you do it?

I think we could.

We can get locally grown chickens, eggs, beef and lamb. Fish may be a problem, but could we count G's washington troll caught salmon into the mix? Cheese as well.

Veggies -- we would be okay most of the year with farmer's markets and we would be eating a lot of kale, cabbage and mache in the winter. Carrots too. We would have to wait until early spring for sprouting broccoli and we could definitely grow that as well.

The hot weather veggies would be preserved. No problem since I already can tomatoes for sauce and salsa, I could do some whole ones as well (cursing as I did it). We get lots of peppers in the summer and fall, so I could roast and freeze those. I still have squash from the fall as well, both frozen and fresh.

Herbs we still have until the first hard frost. Lots of pesto in the freezer as well.

As for fruit, we have tons of rhubarb, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, pie cherries etc. in the freezer and we would be eating these things all fresh from the garden during the season. I am jealous of those who took the challenge in the Bay Area because of the citrus, our little trees just couldn't keep up.

I'm trying to figure out the best time to do this challenge. I would say early summer would be most fun, the cheese at the markets are all nice and the stuff from the garden is amazing -- asparagus, arugula, cherries, fava beans.
For more information on eating locally please see life begins after 30's blog or the Locavores web site. Me, I'm going to check out Nabhan's Coming Home to eat today at Powells. Shop locally as well kids. :)

clean sweep

Amaryllis, December 2005.

I have reclaimed the couch in my study. Almost. This is good, I have a pile to shred, most everything is put back into place and I may be able to see the top of my flat surfaces by the end of the night!

I'm going to work soon. I am feeling better and hope to do much the same at work, clear out email, start on a project, update calendars and scope out a project.

Dinner tonight will be yummy I hope, left over soup, artichokes, salad and roast pork with potatoes. We're off to Portlandia, weather and all (no weather) tomorrow am for a visit to TH's city of transit and hopefully to eat some beautiful food and to see a lovely walkable city.

I really wanted to get a new calendar this year for my office, but decided to give up curious george and go for the free Ace Hardware one. Seems strange, i may change my mind, but its free and has some useful coupons.

Are you the kind of person to buy a calendar as soon as you see it person (say, October) or do you wait until they are discounted after Christmas?

nm

Boxing day

Patient Mr. Scruffy, the Idaho potato terrier, Christmas 2005.

Dinner tonight will be festive, but different. We managed to get MM to make us a nice big pork loin, so we'll be feasting on Bruce Aidell's recipe from his meat cookbook for tuscan herb infused pork loin with a few less garlic cloves.

I still feel like crap and sound like a tubercular, so TH has grounded me from talking or moving for the rest of the day. I actually feel fine, I just sound terrible.

Here is the recipe - it makes an amazing sandwich the following day.

Tuscan Herb Infused Pork Loin
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided use
1 (4-pound) boneless pork loin, trimmed of excess fat
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh rosemary or 2 tablespoons dried
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage or 1 tablespoon dried
2 teaspoons crushed fennel seed, see cook's notes
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
10 large garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced

Pan Sauce:
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken or beef broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook's notes: To crush fennel seed, process in a small food processor or place in a heavy, zipper-style plastic bag and pound with a mallet.

Preliminaries: Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

1. Brush meat with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Combine herbs, fennel seed, salt and pepper. Rub over meat. Drizzle meat with additional 1 tablespoon olive oil.

2. Brush shallow roasting pan with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil and scatter sliced garlic on bottom to provide a bed for the roast. Place roast on garlic, fat side up. Place in middle of preheated oven for 15 minutes. Turn oven to 300 degrees. Roast 1 1/4 hours longer or until instant-read thermometer reads 150 degrees. Remove from oven and cover loosely with aluminum foil.

3. Prepare sauce. Pour off fat and add wine to the roasting pan. Bring to boil over high heat, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. Add broth and cook until the sauce is reduced by half. If desired, strain the sauce. Taste and add salt and/or pepper as needed. Slice pork and spoon sauce over the top.

Yield: 8 servings

Nutritional information (per serving): 355 calories, 22 grams fat, 7.1 grams saturated fat, 102 milligrams cholesterol, 1,007 milligrams sodium, 58 percent calories from fat

Source: "The Complete Meat Cookbook" by Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly (Houghton Mifflin, 1998, $35)


Served with roast potatoes, stuffing and green beans it should be nice way to cap off the mid part of the festive period.

Cool things to note:

I noticed today that the sarcacocca is starting to bloom, should smell great in a few.
Oh, and TH found the first snowdrops! whoo hooo!

later.

nm

great minds think alike

TH and I each bought eachother a new rolling pin. Is that scary or what?

Cookbooks to die for and receive...

Nigel Slater's The kitchen diaries...

I saw this in London in November and TH snatched it up for a present. It is sumptuous and easy to read and very Nigel Slatery. I am already swooning at the Boxing day ideas and thinking that our menu is very flexible!

TH and I saw this in London as well, but bought it here. It is heavy.


The Silver Spoon Cookbook - now in English!

It is fabulous and very easy on the eyes. I'm thinking that dinner this week will be concocted out of this cookbook. It is a classic and well translated. I have a few cookbooks in Italian, but this will be used a lot. Only weakness -- very few desserts, I was lusting for a nice dolci section. It seems to be quite the popular gift this season!
Lastly and coming via mail .... if the PH Vendome mailed it quickly...

Imagine a whole Larousse filled with chocolate desserts!

I can't say enough about this cookbook it is a larousse and my guess is it will dragged out at least once in the middle of a dinner party to settle some kind of arguement. It is confounding , simple and complicated at the same time with some really easy recipes and very well designed. However, it is in french so you should have a better than average understanding of cooking terms to use it. I will probably use it in conjunction with Robert Linxe's La Maison du Chocolat cookbook. I should have carried it home, oh well. I hope it makes it home soon. It does have the Pierre Herme passionfruit macaron recipe which is great.

Good eating. I better get back to the grind and start getting the plates for dinner. ;)

Nice break in the rain this afternoon. I managed to get out there and plant some christmas bulbs and deadhead the last of the frosted plants. I notice the purple hellebores are starting to bloom and the H. foetidus are quickly following.

nm

merry chanukamas

That is it.

Happy holidays, festivus, whatever, just as long as you spend some quality time today just vegging I'll be happy for you.

Rainy here in the Emerald City - I worry about bassets under camellia bushes (cats too) and people. Looking at the forecast discussion at the National Weather Service Site, things don't look to promising for the end to the rain. You should really read the forecasts, they are more interesting than the temps.

Ran around like crazy yesterday, went to the Market for buche pickup, Madison Park for a few last minute things and cyclamens, home to bake fruitcake (looked good), run to C&B to buy two last minute presents (amazingly, found parking and saw both my mom! and my friend M. with her two adorable kidlets, so that was very fun) and everyone was in a good mood.

Came home and started to clean up. Our house looks like a disaster area with stuff not in its place quite yet. TH managed to finish cleaning upstairs, so we put back most everything. Went over to see R&A and the kids for a bit (who knew rubber pirate ducks would be a hit?) and then went to dinner at Tulios with D&M (there is another holiday tradition that is worth keeping). Dinner was great, company was great, the obnoxious football fans screaming like it was a sports bar was not fun. They probably are getting theirs now as the kids got them up at 6 am to open presents. Hah.

Anyhow, TH is still pretending to sleep, I'm going to sneak a few under the tree and maybe consider taking that salmon out of the freezer for dinner.

Oh, here is the fruitcake recipe - from one of my favourite UK chefs - at least everything I've made from his recipes has turned out really well and interesting.

Have a great day.

nm