merry christmas

to the intrepid women of the gothenburg garden club
the phone calls started around 8:00 tuesday morning - should we?? shouldn't we?? our christmas party was on the calendar for noon yesterday. even though the rest of the state was shut down these ladies didn't want to miss their salad luncheon, or navigate the process of rescheduling - a tough prospect these days. at one point it was called off and charlie and i settled in (still in my jammies)to relax - snow day!!
we met. a 1/2 hour earlier than scheduled. i got the call(still in my jammies) about 10:30 (?) and realized i had 1 hour to shovel enough snow to leave my driveway, shower, dress and make a salad!! Nancy called with an offer for a ride, the salad was assembled, some snow was moved and i donned my party finery. everything was delicious. there was more than enough food and plenty of laughter as we sat watching the snow pile up outside arlene's window.
we had around 7 inches of powdery, fine snow. i made a dent in my christmas cards, did some cleaning, admittedly wasted a significant amount of time. i'll be shoveling when i finish here but it doesn't look too bad. the wind overnight left me a couple short drifts and a couple bare spots!!

change in plans

the wind is howling and snow flying today. i was supposed to go to north platte this afternoon for a meeting but after a flurry of early morning phone calls we all decided that there was nothing important enough on the agenda to drag us out in this weather. you know what that means - snow day!! i was already planning to get nothing done at home today so at this point if i accomplish anything i'm ahead of the game!!
i did enjoy a very timely conversation with naphtali. and then i figured i should at least make supper, and chili sounded so good as the tree branches were scraping against the house. so i hit the kitchen. tim and i found this cast iron dutch oven at an auction 30(?)(!) years ago and it has been our go-to pot ever since. food that simmers in here just tastes sooooo good.



we like to have something sweet in the house for..... those times that you need to have something sweet in the house. this has become a stand-by for us:
honey glazed almonds. starting with a cold oven set to 350 roast 2 cups raw almonds for 12-20 minutes.

melt together 2 tbsp butter and 1/4 cup honey


stir in the almonds and coat evenly.


pour onto a lightly greased sheet and cool. sprinkle with turbinado and store in an airtight container.


and while the oven is on let's add cornbread to the menu!


hope you're enjoying a seasonal day wherever you are.

change of plans

i have been looking forward to a girl trip this weekend. one sister, valerie, is combining business with a quick visit in fort dodge. naphtali, aidan and i were going to have a slumber party at the other sister's (andrea) on friday night and join valerie at mother's in fort dodge on saturday. i was thinking hobby lobby, spinach dip etc and was packed and ready to make the 7 hour drive on friday morning.

we had a snow storm.
i shoveled about 6-8 inches yesterday. reports are that everyone else made it and is having a good time.
the up side to having your plans ruined by a snow storm is that now you have a snow day which in my book means free, unaccounted-for time of my own. multiplied by the i-wasn't-even-supposed-to-be-here exponent and there should be no question of productive, run-of-the-mill tasks. no laundry. no cleaning. leave the bed unmade...

read. lounge. nap. those were my plans as i sent tim off to work yesterday.
he called me 3 times during the day. i was asked to write out the bills and get them in the mail. i made (a very good) chicken rice soup. i called andrea, my mom and naphtali to fill them in on the latest. and marg to cancel the plans for taking care of charlie at noon. there was no nap. i shoveled.
i had a harry bosch home for the day and barely finished 2 chapters.
today is off to a much better start, an earlier start than i would have liked, but better.