Multiconstruct

I was watching this pretty intense Australian movie called The Tracker when the VCR just went dead. Got it going again but now I’m blogging. Its got a grooving sound track and its a little heavy handed but good. shit. video out again. I think my DVD player is on the fritz. I guess I am more likely to cancel netflix then buy another one. It’ll be nice to stop them from dipping into my bank account. I haven’t missed directv and haven’t tried to connect the antenna I got from Harry yet. I kind of like peace and quiet.

What a great day, it was so beautiful, especially for December. The sun was out some and I hung a load of laundry out. I made soup. I used chicken stock I’d made and the turkey neck left over from Thanksgiving. There’s a lot of meat on a neck and Fido enjoyed a little integument and such. I added some water a piece and a half of celery and maybe 1/2 a cup of celeriac leaves. I chunked the celery up big. I also added herbs from the garden mostly parsley but also oregano, marjoram and wild onions. I also threw in almost a cup of lentils and cooked that until the lentils were done and turned it off.

I went shopping with Sarah and had a pleasant time at the mall and such and drove carefully through the maelstrom of pushy people on cell phones wheeling around in big SUVs. Didn’t end up getting anyone but me stuff but I got some neat stuff. I had a $15 Target card for being a good worker bee and got a metal colander (I’ve been looking at thrift stores for years and hadn’t found one) and a glass loaf pan.

I had no luck at the Shoe Department looking for a goretex or goretexlike hiking shoe. Did find one at “the locally owned shoe store that happens to be at the mall” as Sarah was an excellent mall navigator having grown up at the mall in her mom’s bookstore,  and got a new pair of Merrels for around a hundred bucks. I walk enough to justify it and I ripped the seams out of the goretex in my current two year pair when I was sinking knee deep in the mud floating the Lemine.

At the kitchen gadget store got my dough mixer I was missing from the pumpkin pies. Even a few pies will justify the expense. No luck on getting a sieve though, I’ll have to try flea markets and antique malls or else start shopping in a time machine. Stopped at Westlakes as Sarah wasn’t finding her present but I got some bathroom caulk and a cute little shot glass that also has teaspoon and tablespoon markers. Should come in handy. I did finish my soup before Michael came with some mushrooms from Harry, a few carrots, a handful of little taters, some kale, some rue Kevin made on Thanksgiving to thicken it, and garlic. Also threw in 3 or 4 semi dried thai chile peppers.

Maybe I’ll make some tea with Baileys and have a piece of my pumpkin pie. No way am I going to make one for Christmas. I’ve been eating it every day for better then half a week. Should have offered Michael a slice when he came to pick me and Fido up to go to the off leash dog trails by Cosmo park. They’re extensive with a couple good little climbs and some nice views. Goes down to the boardwalk and we hiked the extra loop by the golf course. Fido stayed pretty close and had fun playing with Olive. My face feels windblown from the brisk day and my new shoes have some inaugural mud but performed well on the muddy hills.

I could’ve gotten more done on the Christmas front but it was a fun day, the dog had a good time, and I got a lot of other stuff done. I planted the rest of the 50 pack tulips I got at a discount earlier this month. I continued to fold them into the strawberry patch and pull grass. Need to get in and clip up the white sage gone amok and plant another six pack and I’m done with that project. Probably after Christmas though, I’ve really gotta get wrapping and follow through on an idea.

Expect to hear more from me and of course the annual tradition of the holiday letter. Probably would have done it already but it was a somber year here at Leslie Lane. And with all the magic and the growth and getting better at standing on our own two feet, or four feet really for some, it is still worth celebrating a new year coming on. Hope you can make it for some lucky new years dinner, mimosas perhaps, Baileys and home roasted coffee, and weather permitting a fire. Any time after 3 would be lovely and if you get no more invitation then this, consider yourself invited.