Just need to talk to my friends(201)

Judith, you're right, it is better to look forward!

Iris

Good morning

Lorita I have only made dressing a couple if times. Don't recall using any egg.

Glad you and DW had a nice trip Carl.

I made monster cookies yesterday. If I have a chance going to make simple round sugar cookies today.

Good Morning Rockers!

Goodness yesterday was busy for everyone.

HB, so good that you locked on to a good NP. You probably prevented a hospital stay! Hope Mom is better today.

Iris, holiday melancholy is a real thing. I try to just get busy. An avoidance strategy I'm sure but it works for me. And coming here. That helps too. Hopefully you feel better today. Sending you some big hugs.

Lorita, Eggs and dressing. I've only used Stovetop once or twice and don't remember using eggs. But homemade dressing? Yes to the raw egg. And a boiled egg. The number of eggs is relative to the amount of dressing. I use one egg of each kind to one pan of cornbread/4 slices of white bread and a handful of something - either biscuit or breadcrumbs.

Carl, the gingerbread outing sound fun!

Judith, I browsed and combined recipes and then "doctored" on the bisque until I was happy with it. One recipe called for adding goat cheese and I did that. I could taste the "twang" and liked it. But I knew DH would not, lol. So, I futzed around and added some molasses and a bit of white sugar. It worked, you couldn't taste the sugar but the twang was gone. I did not add Cognac or sherry. I didn't have any but also since I was taking some to my Aunt, I didn't want to have to tell her it had alcohol in it, lol. I did chop the shrimp and added creamed corn and corn kernels. It had a nice consistency and tasted good.

Ron, I was channeling your presence as I made the shrimp bisque, lol. I was thinking about your gumbo and also your red beans and rice. We miss you here.

Mint, I have cheated and got store-bought sugar cookie dough. The great grand will be here on the 15th as she get out of school early. She loves to be in the kitchen and this is just so much easier.

DH worked on a backhoe most of the day yesterday. It's running. Blew a hydraulic hose but he went to some supply house out here in the country and they made him one. He will work on that today between rain showers. He came in just to the kitchen door to tell me he was taking his work clothes off in the garage since he was covered in a shower of hydraulic fluid when the hose burst. I could still smell him, lol.

I spent the day inside cooking and cleaning, except to go get my chickens out of their house and feed them. Did the sheets, all the laundry, the floors vacuumed and mopped, cleaned the oven, washed up all the dishes and took food to my Aunt.

Since Mint is making cookies and I have a peach cobbler and ice cream, I think we should have a dessert party on the porch this afternoon! Who's coming???

Have a good day everyone, stay warm and dry. See you later for dessert!

Oliver Kitty says Merry Christmas 🎄❤️

Goodmorning , finally got the boot off my foot a d it feels so good to walk without it.

I will thank you

Sure as hell does now I can walk without a limp.

Sorry I forgot the photo

Eaglemom— We'll all be waiting on your review of the concert this morning. I do hope it went well. Dad always loved live music. One of the only pictures we have of him smiling in the last 5 years of his life was singing along with a DJ who was playing "Blueberry Hill". It was "their song".

I love the idea of the calendar. It's funny. DH was a research chemist and very meticulous at the bench. He took up painting as a hobby when he moved to this area after grad school. His stuff was never my personal jam (so many rugged landscapes), and he no longer does, but he was surprisingly talented. Maybe there's something to the systematic mindset that gets tapped in painting.

David— Congratulations on the graduation from the dreaded boot!

Lorita— Bread pudding is one of my favorites. I make an old fashioned one from the 1942 version of the Women's Home Companion Cookbook. It's on the more custardy side of the spectrum but makes a lovely dessert that isn't too dense. True confession— I am apt to enjoy it for breakfast using the excuse it's reconstructed fruit, eggs and toast. That counts as breakfast, no?

Iris— What's your bread pudding like? I have a friend from NOLA who makes hers with a separate bourbon hot sauce. She used to bring a batch to IEP meetings (special education planning for students who need differentiated instruction) for her son. She found it helped grease the wheels.

Good on you for limiting your exposure to folks who impact your mood. I was surprised that my mom told my sister's younger daughter "not to tell her sad things anymore". My niece is 41 and has pretty much destroyed her life and health with poor choices and later addiction. She, as much as anything, is why my parents opted to retire a distance away. Her good friend is being moved to AL this week. She's been unable to leave her home unassisted for at least 2 years and is now falling several times a week. Both her sons have died, her older daughter is very unwell and the younger one works fulltime and is caregiver to a DH with MS which has left friend very isolated. I think an apartment in a nice community will give her a better quality of life. And she even gets to take her sweet cat with her.

Jerilynn— Orange-boy doing orange-boy stuff is what my son would say.

Speaking of felines, now that we seemed to dodge the hospital for mom so far, her cat has decided it's her turn to be ill. She's been vomiting, not eating and hiding under the bed. I was able to get Sugar an appointment at 3pm yesterday. This was not fun. I tried in vain to get mom to agree to a mobile vet but she was adamant we take her to the vet I use. The cat hates being in a carrier. She's using my old carrier which is large enough for 2 adult himmies. She cried the entire way and even moved her bowels in protest. Kitty got an x-ray, ultrasound and bloodwork. After the tests, the vet said she heard some cracking and wheezing in her chest and saw infiltrates and a little fluid in her lungs. Same as mom. Mom is now convinced she gave the cat something. The vet tried to assure her that while possible it's unlikely. We were there almost 2 hours and after I got mom settled and back on her O2— she claimed she was fine on room air but was at 84 when I got her home. I ran to the store to pick up baby food and yogurt to hide the cat's meds in and finally made it home by 6pm. And this is for a cat who isn't particularly nice to me or my kid who is a cat whisperer.

Today has the potential to go sideways. The plumber comes to replace both my hose bibs which are not to current code, and which have hoses stuck on because of minerals in the water. That's a quick $950 for the most boring home improvement ever. It'll require shutting off the water and the poor tech will be working in the rain. Yuck. They could be here as early as 9am, so we'll all need to be showered and ready for the day. I think I'll fill a couple of my larger pots and the tub with water in case anyone needs to flush. I need to get an electrician in to replace a bad switch in the kitchen. It's the one that operates the garbage disposal so critical.

Mother sees her PCP again this afternoon for a recheck. If she's improving, she gets to go home. If she's not, she's going to the hospital. She's not being as compliant as she should. She told me her O2 was 92 on room air which is OK, but on exertion it drops. She isn't using her nebulizer either. I got it out and instructed her to use it. I wish she would be more proactive. She has the tools she needs on hand; she needs to get with the program.

Poor DS is coming down with a cold. He has his Chemistry final at 1:30pm. He's got a sore throat and very runny nose. This happens every year. He works the crowded Santa trains full of snotty preschoolers singing. Like clockwork, he comes down with a cold or flu around the 10th- 15th and then DH goes down hard with man-cold around the 18th-20th. The only time I dodged it was 2022 when DS brought home COVID. DH and mom got sick as well, but I didn't.

I should be wrapping presents, but they're in my closet and DH is still asleep. Crystal tree is up.

HB

Good morning,

Well, let me update you on the "farm" activities. DH was able to get that "free" backhoe running and I followed him home while praying the whole short distance. He's happy.

It turned into a beautiful day with sunny skies and temps in the high 60s. So I did a thing.

I was on the side by side and rode down the road to my Aunt's house. She's alone most every day. So I got her, drove her up to my house to see the new goats, the dogs, chickens and in the house for a Christmas tour! When I got her back home and settled in her chair she cried. Telling me how much fun it was. I joked that everyone in the countryside would be talking about "that JeriLynn had J out on that side by side running the roads!". She laughed and said "probably, but I enjoyed it!". And I believe she did. She laughed as the goats licked peanut butter off my finger and wanted to know how I came up with names for each of them.

Today is Doctor day for DH. Routine visit with PCP, allergy shot then we'll go to Publix Market to pick up things I need for Sunday dinner for one group of Grands and greatgrands. The two weeks before Christmas is a very busy time for folks with young and younger children. Christmas plays, concerts and church activities. My calendar is full.

I have made arrangements for Christmas Day. Everyone is staying home and we are going to visit each household with their gifts and some goodies. In/Out and home for us. No big meal, no big crowd, hopefully just a fun day and then home to rest with just each other. Fingers crossed.

Good luck with repairs today HB and hoping your DH doesn't get sick too. Everyone have a good day.

Thank You,believe me i don't miss it.