Welcome To The New Year.

No, there won't be any of that "New Year, New Me" crap here. I'm not making resolutions, I'm not embarking on any drastic lifestyle changes. I'm just going to try to survive day by day and hope that this year is better than the last one.

So how did I ring in the new year? Not at work! Chuck got to take Christmas Eve off, so the bosses gave me NYE off instead. Not that it mattered- it's not like I was going to go out and whoop it up at a party or in a bar. I spent the night ensconced on the couch, watching the Inspector Cartoons from the Pink Panther series, and catching occasional cat sightings.

Oh yeah, I have two new cats. My friend Scott needed to rehome his 10 year old boys, Remy & Boo, as his girlfriend is highly allergic to them. Personally, I'd have gotten rid of her, but that may partly explain why I'm still single. Anyway, he delivered them to me at work as I was leaving that morning. They sang me the song of their people (Who The Hell Are You And Where The Hell Are We Going And Let Me Out Of This Damned Box!) on the 10 minute ride to my house, and were hesitant to come out of their travel crates once I got them inside. I took them out one at a time and showed them where the litter box was, and then they each took off for parts unknown. Since the house is still an audition tape for Hoarders, there's lots of place for them to hide. Anyway, both boys are still hiding, but have ventured out once or twice. Remy growled at me and went back behind the couch. Boo has been a bit more adventurous and even sat in my lap for a minute. So far, Nightshade is ignoring them. Good thing, too. Scott didn't tell me that they were such chunkbutts. I swear they weigh 30 lbs each, so they're easily 2-3 times Shady's size. They're declawed, but all they have to do is lie down on her and any fight that may start will be over.


First meal of the new year: Sausage & Kale stir fry w/peppers & onions over rice

First drink of the new year: Iced English Breakfast tea

First read: a chapter of Bill Bryson's The Road To Little Dribbling: More Notes From A Small Island before I dozed off on the couch.


I had bought a bottle of hard cider from Trader Joe's to toast the new year with, but forgot all about it. So I'm going to drink it tonight on my regular night off instead. At least I remembered to take the croissants I'd bought out of the freezer and put them out to rise. Breakfast was quite tasty.

While I was waiting for the croissants to bake, I stripped my bed and put on fresh flannel sheets. (oh yeah, we finally got winter temperature weather) And discovered that my bedroom walls seem to have developed rising damp. I had to go get the paper towels and bleach spray to clean up the mildew that's grown along the walls by my bed. Moving the bed out from the wall to get at it flushed out poor Boo, who had chosen that spot to hide for a while. The heating vent by the foot of the bed is quite alluring- Malkin used to like to lie there too.

Well, by the time I was done with all that, breakfast was done. I ate my croissants and watched At Last The 1948 Show for the umpteenth time. I couldn't crawl into my nice clean 2016 bed with my 2015 dirty body, so I took a long shower and scrubbed & shampooed myself silly. By the time I was done drying my hair and applying all of my lotions & potions, I was ready to call in a day/night. The cats had all disappeared again, so I closed me door and slept fairly soundly.

Last highlight of my day before I call it quits for this post. The one tradition I uphold is my Southern Good Luck dinner on New Years Day. Black eyed Peas (I prefer field peas), greens, and cornbread. I diced some country ham pieces and fried them a bit before dividing them to simmer into the peas & greens while the cornbread baked. It was quite tasty. Nightshade surprised me by going for the buttery cornbread instead of the bits of ham. She didn't get any of either, but she tried!


Anyway, I'm taking a couple of days off next week to recharge my brain and try to do something about the mess that is my house. Wish me luck!

Stay Home Because You're Well Day

Since my bosses never want to believe that I'm sick, I wonder how they'd react if I called in for this?!?

What would I do? Read, sleep, eat, got to the bookstore if I have money or the library if I didn't. In other words, the same stuff I'd do on my regular day off, but with the added satisfaction of just not having to go to work!

Thanksgiving, hell! It's Cake Day!

Ok, fine. Here's a Thanksgiving dinner, which I might add looks NOTHING like anything my family puts together. We don't have the patience to make it pretty- we just want to EAT!

Now for the good stuff!

Carrot Cake

Chocolate Cake (my favorite)

Spice Cake, with a cream cheese icing

Apple Walnut Cake- my version is made with a cream cheese glaze, but this one looks pretty good!

Today is Go For A Ride Day

Going for a ride used to be one of my favorite things to do as a kid. Sometimes, on one of his rare days off, Daddy would announce that he felt like going for a drive and we'd scramble to the car. Never had a destination in mind, always had a good time. Well, except for the time we got t-boned in New Bern...

Button Day!

I admit it- I'm a button junkie. I love them. Somewhere in my closet is a jar full of them. I'm still mad that my Gramma's old collection got pitched. it's nice to know that I'm not alone, and that there's a day for us. I don't collect them for value, just for the way they look. I really should dig my collection out and do a craft project with them.

There's a mystery series about a button collector/seller, BTW. Kylie Logan wrote it. Here's the first book in the series:

Today is Clean Out Your Fridge Day

This is actually a fridge I could aspire to. I'm not crazy enough to post a pic of my actual fridge- my mother would have a heart attack if she stumbled across that online!

This, on the other hand, is close to what our Office fridge often looks like. We won't discuss the smell.

Work or home, this is something many of us could benefit from!

Today is Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day

This is a day I can totally get behind!
Dark chocolate with almonds is still my hands down favorite candy, although I can't eat it as much as I used to.

Today is Saxophone Day

The sax is probably my favorite instrument, so I was tickled to find that it had an official day! I'm going to celebrate by putting on some jazz cd's and letting them take my mind away. Here are some of my favorites:

Don't judge me for that last one! I really liked the track "Havana" and several others.

It's Use Your Common Sense Day!

The world would be so much better if more people used theirs!

It's also Stress Awareness Day. Most of mine is caused by people not using their common sense!

Belated Swapoween Reveal

So, I participated in the Chaotic Goddesses Halloween swap this year. What did my partner send me?

Mandy sent me a great stash of treats & decorations, as you can see. Below is the stitched piece that I got matted & framed to send to her. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I started a few other things that I wanted to send, but didn't get them finished in time, dagnabit!

Thanks to the Goddesses for another fun exchange!

It's National Cat Day!

Here's my little owner, Nightshade, as pictured when I adopted her. And here she is more recently:

Go here for more info about my new favorite holiday. The 27th was Black Cat Day- I can't believe I missed that!

Happy (1st) International Coffee Day

Apparently the 29th was National Coffee day, but I missed it because I was celebrating my dad's 82nd birthday. So, I'll celebrate this one instead!

Swapoween & Stitching Progress

So, I've signed up for another exchange with the Chaotic Goddesses! I'm looking forward to this one too. And a Halloween swap seemed like an appropriate post to share my Chat Noir progress:

I'm about halfway done with the cat itself. Hopefully I'll be working on the border the next time I post a progress update! There should be an update on my SAL piece and La FLeur in the next day or two.

Happy Bacon Day!

Bacon. Bacon. BACON. Quite possibly the best meat on the planet. I love the stuff. How can you go wrong with a day of Bacon celebration?

For more info on this, go here.

And for a delicious and unusual treat, try THIS!

For those that REALLY love their bacon, there's this:

My new motto is

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm a little hungry for some reason...

Happy International Left Hander's Day!

If you're a lefty and you know it, clap your hands! This site has some neat stuff on it, including links to buy left handed items!

Final thought for the day:

Happy National Cheesecake Day!

In honor of the "holiday", here is a bonus recipe for the week!

Cheesecake Egg Rolls

Ingredients

12 egg roll wrappers
2 blocks (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Nonstick baking spray

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425. Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick spray and set aside.
In the bowl of your mixer, combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla.
Wet the edges of an egg roll wrapper with water. Spread cream cheese mixture in the middle and fold according to egg roll wrapper directions.
FOLD AS TIGHTLY AS YOU CAN -- SEALING THE EDGES.
Place egg roll on prepared baking sheet. Spray with nonstick spray and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Bake for about 10 minutes or until dark golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving.

Excellent with chocolate or caramel sauce for dipping!

Happy 4th of July!

I don't think I'm doing anything to celebrate it. My guy and I were going to go to a movie or something, but he was informed that he has a detail at the last minute. Sigh. Hazards of dating a cop. So I'll probably just read/sleep/cross stitch/watch a movie. In other words, business as usual.

Actually, there is one more thing I need to make a point of doing...It's my beloved Uncle John's birthday! I need to call and remind him of how much I love him.

That's him on the left. Isn't he a cute old devil?!?

It's Take Your Dog To Work Day!

I used to work in an amusement park in Carolina Beach, NC. Shortly after I started, it was bought out by a rich family looking for a hobby. Among their hobbies was raising Irish Water Spaniels (which look like big poodles) and they used to bring them to work with them often. The dogs were cool, but even better than that was the fact that the new owners didn't mind the staff bringing their dogs and in fact encouraged us to! I think I was the only one who did, but my Scotty-dog loved being able to ride to the beach and go for walks when I wasn't bound to the office. He forged quite a friendship with 2 of the owner's 3 dogs- it wasn't unusual to come in and find a giant puppy pile snoozing behind my desk!

I'm pretty sure there isn't a Take Your CAT To Work day, for two reasons. A: Cats don't work, they like to watch us do it. B: Have you ever tried to jam a cat into a carrier & then listened to it sing the war songs of its people for a cross-town commute? If I did bring her to work with me, Nightshade would either spend the shift under my desk hissing mad, or disappear into the bowels of this hellhole, never to be seen again!

Yum! It's National Fudge Day!

In honor of the day, here's a recipe to try. My Aunt Julie used to make this and homemade caramels for Christmas every year. She swears this is the recipe she used, but mine has NEVER turned out as good as I remember hers being! Enjoy!

HERSHEY'S Rich Cocoa Fudge Recipe

Ingredients

3 cups sugar
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa or HERSHEY'S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
1/8 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Line 8-or 9-inch square pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan. Butter foil.
2. Mix sugar, cocoa and salt in heavy 4-quart saucepan; stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to full rolling boil. Boil, without stirring, until mixture reaches 234°F on candy thermometer or until small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water, forms a soft ball which flattens when removed from water. (Bulb of candy thermometer should not rest on bottom of saucepan.)
3. Remove from heat. Add butter and vanilla. DO NOT STIR. Cool at room temperature to 110°F (lukewarm). Beat with wooden spoon until fudge thickens and just begins to lose some of its gloss (about 7 minutes). Quickly spread in prepared pan; cool completely. Cut into squares. Store in tightly covered container at room temperature. About 64 pieces or 1-3/4 pounds.
NOTE: For best results, do not double this recipe. This is one of our most requested recipes, but also one of our most difficult. The directions must be followed exactly. Beat too little and the fudge is too soft. Beat too long and it becomes hard and sugary.

VARIATIONS:
NUTTY RICH COCOA FUDGE: Beat cooked fudge as directed. Immediately stir in 1 cup chopped almonds, pecans or walnuts and spread quickly in prepared pan.

MARSHMALLOW-NUT COCOA FUDGE: Increase cocoa to 3/4 cup. Cook fudge as directed. Add 1 cup marshmallow creme with butter and vanilla. DO NOT STIR. Cool to 110°F (lukewarm). Beat 8 minutes; stir in
1 cup chopped nuts. Pour into prepared pan. (Fudge does not set until poured into pan.)

HIGH ALTITUDE DIRECTIONS:
-- Increase milk to 1-2/3 cups
-- Use soft ball cold water test for doneness OR Test and read thermometer in boiling water, subtract
difference from 212°F. Then subtract that number from 234°F. This is the soft ball temperature for
your altitude and thermometer.

It's World Juggling Day!

I never got the hang of juggling. I'm just not coordinated enough. I do enjoy watching it though!