Drinking Gin in a Ditch (TM)

I am reading Madeline L'Engle's Irrational Season right now and I have Thoughts about it that I want to write here, but, you guys.  Seriously.  I've had kids home sick since January 6.  It is January 29 today.  That is almost a solid month of sickness.  The unfortunate side effect of having four children and three with chronic lung disease is that it can take a LONG time to cycle through whatever is currently going around.  

This year's plague du jour is a FIVE DAY FEVER.  Followed by another week of a pretty awful cough.  Together with terrible behavior and poor sleep.  With maybe a stomach bug thrown in for kicks and giggles. Times four children and one husband (who avoided the fever, but got the stomach bug variety around Theophany).  Did I mention that our dryer died at the beginning of the month and I was only able to get it repaired late last week?  And our basement is unheated and stuff took three days to dry?  

So my brain is scattered, I'm tired and barely holding it all together and staying upright (thanks in large part to elderberry syrup, more on that below).  I've been saving my mental energy for the snatches of time when I can work on the book.  

I decided that I need a gin in a ditch sweater.  Like NEED it.  I don't want to knit it (or wait the months that it will take me to do so), I don't want to pay a fortune for it, and I don't want some acrylic nightmare.  I wasn't particularly optimistic, given this combination of factors, but I found one this morning on ThredUp for seven whole dollars.  And I had enough credits on account to cover it, so bonus.  And it is almost 100% cotton, so there's that.  I'm hoping it fits the way I want it to.  

On to other things.  I made butternut squash soup again for lunch yesterday--so good! and also Sweet Potato Chocolate Chili for dinner.  I am very picky about chili--I really only like my mom's version--and this one  stacks up quite well!  I made it a couple of times in the fall and everyone really liked it.  It seemed really strange when I made it the first time, like it wasn't going to be chili at all, but definitely is.  (The spice quantities seemed really off to me, but trust the recipe).  

My mods were to use no-chicken broth (although I think beer would be really interesting!), 2 pounds of ground beef instead of 2.5--this is a HUGE pot of chili--and it is totally fine to pan fry the sweet potatoes instead of oven-roasting.  I've done it both ways, and they are both fine.  I also reduced the chili powder to 1 T. and will probably reduce the red pepper flakes by half next time for my kids' sake.  It is great with a big dollop of sour cream.

I've been baking this morning.  Boo's namesday is this weekend, and he wanted to bring a treat to share with his class on Friday.  It being a fast-free week, he requested chocolate chip cookies, so I made a batch of them and put them in the freezer.  

We are also having the house blessed on Friday night, and I wanted to have something to serve, so I made a batch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

I know it sounds weird, but they are really good.  Kind of a cakey-sort of cookie, but very tasty.  I got the recipe from a co-worker years and years ago.  I forgot how big a batch the recipe makes, so I have a lot, but we might have another family joining us, so I think it will be fine either way.  Birdie wanted to take some in-progress shots (the kids are all suddenly fascinated with my camera).

I put them in the freezer as well, so they would keep to the end of the week.  I also have to bring a teacher gift for Boo's teacher this week, so she might be getting some homemade cookies too!  I have to make a layer cake for Boo's namesday as well, but I ran out of white sugar this morning, so I'll probably do that tomorrow so I can freeze the layers before trying to frost them.  He was specific about wanting layers and cream in between. 😋

I forgot to write about an annual tradition in our area; the Orthodox Clergy Brotherhood gets together on the Sunday after old calendar Theophany and blesses the river (Wikipedia has this feast incorrectly listed with Epiphany; these are two distinct feasts between the Eastern and Western Christian traditions.  Theophany is the baptism of the Lord; Epiphany is the appearance of the magi.  They are Not The Same.  Climbing down from soapbox now).  

The service is held pretty close to our house, but this is the first year we managed to make it.  The weather was uncharacteristically nice that day!  There were more people than I expected who showed up to watch the priests throw four huge ice crosses into the river.  

Anda 1, anda 2, anda 3!  The crosses were impressively big.  I'm really glad we made it.  A lot of the people there are the same ones who come out for the Pan-Orthodox Lenten Vespers, so it was nice to be together again.  How can it be Publican and Pharisee week already??

Oh, I almost forgot!  The elderberry syrup.  Now, I should state for the record that I am an herbal supplement skeptic.  I think a lot of it is snake oil in sheep's clothing, and have observed a close family relative rely on dubious supplements instead of taking the prescribed medication from her doctor (this relative has pretty severe GERD, and thinks a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar a day will take care of things.  Um...no.  Just...no.)  

So I was a bit hesitant when a sweet lady at our church mentioned elderberry syrup to me when I was struggling to kick a chest cold in December.  Any long time readers on the blog will know that I am particularly susceptible to chest infections and it is hard for me to kick them once lodged in my lungs.  I talked with a few other friends who swear by herbals, and was convinced to at least give it a try.  

Whelp, elderberry syrup is the real deal, based on a month or more of use.  I kicked the chest cold shortly after starting it, and I've so far avoided being seriously felled by the plague going around the house by taking 2 tsp a day.  I do have a sore throat and I feel tired all the time, but I'm not ready to drop like I should be.  But I'm more or less upright all day, so that is something!!  I think I have some mineral deficiencies that might be contributing to the fatigue (my hair loss is truly impressive right now), so I've added a B-vitamin complex into my day.  

And as long as we're talking about All The Random Things, I highly recommend this youtube channel.  It is an amazing collection of lesser known medieval music.  My favorite is the Gregorian Deum Verum (8 minutes of gloriousness), followed closely by the Hymn of the Templars.  I've also been listening to the Thomas Tallis and William Lawes stations on Pandora a lot lately.  Although today is a Bach day.

So that's me.  Over and out.

Watching: Christopher Eccleston

On the list of British actors I admire, Christopher Eccleston is surely in the top round.  I've kind of had a thing for him since I saw him play Jude Fawley opposite Kate Winslet in 1996's Jude, a film based on the Thomas Hardy novel, Jude the Obscure.  

(I even went so far as to start reading the dreary novel shortly thereafter, but didn't get very far in it).  I still think Jude is possibly my favorite role of his.  I rewatched the film recently and it holds up.  Fair warning: the story is a bleak one, but it is very well written and acted.  

I also loved his Duke of Norfolk in Elizabeth two years later.  I followed his career for a few years after that (The Invisible Circus was interesting), and then sort of lost track of him for a while.  

I think I tried the 2005 reboot of Dr. Who because he took over as the Ninth Doctor (but I couldn't take the scary stuff and gave up after an episode or two, more's the pity.  He was really good in it!)  I know, I know: it's Dr. Who. I just can't handle it. I'm a wuss about scary stuff.  Fun fact: David Tenant has a very small role in Jude.  Two future Doctors together!

I rediscovered Eccleston almost by accident when he played the super villain Malekith on Thor: The Dark World, and was very glad I did.  He was a very interesting actor in his 30s; now in his early 50s, he is fascinating to watch.  He was brilliant in Thor 2--I didn't recognize him at first.  I had meant to watch his John Lennon in Lennon: Naked, but never got around to it when it came out seven years ago (it will be on my watch list now!)  He did a short television series two years ago called Safe House, about a retired policeman and his wife living in the Lakes District (I'm rather partial to the bearded, short-haired Eccleston).  

Retired policeman Robert is approached by an old colleague about turning his remote house into a safe house, and the story proceeds from there.  I wished that it could have gone for a second series with the same cast, as the ending of the first season was left rather open, with a lot of questions unanswered, but the second series picks up with a whole new cast and scenario with Stephen Moyer (of Trueblood fame) helming it.  I actually didn't care for the second season, despite liking Moyer quite a bit, and gave it up before the first episode finished.  But the first season is compelling.  I might give The Leftovers a try as well; the premise looks interesting.

Lately, Eccelston is playing a supporting role on the Sundance show The A Word, which is about a Lakes District family coping with an autism diagnosis in their youngest son.  It is a truly excellent show about dealing with special needs in a realistic family setting (and yes, that is Scottish actress Morven Christie of Grantchester fame.  She plays the mum here.  I quite like her in this one).  I was initially reluctant to watch it, because I feared it would be heavy-handed, and I worried that I wouldn't like Eccelston's character, Maurice, but actually, it is quite funny at times, and the relationships between the family characters are so real and truthful.  I'm particularly fond of Maurice--Eccelston plays him with a complexity that I appreciate, and without the broad caricature I feared. I really like all the family members--they are so well drawn and there is something to identify with in all of them.  I'm enjoying the first series quite a lot, and I hear there is another scheduled for release later this year. 

I'll be curious to see what project he takes on next--I'm sure it will be interesting, whatever it is.

So that's that!  I'm back at the keys this week, as everyone is (finally!) back in school.  I spent a rather happy morning writing transitions, moving scenes into the proper order, and what I call timeline editing (making the details match the storyline order, since this novel has been written all out of sequence).  Now that I'm putting everything in the narrative order, I have to make it all fit together sequentially.  So, for example, I don't wan to have a scene that is clearly set in the month of March immediately precede a scene that is clearly set in the autumn!  I'm not going for Faulkner with this one.  ☺

The Girl in the Grey Flannel Dress

The first make of the new year: my official favorite thing right now.  A grey flannel dress.  

I've been wanting a grey dress or skirt for a while, and I actually bought the fabric to make an Everyday Skirt, but I realized I would wear a dress more.  So I ordered another yard and a half of fabric and set to work.  The funny thing is that I think I ordered this fabric a year or two ago to make a dress or skirt or something, but ended up sending it back because I didn't like it at the time.

Not an issue now--I totally love this dress.  I have two sweaters that don't really go with my print dresses, and I also wanted something super neutral.  I seem to hit a point in every rotation where I just want solid neutrals.  (I bought a black knit dress from eshakti as a Christmas gift to myself earlier this month; it is basically the perfect dress)

But back to this dress.  The flannel is a nice thick woven flannel with a subtle black yarn through the gray, which I think gives it some visual interest.  I used my self-drafted small patch pocket but made no modifications to my basic block for this dress.  I didn't have quite enough black bias tape to get all the raw edges done in black, so the hem is faced in navy blue bias, but it is on the inside of the dress, so it doesn't matter.  I was more interested in finishing the dress to wear than waiting a week or more for black bias tape to arrive in the mail.

The fabric has nice body and holds its shape well over the course of the day--I've worn it a couple of times already and I really love it.  It is Robert Kaufman's Shetland flannel line.  I've sewn with it before (for a few skirts) and was pretty happy with the way it wore over time.  This dress is warm, comfortable, and perfect for layering.  Pretty much everything you'd want in a cold-weather garment.

We had a freak warm up for about 36 hours where it got up into the upper 50s after being in the low teens for a couple of weeks, so I temporarily put away my fur lined boots for rain boots and my gray ankle boots, but the day I took these photos, the temps had dropped back into the normal range and I was cold!  Thankfully I only had the boots on for the photos and then ran back inside to get warm!  The gray boots will keep until spring.  I'm happily back in my mukluks.

In domestic news, I've had various kids home for two weeks between snow days, early dismissals for ice, respiratory viruses, stomach flus, and fevers.  We are having some tile work done in the bathrooms this week and next, so there's that hassle too (although, to be fair, the workmen have been very pleasant and easy to have around; they even clean up after themselves!) And then there's Theophany on Friday.  

I took down all the Christmas decorations except for the tree yesterday.  It is prelit and I thought it looked nice without anything on it, so I decided to leave it up a few more days.  Boo and Ponchik are home today but I'm hopeful that everyone will be back to school tomorrow at least.

I'll be glad when things get back to some semblance of normal!

Eleven

I have nothing to say about this day this year.  Just to say that I can't believe it is eleven years.

Rest easy, dear Philip, and pray for us sinners.  Your mama misses you.

Holiday Happenings

Christ is Born!  Glorify Him!

We celebrated Nativity on Sunday and it was a COLD day!  The high was about 10 that day, and I was very grateful that our car started in the morning when it was still less than 8 degrees!  My original plan for a Christmas dress failed (as usual--this seems to be an annual theme for me) but the flannel dress I ended up wearing was much warmer anyway.

On Saturday (Christmas Eve) I did a bunch of cooking to get ahead of the holiday busyness, and I also made another batch of Butternut Apple soup.  I made it a few weeks ago and loved it as part of my own food repertoire.  

My mods were to use no-chicken broth because of my allergies, and I also added a hearty splash of heavy cream, although you could use coconut milk to make it vegan for fasting seasons.  The first time I made this, I used regular apples, but the second time I used Granny Smiths, and I can say that the first variety was fine, but the Granny Smiths are really lovely--they add a wonderful bit of tartness to it.  The soup is lovely with bacon or sausage in or on it.

I took the girls to the Slavonic church down the street for Compline on Christmas Eve.  I always love how they decorate that church for Christmas--the big life-size icon of the Holy Family is a particular favorite of mine.  There is a relic in the bottom of the area that is set up to look like the church in Bethlehem, so I think it might be from the Holy Land.

The relic under the icon:

Christ is Born!  The girls were kind of wild and barely made it through Compline, but at least we got to a bit of the service that night.

After they were in bed, I put all the baby Jesus figures into my Nativity sets.

And then we drove an hour in the morning to our regular parish for the festal Liturgy.

It was a full house!

I got a flannel nightgown from my parents for Christmas and it is The Best Thing Ever.  I'm terribly cold at night and this thing is like wearing a neck-ankle blanket with long sleeves.  I still wear leggings and wool socks with a wool sweater over it, but man.  It's great.  We also put a mattress gel foam topper on our 13-year-old mattress yesterday to see if we can beg a few more years out of it (getting a king size mattress up and down three flights of stairs in a row house is No Joke and we are not in a hurry to undertake that hassle or expense any time soon).  It certainly makes our bed tall!  I'm not sure whether it makes a difference to how the mattress feels, although I do think I slept a bit better last night.  Fewer pressure points on my hips and such, so perhaps it was a good purchase.  It certainly wasn't worse, so that's something.

It's a longish story how this came about, but the kids had a half day yesterday because of an ice storm (between 2 snow days last week and a half day yesterday, I'm getting absolutely nothing done), and Boo and Birdie both wanted to learn to sew.  So I got out some felt I had and made a template and they both made little stuffed birds.  It was kind of a great project for them as it didn't require precision and the felt was very forgiving in terms of being able to back a needle out to correct stitches.  This is Boo's:

They both want to make more, but I think it will have to keep until the weekend.

We also celebrated Piglet's 10th birthday yesterday (his actual birthday was Saturday, but he was tied up with church all day and wanted to celebrate with non-fasting food this year, so we pushed off to yesterday).  He requested chili (the regular one, not the keto one I've been making all fall; everyone likes both) and cornbread, and salad.  And a chocolate fudge cake for dessert.

I had made the cake layers last week and froze them and planned to frost them yesterday sometime in the afternoon, but with having to pick the kids up mid-day and then the epic sewing project, I kind of got sidetracked, and suddenly it was 4:00 p.m. and I had frozen cake and no frosting or filling made.  Eek!  (At least the chili was done and just needed to be heated!)  I did a quick defrost by sticking the cakes in a 170 degree oven for 10 minutes (worked great! but the layers are very thin, so your mileage may vary if you try this).  I whipped the cream and added raspberry jam to the cakes and stuck them together while I made the frosting.  The frosting for this cake was a kind of tempered chocolate ganache and took way longer than expected.  (She doesn't say to temper the chocolate, but you kind of have to; the chocolate chips don't totally melt if you just add the warm butter/milk/sugar to them and let it sit.  You have to put the bowl over a pot of steaming water to get the frosting smooth.  I then put it in the fridge during the stirring/setting part to help it set faster).  The frosting was pretty soft when I put it on, so it isn't the prettiest looking cake, but it was very tasty!

Word to the wise: if you are a volume eater, and like big portions, this is not the cake for you.  It is super rich and anything more than a small slice will probably make you sick!  I do think putting whipped cream between the layers instead of additional frosting kind of cut the sweetness a bit (in a good way).  If I make this again, I might use bittersweet chocolate chips to bring the sweet level down a bit.  I'm also perplexed about the thinness of the cake layers--I made it exactly according to the recipe, but it seemed like the cake batter was written for two six inch layers, not two eight inch layers.  But a one inch layer of whipped cream and jam gave the cake some height.  :)

Ponchik is home with a cough today (she's been coughing in a kind of sickly way since Saturday) and asked to stay home from school, which is unlike her, so I think she must really need a quiet day at home.  It's a good thing she is in preschool!

I did get a tiny bit of writing done yesterday, in between an appointment and picking up the kids early, but today is my husband's namesday, and Ponchik is home, so I'm probably not going to get much done.  I'm about 75% of the way through that sweater I'm knitting, so I'll probably just focus on that today.  I'm resigned to this month not being particularly productive in terms of writing.  On the upside, I got another idea for a different story/series that I started working with one day last week and I'm excited to have something new to work on when I need some space from my original story.

Yarn Along: In Midwinter

We are in the home stretch before Christmas!  (We celebrate on January 7, Russian-style).  My kids went back to school after a LONG winter break on January 2.  I wanted to get back to writing (I've been "off" since December 14) but I knew I'd better do some Christmas preparations instead.

So I put on White Christmas, and wrapped all the Christmas presents.  It was a thoroughly pleasant way to spend the morning.  I also folded three loads of laundry, sent off presents to the kids' godparents, and generally did the little things around the house that had stacked up during the break.

And then we had a blizzard that dumped 8" of snow yesterday, so the kids were off yesterday.  But we saw a red cardinal on our back patio in the morning, so that was something.

This was the view yesterday morning, while the snow was still blowing.  

The kids went outside in shifts with my husband to shovel the front walkways, and then went out for an hour or so in the afternoon to play in the pile on the back patio.

The snow boots from their grandpa came in very handy!!  (We've always relied on rain boots for snow footwear, but I'm glad of these this year)  Another writing day down the drain.  And then the schools are closed again today for the extreme cold temps.  Silliness.  Just layer up and git 'er done.  So another day gone.

My writing shelf, full of writing manuals, style guides, my reading list for the book, the notebooks I use to write things out long hand (I've gone back to drafting long hand for the first pass; I find that process enormously helpful).  

And knitting!  I'm so happy that Ginny has brought it back!  I'm working on a blue cardigan to go with my Daisy Chain dress.  It is a super simple raglan, top-down cardigan, and is going very quickly.  I'm using the Simple Summer Cardigan and adding waist shaping and long sleeves.

I'm making another of the same out of some dark charcoal gray (almost black) wool I've had in my stash for a while.  It might be a squeak to get it out, as I bought the yarn for another project that I've since abandoned.

Also working on the Mattock Cowl, which I've wanted to make since Rochelle released the pattern.  This is navy blue wool from Quince and Co. in Lark.  

I'm considering whether to frog my Yellow Brick Road cardigan and reuse the wool, or just start fresh with a heavier weight wool and make another Ramona.  (I bought the lighter weight version of the pattern, but haven't knit it yet).  I don't like the way the cardigan fits me as a cardigan (it's decent as a pullover), and I'm not crazy about the way the wool is wearing.  I dunno.  The ends are woven in pretty heartily and it has been through the dryer once already, so frogging it would be a job.  It is a nice cardigan, and I'm happy with the stitch work, but it just doesn't fit me the way I want it to.

My reading list at the moment.  I'm basically done with Intent to Live (there are some exercises at the back of the book that I don't think I'll do, so I'm calling it done.)  It is going on my shelf as a writing resource--there is so much good about character development and details in there.  I've been reading Til We Have Faces for the past month or so and enjoying it more than I thought I would.  I'm not sure I get all the classical references (it has been over 20 years since I studied Greek mythology and classical Greek stories), but the world-building is superb.  And The Experience of God is a rather dense read, so I have to read a bit at a time.  I'm maybe 1/3-1/2 way through it.  The Irrational Season is very, very good.  I can't recommend it enough.

Go to Ginny's blog to see what others are making and creating!!