Food, weather, and other completely mundane, trivial, meaningless topics

[widower2]

Gaining weight is not a problem here... !

[widower2]

Speaking of which a Christmas gift I got was spiked eggnog. Well I can't offend them by not drinking it... 

[KayC]

I have a Keto version that passed the muster of my German friend...

[widower2]

I forget if I mentioned earlier but I found a cheap and convenient way to have a little crustless quiche whenever I want...simply scramble some eggs, pour them in a muffin pan with whatever ingredients you want, bake at 375 for 10-20 mins (check after 10). I cook up a dozen, eat one, and freeze the rest, which I can nuke any time. 

[KayC]

Scramble as in beat them or cook them scrambled?

[Boggled]

I think he mean "scramble" as in "beat the eggs" then they get cooked when they're baked in the muffin pan.  

I've become enamored of pie-making.  Especially with lard for the fat in the crust.    Made a turkey-breast pie yesterday with the remains of the turkey breast baked for Christmas and the bone broth I'd made from the bones.  Used two pak choy out of my little greenhouse, and parsley still green in the garden.  

[KayC]

I'll undoubtedly make them this weekend!

[Boggled]

Mundane, such a boring word for the everyday existence that is life.  I guess I'm grateful for the mundane!  Though I'm not a TV watcher, I do turn it on at 6:00 pm and having the sound and light and movement is a good thing, in my opinion.  And I even can appreciate commercials.  The most horrible things can come on on the "news," (which I do watch some of) and wham!  here comes a commercial!  oh, goooood.  Back to the mundane. 

 

 

[shawnt]

There is a Zen proverb about the mundane. It can be nothing or it can be the path to happiness when we can find joy in the mundane.

I am not Zen enough to fully understand but I like the idea that the mundane can be joyful, I do remember washing dishes with my Suzy and feeling pretty joyful. Side by side, comfort of our home another task done , bed time to come and a little warmth and cuddle. 

Dear God, please give me a little more mundane joy.

[Boggled]

For at least 20 years, I've been fasting one day a week.  I find that when midnight arrives after the day of the fast, I give myself permission to EAT ... oh!  JOY!  a little joy every week, unless I fall asleep before midnight;  then it's joy the next morning.  

Abstinence, VOLUNTARY abstinence, gives the joy of you controlling something ... hahahaha! ... you DECIDE to set your thermostat to some low temp, then YOU can control ... turning it up a couple more degrees ... joy!  it's warmer in here!  

[KayC]

1 hour ago, shawnt said:

I like the idea that the mundane can be joyful

Yes.  Like the feeling when you come home from a trip and you are HOME!  That kind of feeling.  We don't have them alongside us to experience it anymore...or do we???

[shawnt]

Yes we do. In our hearts and minds and soul. Everywhere we go, everything we do .

[WithoutHer]

3 hours ago, shawnt said:

Yes we do. In our hearts and minds and soul. Everywhere we go, everything we do .

It will be 11 months for me in a few days and not a day has gone by that my mind didn't quietly share some experience or observation with Vickie. Her absence hurts so deeply but yes she is always will be here with me. 

[widower2]

Best of luck to those of you facing the impending storm...we should just get some rain, but the Northeast could get hit pretty hard. 

[Gail 8588]

The rain just started here in Tallahassee.  Sadly my roof is leaking again.  Just a small drip.  But I'm not going on the roof tonight. 😉

I'll call some roofers on Monday to get an estimate.  But my thoughts are with those of you that are in the path of this big storm. Stay safe and warm. 

[immortalgypsy]

Foothills in NC where I am is a wintery mix. Who knows. My husband would have loved this weather. 

[widower2]

I'm guessing that's far west NC? I lived in Raleigh for a time and we winced if it got below 50   

[immortalgypsy]

1 minute ago, widower2 said:

I'm guessing that's far west NC? I lived in Raleigh for a time and we winced if it got below 50   

Yeah near blue ridge. I wince once it drops below 60. 

[widower2]

Fellow weather wimp   :high five: 

[WithoutHer]

1 hour ago, widower2 said:

Best of luck to those of you facing the impending storm...we should just get some rain, but the Northeast could get hit pretty hard. 

I may or may not be in the thick of it ☹️. I've planned on the worst hoping for the best. Won't be going anywhere but unlike Kay I don't have any stamina for shoveling. 

[widower2]

Just do us all a favor and don't buy up all the milk and bread and TP   (what is up with that??) 

[WithoutHer]

20 minutes ago, widower2 said:

Just do us all a favor and don't buy up all the milk and bread and TP   (what is up with that??) 

I never understood that myself. I can't put my thoughts about it here. 

[KayC]

6 hours ago, widower2 said:

Best of luck to those of you facing the impending storm...we should just get some rain, but the Northeast could get hit pretty hard. 

Hey we're getting it too, will have over two feet in 4-5 days..and more beyond that. Also high winds.

[widower2]

Yikes! Stay safe Kay. We're getting some rain here now but nothing crazy.

[KayC]

This stuff is so snotty and slippery! I just came in from shoveling again! Have to keep a path to the firewood, mailbox and car, about 150 ft. uphill.

[foreverhis]

Yikes, Kay!  That's not fun at all.  I'm sending warm hugs to you and Kodie.

As for us, it's been a far cry from the first week of last year when we had torrential rains day after day, high winds, flooding, power outages, and freezing temperatures many nights.  The first 3 months of 2023 were far beyond even the El Nino pattern we have sometimes.  This year has been typical (average) so far.

It's raining now, but just "normal" rain with some wind.  The past 3 days have been positively lovely. It's been sunny and beautiful with temperatures in the high 50s to low 60s, though the nights are into the low 40s to high 30s.  Those lows are expected this time of year.  We do have freezing nights in January and February, but we're coastie wimps and act as if that's 40 below!  Just 20-30 miles inland beyond the first low coastal range, it's colder still with occasional snow.  Last year, that was feet of snow that stuck for weeks.

Please everyone, stay safe wherever you are and whatever your weather.💗

[KayC]

Got 11 1/2" yesterday before 11 pm.  Sick of shoveling but this is only day 2 starting of 10!

[Gail 8588]

Kay, 

So sorry so much snow is falling at once. These are the times we miss our sweeties in a very practical way.  Life is just harder without them. Everything falls on us and sometimes it just feels like too much. But we slog on, because we are the only ones here to do it. 

Sending you strength to get through.

 

[foreverhis]

@Gail 8588 That’s sometimes the hardest thing for me. So many times I have even resorted to begging/calling out loud, “Honey, help me here! Help me!” if a task is particularly difficult or challenging, especially if it is something John used to do or we used to do together.

There are times when day-to-day frustrations bring home the truth that he really is gone even more than knowing the things he is missing like Miss Cosi’s adventures, talking to our granddaughter just because she loved telling him about her day, and our daughter hearing “Atta girl!” from him when she landed a new job she loves (and that pays quite well too). Not that those things don’t hurt my heart, but it’s the everyday flow of life that makes me miss him the most.

[KayC]

I was shoveling between 11 pm and 1 am because I knew if more added to it I couldn't do it, between 1 and 2 am I filled the tub with water, etc. just getting ready because the power kept going off.  This morning it did for hours.  Hairdresser next door will cut my hair this week as I can't get to my appt.  

[Boggled]

17 hours ago, KayC said:

I was shoveling between 11 pm and 1 am because I knew if more added to it I couldn't do it, between 1 and 2 am I filled the tub with water, etc. just getting ready because the power kept going off. 

((gasp!))   about the shoveling in the dark!  

Good to hear you filled your tub with water!

[widower2]

Probably only meaningful at all to me and totally trivial to everyone else, but Michigan (my grandmother's alma mater) just won the NCAA football title, wahoo!

[KayC]

Congratulations!

[Boggled]

Made a second batch of cabbage soup.  With pak choy from teensy greenhouse.   and corn, carrots, beans, tomato sauce, garlic.  Leaving it out of the fridge in case of power outage I can eat it ... even cold.  

Serious wind here today.   Hope everybody on here is safe and warm.

[immortalgypsy]

Lots of rain but really none of the predicted wind so far. Met with attorney to settle estate issues. 

[Gail 8588]

Glad to hear the storm isn't too bad in NC. I have a niece in Charlotte.

[KayC]

2 hours ago, immortalgypsy said:

Met with attorney to settle estate issues. 

That's quick!  Took my sister's estate over 1  year i months to settle even though uncontested.  Lawyer and accountants took a huge chunk.

Glad you have that behind you!

[immortalgypsy]

16 minutes ago, KayC said:

That's quick!  Took my sister's estate over 1 1/2 years to settle even though uncontested.  Lawyer and accountants took a huge chunk.

Glad you have that behind you!

I just started but they didn’t have to put it through probate so they said it would go really quick. 

[DMB]

Today is the 2nd of 3 rain storms-this one with a wind advisory for later today.  Last weekend some places got a foot of snow, I saw a trace of it before it changed to rain.  They are calling for more rain Friday night.  Next week looks to be colder, and from the long-range forecasts there seems to be just storm and storm sweeping across the country every few days.  Happy Winter!  I have my cell on the charger here at work.  When I get home going to crank the furnace up another 5 degrees to get the place nice and warm in case of a power outage.  

[Griefsucks810]

On 1/5/2024 at 10:04 AM, Boggled said:

For at least 20 years, I've been fasting one day a week.  I find that when midnight arrives after the day of the fast, I give myself permission to EAT ... oh!  JOY!  a little joy every week, unless I fall asleep before midnight;  then it's joy the next morning.  

Abstinence, VOLUNTARY abstinence, gives the joy of you controlling something ... hahahaha! ... you DECIDE to set your thermostat to some low temp, then YOU can control ... turning it up a couple more degrees ... joy!  it's warmer in here!  

I think it’s a good idea that you’ve been fasting one day a week for the last 20 years. Does it help you stay focused in life? What or who made you start fasting 20 years ago? I’m curious and hope to receive a reply from you. If not that’s okay too.

 I enjoy having my thermostat set at 72 degrees because I like feeling the warmth of the heat coming from the vents. 

[widower2]

I do "mini fasts" (like skipping lunch but not dinner) off and on...no big deal, sometimes I'm just not hungry then. It is supposed to be good for you. And I am hungrier at dinner time, so enjoy it more. 

[Boggled]

14 hours ago, Griefsucks810 said:

I think it’s a good idea that you’ve been fasting one day a week for the last 20 years. Does it help you stay focused in life? What or who made you start fasting 20 years ago? I’m curious and hope to receive a reply from you. If not that’s okay too.

 

Griefsucks810, it started with a man I was seeing, this was at least a couple years before I met my husband, and that was 20 years ago!  I was crazy about this guy, who was running a homeless shelter and was a strong believer in God.   I'm trying to remember ... I THINK he was fasting one day he came over and suggested I try fasting with him, and I started then.  He also was still drinking coffee even though fasting, so I do that too;  and one time he brought a bottle of wine, so "coffee and alcohol" ... I still allow myself on fast days.  (hahaha!  is that healthy?  people seem to think it's weird but that's the way it IS)  nope, I don't LIKE alcohol much because of the taste!  which I think is awful!  But it's still something I allow myself, and that means sometimes I'll pour about a third of a cup of cream into a glass, add about a tablespoon of vodka, few drops of vanilla, some stevia, whip it up!  yum!  even tho' fasting)   I guess I'll say I fast in honor of God, and at least at first, because of that guy!  and I've carried it on week after week which has spanned into year after year.

I don't think of it as having anything to do with "staying focused."  But over the years I've been doing this, I HAVE definitely noticed the moment of JOY when, at midnight, I permit myself to eat again!    It's also, I guess, just my kind of connection to God, and also to thankfulness.

[widower2]

Coffee when fasting makes sense, as it's an appetite suppressant. Re the alcohol, that's to forget you're fasting   

[SSC]

I am traveling to Florida this Saturday with my dog.  I’m rather nervous about it as I have never flown with an animal before.  The vet gave me Trazadone to calm her if needed.  Since she’s still a puppy I just don’t know how she’ll react under the circumstances.  I know she dislikes being in a little “bag” but likes her crate.  I just can’t imagine her being good the entire flight stuffed under the seat in front of me.  I haven’t been on a plane in a few years but my daughter who flys often for work says she sees animals on almost every flight she is on now.  I guess it’s very common  but since I’m alone I over think everything and expect the worst.  I just hope I don’t end up on YouTube “passenger on plane with unruly animal passes out dog’s anxiety pills to seat mates to make amends”…Ugh!

[KayC]

Praying for you as you travel with your dog.   I totally get your concerns and am glad the vet gave you something for her.

[widower2]

7 hours ago, SSC said:

I am traveling to Florida this Saturday with my dog.  I’m rather nervous about it as I have never flown with an animal before.  The vet gave me Trazadone to calm her if needed.  Since she’s still a puppy I just don’t know how she’ll react under the circumstances.  I know she dislikes being in a little “bag” but likes her crate.  I just can’t imagine her being good the entire flight stuffed under the seat in front of me.  I haven’t been on a plane in a few years but my daughter who flys often for work says she sees animals on almost every flight she is on now.  I guess it’s very common  but since I’m alone I over think everything and expect the worst.  I just hope I don’t end up on YouTube “passenger on plane with unruly animal passes out dog’s anxiety pills to seat mates to make amends”…Ugh!

g/l...one idea: the day you're about to leave, get a shirt you wore the day before and put it in the cage. Sense of smell is very important to dogs and it might calm her some.

[foreverhis]

@widower2  That's an excellent idea.

[widower2]

I have my moments   

[SSC]

Thx @widower2!  I will definitely give that a try! 

[widower2]

Calling all chefs...I tried making some mini quiches (basically whipped eggs poured into a muffin pan) but they came out with a spongey texture. Any idea why or what would help? Again it was just eggs seasoned to taste. Maybe add a little milk? Or cook them a little less?