I'm Weakening

I said I wasn't going to do it, but already I feel my resolve weakening.  

I said I wasn't going to make more than two kinds of cookies and one kind of candy, but now that I've started, I'm thinking, "Maybe I'll just make some peanut butter fudge, too."  And some gumdrop cookies...and some snowballs....

I got the chocolate chip cookies done this afternoon.  I was good, I only ate 5, but they were sub-standard and had to be culled anyway. 

Then I took an artsy fartsy photo on my phone.  I had been scrolling through old posts, and saw all the fancy photos I used to take back when I had a DSLR.  I really miss that camera, but just can't seem to justify the expense of buying a new one.  Back when I got that one, I was so deep in debt, I figured $500 more wouldn't matter.  Now that I'm out of debt, I'm finding it hard to spend that much money on a frivolity.  But I digress... 

I also got the chocolate fudge made -- though it still needs to be cut up, which I will do tomorrow.  I said I wasn't going to make any more candy...but I did buy that extra block of cream cheese.  I could make mints.  And I need to perfect the peanut butter fudge, which I can never get quite right, and I do have the stuff to make Turkish Delight...and there are those gumdrops I vacuum sealed and put into the deep freeze last year...

Tomorrow, I'm going to do the snickerdoodles, and we'll just see what happens after that. 

In other news, I had me a little visitor this morning.  

I'd stepped outside to do...I can't remember what, and heard her meowing.  She was up on the windowsill of the house next door.  As soon as she saw me, she came running, and followed me home.  I gave her some lunch, then about 1/2 hour later, I heard a truck pull into the drive.  I ran outside and called, "Excuse me!  Did you lose a kitten?"  

He came over and got her, telling me she'd dashed out the door this morning, and thanked me profusely.  She's a sweet little thing, and I'm glad she's back home with her daddy.  So is my cat, who I had to chase away from the kitten more than once. 

Now for an abrupt change of subject.  My friend Marcy has been trying to make a sourdough starter.  She mentioned over on her blog that it's not doing right, and she thinks it might be too cold to get it started properly. 

Naturally, me with my goofy brain had to blurt out that I was having the same trouble with my tumbling composter.  It's composting, but going a lot slower than I expected, and I think it's because it's been cold lately.  I think it will go faster in the summer when it's hot. 

Only I could somehow connect sourdough starter with compost...but anyway, in the course of the conversation, she said that she had several big piles of compost, so I mentioned that I also had a big compost pile in an old dog kennel that the previous owners had built. 

Ever since I moved in, I've been tossing leaves, weeds, grass clippings, and all sorts of stuff into it.  Even those roses I cut down last summer got thrown into the same pile.  It looks like this on top, 

but underneath it has turned into nice, rich soil.  

I really need to get out there and dig some of that good soil out and use it.  I guess I could fill in some of the low spots in my yard with it for now.  Maybe someday, I'll plant a small garden, but I'm not really a gardener.  Maybe I would be if I didn't have to work, or at least had a sit down job in an air conditioned space, but after 8-10 hours on my feet at my 99' work station, I just don't feel like getting outside and working in the yard.  

I guess that's about it for today, so let me just show you the advent addition, which is the third camel. 

So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.  Luke 2:16

In the interest of full disclosure, this isn't actually my favorite rendition of this song, but it was my Dad's favorite Christmas song, and he loved both of these singers, so this is a hat tip to him. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'll go get those gumdrops out of the freezer...just in case.