ErkkilaDotOrg

Mythical creatures I would probably eat.

1. Tribble
2. Dragon
3. Easter Bunny
4. Pokemon
5. that cow in the restaurant at the end of the universe
6. Dupey (worlds best pizza topping)

-pee

(edit: forgot the dupey)

Merry Christmas, or you can just have a nice day if you’re not into the whole Christmas thing.

-us and the dogs and the chickens

We re-watched “From the Earth to the Moon” today. Epe and I tend to pay the most attention to the episodes that show the engineers working which shouldn’t be a big surprise to anyone ;). I generally feel the same way after we finish watching it. A little sad, a little depressed, but mostly I feel disappointed that we have let so much time slip by between then and now with no repeat of these great journeys.

To be clear I’m not discounting the incredible work and science that has gone on with the probes, landers, gritty raw science!!, hubble, and ISS work that has gone on in the interim (including the massive earth side parts of those projects), I love it and hit the NASA sites regularly for updates. Partly because the nerd/sci-fi in me needs to keep up with the technology, and partly because it feels so good to see progress in building the door to the rest of the universe.

(we should be in outerspace, eff the non believers, teleport me off this rock rant deleted)

-pee

1. Wookie
2. Sleestack
3. Mogwai
4. Cerebus
5. Balrog
6. Muppet (stolen)
7. Elf
8. Curious George
9. Jabberwocky
10. Zombie

(Updated with links to the mighty wikipedia)

The cookies keep on coming. My mom made gingerbread men (don’t have the recipe for that, maybe eventually I’ll add it) and I made a bunch of Bonbon Cookies. Mom had to make a bunch more of the Chocolate Marzipan Pinwheels and chocolate-dipped stars (Again, linked recipe is not the actual cookies made, which were from a Mrs. Fields book; but it’s similar. I’ll get around to adding the Mrs. Fields one, I hope).

Yesterday I also prepped Good Eats Beef Stew for today when Scott and Jenna and EJ visit; also am working on a pot of soup in case they wanted lunch (probably not, but it will certainly work for my lunch :).

I love having time off; finally time to cook and bake.

Just want to confirm that the new car handles really well in moderate snow.

(Subaru Forester with whatever package junk was required to get the limited slip real differential).

-pee

I had to wash poop off a rooster’s butt today (along with a lot of quill-trimming). I can’t say he was much happier about it than I was. Now I have to disinfect the shower. I’m just glad he took it so well (it’s Leo, the silkie that loves to attack my feet). He looked more confused than anything, then crowed up a storm in a guinea pig cage while he dried.

Got halfway through a project mounting a flat-panel heater (Shop the Coop) and a timed light in the coop and realized the 100 foot extension cord we bought was about 10 feet short. Had to go to Lowes in Macedon to buy a 25′ extension and parts to put the joined section in a weatherproof box. Maybe when the insulating/waterproofing foam dries I can plug the whole mess in and see if it works without setting things on fire (heater’s fused; using a thermal detection outlet to turn the heater on/off automatically; got a timer on the light, and a GFI power splitter, and lots of super heavy duty extension cord which is more than adequately rated for heater + light).

Waiting for the Pastitsio to be done now. Been meaning to make this for awhile and this is the perfect time, with an open bottle of red wine left over in the fridge. Don’t knock wine-and-cinnamon flavored beef until you try it.

Today:

Walked 1 hour.

Mom started ahead of time with Chocolate Dipped Stars. (Come to think of it, I don’t think she used that recipe, I think she used the Mrs. Fields recipe but I don’t have it in front of me right now).

Then we did the dough for:

• Ribbon Cookies
• Chocolate Marzipan Pinwheels
• Nutmeg Logs

Went home. Fed and walked dogs. Fed chickens. Cooked nutmeg logs and just barely finished in time to take Grep to the vet. While mom stayed at our house and cookied the pinwheels, Paul and I bought chicken feed, a small waterer and feeder for Squeak, peanut hearts for chickens, and rawhide for the dogs, gassed up the truck, and picked up a box from the post office. Went home. Helped mom dip stars and a few pinwheels in chocolate at her house. Went home and baked Ribbon Cookies. Ate leftover lasagna standing up in kitchen. Typed cookie recipes into wiki. Did this blog entry.

Imminent collapse. Putting off the Christmas cards.

What we’ve been doing for the past week and a half. Pergo, wall painting, new rug.

This is what a morning walk in December should look like.

The mutant pointsettia from Lowe’s. This is ONE plant.