This and That, January 9, 2021

From the files*

I am feeling unsettled these days. That comes with all of the unsettling world and national news around me. And when I'm unsettled, I'm more restless, and when I'm more restless, I tend to spend more time focusing on my own problems whether they are big or small.  To help with this, I've cut myself off from the news and am going to take a Facebook break for a while--both of which are easier said than done. 

So what else does all this mean? It means that here I am going to try to focus on the mundane and silly hoping that will be good be a settling influence on me. But wait, you say. Don't you already just focus on the mundane? Well, yeah, but I'm going to pretend this is different.  Also, I'm going to try to post everyday for a couple of weeks to see how that goes. I'm a little skeptical about success with this since my class and work are getting busy.  But I have to set the goal first, before I can reach it. So as my mind is swirling with concerns, big and small, here's the humdrum for the today.

Yesterday, I harvested the rest of the turnips and radishes. Theoretically, they should have been able to stay in the ground until we need them, but they had been frost heaved up so they were mostly exposed where creatures big and small could nibble on them. The bonus of leaving them outside until now is that cold weather only makes them sweeter. On the menu today is a stew featuring turnips, cabbage, carrots and ground beef. A nice hearty stew for a cold winter's day. 

The tree is coming down
 this weekend,too.

However, it's not too cold to take down the Christmas lights. Thank you, thank you to Ward for willingly doing this. The outdoor lights this year have been very frustrating because we never knew which part of them would be lit and which part would be out. And it varied. Previously dark parts would suddenly light up again. Not sure what to do about that. But to paraphrase Scarlet O'Hara, we'll worry about that next year.

And lastly, in case you didn't know, today is National Static Electricity Day. Time to go find a balloon and have a hair-raising time. :)

Until next time...

*From the files will feature pictures I've taken in the past. For months now, I've been slowly going through the pictures on my computer culling many of them, but I also find ones that I like. BTW, birds and flowers always get special consideration in my book. The above picture was taken January 2015.