Leaps and Bounds

Happy Leap Year! I hope everyone made good use of the extra day. I spent it cooking.

What to do with 32 red, yellow, and orange bell peppers I brought home for .  25 cents each? This red pepper spread gook care of eight of them!

I also made a tofu, green bean, and pepper stir fry. 

But now I’m going to need to come up with some other stuff. I might freeze some and dehydrate others. Bell peppers are a great source of vitamin C. So no one is getting scurvy on my watch!

This is a deep dish apple and rhubarb pie using the end of last year’s rhubarb from the freezer. Just in time for the new spring crop. If you haven’t tried rhubarb and apple together, you’re missing out. It also turns the apples a delicate pink. So beautiful.

Now this was interesting! Vegan ricotta made from coconut milk and agar seaweed. It works! You need to plan  ahead as it needs to set like gelatin before being put through a grinder, but it is simple enough to do. 

I haven’t been chewing solids since my oral surgery which went...well, yeah. Soft food for me for the foreseeable future. Good thing I like potatoes and hummus. 

I’m sorry to have missed out on the pumpkin bundt cake. Most of it was finished the day it was made. The boys really went for it.

One of our better supermarkets went out of business. I went to have a look around in the last days. There wasn’t much but I did get a dozen bottles of my now discontinued vo5 conditioner that ended up being .80 cents a bottle- so that was a deal! I’ll miss Super Saver and their oddball produce bargains. 

Oh boy. 

Not that I was expecting to ever be able to retire but the 401k is going to be taking one hell of a hit. I guess it won’t matter because we’ll all be dead from the virus.

I’ve been working on finishing a novel ( really) but had to re-write the section including a fictional pandemic because I was giving the government response more credit than the reality we’re living through. I started this long before the current situation but it would read funny post Coronavirus. Locally people are pretty calm, but hand sanitizer is in short supply. I already had a good stock of quality masks because of allergy season coming up, so that was lucky.

Who wants to see some outfits?

The dreaded “Mom Jeans” with a high waist and boot cut leg. Look, I wear jeans so rarely I can’t be bothered with trying to be fashionable. They fit, and that’s good enough. The vintage  cape has suede details, a nice combination in my opinion. I’m also wearing the Nebraska belt buckle I was given at Christmas. The handbag was thrifted a few years ago.

I’m rediscovering trousers. These have buttons up the sides like a sailor’s.

I rather like that.

The vintage windbreaker was something I bought for Danny but he quickly outgrew. It feels strange getting hand- me-downs from my child! He’s grown into a giant. 

Same trousers doing a 40s look with an 80s top. I like the versatility, but I don’t really ever feel myself in slacks. I guess that’s because I rarely wore them as a young person. 

But give me a dress or a skirt, and I’m good!

A cheaply thrifted 80s crepe dress can work wonders for my wardrobe. The sleeves are sheer which would be a bit much in February, so I’m wearing a shirt beneath. 

Still letting the curls go wild. Probably could use a haircut but can’t be bothered. At least I won’t be running out of conditioner any time soon!

This suit has been in my collection 30 years, and it was old then! 

My suit has been a more reliable presence in my life than most people! I can always count on it. 

Wacky? Oh, I can do wacky clothes!

The corduroys came from the children’s department at Target around 2001. They are meant to be cropped . If I bought trousers in the adult department they would be dragging on the  ground. 

You’ve seen all these before,  but put together differently. I rather like the coral with brown. 

1980s? I’ve got that!

How about a sneak peek at the Mr. Dino dress I scored? It needs some buttons replaced and the hem tacked up but is otherwise perfect. I was so happy to find it as my collection was lacking a Mr. Dino and his stuff really is representative of the early 70s. 

What’s the perfect fragrance to wear with your Mr. Dino?

There’s something so bourgeois about it! I’m not judging ( yes I am). Anyway, it is perfect with a dress my mum would have happily worn. 

There’s still a few hours left to leap day, so I am off to make the most of them. Hope you enjoyed yours. 

See you in March. 

In February It Will Be My Snowman’s Anniversary

Another month gone by! January was fast this year. One minute you’re putting away the holiday   decorations, the next you’re planning the spring garden. 

So what’s new? I reluctantly purchased another car. The Ford had been in and out of the shop ( though predictably it is now fine) and Dan will be learning to drive this summer, so it was time. I bought a Honda Civic coupe and LOVE it! It pained me to buy a foreign car, but the days of American cars being built in Detroit are long gone. Anyway, I’m happy with it and can now worry about something other than being stranded by the Focus. 

Okay, it won’t win any beauty contests but it has a remote starter and a sun roof😁.

That was a shit show, wasn’t it?! We live fifteen minutes away from Iowa and were involved with the campaign ( Dan has been phone banking and getting screamed at by people who don’t want any more political phone calls- can’t say I blame them) but never thought it would be such a shambles. Ugh, hopefully New Hampshire will go smooth. 

Without going into a lot of detail, I’ve got an annoying person I’m related to ( though actually not in the way we always thought) calling me. Dan showed me how to block her. I mean, if we haven’t talked in 20 years there’s probably nothing to say. Anyway, after hanging up once she called back a month later demanding I answer questions , and  creating the same drama that caused me to walk away decades ago. So I hung up again. I don’t think they are done/ but I’m sticking firm to my boundaries. I wish I’d been more assertive with it when I was younger. How dare anyone feel so entitled to intrude on my life once I’ve been clear they are unwelcome. The level of disrespect is shocking. 

New year means washing the kitchen walls. Everything is looking much better. 

I do actually cook, and as a result the kitchen gets dirty. Just juicing these oranges made it look like there’d been a massacre. 

And you know how I like a clean house! Have you tried the Dawn soap and vinegar cleaning spray recipe yet? My shower has never looked this good. It is like magic! We have hard water in Omaha and the vinegar really helps clean through it. 

I’ve been baking bread again. Got out of the habit after Dan was cleared for nut allergies ( only to now be diagnosed with an whole host of food restrictions (don’t ask) but now I’m back to baking my own, and honestly, it is so much better than what I was buying. 

I’m off for more oral surgery on Wednesday ( it never ends) so expect to be stuck in bed through the weekend recouping . There’s no end in sight. Ah well, what can you do? 

I cooked a goose last week. No, not this one...

... this one. Not too shabby for a vegetarian 😁. The boys loved it, so that’s what matters. 

I had another birthday on the 4th and was given these magnificent pieces of pottery as a gift. They’re almost too pretty to put plants in! I’m considering silk ones. There’s a large pottery shop in South Omaha that I avoid because I would spend all my money there- But Mr. ETB showed better restraint. Any, it almost feels like summer looking at these beautiful pots.

This was a surprise! I like it. I must be losing my mind and sense of smell because Vanderbilt is definitely not my thing. Except, now it is? Such strangeness. 

Here’s something I can definitely smell- Homemade kimchi. It broke down much more over time and lives in the fridge now. We were pleased with it. How cool is it that you can ferment something on your kitchen counter in a jar?

I’m going to keep it short tonight, but hopefully while I’m recovering there will be a proper outfit post or two. The phone app isn’t perfect ( though not on the level of the Iowa caucus app!!!) but Is better than nothing. 

Hope February is treating you well. See you later.