Hogswatch

[fossilfreak]

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, vol 1 p. 560

215.4 miles

clear, cold

 

358 recordings of 60 types, 4 old SVU and 45 old CPD. 25% clear.

Friday the 15th there was WIND! It stripped all the leaves off the beds I'd put them on.

I had ghastly leg cramps that woke me up.

 

Then I dreamed I was on a trip, and Evan (the Honorary Geezer from Africa) was there. I said "this is quite a difference from Dubai." I wrote him on Facebook and he wrote back. Such a nice young man.

 

I went out to get money and buy gas and get bananas. Other than that, I stayed home and watched Big Cat videos.

 

Saturday morning my power went out. I sat in the kitchen and read, and fortunately it came back in 3 hours, while I was still home. I say "fortunately" because my coffee pot was turned on. It would have been OK as it had too much coffee in it to evaporate, but still.

 

I caught the gardeners to give them their Christmas cards and tips. Then the dog went mad and racing to the kitchen to bark at them he ran into the water dish and knocked it all over the kitchen. So I had a swamp in the kitchen! It took two towels with two times being soaked to get most of it up. Meanwhile, they managed to get all the leaves into the bin with room to spare.

 

Bernadette and Rob had their annual "Hogwatch" party so I went to pick up the kids and we braved the traffic at Arden Fair to see Ferdinand. Joanna was all over the place, but luckily she wanted to sit in the back row (as far away from the screen as possible) so her wiggles only bothered me. The movie was fine, and then we came here to finish their presents. Mosaic tiles were involved, and not surprisingly, Joanna is more artistic than Gareth. My mistake was only having one thing of glue, so she was impatient and I gave in to Gareth's plea to put the glue down in the pattern instead of on every tile one at a time. So the glue smeared here and there. The projects are OK anyway. I got the kids back as it was getting dark but Bernadette's party hadn't quite finished "Hogfather." I stuck around till the end.

 

I realized I hadn't read Hogfather for many years, so I looked it up (not on the Pratchett shelf, and where did I hide the Christmas books?) and added it to my reading. Meanwhile, in the morning, I finished The Little World of Don Camillo. So funny! I'm now reading Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire; Pepys' Diary; Embarrassments by PJ Nel; Shattered, Jonathan Allen & Amie Parnes; Hogfather, Terry Pratchett; Little Women, Louisa May Alcott; and Before Midnight, Rex Stout.

I also ordered the DVD of Hogfather.

 

On Sunday the Advent wreath was lit ahead of time, so Father had no chance to forget it.

 

I think I'll pay less taxes with this tax cut bill. Monica says they pay $34K in income tax! OUCH. Nice to be poor! Or nice not to live in California.

 

I gave up on the Rosetta Stone puzzle. I'd put in 405 pieces, not 395. It's very frustrating but I would like to do it one day. I put the groups back into the box still connected, but I really need to try something else for awhile.

 

In the evening I went to a caroling party. It was great fun. I'd taken a veggie tray, others had brought bread and stuff. They had a really delicious tortilla soup and glogg, and then we went out and carolled around the block, singing at places that were decorated. It took two hours, and as I wasn't planning to eat dessert anyway, I came home.

 

 

I took a quick trip to the Commissary. I couldn't get regular oatmeal, but it doesn't matter, I have a spare box. I usually use the quick check, but it's Christmas time, so I went through a regular check stand so I could tip the baggers.

 

The cleaners came early and there were three of them (of course.)

 

I picked 13 more oranges. There are 5 left on the tree, but I think I'll have Bernadette's for her.