Dairy Daze...and Now Beyond

 Today, as our after Thanksgiving activity tradition, Ellen and I went Christmas tree hunting. We were unsuccessful in finding one that we needed.  To avoid allergy issues we try to find a female cedar tree; one that has the berries on it.  The males tend to give off pollen.  You might say I am crazy to believe this; but every year...EVERY FREAKING Y EAR prior to two years ago we have had just any tree and Ellen had had extreme allergy issues in the month of December.   Two years ago we managed to choose a tree that had berries on it and; wonder of wonders, she didn't have severe winter allergies.  So we found another berry laden bush last year and the same lack of allergies happened. This year we went looking for the same and were unsuccessful.  So we decided to try our fake tree this year.  I told Ellen that if we did the fake one we could set it up earlier, in early December instead of waiting until in the 20s of December to put up a real ...

When I moved here to Missouri I was, and still remain, enchanted with the little terrapins, or box turtles that live here.  In spring and summer to mid-fall, depending on the temperature, they roam around at will.  They live their lives; generally up to 25-30 years, within a one mile radius of where they hatch.    They die for any number of reasons and their shells litter the forests floors all over.   In my first few years here I'd collect the shells and use them to decorate garden beds or whatever.  It is actually illegal to possess to many of them, or to sell them, or transport them out of the state.   At some point in the last few years I ceased collecting them, but just let them lay.  I have been tracking the above shell for the past year or so.  It is where I take Bella for longer walks.  At one point it was under a mossy log.  Then a month or so later it was under a small cedar tree.  That is where it has been for a...

 Here is a selfie from Ellen.  Isn't she cute?!  She is very talented.  I think this is from Fall 2019.

Last fall our ladies group at church started a project making hats on looms...loom knitting. For some reason this enchanted me.  I did a few hats, here is one of my first ones: Then I started getting adventurous with it and tried out a baby Yoda hat:  Then I tried an infant set: Then I tried an easy drawstring bag: Here is a fuzzy dot with a mini hat! This is one of my latest hats using two colors.  It looks complicated, but is actually pretty easy.     I am working on a headband now, but I don't really like it.  It resembles some sort of huge slug.  Haha...

 It was FIVE years ago today that we brought my mom here to Missouri from California. This is a picture of her we took not long after she came here.  Five years ago she was up for adventures and, child-like, she wanted to be involved in everything. Now it is hard for her to even get out of the house.  She still likes to go places, but even when we go to town she rarely will get out of the car.  She is still happy though, and says that moving to Missouri was the best thing she's ever done.  Haha...  It's probably the only major thing she can remember doing. 

 I have few words today.  Things are not well here.     Anyway, I have missed 5 days already; so guess it's a good thing I wasn't expecting a prize for blogging 30 days straight.  I took Bella for a walk yesterday.  Here are a few pictures from the walk. Bella spends her time on our walks looking for squirrels.  She is standing next to one of my favorite trees.  Here is another shot of it.  It's a branch that survived somehow after the original tree was bent over and broken off from the trunk.  I am not sure if it was deliberate or not.  You can see the remnants of the tree/log that fell on the original tree. There is a box turtle shell kicking around out where we do our fall/winter walks.  It was still there under the little cedar tree where we'd left it in Spring.  Over the summer it collected quite a few more squirrel gnaw marks along the rim.  

 Ellen asked for some hot chocolate a while ago, so this morning I thought I would adapt an eggnog recipe I was sent in a greeting card last December.  I  did not like my adaptation; it was too rich for me, so I will give you my final alteration of the recipe instead of what I actually made.   1 egg 3/4 cup almond milk 1/2-3/4 cup water, depending on how rich you want it to be  2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg 2 1/2 Tablespoons erythritol  2-3 drops liquid Stevia Combine all ingredients in electric blender or food processor (I just used a wire whisk) and blend until well mixed.  Transfer mixture to double boiler; heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture is steaming.  Do not boil  Serve immediately. I topped it with real cinnamon/vanilla whipped cream.   Delish