ornaments, pecans, soup, painting

I took this picture of one of the gingko trees yesterday. You can see all the dead branches from the drought summer several years ago when the squirrels desperate for food and water stripped the bark off the branches, 2” x 1/2” pieces covering the ground. I was afraid both trees would die but they’re doing fine. Once they turn yellow like this the leaves fall rather dramatically. The trees will probably be bare by tomorrow, Monday for certain.

I don’t dislike everything about this time of year. While I don’t care for the inflatable decorations which are a puddle of plastic on the ground more often than inflated, I love the light displays that people put up outside. I like christmas trees, or rather the trees of my youth, asymmetrical naturally grown holes and all, not the ones farmed and manicured into a perfect  unnatural cone shape. Unnatural being the key word here. Might as well be fake which so many are nowadays anyway. More specifically, I love the ornaments. I have a small collection, four antique German glass ones from my youth, one cross stitch and one starched crocheted snowflake that my sister made, and eight that I’ve bought from artists or otherwise acquired, and one faux stained glass one that my brother gave me. I’d have more if I had a way to display them all the time. Most hang on the armature I found at an estate sale (I've shown these before but it's been awhile), one on the hook to the side, 

the other four hang above the kitchen sink. So, fifteen in all. Well, 17. I have two more in a drawer, also antique German glass from my childhood, that are not in very good condition.

I’ve been shelling pecans and have shelled enough for the ones I give away. Out of 24 pounds of cracked pecans, I got a little over 10 pounds of nuts (already given three away). 

I still have five full boxes of pecans from my yard and four full boxes from the neighbor’s two trees that overhang the fence around the shop yard. Those I’ll sell along with the ones from my trees. I’ll hold out maybe another 30 pounds, that should give me plenty for the next year or longer if I don’t get any next year. The trees are still dropping nuts, you can see them high up in the trees now that most the leaves have dropped, but I’m over picking them up and probably about half the ones falling now are dried up inside. Edit: I held back about 32 pounds and sold the other eight boxes yesterday, 153 pounds of pecans.

A couple of weeks ago I bought a can of coconut milk and then couldn’t remember what I bought it for but when I looked at the recipe for the soup I wanted to make I remembered. I had a cup of cooked butternut squash left over from the casserole I made for Thanksgiving which weighed out to a little over a pound. I needed 2 pounds for the butternut cashew soup so bought a little over a pound of sweet potatoes which stand in nicely for the butternut and made that last night. Onions, garlic go in it as well as curry powder, ginger, cumin, coriander, turmeric, salt and pepper of course, chicken or vegetable stock (I used both), the coconut milk. Sauté the onions, garlic, and cashews, add the stock and spices, the uncooked cubed butternut and sweet potato and simmer for 20 minutes. Puree it in a blender, back in the pot and add the coconut milk and a sprig of rosemary and simmer for another 20 minutes. Since my butternut was already cooked and mashed I didn’t add it in until I was ready to puree the rest. Makes a very good creamy rich soup. Naan and a green salad on the side. If anyone is interested in quantities I can give those in the comments.

I finally started back on the painting I began before Thanksgiving. It’s been two or three weeks since I last worked on it and I’m almost ready to do the background. I found this tattered Monarch wing on the ground and envisioned it floating against a blue sky though I’m not painting it tattered. 

After the fact, I thought it would have been better if I had painted it not quite so perfect but it’s too late now for that.

Haven’t trapped Ghost yet, appointment isn’t until Wednesday.

 

SHARE social and Ghost

Today was our holiday potluck social at SHARE. I made my offering last night after spending about an hour trying to find the main ingredient, pearl couscous, which is really a form of pasta, not a grain, so I don’t know why they call it couscous unless it’s because it’s round. There are two grocery options in this town, HEB (the Texas chain) and the Evil Empire (aka Walmart). A few years ago the HEB here upgraded adding a larger variety of goods, so they told us. However to do that they had to discontinue other items which invariably were the things I buy. So because I had previously bought pearl couscous (also called Israeli couscous) in the pasta section at HEB, that’s where I went. Guess what, it wasn’t there. I used the phone app to see where else it might be in the store. Guess what, nowhere. So off to Walmart and not in their pasta section either but then I thought to look with the rice and other grains and voilà, success. It’s a fairly quick little dish, cook the pearl couscous, add chopped cucumber (sans seeds), chopped green onions including the tops, chopped dried fruit (I used cherries this time but also have used dried apricots), toasted slivered almonds, and this time I added chopped parsley as well and a little salt, then mix in Newman’s Own classic oil and vinegar dressing (that's what I use but I suppose you can use whatever you like). Quantities whatever you feel is enough (I don't measure anything) and really you can use whatever ingredients you like.

Another cold front blew in yesterday afternoon putting an end to our few days of warmer weather. One minute it was still and the next a very strong wind started blowing immediately dropping the temperature and continued to blow for the rest of the evening. Currently 46˚ and dipping down into the 30˚s tonight but they are promising temps in the 70˚s and high 60˚s for a week starting Wednesday. It was so windy I was surprised to see the two plumerias and the pink trumpet flower in pots by the barn still upright this morning.

Robin and I have decided that something has to be done about Ghost, well, not some thing but a thing in particular. 

Ghost needs to have his little balls clipped. When he first showed up he would hang back by the back of the shop until the other cats had eaten and dispersed before he would come eat what was left. Then he would wait by the front of the shop. When we started putting out food for him as well he hung out by the shed and would submissively come join the other cats. Over the months he has gotten bolder and bolder and now he is well fed, has shelter under the house, and while he still won’t let us touch him and hisses when we try, he lets us get within touching distance. The problem is that now that he’s confident that he has a place to live and food he’s getting aggressive with the other cats. Lovey has never accepted him and hisses at him but Twin and Handsome were more accommodating. Not so much now. Handsome will hiss at him and I’ve seen Ghost attack Twin, who of the three is the most timid, and Handsome and all three now keep a wide berth between themselves and Ghost. The three would take shelter under the house but not now that Ghost has moved in. I see Ghost come out from under the house but not the other three, not anymore. They hang out in the front. And now Lovey has basically moved across the street over to my house much to Cat’s displeasure, only going back when I feed them. We think he spends the night under our house now as he is always here when I open the garage every morning. I don’t mind except for the fact that it upsets Cat, they face off and snarl at each other, and she doesn’t want to go out when he’s here. 

So we have a plan. I’m going to borrow my neighbor’s live trap, call the local organization that helps with the cost of spaying and neutering feral cats and get a voucher sent to the vet and make an appointment. Lovey and Handsome will voluntarily go into the screened back porch and I’m pretty sure Twin trusts me enough now to get him in there and I’ll feed them in there and bait the trap with food for Ghost. The problem before was getting the other cats isolated and Ghost being untrusting but that’s not a problem now. Hopefully Ghost will fall for the ruse and I can take him to the vet before they close for the day.

dreary days, streaming, the season

The days this week have been wet, overcast, cold, and dreary. We did get about 2 1/4” of rain last Monday so that was good. Days like this I plug the star lights in.

I’ve always been a Beatles fan. They were an extraordinary group whose music in the decade the band existed evolved dramatically. their output was astonishing, every album unique and better and better. Though at 15 in 1965 when I had a choice between seeing the Beach Boys or the Beatles live, I chose the Beach Boys because I was put off, and didn’t get, the whole delirious screaming of the girl fans that made it impossible to hear the music. Besides, I thought, I could go the next time they toured through Houston, only they quit touring soon after that so I never saw the Beatles live. And while Marc and I watched the Peter Jackson production of The Beatles: Get Back when it came out on Disney in 2021 which to me really highlighted the end stage of the Beatles and the dissolution of the band we had never seen the Beatles Anthology released in 1995…until this past week. The newly remastered and remixed Beatles Anthology 2025, the story of their meteoric rise from their Liverpool beginning and eventual dissolution of the band as told from the point of view of the individual surviving members of the band, including clips from recordings of interviews with John Lennon before his murder, with a new final episode 9 added on. It was wonderful to see George, Paul, and Ringo getting together and interacting after 25 years of water had flowed under the bridge, their genuine affection for each other. George Harrison’s remark at one point that he was only 23 when  Sergeant Pepper’s came out in 1967 really brought home how young they were trying to just make music and deal with the worldwide fame and pressure. Anyway, we thoroughly enjoyed The Beatles Anthology 2025, streaming on Disney+, remembering that part of our youth and viewing the Beatles through their own eyes and recollections, four best friends who took the world by storm.

The Beatles Anthology interrupted what we had been watching and have returned to, American Gods on Amazon Prime based on the novel by Neil Gaiman of the same name. We’re were halfway through the first of three seasons and when we went back to it, episode 5 was not available, nor was episode 7 (of 8). We watched six and eight and supposedly there are two more seasons supposed to be available of amazon Prime, but they didn’t show up. Apparently, for #s 5 and 7, the license to show them ran out and I suppose for the other two seasons. I don’t know if we’ll be able to watch seasons 2 and 3 but the series was canceled before the end so no big loss I guess. I’m going to see if the new little book store has the book.

We are fully into my least favorite time of year, the Christmas ‘season’ which actually starts before Halloween with small displays of Christmas stuff. Now after Thanksgiving which barely gets a nod from retailers these days, it is full blown. Christmas music everywhere you go, one radio station plays nothing but, everything on tv is Christmas themed, the stress and the impossible expectations, the feeling that giving gifts is an obligation of the holiday, the ridiculous ‘war on Christmas’ that surfaces every year from those that refuse to accept or acknowledge all the other holidays that happen in December. I used to actively hate it and it would put me in a foul mood all month because, people get a fucking grip, it’s one day of the year, does it really have to start before Halloween? Now, not so much. As a non-Christian and anti all religion in general I just ignore it as much as possible which is easier to do out here instead of when I lived in the city. The closer it gets though the more often I’ll be asked if I’m ready for Christmas. My standard non-reply is, as ready as I ever am. Of course my kids and grandkids are grown, have aged out of the mandatory gift giving. Instead, if I see something I think someone would like I’ll gift it to them regardless of the time of year. That said, I will occasionally buy a holiday gift for someone but the point is not because I feel obligated to give a Christmas present and it so happens I have two gifts I intend to give this year. When I have a good pecan harvest, people get a pound of shelled pecans but that just coincides with this time of year. They’d get them if it was spring or summer.

If I did celebrate this time of year it would be the pagan roots of the winter solstice that has morphed into the Christian/secular Christmas; the return of the light; the yule log, decorating with evergreens, candles, the giving of small baskets of fruits and nuts or small tokens of nature. The early Christian Church rededicated this festival to the birth of their Savior in an attempt to bury paganism and impose the new religion same as they did the spring celebration and festival of Eostre (Ostara), the goddess of spring and fertility because they knew the common people would not give up their earth and nature based celebrations and festivals. I did set up a small altar last year with a cedar branch and a candle for the solstice. Perhaps I’ll do the same this year, add a few pecans and an orange.

 

one giant step into winter

I’m a little cranky today. Woke up to cold and rain and we had yet to turn on the heater. Minnie was convinced right away that she didn’t want to go outside but Cat kept going from door to door, meowing at me constantly. Sorry Cat, can’t do anything about the weather. She finally ventured out the back door far enough for a drop of rain to hit her and came back in convinced. And when I say it’s cold, it’s 46 and only supposed to get two degrees warmer and drop down to 39˚ tonight. Guess who couldn’t cajole herself into rolling out her mat and who is definitely not going to yoga class tonight? Abby’s probably going to cancel tonight anyway.

The heater is now on, I’ve had my coffee, and Cat has finally shut up but my feet are still cold. So, not so cranky but I’m definitely not going out today until I must to go feed the cats across the street. I imagine they are huddled under the house. 

I think we’re finally getting some measurable rain, at least I hope so. All we’ve been getting the last several days is a few quick showers, less than five minutes and not enough water to get the ground wet under the trees. The water level in the old turtle pond looks higher (I can see the water level through the gray plastic sides) and it’s supposed to rain off and on all day and even this week. 

You might remember that last fall I dug up my little Japanese azalea and my camellia neither of which were growing, hadn’t bloomed in years, and were obviously struggling and put them in pots and brought them in for the winter. Well, the azalea has buds forming for spring and the camellia has six buds, two of which are opening! 

This little podunk red town has two new small businesses. Sarah, Robin, and I went and checked them out on Saturday. There is La Despensa Dry Goods and Refillery that sells bulk (bring your own container) organic and small business sourced things like olive and avocado oil, vinegars, some herbs and spices, tea mixes, various trail mixes and nuts, rice, laundry soap and softener, dish soap.

The second shop right across the street is a new small book and gift store with gently used and new books and some great little quirky gifts. I don’t have a picture of the interior but right away I saw a used book that was on my to read list that the library doesn’t have. It’s at my house now. After I finish it I’ll donate it back to the store because I want them to succeed. I want both little businesses to succeed. Coupled with the Hesed House Market that sells art and crafts and various fresh, frozen, dried, and canned food items from local producers and artists and craftspeople we’re beginning to have some great alternatives to the Evil Empire or driving into Rosenberg. It’s a tough go for small businesses in Wharton though. Wharton historically has not supported Wharton small businesses. Many have tried and many have failed but with the greater metropolis of Houston edging our way Wharton is becoming a bedroom community. Two new housing subdivisions are building and bringing in a younger population (and hopefully more liberal as well) so hopefully these two new shops will make it.

And speaking of a younger population, I drove by the house that had the Trump sign on the fence and it is definitely a new family with small children so regardless of how it happened, we have at least one less Trump supporter in town.