D&D - Oh, I miss those long D&D sessions! Times long gone by, I'm afraid.
I'm going a few hours early today, since I'll have to be at the allotment for most of the day and will be in bed with a hot water bottle, if it goes as in the past, after that.
1) I am way behind on getting all my fall bulbs, including some of the garlic, planted this year. The whole thing with the car breaking down messed up my schedule badly. Was over there for a few hours today, tidying away and tying things down that will stay out there over the winter. Also got the wood chip mulch on some of the garlic we planted a couple of weeks ago. Ran out of chips. But it was brisk - seriously breezy and occasionally spitting. Technically there were snow pellets, so we've technically had our first snow of the year. Have to go back out tomorrow to do more. Thank goodness for alpaca-yarn hats and scarves!
2) The car is back. I am so happy to have my little 10 year old car back. Given the tariffs on the parts, it came in at a little less than I'd expected. Apparently they did not charge for the diagnostic service ($98), and were able to use after-market parts to keep the bill down. They could not explain the rather amazing noises it made, but it's fixed and should be good for some time now. It's nice to have a good mechanic that doesn't try to take advantage.
3) I made an applesauce bread out of my 1940s wartime cookbook earlier in the week, and finished off the last of it with tea this afternoon. It was full of dried fruits, chopped pecans, dehydrated apples from last fall, and homemade applesauce. It's really, really good and so easy to make! And about a gazillion calories a slice, though. Lovely toasted.
4) I was able to get some bags of food to a local church food pantry. I get a small amount back from using my credit card every month, and I've been using that to buy pizza, snacks, and bubble teas. So now it'll be for the food pantry. I went with nutrient-dense whole foods (dried pinto beans, split peas, lentils, brown rice, chickpeas, & pasta, etc.), thinking someone could make those go a long way. But now I'm wondering if anyone still knows how to cook with basic ingredients? It seems like a lot of the food banks are asking for "canned soup, ramen, mac-and-cheese" and things like that. I'm thinking if the local immigrant population uses that pantry, they will be happy to find those foods, so at least it's there for them. I did try to phone the pantry repeatedly, and sent a message via their web page, but never heard back. Called the rectory and they said to leave anything at all in a certain spot, so it worked out ok.
5) The daughter isn't feeling well. Can't get a telehealth visit until Saturday, so I'll make "allium soup" (chicken stock, garlic, onions, lots of black pepper) for her to slurp on tomorrow, with some nice fresh seeded wheat bread. She was supposed to help me finish up the planting, but we can't have her out in that kind of cold while feeling poorly. Better to stay wrapped up indoors on a cold day. Next week is promising to be properly winter, too. Watching the world go by, I'm so glad our pantry is well-stocked.
