I don't rejoice in the day, but I do thrill to the fact that from now the days will begin to lengthen, and that this heralds (eventually) the (passionately welcomed) arrival of spring.
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- Thread starter Gutwrench
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My artisan sausages ( a selection) have been delivered, as has the fish (smoked fish), that I had ordered.
I had to take Mrs AFB car to the garage earlier. There must have e been 15 people queuing outside the butchers.
Glad I don’t have to do that. Our frozen chicken breasts are in the freezer as always.
Yes, I can well imagine the queues at the butcher's; I've seen them, in the past, other years.
I never buy meat from a supermarket, instead preferring to buy it from an organic stall in the farmers' market (which I shall visit tomorrow for shin of beef on the bone and for some pork belly, both of which I have ordered in advance), and from a lady who makes her own amazing artisan sausages, totally natural, etc, who has just delivered an order I had placed around a fortnight ago - the sausages were made this week), and, occasionally, from a local, award winning butcher.
Now that my smoked fish and sausages have been delivered, I expect that I shall head out shortly, with a view to returning some books to the library, and paying a visit to M&S for cream; I also need to buy some butter.
I've always thought of Winter and Summer like this:
Imagine you're at a party or a social gathering. You have your regulars who are nice to catch up with and chat up for a bit and then you have Winter and Summer...
Winter (to some) is a welcome sight but for everyone else, they are the creepy dude who can't/wont take a hint to leave...ever and just hovers around people, interjecting into conversations and tries to make itself known in the most obnoxious way. It's sometimes tolerated but for the most part, people are done with Winter rather quickly.
Summer on the other hand is the life of the party. They kick down the doors with booze in hand and they instantly become the center of the universe. They dont have a care in the world and have no problem making friends BUT Summer's ego is sometimes too much for people to tolerate. Thankfully for those people who are annoyed with Summer's heat and ego, they leave just as quickly as they arrive as they have another party to go to.
Parties or social gatherings do not remotely appeal, hence, even as a metaphor, this does not really resonate with me.
Actually, I am feeling quite grumpy, tetchy, and somewhat out of sorts, today: Whether that is the dark, dreary, dismal, charcoal coloured sky, - that bleak daylight of a light deprived day, the fact that we are in deepest, darkest, dreariest winter (and yes, I salute the solstice), or, the fact that yesterday was the anniversary of my mother's death, I cannot quite say.
Actually, I am feeling quite grumpy, tetchy, and somewhat out of sorts, today: Whether that is the dark, dreary, dismal, charcoal coloured sky, - that bleak daylight of a light deprived day, the fact that we are in deepest, darkest, dreariest winter (and yes, I salute the solstice), or, the fact that yesterday was the anniversary of my mother's death, I cannot quite say.
It might be (and, if I had to guess, probably is) a combination of all three things. I'm sorry to hear this, but I hope tomorrow is a better day for you.
As for me, I just woke up, but I'm getting ready to pack, because I'm leaving town for the holidays - just for three days. I'm leaving tomorrow, but I'd like to have stuff packed well beforehand. Then I come back to town for a few days and the leave again for college.
I dislike December, and detest much of the stuff that surrounds Christmas.
Yes, I understand that it is a Christian celebration grafted onto a pagan winter festival (celebrating, or marking) the darkest part of the year, the disappearance of light, celebrating ties of kinship and friendship, and that this is, or can be, an excellent time to take stock, but I do wonder how necessary the commercial and consumer frenzy is to both the pagan and Christian festivals that were the ancestors of the current Yuletide celebrations.
Anyway, en route into the city (thankfully, deadlines were immaterial, as they would have been missed), the first bus explained that it was running 40 minutes late (there are supposed to be at least three per hour) and was therefore (on account of traffic and demand) under instructions from its control centre to abort the second half of its route (the part that included where I wished to go), and return to the terminus.
Fine. I reminded myself that while I had things I wished to do, time constraints (unlike when Mother was alive, then, on account of her dementia, every minute had to be accounted for as she required 24 hour care) - or deadlines, or appointments - were not a problem.
A second bus arrived within five or so minutes, the first bus driver having contacted his control to kindly let me know when I could expect the next one to arrive.
En route into the city, we got stuck behind not one, but two breakdowns.
Anyway, I reached the city, obtained double cream and Jersey butter in M&S, managed to get a haircut (I had thought to ask when they were open between Christmas and the New Year, and they kindly slotted me in), and visited the library, returning some books, and picking up one that awaited me.
The library shuts today, and remains closed until next Friday, 29th December, when it shuts again until 2nd January.
Anyway, now I am back home, where books (and beer) await me.
Yes, I understand that it is a Christian celebration grafted onto a pagan winter festival (celebrating, or marking) the darkest part of the year, the disappearance of light, celebrating ties of kinship and friendship, and that this is, or can be, an excellent time to take stock, but I do wonder how necessary the commercial and consumer frenzy is to both the pagan and Christian festivals that were the ancestors of the current Yuletide celebrations.
Anyway, en route into the city (thankfully, deadlines were immaterial, as they would have been missed), the first bus explained that it was running 40 minutes late (there are supposed to be at least three per hour) and was therefore (on account of traffic and demand) under instructions from its control centre to abort the second half of its route (the part that included where I wished to go), and return to the terminus.
Fine. I reminded myself that while I had things I wished to do, time constraints (unlike when Mother was alive, then, on account of her dementia, every minute had to be accounted for as she required 24 hour care) - or deadlines, or appointments - were not a problem.
A second bus arrived within five or so minutes, the first bus driver having contacted his control to kindly let me know when I could expect the next one to arrive.
En route into the city, we got stuck behind not one, but two breakdowns.
Anyway, I reached the city, obtained double cream and Jersey butter in M&S, managed to get a haircut (I had thought to ask when they were open between Christmas and the New Year, and they kindly slotted me in), and visited the library, returning some books, and picking up one that awaited me.
The library shuts today, and remains closed until next Friday, 29th December, when it shuts again until 2nd January.
Anyway, now I am back home, where books (and beer) await me.
I’m neither a Christian or pagan. So that’s reason enough to not embrace this season without my personal reasons.
Oh well. 4 days off work. I have two cars to clean and possibly detail should the weather be kind.
Other housework if the weather is not kind.
Plus a cross trainer to clock up a few miles on.
Enjoy your books.
Fair enough, that makes complete sense.
Decent Brother was working today (he received a file yesterday at four o'clock that required a court appearance today) and will be working next week, as well.
I’m back at work Wednesday for the rest of the week. However it is always quiet.
And, precisely because it is quiet, it isn't so bad, in my experience.
Personally I’d rather work all week and have some time off in the summer.
My (electric) blanket is on, my bed is beckoning, and I am sipping a mug of tea while contemplating the winter solstice.
Looking forward to when we're finally past all this Christmas sh-- uh, stuff, and starting out the brand-new year of 2024....
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A passionate and profound amen to this sentiment.
The over-commercialization of holidays has truly become ridiculous when it isn't even Christmas yet and already shelves in at least one local store are already displaying merchandise for Valentine's Day! Seriously, that is just OTT and beyond sad.....
What about Groundhog’s Day (February 2nd)?
The queues - and I was in the farmers' market very early this morning - at (or rather, outside) a very good local butcher's (which are, in themselves, a sign of the quality of the place and the produce they sell) were quite astonishing. Unbelievable. At least 15 people, closer to twenty.
There were also extensive queues outside the cheesemonger's.
Anyway, the organic butcher stall in the market had my order ready, and organic, free range eggs, had also been kept for me.
At the olive oil stand, I treated myself to some olive oil, black Moroccan olives, green olives and anchovy olives, plus semi-sundried tomatoes, and some Mozzarella. And (gloriously green, fresh) pesto.
Most of the stalls will take some - if not all - of January, and, perhaps, February, off.
Earlier still, fruit and vegetables were delivered this morning - as was plenty of sparkling water.
Apart from shopping, I also took in a brief (but both fitting, appropriate, yet very welcome) Yuletide visit to the cemetery to spend a little time with some late loved ones, my parents.
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I saw some blood oranges today.
My bespectacled eyes beheld some blood oranges this morning, each orange, glowing with round rubicund good health, nestled in its own little paper wrapping, arrayed in a (beckoning) basket...
The first blood oranges of the season....
Now, I adore blood oranges, I thrill to them, I love them, their annual arrival is one of the (very) few good things about late winter, but, they came at a price of over a pound each, (in fact, they cost well over a pound each)......and I won't deny that I was (and am) seriously tempted to splurge.
However....with a deep and profound regret, while seriously struggling with an internal dilemma, (of the prudence versus greed variety, an appalling dilemma), I decided - with reluctance - to walk away.
Yes, as the season (their season usually runs from late December until around mid March, perhaps, extending into early April) progresses, their price will, of course, inevitably fall.
My bespectacled eyes beheld some blood oranges this morning, each orange, glowing with round rubicund good health, nestled in its own little paper wrapping, arrayed in a (beckoning) basket...
The first blood oranges of the season....
Now, I adore blood oranges, I thrill to them, I love them, their annual arrival is one of the (very) few good things about late winter, but, they came at a price of over a pound each, (in fact, they cost well over a pound each)......and I won't deny that I was (and am) seriously tempted to splurge.
However....with a deep and profound regret, while seriously struggling with an internal dilemma, (of the prudence versus greed variety, an appalling dilemma), I decided - with reluctance - to walk away.
Yes, as the season (their season usually runs from late December until around mid March, perhaps, extending into early April) progresses, their price will, of course, inevitably fall.
Huge huge security hole;
PSA for all Venmo users, check and change your security settings. The default is public, do you want everyone seeing your $ transactions? I greyed out last names in screenshots. Heck, I clicked on “friends” accounts, I can see all their transactions, then clicked on a name in their list and I see strangers transactions.
I changed mine from public to private just yesterday when I discovered this on my own.
Spread the word, this is a public post. No secure or private info posted to protect others.
PSA for all Venmo users, check and change your security settings. The default is public, do you want everyone seeing your $ transactions? I greyed out last names in screenshots. Heck, I clicked on “friends” accounts, I can see all their transactions, then clicked on a name in their list and I see strangers transactions.
I changed mine from public to private just yesterday when I discovered this on my own.
Spread the word, this is a public post. No secure or private info posted to protect others.
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The cheesemonger just phoned, and says that he plans to drop out some cheese to me tomorrow, which is exceptionally kind and thoughtful of him.