Readers, Welcome to my blog (formerly Birds, Blooms, Books, etc). I'm entering a new decade taking on the challenge of moving from Maryland after living there 46 years and learning about my new home here in New England in the Live Free or Die state - New Hampshire. Join me as a write this new chapter of my life.
Another ornament from a trip. This time it was a Roads Scholar trip to St. Louis. It included a ride on the Mississippi on a paddler wheeler in Hannibal, MO. We also had a tour of the Mark Twain Museum and Tom Sawyer’s house.
Before this trip I asked Dan “Are we going to learn too much?” He’s teased me about that ever since. What I meant was whether the trip would involve too many long winded lectures. As it turned out there was only one!
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Today is homeschooling day. Granddaughter #1 is here for her once weekly day with me while Emily is at the office. She’s working on her writing assignment now, nope she’s back at the puzzle. She claims she finished her paragraph. Must check it out.
My smallest nativity. It's in a shell of some sort. My mother gave this to me when we lived in The Lodge. I had taken her shopping to a store that stocked items made by crafts men and women from over seas. All items sold at fair market value. I didn't realize she'd made this purchase as a gift for me.
To see how tiny it is, I put a dime in the shell.
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I'm later than usual posting today because I've been busy making birthday cards - 4 of them - and an anniversary card for youngest daughter and her husband.
I also made gift certificates for oldest two granddaughters. The certificates entitle them to a shopping trip and lunch out.
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Yesterday I finished up this task. I had purchased two 4x6 photo albums which had these pressed flower arrangements in the cover picture spot. I took them out of those spots and put them into these frames with mats with the right size opening.
Though don't have the original coloring anymore but I thought they were still lovely.
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To end this post let me share the Chinese noodle soup dish I created last night.
I'd purchased these rice noodles sometime this past Fall. I finally did some looking in a Chinese cookbook I have and on line for how to use them in soup.
I used half the bag for the soup.
Here's a bowl of it.
And here's enough for seconds last night and lunch today.
Dan said it was the best Chinese soup he'd had. I figured I'd better write out what I did so I can replicate it again. It would be good with chicken too.
Sorry. Not exactly a recipe you can follow easily. If you try it let me know.
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One more thing: we are having snow. Prediction of 1-3 inches has been surpassed already. I know because Dan just had a fire call - downed wire in the road - and I had to go shut the barn doors after he took car out. I swept the porch too and it's 3 inches and climbing. Since I was out, I took the compost to the outdoor compost bin.
View from my desk. Porch is getting covered again.
The Cookbook Supper gathering that was to be tonight has been postponed until January because of this weather system.
I saved this birthday card from two years ago and include it with my window displays for winter. My youngest sister sent it to me for my 73rd birthday. 75 is creeping very close.
Here's the view out the kitchen windows this morning. We woke to -9ยบ temperatures. It's warmed now to single positive digits.
Love the looks of those icicles. This is the south facing roof and it hasn't been warm enough to melt the snow off. It's only be sliding slowly but this morning frozen in place.
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I got the Christmas cards done and in the mail yesterday.
Here's something I have to admit about myself: I'm not very good about maintaining long distance friendships that once were based upon proximity or work or common interests. There are four Christmas cards I decided to hold off sending because I have had no contact with any of these since last Christmas. Here's my reasoning: if they don't send me one then there's no need to send them one.
Is that so terrible?
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I've been ambivalent about making cookies this holiday but after sleeping on it I have decided to bake on Saturday. Dan said he'd like some peanut butter cookies and I do like to make the almond decorated cookies. There's also molasses that I only make at this time of year.
For a number of years since we moved here I've been delivering cookies at Christmas to my neighbors. In order to keep up that tradition I'll have to bake! I even bought plates to stack them on when I was out at Michael's yesterday.
Decision made: Look for cookie photos in the near future.
One of my ten Father Christmas statues. This one I purchased from a Christmas shop in France while we were on a river cruise on the Rhine one spring.
It sits in one of the windows with this one whose provenance I don't remember. It may have been a thrift shop find.
You can see our snow is sticking around. Temperatures are staying below freezing here.
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My goal for today is to complete the Christmas cards and deliver them to the post office. Envelopes are addressed, cards are made except for an insert which I need to paste in each one.
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If you're interested in reading more about that cruise start with this post and move forward in time.
I used Shutterfly to make this ornament after our two week vacation in Scotland in the Fall of 2017. The apartment we had through UnTours was in Dunblane and this was the cathedral there.
Lots of good memories from that trip. It was our first with UnTours.
We especially enjoyed shopping for dinners at the butcher shop which had these meat pies for sale.
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Today would have been my Mother's 107th birthday. She managed to live to almost 95. Miss her every day. I'm sorry that none of my granddaughters never met her but I've made a point of telling them about her.
Here she is surrounded by her art work in the last months of her life.
An ornament from Alaska. We visited there in 2007.
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Yesterday 5 trees were removed and totally shredded chipped. Quite an operation with one guy in the bucket trimming the trees then cutting off sections from the top down. Two others on the ground gathered the cut pieces and put them in the shredder chipper.
Before
After view this morning.
See the bucket?
Cutting off the stumps.
That whole trunk will go in the shredder chipper.
After - view this morning.
Vicki asked if we'd be planting anything else there. The trees were on our neighbors property and an threat for both our houses. I don't believe our neighbor will replant. There are some small hemlocks that she should keep topped to make a hedge.
I plan to plant shade plants on my side of the line along our driveway to try to keep the weeds out.
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The thermometer is reading 0ยบ this morning.
I'm off this morning on errands, a bit of Christmas shopping and an over due haircut.
I have at least 6 of these ceramic birds that I found years ago in a Vermont crafts shop. This was even before we moved to NH and we were visiting Emily who lived in Springfield, VT at the time.
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Another busy day today. It's my homeschool day with Granddaughter #1. It's been awhile since I was gone for two weeks in November.
Also today 5 trees that border our property along the driveway are to be removed. They belong to the neighbor and were planted so many years ago to form a screen between the two houses. One is dead and the others diseased.
Here's the before photo.
You'll have to look closely for the red ribbons. Our barn is the green one. The standing stones mark the property line.
This was to have happened on Tuesday but the winter storm delayed it. It's a gray day again today and I have to wonder if they will show up. If they do I'll share after photos tomorrow.
My daughter, Emily is quite the knitter among other talents. One year she knitted these tiny sweaters as Christmas ornaments. Just occurred to me that maybe I should ask for a full size version of this sweater.
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We got lots of snow with the storm that came through. Don't believe it turned into a bomb cyclone as predicted because we had no wind with it. The snow just came straight down all day.
Here are three views.
Yesterday morning.
Yesterday afternoon.
This morning.
Dan says 4 or 5 inches. Looking at the picnic table I think it's closer to 6 inches.
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I made the West African Groundnut Stew last night but with modifications.
First I used boneless chicken thighs instead of a whole chicken. Recipe also called for removing chicken once it was cooked, straining the liquid and tossing out what was strained. To me that meant wasting the onions and carrots that had been in there with the chicken. The only thing I removed was the bay leaf.
The recipe was for 6 servings. I halved it and it still was for more servings than 3.
The peanut butter added such a nice flavoring to this and there was a bit of a punch to the taste with the cayenne pepper.
Recipe said to serve over rice which worked well with the broth. I made biscuits to go with it.
There was so much leftover that I decided it was enough to take to the Cookbook Club gathering next week so into the freezer it went. I will make more rice to take, too.
Here's the recipe if anyone else is inspired to try it.
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Household cleaning tasks are calling. A major vacuuming needed with all that gets tracked inside at this time of year especially when bringing in wood.
This sits in a window. It was made by a dear friend of mine. It's appropriate for today as we are in the midst of our first big snowstorm. Weather folks have used the term "bomb cyclone" to describe it. It was forecast to start at 7 am and in fact it did! Snow totals predicted for 6-8 inches. We'll see if they are right about that.
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Woodstove fired up ever morning now.
Here's our skinny tree with not the best lighting. At least you can see the snow fall as of 7:30 am today.
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I managed to do everything on my list yesterday including having the washing machine overflow suds at the drain. First for me. It's so sensitive to the amount of detergent used and I put in a bit too much. It made an awful racket which I thought was coming from outside the house at the construction site for the new library next door. When I realized it was the washer I stopped it and had Dan pull it away from the wall. Fortunately it was just suds and not water too. Once cleaned up I started the wash cycle again but with no more detergent added. I use Tide with the High Efficiency label so know that just a little bit will do it. I always add a second rinse just to be on the safe side.
What I can't figure is if the washing machine requires just a little bit of detergent why do they make you put it in a big dish? Why isn't it a tiny pullout dish?
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I did get to the library yesterday afternoon too and checked out the cookbook for the next cookbook club gathering. I read through it last night and found several recipes to try.
I'm planning to make the West African Groundnut Stew tonight for us. And may make it for the gathering because I've noticed there's only one main dish signed up for so far. I'd really like to try the wings and may use chicken thighs instead of chicken wings.
The gathering is next week on the 10th.
That's it for now. Must get to today's to do list. Hmm ... 3 "to"s in a row!
A souvenir Christmas tree ornament from our trip this past summer to Quebec City and the Gaspe Peninsula.
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My cold has much improved. I think I can attribute it to drinking a tea of lemon and honey three times yesterday plus a very long morning nap. It was probably the latter which gave me the energy to decorate the house. I put up our skinny tree, and covered it with many of the decorations you will get to see through this month. I found spots to display my nativity and Father Christmas collections on other surfaces in the house. You'll get to see some of those, too. Dan put up the lights outside and my task for later today is to decorate the two wreaths we purchased at the grocery store. (As an aside I was very pleasantly surprised at the price $9.99 each.). I have ribbons and decorations I've removed from wreaths to use. I'll share that result too.
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I'm going to take a break from posting any of the horrible news which continuous to shock us all. If you need a dose of that google The Contrarian.
Sunday, November 30, 2025
I'm Home!
So much to do after being gone for two weeks.
Our house is the only one with no Christmas decorations up outside and my shutter pumpkinman is still out there on the porch.
I will try to do some decorating today in between sneezes, wiping my nose and coughing. Yes, I came home with a cold a gift of the youngest granddaughter. I won't complain because they said I was a big help and I had fun.
Catching up on your blogs will have to wait for now.
MAGA Republicans have done more than any political movement to undermine public respect for and confidence in law enforcement. Under the auspices of a 34-times convicted felon, the MAGA movement has condoned violent insurrection and cheered the pardon of the Jan. 6 vicious mob that killed and maimed police officers. So much for “Back the Blue.”
Over the last 10 months, Donald Trump (with full consent of Republican patsies on the Hill) has refused toprosecute white collar crimesandcrypto swindlers, putting Americans’ finances at risk and our government up for sale. Worse, we have seen federal law enforcement persistently abusing power, assaulting unarmed people, misleading courts, and playing hapless victim. None of this engenders respect for the rule of law or support for enforcement personnel.
Trump’s federal immigration goons, who were supposed to deport the worst of the worst criminals, have become rogue bullies. Increasingly, federal judges have proven that they’ve had enough oflawlessenforcement and illegal detention of both immigrants and, in some cases, U.S. citizens.
In Chicago last week, U.S. District Court Judge Sara Ellis, after days of testimony documenting Customs and Border Patrol abuse, cracked down hard on its repeated violations of her TRO.WBEZ in Chicagoreported:
Federal agents’ use of force amid an aggressive deportation campaign in Chicago “shocks the conscience,” the Trump administration’s arguments “lack credibility,” and a top Border Patrol official lied while trying to justify the use of tear gas, a judge found Thursday.
U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis made those findings while handing down a preliminary injunction that now more permanently restricts federal authorities use of force during the campaign known as “Operation Midway Blitz.” It largely mirrors an earlier order from Ellis, forbidding agents from using “riot control” weapons against people who pose no immediate threat, and without two warnings.
Judge Ellis also observed that the head of the Chicago CBP operation, Gregory Bovino, “admitted that he lied about whether a rock hit him before he deployed tear gas in Little Village.”
She bluntly also accused the Trump regime of lying about the city:
From Aurora to Cicero, and Chicago to Evanston to Waukegan. This is a vibrant place, brimming with vitality and hope. Striving to move forward from its complicated history. The [Trump administration] would have people believe, instead, that the Chicagoland area is in a vice hold of violence, ransacked by rioters and attacked by agitators. That simply is untrue. And the government’s own evidence in this case belies that assertion.
To any honest observer, the lawbreakers are the ones defying the judge’s orders, testifying falsely under oath, and assaulting residents who pose no threat to them.
Photo by Paul Goyette from Chicago, USA
Federal personnel charged with detaining suspected immigration law violators did not fare any better in the courtroom ofJudge Robert Gettleman, who heard compelling testimony last week about mistreatment, disreputable conditions, and chaos at the Broadview processing facility, which was never intended to be used to house detainees for an extended time.
Gettleman described treatment of detainees at the facility as “unnecessarily cruel.” He heard horrific first-hand accounts of vile conditions and denial of access to counsel for detainees. “Sleeping shoulder to shoulder next to filthy toilets that are overflowing, surrounded by human waste,”the judge said. “It’s just unacceptable.”
Capitol News Illinoisreported that immigrants testified “they were pressured to sign voluntary deportation forms in order to escape the facility’s overcrowded and filthy conditions.” Making conditions unbearable to force self-deportation appears to be a feature, not a bug of Trump immigration enforcement.
Gettleman dressed down the government:
“People shouldn’t be sleeping next to overflowing toilets. They shouldn’t be sleeping on top of each other. They shouldn’t be sleeping in plastic chairs. They shouldn’t be sleeping on concrete floors.”
He issued a TRO to force the facility to provide such basic items as clean bedding, potable water, and (every other day) showers.
Photo by Paul Goyette from Chicago, USA
Broadview has become a symbol of cruelty and recklessness. After both these rulings, “Sheriff’s deputies removed a group of 14 suburban moms, as they call themselves, who were sitting in a circle in the middle of the road outside of the Broadview Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility as a symbol of civil disobedience on Friday,” the localABC TV stationreported. “Moms from across the western suburbs… are demanding an end to the ‘campaign of chaos.’”
As authorities began to arrest the group of women, another took up the microphone to denounce arrest of protestors who had “exercised their First Amendment Rights in opposition to what this government is doing to our communities.” She implored the feds: “Stop abducting our community members. Stop separating families.” MAGA thugs’ war on Chicago residents and the responses from residents and courts will continue so long as the regime insists on brutalizing the city.
From the horrendous to the farcical, we have also witnessed the “sub”-version of serious law enforcement: the case of the “exploding” sandwich, where taxpayer dollars and court time were chewed up for no good reason.
Sean Dunn, the “sandwich” guy who dared to hurl a projectile (fully-loaded with onions and condiments) at Border Patrol Officer Greg Lairmore was found not guilty by a jury in a half-baked misdemeanor trial. D.C. prosecutors previously failed to indict Dunn on a felony charge—leaving us to conclude thatindicting a ham sandwichis easier than indicting a sandwich thrower).
The jury did not swallow Lairmore ludicrous testimony that the sandwich “exploded” on impact. “I could feel the impact through my bulletproof vest,” he testified. (Was his vest was made of tissue paper?) In all fairness, the Trump flunkies in the D.C. U.S. attorney’s office are ones responsible for the display of whining. So desperate to punish a D.C. resident objecting to occupation of his city, the government attorneys wound up with egg on their faces.
Mockery is critical to undermining fascism but that does not detract from the serious damage to the integrity, reputation, and effectiveness of federal law enforcement in this regime. Trump has turned their personnel, undertrained and poorly lead, into a national embarrassment. When not whimpering over costumed protestors or a sandwich assailant, they regularly incur the ire of courts for their abusive and cruel conduct as well as dishonest testimony. Their incompetence is roundly mocked. Trump is sending the worst of the worst.
The situation cries out for congressional oversight, but MAGA House members are in hiding for fear they might be forced to vote on release of the complete Epstein files. As MAGA Republicans abet a cover-up and condone widespread abusive conduct, Americans are left with very little law or order.
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