I'm looking at the world through clean, sparkling wondows today.  I took down the curtains and washed the windows and then washed the curtains and rehung them.  I wouldn't have said they were particularly dirty before but now they gleam.  I also cleaned the china and small bits of silver in the china closet so it softlyshines as well.  Both of these chores are clear signs that the holidays are coming.  I do the windows twice each year, now and in the spring after all the winter storms.   I like the smell of the freshly laundered curtains.  And I like the feeling of a job that's finished.  I started thinking about this back in October but I usually have to wait until I wake up one morning and think "today is the day" and then it gets done.  It's never as onerous as I imagine it will be but I still put it off.

We moved some totes of yarn and roving and some other things into the spare room.  It's been empty for almost a year but I wanted to make sure no one was going to need it right away before we started to move things into it.  The nice thing is that there is less in our bedroom and it feels less crowded. 



Oatmeal bread



I'm using the beef bones and leftover meat from last Saturday to make a beef vegetable soup for dinner along with some oatmeal bread.  The bones and meat along with some carrots, onions and celery are simmering on the stove and the dough is undergoing the first rising.  I have some time to myself to indulge in some videos (2 discs of Mad Men) or download some of the Dr. Who I recently started watching or just take a nap.  I'd like to sit outside but Pk is using the lathe and is making a mess.  Bits of wood and dust are everywhere and it's noisy so I'll sit next to an open window and enjoy the sunshine that way (at least it's a clean window!)



Vulture on top of telephone pole

 We live in a quiet neighborhood filled with quiet people and small animals.  Well, it used to be filled with small animals until the hawks moved in a few years ago.  There are significantly fewer rabbits and woodchucks and possums now.  I love to watch the raptors soar around the sky.  Their wingspan is wider than mine and they are beautiful birds.  We have red tailed hawks and some turkey vultures.  Yesterday, I was cleaning the front windows and I saw large birds flying around in circles, just like in old westerns.  I went outside to see what had died to draw their attention and sure enough, a possum had gotten hit by a car (and just an fyi, American possums are not the sweet, soft, yarn producing kind.  They're nasty, ugly varmints) and was attracting the notice of the vultures. 

I tried to get some other photos but I'm pretty sure you don't want to see them.  The really good ones have dead possum in them.  At the end, there were 3 vultures and two hawks.  It was an amazing sight.  All these raptors circling and circling.  I'm sure the hearts of all the mice and other small rodents in the area were beating faster.

Bells had a recipe this morning for something called "toast soldiers" which threw me.  I had no idea what they were but when I read the recipe, I had to try it for Pk's breakfast.  It turns out they're pieces of bread dipped in egg and then cheese and fried.  We ate ours with scrambled eggs this morning and they were good. Pk really liked them so they'll make a reappearance at the table.

I didn't leave the house all weekend and it was wonderful.  I did chores and took naps and just enjoyed not being at work.  One more full week and then a nice short one for Thanksgiving.  I can't wait.

This week won't be bad.  One of my doctors is out for minor surgery so my load is lighter. I'll have time to finish up the treatment plans and notes for November and start making lists for Thanksgiving dinner. 

Time for bed.  Monday morning comes way too soon.  'Night all.