I really need of guide book to getting old

I really need some kind of guide book to getting old.  I knew  when you got old you had to worry about arthritis, diminished vision ,. and hearing loss.     I even knew that your hair would get thinner, your nose would get longer, and your ears would get bigger.  I remember hearing the phrase "long in the tooth" referring to the elderly because your gums recede but I never heard about your teeth actually shifting when you get old.. 

 I was noticing that I had more and more trouble cleaning between my bottom front teeth and when I look closely I can see it they had all  shifted and were overlapping. It look like the mouth of a teenager before they get their braces. I couldn't believe my eyes so I got on internet and   of course Google had the answer.  As you age your lower jaw grows forward and becomes more narrow consequently your teeth are all shoved together . What a bummer and what next?  Especially depressing because along with shapely ankles, straight even teeth were among my limited number of assets.

NOTE: Sue commented that she is never heard of rugelach made with fig butter.  I have to confess I've never heard of it either but the recipe called for apricot preserves and not having apricot preserves fig butter  was obviously the next option. I did part of the batch with cinnamon sugar and nuts I did the other batch with cinnamon sugar and a little  shaved chocolate/ This is not sweet at all and it is more like a shortbread. The other day on the British baking show they made Babka which is a yeast dough with chocolate and nuts....next on the cookery list. 

A "Cookery" Day

Unless you like to cook or are a foodie you might want to skip this post.... By the time I entered high school I had taken over the cooking of the main meals and loved it to my mother's delight and once she was widowed at a young age she lived on fast food from A&W and MacDonald's. She lived to 96 so that diet couldn't have been that bad for her. So I 've been cooking for  well over 65 years.. You would think I'd be bored with it but I'm not.  It helps to have a husband who is a enthusiastic eater.

Since it is too cold to garden and I can't stitch. I pass a lot of time in the kitchen and my favorite is to get up in the morning, find the appropriate apron for my tasks, and cook the day away....what I call my "cookery" days.

Tomorrow will be such a day.  I have all my ingredients out and/or thawing,  I made a yeast riser for starting dinner rolls first thing in the morning while DH is showering and then I am fixing him latkes with salmon, sour cream and poached eggs.

We had that breakfast in Norway but they used either gravlax. caviar. or smoked  salmon. Having none of these I use some of the salmon in the freezer that son sent to us.. It was one of DH's favorite breakfasts.. Since he took a bad fall on the ice the other day I have been pampering him a little bit...maybe more than a little bit.

Then I will proceed next to making lasagna with meat sauce I made last summer and simmered it for hours.  I  have about a quarter of a large fennel bulb in the fridge and I will add that as well.  Fennel is one of my favorite vegetables and is often in Italian recipes,  Many of their recipes  for lasagna call for fennel seeds and some call for fennel as well.

I will top off my cookery day by making Rugalach, a Jewish holiday pastry that  is wide open for every kind of filling.  I will spread them with fig butter and add walnuts, chocolate and cinnamon. The dough for these can be resting while I do the lasagna.

I love it when I can find different ways to use up leftover ingredient.  When I bought the squash raviolis at Costco recently it was a large bag and I wanted to do something different with them this time and found a recipe for squash raviolis with caramelized onions and a cream roasted red pepper sauce.  It was delicious with halibut.  And an added plus was I found the first of this season's Caracara oranges at Trader Joes and made a salad of them, sliced fennel, almonds and greens....hence the left over fennel. Not only will my "cookery" day pass one of the last long dark winter days tomorrow, it will have passed today with finding recipes, ingredients, and supplies,  And as an added bonus the house will be filled with delicious aromas all day tomorrow...  a great way to celebrate the lengthening of the days and spring around the corner.

 

Time to take stock and rethink!!!

 In the beginning last spring I was making decisions fast and furious.  It was inevitable that I would eventually regret some of those decisions.  I did pretty well except for the small area behind the raised beds and at the back of the garage.  It is only an area about 20 feet square , not big but useful  and  I'm learning that if you have a small garden every single bit needs to be utilized well. What I did do right  is planting the area around the obelisk with medium-tall, sun-loving perennials. It was looking terrific by the end of the summer and I wouldn't change anything .  I really like this circle bed and may repeat it on the other side of the garden... I also want my new little mini greenhouse here as well so it will be the main work area.  
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1. There is an add-on to the sprinkler system  in this area that needs to be changed...It is beyond anything I can fix and I will have to call in professional help on this problem.  By spring I should know how it is to be planted. I'm going to have to hire somebody to fine-tune my whole sprinkler system anyway.   I have never had a sprinkler system and it is a luxury but the sprinkler heads determine a lot of what I do.

2.  All the  utilities (gas, electric and cable)  come into the house  from this area  That limited where I could plant things.  So I need to contact the utilities companies to show me where NOT to dig.  I do not want to look at all the meters and pipes etc.    I   bought some tall arborvitae that I thought I would keep in pots to add more privacy to my yard and hide the meters etc. But they didn't do well in pots and the pots kept blowing over so they really need to be in the ground  when spring comes.  Right now the arborvitae are jammed against the fence next to the compost bin....just trying to get them through until spring. 

3.Another big problem is I put the compost bin in the wrong place and now it is half full of compost and I'm going to have to take it all out and move it. I t took me awhile to figure that out but I won't be happy until I have it out of where it is. The best spot will be on the backside of the deck next to the heat pump... I plan a yellow rose bed in that area that would hide both the heat pump and the compost bin.  But I couldn't place it there last spring because that area was filled with an humongous low growing  juniper about the size of a queen size bed and it took me several weeks to eradicate it.

4.  I also bought this bench that is not all that attractive but it has a lot of storage and I'm going to have to find another spot for it as well. I When I move the compost bin I think the bench would fit quite well there.  It is filled with hoses, perlite etc.... The bench does hide the meters etc. but give no privacy.. It would be ideal if there was no underground utilities there and I could    plant  the arborvitae  between the bench and the fence.....fingers crossed.

5. In this area was some dreadful green stuff that was passing as grass that I would like to get rid completely but not sure what exactly at I want there. I'm thinking I would like more tiles or stepping stones or gravel or something of that nature. I may have to call a landscape person to give me a hand

 Spring fever has begun.  Having the snow and the cold now is giving me time to really think things through and I'm trying not to make any more hasty decisions..... right now anyway.  Not being able to dig in the dirt doesn't prevent me from planning ahead and spring will be here before I know it...

How can you tell?

Our DIL just left after a long visit and your first clue is ...???. All DHs jars of jam are neatly aligned in the fridge.... alphabetically. 

She had a covid test before she left Alaska and another one when she got here and we stayed our distance for  days as well. And then it was hugs all around.  The weather was fabulous for her whole visit and she walked with DH every morning along various  trails along our river and they   went to Idaho to see the eagles at their winter fishing grounds

.  We had wine time every afternoon and even once by the fire on the deck in December if you can believe,!!!!.  We had almost spring-like weather every day,

I admit to having on a wool sweater and a shawl on my legs..

 She is super efficient and a workaholic and  cleaned the house, detailed the car, washed the outside windows and baked a decadent chocolate torte plus fancy braided my hair, gave me a manicure and two foot massages, 

She drove me to Lowe's with my long list of supplies for projects and patiently found staff to help us find most of the items .  I can manage screws still because I can feel the driver fit the notch but I can't do a nail anymore so I had her help nail the trim around this door.  She can swing a mean hammer now!!!

 I am lucky if I get to see her twice a year and  grateful to see her this year more than ever.

  

S