ivyskeep

I hope all who celebrate have a Merry Christmas.

I'm continuing with daily brief blots for Yule.

I've usually done apple pie as a holiday dessert over the years, but this year I'm doing pumpkin pie, which I'll start in a bit. I've been wearing only a sweatshirt or my light winter coat to take the dog out, so I don't see any signs of a white Christmas.

The orientation for the new contract seems to be going good. I'm learning their platform and way of doing things. I plan on making soap sometime next week. Some for the shop and some for me. I'm curious about shampoo bars, so that'll be the batch for me. I recently made some lotions bars and lip balm. They turned out good.

The vet gave me some estimates for meds she wants the dog on. Yikes! Even with getting some reimbursed, I can't afford the monthly shot. There are two others that are doable though, so that's what we're going to get for her.

With being distracted by the last few months of employment hullabaloo, I haven't been paying much attention to the garden except for some weeding. I realized I had a mutant beet that needed harvesting. I did the following:

• Honey and cinnamon roasted beetroot.
• Beet green chips, which are basically roasted leaves that I lightly coated in olive oil, salt, and pepper.
• Saved some greens in the fridge for salads and sautéing.
• Blanched and vacuum sealed three sets of leaves to freeze for later use.

Here's the pic. The one beet with greens practically took over the stovetop.

 

A brief storm with heavy winds caused a little damage in the yard. We were very lucky compared to other areas. The good portion of the elderberry bush snapped near the bottom, so I doubt I'll get much of a harvest from the other section that survived. The basil and surviving beets were blown to the side, but I might be able to salvage some more.

I got a little bit of walking in the last few days. I enjoy it so much more in the winter than the summer. I have removable cleats for my boots, but it's always nice to go when there's no ice.

I had two 2 lb bags of navy beans and thought I was raring to go to pressure can some baked beans, but I decided against it due to other stuff I want to get done. I'm using 1 lb of beans for the recipe I have and threw everything in the crock pot to do freezer canning instead.

My first attempt at winter sowing is pictured below. I wrote about it on this post. I'm sorry. I'm not the greatest Dreamwidth pic poster. I'm not sure how to make it bigger without making it blurry. Oh, it's clickable. Never mind. Ha!



The seeds used are: Arugula, salad lettuce (from old seeds, unsure of variety), parsley, Brussels sprouts, Cherokee purple tomato, pleurisy root, and sweet Cicely (not shown).