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A December Thursday Ramble


(1) Tick. Tick. Tick. I asked the Husband to investigate the ticking sound in the L Studio closet yesterday afternoon. I hadn’t heard it before. “Hush,” he said, reaching for an item from the shelf way up high. 

(2) He opened a small black case that held a polaroid camera once upon a time. Tick. Tick. Tick.  The green wall clock! I wondered where it had gone. The Husband asked, “Did you think a bomb was in there?” 

(3) Nervous Nelly. She is me. I am her.

(4)  It’s nearly very soon for my-new-knee adventure to begin.


(5) I discovered on Sunday that we don’t have enough decent soup bowls, dessert plates, and other dining ware for a dinner party of six and more. That’s what I get for retiring a lot of Mama’s and my dinnerware to the garden and crafting bins.

(6) Dirty gin martinis with eggplant dip and chia and quinoa chips. Orange kobacha soup with petite slices of toasted walnut bread and pastrami bagels. Carbonara bucatini and roasted Brussel sprouts. A trifle of limoncello-soaked almond poppy bread, strawberry sauce, and whipped cream. That was my menu for friends and us on Sunday. 

(7) Thrift shops and garage sales! I look forward to shopping next year on a happy knee.


(8) LeeAnna, host of I Like Thursday, asks, “What is your favorite Christmas/ Hannukah cookie or treat?” That would be bibingka, a baked Filipino rice cake, usually with a slight or strong taste of coconut, depending on who’s making it. 

(9) Mama made bibingka around Christmas time. Each time, she said it was the last time she was making the pudding-like cake.  Not true at all. She made the best bibingka. I miss it. I miss her.

(10) If our oven was working, nervous Nelly me would be chowing down on bibingka right now. Instead, I comfort myself by reading what I wrote about the yummy dessert last year. Here’s the link, if you’d like to read it, too. 


(11) Yesterday, my goal was to rake the leaves covering the front yard. A half-hour task, max. Four hours later, the canna lilies were dug out, geranium vines were pulled out and transplanted around the yard, and a couple of lavender plants were moved elsewhere. The leaves? Most are gracing the yard but in strategic piles. 

(12) Tomorrow’s goal is to clean up the aftermath of creating stuff in L Studio so that I can turn it into a recovery haven. We shall see. I also want to clean the upstairs bathroom so the plumber won’t be grossed out when he installs a new faucet on Friday.

(13) Recently, I was asked, “What do you do?” “Nothing,” I said. “Not a thing. I love it.”

Thursday 13 and I Like Thursday are where I’m heading to share this post. Please join me.

Comments

  1. My father had knee replacement surgery in March (he's 81). It went ok but he falls a lot. I wish I could say "nothing" and be glad about it. I feel guilty when I admit it.

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    1. Aw, Anita, I know the feeling quite well. Mama fell down a lot. Unless I witnessed it or asked her how come she had a new bruise, she didn’t tell me she had fallen. She had to be active, to be otherwise would’ve driven her crazy and me more so. I am thankful that Mama was stubbornly independent and that I have those genes.

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  2. When I hear ticking, I'm sure it's not a bomb. Who would bring a bomb in? But, yeah, the ticking can be annoying, so it's best to find out what is making that ticking sound.

    Why is it that we put things off and put things off only to start something else that snowballs into several other off-task things?

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    1. I lived in San Francisco when the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake happened. I was in the kitchen. My first reaction was “A bomb!” and got pissed at whoever did such a thing. Not that I’ve ever experienced a bomb. Maybe it was those false bomb scares in high school.

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  3. Funny how yard work just evolves like that!

    I can't wait until I can do nothing. :-)

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    1. Doing nothing is far more fun than I thought it would be.

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  4. I'm going to look for that dense cake. I like dense. Good luck my friend with that pesky knee.... women's knees are not strong enough to survive their pelvis without care.
    Love to you, LeeAnna

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    1. My bibingka usually comes out very dense. I haven’t figured out why yet. A couple times it came out cake-like. Didn’t care for that, but the Husband does.

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  5. OK so now I want to try Bibingka... hope someone is making it in this part of the world! Hope everything goes well with the surgery. Sending love.

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    1. Thank you Rajani. I preregistered at the hospital today which made it more real. Gulp.

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  6. I had to go back and read your menu for friends a second time because it sounded so unbelievably good! Good luck on your knee surgery!

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    1. It was some of my best and fun cooking, Colleen. Having a friend play sous chef was a big contributing factor, methinks.

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  7. I had to look up "carbonara bucatini." Now I want it!

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    1. For the longest time, I skipped the eggs. I don’t know why. The eggs do make it taste better, and they do get cooked.

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  8. That menu sounds so good and I am looking for those recipes as well as the Bibingka now... And your dinnerware sure looks so good after being part of your art and craft projects ...

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    1. Thank you, Lady in Read. The dinnerware hang out in the garden. You’ve given me thought to research the ability to use painted plates for food.

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  9. I'm a nervous Nellie too. We have a wooden house and there are noises- I always have to check them out. Meanwhile your menu sounds so delicious. You accomplished a lot in the garden. I know many who have had much success with the knee replacement. It takes time to get back to usual movement so the best of luck with that.

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    1. Thanks for the kind words, Ms. Nervous Nellie, too. I’m ending Day 5 of my knee adventure, happily distracted.

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  10. Your Sunday menu sounds delicious! I hate hearing random noises around the house. I figure if my cats are okay with, it can't be too awful. You sound like you do a lot more than "nothing". My best friend had knee replacement and was so grateful. She felt better right away. She had to go through physical therapy but it was well worth it. She's looking forward to having the other knee done soon.

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    1. Glad to hear about your friend’s experience. I definitely felt the difference the first time I stood up. The endless possibilities of what I could do, some of which the surgeon would nix. No jumping over the moon, young lady.

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  11. Your menu for your get together sounds so good, and what fun to gather with friends! You've been busy, both indoors and out. The ticking - I can relate! Haha. Glad you figured out what it was!

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    1. I hung the clock properly and it would not tick. So, out to the garden it goes.

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  12. I would try that cake. I hope all goes well..I know it will and then comes rehab. My sister had knee surgery last year and she’s doing great. I have make the German cookies. A basic cookie with raspberry jam and rolled icing sugar

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    1. German cookies sound so good. Yummm. I’m imagining myself eating them by the handful. Only way I’m eating cookies right now. I’m believing the experts who say sugar contributes to inflammation. It’s only taken me 69 years to consider choosing wisely.

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  13. My answer to what do I do is, "Whatever I want, whenever I want." And I love it! Your bibinkga sounds yummy - there's nothing like mama's cooking. Good luck with your knee surgery!

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  14. Su-sieeemac! Joining you from I Like Thursday today! Your Sunday menu sounds delicious, especially the trifle and the Brussel sprouts and the martinis - oh, shucks - it all sounds good! Good luck with your knee operation!

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    1. Hey Angie! I love it when we have the ingredients on hand. Did I mention that I used a splash of the vermouth brine the olives were soaking i .

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Thanks for the good cheer. :-)

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