purple room vents: TICKING ALONG

Well things are ticking along. This was a really bad time to not have my credit cards. It is going to be at least another week before I get even one of the three back. So there will be no xmas presents sent for. This is so annoying. I am pretty sure that we haven't had covid in this house yet is because we don't go out to shop. I would like to keep it that way by sending for stuff!

I find it funny that eight months ago I didn't really know of any of my friends and family who had had covid yet. Today I don't know any that haven't had it. We are just about the only household I know that not one of us has had it. Clearly SARS is not finished with us yet.

Monte has to spend a night at the sleep clinic in Nanaimo on Monday night. Because he doesn't sleep at night he has decided to not sleep Sunday nite and to take his sleepy pills Monday before the clinic. And there is no way he can drive that distance in that shape. I know what he is like with no sleep. He gets super loopy and can't think straight. So I am going with him and I had planned to stay in a hotel for that night. But I don't and won't have a credit card by then. So no hotel. Then I thought, well I can sleep in the truck. They have a parking lot and I will just tell them so they don't sic security on that homeless broad out there sleeping in a 55,000 dollar jeep!!! I sleep in it when we go camping. But then April made a suggestion.

April suggested I go and stay with Eithne. I texted her and asked and she said a big yes!!! I will get to meet Noah, who has to be three-four months old now! And I will get to meet Ryan, her live in and baby daddy. I am so excited. So Monte and I will go to her place first, its near Nanaimo, so Monte can see Eithne and the baby and meet Ryan as well. Then he can take himself, it's not far, to the clinic. I am pretty happy! Sure beats sleeping in a cold truck!

The subject of gingerbread houses came up the other day. Ange has never ever done one!!! I was shocked. So she went over to QF and bought a lovely house kit!

Now, I did warn her that the only thing more assy to build were cake pops and stand up camping canopies. When I mentioned the house to both Monte and April, their immediate reaction was very telling! Oh god! Very negative and kind of funny. The difficulty of making it stand up is just part of the experience. When I explained this to Ange, she said that we will just build a condemned house then!

Anyway, they have changed the glue...clearly, and made the house a little smaller. That sucker stuck together like its life depended on it. I think it knew I would be pitching it out the back door if it didn't stand up! So it did!! Then Ange went to town decorating it. Thank goodness! With my wonky eyesight I would not have been able to stick those tiny candies on it in the right place. The only thing I did was draw the lines on the tinfoil for the icing lines to outline the path. When I got finished sticking the candy fence along, you will notice that the path leads straight into the wall beside the front door. Not to the door. To the wall. Jeez!!!

Anyway she did a stellar job of decorating! And we plan to do this every year. I think if I suggested that we do a whole village she would jump right on it. Clearly she hasn't had the REAL experience!!!!

You know it's time to do a wee bit of baking. I will make my obligatory batch of shortbread. Only this year I have a new thing to try. You form the cookie into the normal round sort of flat cookie. Then you take whisk, dip the whisk into a bowl of cocoa. Then you press the whisk onto the top of the cookie, denting in somewhat. It leaves the most awesome star shaped outline. Then you can put a cherry or whatever in the middle! I saw it on YouTube.

I shall also be going to Costco on Tuesday after the sleep clinic. I shall be picking up my yearly batch of tart shells and I will be making butter tarts. I think I will also make apple butter with crumble topping tarts. I might try a gingerbread bundt cake as well.

One gift that I managed to get was an old schooly meat grinder. It's the kind that clamps to the table. It came with a sausage making attachment. This is for Monte. We have talked about this before. And he can use his last year's present, a smoker, to smoke the sausages. When he was working away on all my sites on my computer the other day he saw the pic of the grinder. Grrrr....so he cottoned on immediately that that was for his present. I am wrapping it up anyway. He was pretty excited.

One last thing, this is getting too long. I saw something on marketplace that I couldn't get out of my mind. I kept going back. Then I consulted Monte and Ange. And I went ahead and bought it. When I looked up others of its type they ranged from one hundred dollars to over two hundred. So I got hold of the guy, interacked (sp) sixty! dollars to him and he offered to deliver it because he lived about four blocks away. And he did and I love it to pieces!!! You will see what it is in the pics below!!!

Thats it for now. Take care. Love y'all!!!! TTYL