Dinner for One
Today is the first official day of gun season for deer here in Ohio. That means Mr Chiots set off yesterday morning to meet my dad at the family hunting cabin so they could be in the woods at the break of dawn this morning. That means I’ll be eating alone all week long. I spent all day Saturday cooking up a few pots of soup for him to take. With the leftovers I won’t even have to worry about cooking this week, a few quit minutes on the stove and dinner for one will be served.
It doesn’t really bother me to be alone, I’m an introvert so I rather relish it. It’s actually perfect that it happens to be this week because I have a ton of work to catch up on from being sick and the holidays last week. Not having Mr Chiots around means that I’ll be able to dedicate all of my time to working and to finishing up the last few garden chores of the year. I’m hoping I’ll even have a few minutes to spare to get a few pages read in my newest book: Elements of Garden Design!
Do you enjoy time alone or do you like to have people around?
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Quote of the Day: Nigel Slater
The seed catalogs have become an annual source of inspiration, information, and temptation. Winter afternoons are often spent thumbing through seed pamphlets and trawling internet sites before putting in my order for violet-colored beans and fire-cracker red chilis. It is almost impossible not to get carried away. You could do worse than follow my habit of writing out your wants list in the late afternoon, then taking a red pencil to it the next day. A night’s sleep can often induce a reality check.
Nigel Slater Tender: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch
It has begun. The first seed catalog arrived in my mailbox earlier this week from High Mowing Seeds. Usually I don’t see one until a few weeks from now, like most things it gets earlier and earlier each year. I have yet to order from High Mowing Seeds, though I will this season. They carry seeds for ‘Roxy’ lettuce which I found at the local farmer’s market and really loved. That’s one of the great reasons to shop at your local farmer’s market if you’re a gardener; you might find great new varieties that will do well in your area.
I’ve still been feeling a bit under the weather from that cold that I picked up in Cincinnati and I’m not quite back to 100% yet. The worst part is that when you’re feeling bad your creativity goes out the window. When you have to be creative for your job, it makes everything really difficult. It’s been tough to keep the blog posts coming every day here on Chiot’s Run for the last two weeks and I apologize if they’ve been a little less than exciting and a little light in the photo area.
I haven’t been taking photos because I haven’t been feeling well. Usually I take between 25-100 photos each day, I’ve only taken 20 photos in the last 14 days – that tells you how I’m feeling. I dusted off my camera yesterday to take photos for this post and felt like my creativity was coming back. It’s still not quite back to “normal”, but enough to come up with a little something interesting for this post.
This seed catalog will get shelved with the others that arrive until January. I simply cannot make myself think about planning the garden and ordering seeds for 2012; there’s still too much to do in the garden and around the house for the holidays. Also, I’m still really tired and worn out from being sick.
Have you received your first seed catalog yet?
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Quote of the Day: Little House on the Prairie
Thanksgiving dinner was good. Pa had shot a wild goose for it. Ma had to stew the goose because there was no fireplace, and no oven in the little stove. But she made dumplings in the gravy. There were corn dodgers and mashed potatoes. There were butter, and milk, and stewed dried plums. And three grains of parched corn lay beside each tin plate.
Laura Ingalls Wilder –On the Banks of Plum Creek (Little House, Book 4)
I love the combination of what they had at this meal, simple, seasonal, and local.
One of the reasons I enjoy Thanksgiving so much, is that it’s one of the few remaining semi seasonal meals left in our culture: cranberries, turkey, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and squash. We’ll not think about the green bean casserole or the jello mold that sometimes appears on the table at some gatherings. Whatever you happen to be eating today – enjoy!
Happy Thanksgiving from Chiot’s Run.
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Quote of the Day: Maria Augusta Trapp
Now it was November,
and the trees had shed their last golden tear;
the weather was often rough.
Maria Augusta Trapp The Story of the Trapp Family Singers
All the leaves are gone from the trees now and things are getting stark. The weather is shifting from fall to winter; the days are no longer warm and golden as the fierce winds blow away the remaining bits of fall.
One of the things I appreciate about the trees being without leaves is that we can see the sunsets in all their beauty. From mid-November through March we notice the sunset each evening and are often captivated by how beautiful it is. I suppose it’s this nice all year long, we just can’t see it because of the trees that block it from our view.
What time of the year do you notice sunsets the most?
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Resting up for Next Week
As is the case with most families, things get a little hectic around here during the holiday season. It starts ramping up the week before Thanksgiving and doesn’t really slow down until after New Years. Unfortunately on top of being gone last weekend I managed to catch a cold *UGH*. I don’t sick that often, in fact it’s been two and half years since my last cold.
That being said, I’m taking the day off trying to rest up and get better since I have tons of cooking to do next week. A cup of tea and bit of rest is just what I need to be back in the game next week!
Any colds/flu in your household? What’s your favorite way to heal?
