Thursday Thoughts # 20
From one of the Harry Dresden stories::
I poked at my skull with a finger. It didn't feel soft or anything. I didn't feel insane.
But if you'd really lost it, would you have enough left upstairs to know? Crazy people never thought they were crazy.
I poked at my skull with a finger. It didn't feel soft or anything. I didn't feel insane.
But if you'd really lost it, would you have enough left upstairs to know? Crazy people never thought they were crazy.
"I've always talked
to things," I said. "And to myself."
"Good point,"
myself agreed with me. "Unless that means you've been nuts all
along."
"I don't need
wiseass remarks," I told myself severely.
"There's work to do. So shut up.”
I've been thinking about Christmas, which is coming much faster than I'd like it to, and I've come across a couple of problems. Well, one problem which affects all the other stuff.
Angel.
Last year I didn't put up the Christmas tree, there were things going on and I wasn't in the mood, I just couldn't be bothered and so on. I didn't even put up a string of tinsel over the doorway.
A few days ago, I was clearing out a cupboard and all those Christmassy boxes of decorations looked at me so eagerly, I thought well, maybe this year I'd put up the tree.
Uh-oh. Angel.
Where can I put the tree? There just isn't anywhere that he won't get to it!
Awww, rats! No tree this year.
No big tree that is. I have tiny ones that I can put up high. It won't be the same, because the decorations won't fit on them, but it will be more Christmassy than last year.
Then there's the mince pies. I've been buying ingredients, flour, sugar, butter.....and wondering if I can rig up some sort of surface to fit over the hotplates, something big enough to roll out pastry, because I usually do that sort of thing on the table, but Angel gets onto the table quicker than I can blink, so that's out.
Then I had a brilliant idea.
I'll put Angel in the back porch with food and water, leave the back door open so he can get to the laundry and his tray and shut the door to the bedroom. Ha Ha! The lounge and kitchen will be mine!
At least long enough to make a couple of batches of mince pies.
I can do without a big Christmas tree, but there's no way I'm having Christmas without mince pies for me and my family.
I've been thinking about Christmas, which is coming much faster than I'd like it to, and I've come across a couple of problems. Well, one problem which affects all the other stuff.
Angel.
Last year I didn't put up the Christmas tree, there were things going on and I wasn't in the mood, I just couldn't be bothered and so on. I didn't even put up a string of tinsel over the doorway.
A few days ago, I was clearing out a cupboard and all those Christmassy boxes of decorations looked at me so eagerly, I thought well, maybe this year I'd put up the tree.
Uh-oh. Angel.
Where can I put the tree? There just isn't anywhere that he won't get to it!
Awww, rats! No tree this year.
No big tree that is. I have tiny ones that I can put up high. It won't be the same, because the decorations won't fit on them, but it will be more Christmassy than last year.
Then there's the mince pies. I've been buying ingredients, flour, sugar, butter.....and wondering if I can rig up some sort of surface to fit over the hotplates, something big enough to roll out pastry, because I usually do that sort of thing on the table, but Angel gets onto the table quicker than I can blink, so that's out.
Then I had a brilliant idea.
I'll put Angel in the back porch with food and water, leave the back door open so he can get to the laundry and his tray and shut the door to the bedroom. Ha Ha! The lounge and kitchen will be mine!
At least long enough to make a couple of batches of mince pies.
I can do without a big Christmas tree, but there's no way I'm having Christmas without mince pies for me and my family.
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Mince Pie is my favorite.
ReplyDeleteI have never tasted mince pie--should I put that on my bucket list?
ReplyDeleteMince pie one of my favorites, too. Haven't had one since childhood.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your tree.....I can tell you how we trained Rocky to leave it alone.... a few weeks before Christmas we started giving him a little spritz of cold water in the face whenever he got into something that was off limits...by the time Christmas rolled around all we had to do was put the spritz bottle under the tree. He never went near it.
ReplyDeleteAs to the table..try a few days before hand draping the table or counter with sheets of wax paper. Kitty jumps up and slides right off. It doesn't take too many times for them to realize that tables and counters and a 'no go'.
I wonder how giving a bone to a cat would go, like giving a bone to a dog? It might occupy them for a while. Mince pies! Yum.
ReplyDeleteI stopped putting up Christmas decorations a few years ago. (I got sick of having to take them all down again)! The only decorations I have left now (I got rid of all the others) are one gold decorative reindeer that stands about 18 inches high and a similar Santa and I put those out on the coffee table and that's it.
ReplyDeleteBut I have made two Christmas cakes and will make another couple either over the weekend or next week. Mince Pies will be on the my agenda, too. :)
When our Kidney had her kittens it was in November and the were about 5weeks old at Christmas time, the tree that year was knocked around a lot that year, I lost more balls, they liked the colours and tried very hard to break as many as possible, maybe Angel will take no notice mine are too lazy now.
ReplyDeleteMerle...........
No big tree this year :(
ReplyDeleteMaybe next year. It's like having a toddler in the house.
Hubby adores mince pies - I dislike them intensely. I call them "minced flies". Not very original, but it's how I relate to them.
I need to get some christmas cake mix soaking in booze. Next week. Or the one after. Soon.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think your plan to keep Angel away from your pie pastry is a stroke of genius.
And I always talk to myself, the cats, and various recalcitrant objects...
joeh; if you lived next door I could make you a batch.
ReplyDeletefishducky; I'm talking about the small sweet fruit mince pies available at Christmas, have you truly never had them? Do you even get them in America?
Joanne; I hope you mean the fruit mince Christmas pies, because when it comes to meat pies I don't like mince ones, I prefer chunks of beef or chicken.
Delores; the trouble is I'm away from home a lot, so can't be spritzing Angel. As for the table, I'll just put him in the back porch for a few hours while I make the pies. He'll be fine.
Andrew; bones are a nuisance, Angel bats them all over the floor which I then have to wash. Nice to meet another mince pie lover.
Lee; I have an entire cupboard of Christmas decorations that I now can't use apart from a bit of tinsel across the doorways. My family doesn't like Christmas cake so I never make them, only two of the kids like the pies, so I make three batches, one each for me and them. Plus the practice batch in November, that will be next week.
Merle; Angel take no notice??? HaHaHaHaHaHahaHaha.............
Vicki; I'll give the big tree a go next year when Angel is older, I'll put it up with just a few ornaments. Have you only ever had store bought mince pies? Because I agree they're bloody awful!
Elephant's Child; next week is soon enough to get the mix soaking. Not only do I have to keep Angel away, I also have to thoroughly vacuum and wash down surfaces so I don't get stray cat hair in the pastry. Every time I glance at the floor here there's another shadowy wisp of fluff floating across it.
... River. I think your plan is a perfect solution.... Enjoy your fruit mince pies... I love them,too. xx Hugs and Blessings ... Barb xxx
ReplyDeleteYes, only store bought mince pies. And they're enough to make me gag at the mere thought of them.
ReplyDeleteBut, I've never really liked sultanas and raisins much. If I have to have Christmas pud', it has to be doused with copious amounts of brandy sauce and/or ice cream.
Happy baking :)
Thank goddess for those good Aussie bakeries that make mince pies WAAAAAAY better than I could make them myself! Lazy?? YES! That's me!!
ReplyDeleteBarbara; I'm good at thinking up solutions, not so good sometimes at actually making them work out.
ReplyDeleteVicki; best to stay away from them then.
Red Nomad OZ; mine are better...
Hi River,
ReplyDeleteYes indeed - the tree is a favourite toy for our cats - and we have three of them. This year we found a Christmas decoration, lovingly wrenched from the tree and hidden under the TV cabinet by our hellcat - and this was in May!!
:o)
Cheers
PM