Wednesday Witterings . . .

 

 

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Happy New Year Everyone. Here we are standing on a fresh new page of a new year.  I wonder what we will write on the fleshy clean pages of our hearts this year. Good things, I hope.  Off with the old and on with the new.  We can finally put up our new calendars and put away the old. Sweep out the old year and start with a fresh page.

As I have previously stated, my goal for 2025 is to simplify, simplify, simplify. Everything in my life.  That is one good thing those days are for in between Christmas and New Years, for figuring out how you want to move forward. It's time to clear out the clutter and focus on the things which really matter most.

 

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I got all of the Christmas Decorations taken down yesterday.  Undecorated the tree and packed everything away. Mom always did it on New Years Day as a part of her beginning the year with a fresh clean slate.  I am having company for dinner today and I knew that I would have other things to do and so I did it yesterday.

My furry little munchkins were very well invested in the activity and tried their best to help me, even if they were not really all that much help at all.  They did make sure I got it all right and into the right box, etc.  Then they helped me to put all of Christmas into the closet in the back bedroom. I had kept it in the garage but have decided the back bedroom closet is probably a better space to keep it all. With all of the other treasures that only see the light of day once in a blue moon.

 

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I discovered a new YouTube channel yesterday that I have fallen in love with. Olesya and House. It is a lady who lives in Belarus. As soon as I saw the red and white toadstools I was invested. You know how much I love them.  Her page is completely charming and even has a video tutorial and instructions on how to make your own fly agaric toadstools. Perhaps that will be one of my goals for 2025. To make some of those.

First however, I need to tidy up my craft room. It has become a tipping ground for things and that is now how I want it to be. I need to divest it of stuff that I am never going to use again.  Then there will be time and room for toadstools.

Anyways, you should check out her channel. I guarantee you will fall in love. It is completely charming.

This is my sister's cat Mac. He is not so little anymore.  Poor Mac ended up having to go to an emergency Vet appointment yesterday. Cindy had noticed that he hadn't been using the box without a struggle.  So she called the Vet.  He was quite constipated and so it required him being sedated and then an enema being given and then being given to be brought out of sedation, etc.  Quite a process.  He was still very groggy when I went there for supper last evening but hopefully, he will be okay.  Poor thing. 

It is always such a concern when our furry family members are not well. They cannot tell us how they are feeling. It is up to us to note when something is not right with them and then to follow up on it. We know our animals best and we know when something is going wrong.

I am taking my two for their second shots tomorrow. It's not until mid-afternoon, however. Hopefully we don't get any snow between then and now. I don't think any is predicted. Cindy will be helping me to take them. It takes two of us to handle the cat carriers. I am so appreciative of her help. Always.

 

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I did not hear any fireworks going off last night. I am usually in bed sawing a log before all of the kaffufle starts anyways.  My friend Jacquie called me about 7 to wish me a Happy New Year and I could hear loads of banging going on there!  She said they were setting them off across the road from her and had started setting them off behind her as well. My son lives on the road behind her.  In any case there was loads of noise and light I am assuming.   I heard nothing here.

It was really nice of Jacquie to call and wish me a Happy New Year.  She has been a friend of mine for over 25 years now. We don't get together very often. Mostly we just see each other at church and talk on the telephone.  She is a very lovely person though.  I should try to see her more often this year. I know she gets lonely often.  She lost her husband Tom several years ago and has no family here to speak of. I am very lucky in that I have my sister. I do think I rely on her a bit too much though, and perhaps I should not depend on her as much as I do.  I need to start doing more things on my own. I cannot always be living my life vicariously through others. She has dad to take care of and Dan also. She doesn't need to be taking care of me as well. 

 

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I need to be kinder to myself, I think.  I am very critical of myself.  I always have been. That can be a goal of mine for 2025, to be kinder to myself. To treat myself with the same generosity of spirit that I usually reserve for others.  I have always been afraid of seeming narcissistic or selfish and so I usually put myself last, in everything.  Perhaps this is the year I start putting myself first some of the time.  A little more self-love and self-care. I think that is much harder to do than one might suppose.  To change a lifetime of habit like that.  I have always put myself last. This is the year that I will not only be kind to others but I will also try to be kind to myself. Practice more self-care.

 

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I am looking forward to having the family over for supper today.  I am baking a ham and making scalloped potatoes. I will steam some carrots, and I want to make baked beans with pineapple. I have not made those in a very long time. My sister is bringing over corn pudding, the one that is made with the corn muffin mix.  Funny thing. I had been thinking to myself, night before last, that I was going to make a corn pudding with the corn muffin mix when my sister messaged me that she was going to bring that.  Great minds think alike.

I could make a fancy dessert, but I am just going to make sugar free Jello which we will have with squirty cream. My father likes that dessert most of all and it does little damage to the thighs.

I went to Cindy's for supper last night. She had cooked one of her tortiere and it was lovely. She also pan-fried potatoes, which are a favorite with everyone, and she had cooked broccoli as well. Their Christmas decorations have all been taken down also.  It is a family thing, I guess.

 

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I did have a very busy day yesterday. I took down the Christmas Decorations as I said, and I cleaned out the refrigerator. It is not a very big fridge, and it doesn't take long to get jammed up. I discovered I have a ton of cheese.  I do need to use some of it up before it goes off and not buy any more until I do. 

Cheese is a funny thing. When I was growing up all I would eat was plastic cheese slices or Velveeta.  Mom would get in a stick of cracker barrel for Christmas, but it was for her and dad.  I never wanted to try it myself, so I was not bothered. I did not even like the smell of it.  Then I got married and I would buy some real cheese every so often, but just to make macaroni and cheese. Cheese was not something I ate unless it was, once again, plastic cheese. I did like blue cheese salad dressing however.

And then I moved to the U.K. and I tasted real cheese for the first time and I fell in love. There used to be a cheese stall in the Chester market that sold bags of cheese crumbs for 99 pence. I would always pick up a few of them every week and make cheese on toast or some other thing. They were lovely and quite affordable.

Then when I took my chef's course and then started working at the Manor, I needed to really know cheese. I started experimenting with tasting different kinds of cheese and I fell in love with all of it.  I do not think there is a cheese now that I don't enjoy!  I have come a long way from plastic cheese, which I don't really like at all anymore. If I am going to make a grill cheese, most of the time I will use real cheese.

Anyways, I have a fridge full of cheese that I better get eating.

 

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So, I guess those are some of my goals for 2025.  Simplify.  De-clutter. Spend more time with others and not rely on my sister so much. Expand my horizons and not be as much of a burden on those around me. I would like to play more and work less. Be kinder to myself and eat more cheese. I'd also like to lose a few pounds, get more exercise  . . . but I am not so sure that eating cheese works well with that. We shall see.

In any case, I wish for each of you a very Happy New Year!  May 2025 be kind to us all.

A thought to start the year on . . . 

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★

 *.You can get excited
about the future.
The past won't mind.
~Hillary Depiano° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •° * 。 • ˚ ˚ 

I did the cheesy thing today and correlated my top ten recipes for 2024 on the English Kitchen today.  I thought, why not. It is always nice to review the things that people have enjoyed.  So here you go, my Top Ten for 2024. 

I hope you have a beautiful New Years Day.  May it get your 2025 of to a good start. Be happy and be blessed and know this truth . . . 

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And I do too!