I made enough French toast on Wednesday to have leftovers yesterday. I love French toast. And if you make it with 35 calorie per slice bread and use brown sugar substitute and sugar free syrup, you can really shave a lot of the calories off. After a filling breakfast, I took my cuppa and headed down to the studio…my little nook in the basement. 

The full moon in a marbled sky.

Honestly, I thought I was done with the going to town thing till NEXT YEAR, but no such luck. I needed a couple things for this weekend, and I wanted to get some yarn while it was on sale. We left about 11:00 and I was hoping to be back before dark but it was 7:00 before we got home and still didn’t get everything done. At least the stores weren’t elbow to elbow with people, but I still got overstimulated, my neck and back hurt, and I was just over it. Fortunately, I have the most patient husband on the planet.

I had never heard of Boxing Day till I lived in England. Boxing Day is the tradition of rich families giving boxes of food and presents to the poor. It ostensibly lay started when the servants of the rich people had to work on Christmas Day to serve the family and the guests during the holiday festivities. Now it has become a day to not only box up things for the poor, but to go to after Christmas sales and extend the holiday joy for an extra day.

I finally made a hat for me!

Ten years ago when I faced my first Christmas without Mr. Virgo, I could never imagine a life without him let alone one with all this joy in it. I cooked a nice breakfast of grits, eggs and turkey sausage. When the dishes were done, I headed to the studio to play. I made four hats and sorted through some antique hand-pieced quilt blocks I picked up this summer. I absolutely love these blocks. They’re shabby and aged with the occasional stain on them. I can’t decide what to make with them…whether I want to make a small quilt, or divide them up and make several wall hangings. I thought of making table runners, but for now I’ve bundled them in packets of nine blocks to keep them safe and in the back of my mind.

I finished the last hat and scarf set yesterday and actually had a chance to sit down and relax with a little knitting of my own. I love knitting with Lion Brand’s Thick and Quick yarn. It’s super bulky so it knits up quick, and it’s super soft, warm, and washable. It ticks all the boxes for a cozy winter hat that will last for years and years.

I woke up yesterday to my alarm that tells me when to put in my eye drops…long after I usually get up. I’ve been sleeping so soundly the last few months. I’ve never slept like this in my life and I attribute it to a combination of healthy eating, weight loss, and the mushroom coffee I’ve been drinking for the last nine months. I feel so good and when you sleep soundly, everything is in harmony.

The last three days, I had a big pot of beef bones simmering in a big canner. I browned the bones in a 400° oven till they were a rich, golden brown. Then I put them in the canner, covered them with water and simmered on the back burner for twenty-four hours. Then I added onions, celery, and garlic and let it simmer for another full twenty-four hours. Yesterday was the day to put up the broth. At first I thought I’d strain the broth from the vegetables and bones, but it all looked and smelled so yummy, I decided to purée everything together and can it in pint jars. I ended up with seven pints of very concentrated bone broth that’s going to be a great vegetable soup base this winter! I canned them in the pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure for 25 minutes and them let them cool on their own. I know you can take those bones and keep cooking them over and over till every bit of nutrition is out of them and they crumble into nothing. But I got to thinking about how much gas I used to cook that and decided that was enough. We’ll see if it tastes amazing before I decide to do that again.

Showing off the new Slipper Socks!

Knitting group was a lot of fun yesterday. We had a full house and lots of goodies to nibble on. One of the sweet ladies remembered I’m watching what I eat so she made this great dessert that tasted like a Creamsicle. It was made with sugar free orange Jello, sugar free instant vanilla pudding, mandarin oranges, and sugar free Cool Whip. It was SO good…a guilt free indulgence!

Mr. FixIt went to the retiree luncheon yesterday and I stayed home to fiddle around in the kitchen. I want to make some Cranberry Walnut Bread, but I didn’t have oranges or orange juice. I ran over to the Pig to get some and when I walked in the door, I was faced with… The Christmas Story. Like in the movie. There was someone in the pink bunny suit with a Red Rider BB Gun…authentic clear down to the horn rim glasses. They had a huge “Cookie Bar”…like a salad bar, but with twenty kinds of cookies! You could fill a box for $5.99 a pound. I got a big box for the neighbor children.

Mr. FixIt was already gone when I got up yesterday morning. I yawned and stretched. What was that sound that woke me. I listened closer and could hear voices and the sound of metal against metal. Ahhhh…the roofer dudes were back gathering the scrap from their roofing job. They cleaned up well, but we’ll still have to run the magnet over the lawn to check for nails. I heard them drive off and I got up to start my day.