Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Well, I’ve been awake since 4 am, which means I’m not in the greatest mood. I won’t name names, but someone who lives here with me is responsible.

Anyway, how was your New Year’s celebration – if any? We were, as you would expect, very low-key, though we were somehow still awake at midnight. Go figure! We were asleep shortly after that, however. We had some sparkling cider and finally came to the realization that neither of us likes it very much. We no longer do carbonation and I think that’s part of it. So no more sparkling cider – just apple juice. Ninety-nine percent of the liquid we drink in this house is plain old water. Well water, which in our case, tastes better than any other water we’ve ever had. I remember my grandmother’s well water tasted very mineral-y. We’ve lucked out here.

I made another batch of the linzer tart cookies. It was a pain in the tush. But they taste good and Don loves them. Halfway through this second attempt I had a realization: this is a vegan recipe but we’re not vegans. We don’t have to use it. It needs a better binder than coconut cream. So I’ll search for another recipe and try another round. The cookies in the photo are Don’s. Mine don’t have any powdered sugar on top. There’s no sugar in the jam, either. It’s all fruit. And I use monk fruit sweetener instead of processed sugar for the dough. It comes in granules, just like sugar.

I received a lovely message on IG yesterday. It was from someone who had seen Spoiler Alert. She is a longtime oncology nurse and she told me my performance was ”spot on.” She also said the way I performed the scene was “genuine and authentic.” I can’t ask for greater praise than that. It was so nice of her to take the time to write a note to me – made my day. Spoiler Alert  is the gift that keeps on giving.

You know, I have so many interests that I could have eight different specialized IG accounts. As it is, I have three. One is my regular account, another is for Blythes (because, let’s face, not everyone is a fan, and many of my professional colleagues might think I’d gone crazy.) And the other is for books and reading. I started it when I was still reviewing books. I no longer do that because it took the joy out of reading for me – too many deadlines, too many books, too many other commitments in my life. But I love reading about what others are reading and I’ve found many books over the years through that account.

A gentleman from England has started a War and Peace  read-along for 2023. Turns out the chapter count is very close to 365, so a chapter a day is the goal. That’s entirely doable and not nearly as intimidating as it would be if I was looking at that big book and contemplating reading it.  So I ordered it from Amazon and it will arrive tomorrow, whereupon I’ll read 3 chapters to catch up. I’m rather excited about this! There’s also a discussion group. I tend to stay away from book clubs and discussion groups, but I’m going to keep an open mind this time around.

Okay. Since I’m really tired and in a somewhat surly mood, this might be the perfect day to clean up my desk in the office. It’s a mess and I’m feeling ruthless.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.