A New Year of Possibilities

Hello, friends.  On a walk last week, I saw a bright yellow and black feather, which was ID'd as a tail feather of a Northern Flicker.  A bin of shredded paper was added to the compost bin.  I switched around my closet, so that I could more easily reach the cold weather clothes, and added a few things I wasn't wearing to the donation box.  During a mending session, I sewed a button on J's shirt, mended two sweaters and two ornaments, and removed and redid some stitching on the summer quilt that I was never happy with.  On warm days, I pulled up invasive honeysuckle in two areas, along with cedar and wild blackberries, and vinca in another area  The first two amaryllis are blooming beautifully.  

Another two rounds of broccoli were harvested, and frozen.  I'm so thankful for the excellent harvest this year.  I made broccoli almond soup with what wasn't frozen, and used our roasted garlic in it.  I received the sweetest note from our mail carrier, thanking me for the cross stitch gift.  I reached out and sent a letter to an old high school friend that stopped staying in touch with another friend and I years ago.  I hope she'll contact me, and the three of us can meet and catch up with our lives since then.  J told me about a full 55 gal. barrel of vegetable glycerin he saw on Marketplace.  Glycerin is good for many things, including many body care products and medicinal glycerites.  They bought it from one of my trusted soap suppliers, and they were asking $50.  The current price is over $850 with an additional $250+ for shipping!  We picked it up on Friday.  Now to figure out what to do with it all!

With several bags of cranberries in the fridge, I decided to freeze two, started a batch fermenting in honey, and kept enough fresh to make one more round of sauce.  On a recent trip to Food Lion, I was given a coupon for a free can of their brand fruit or vegetable.  They accepted a can of mushroom pieces, which was added to the pantry.  I purchased avocados for .59 at Aldi's.  Kale was harvested for a cranberry quinoa salad.  We had a lovely New Years Eve with friends, and were home long before midnight.  On New Years Day, I made a MM spice cake.  While the cake was baking, I also baked sweet potatoes.  J harvested some winter greens, which I used in a winter salad.  Our collards and onions were sauteed with sesame seeds and coconut amino sauce, and we had black eyed peas to round out our New Years meal.  With Sunday being a damp day, I caught up on the ironing.  I'll fully reopen our home goods shop on Monday.  Let the games begin!  Wishing you a peaceful week.