Holiday Chit Chat and The Roomba

[paddlegal]

Boy is this place quiet, quiet, quiet!!! Hear that echo?


Either everyone's gone to ground to stay warm or still Christmas shopping or partying. I am officially done with shopping (yesterday) and wrapping. Whew! So I'll thrill you with my exciting day yesterday since I forgot to post this last night, LOL. Up at O'dark-thirty (pre-dawn) to meet my counting partner at assigned Sandhill Crane roosting site. Totally dark at the start, very dense fog, 32 degrees...ideal conditions for counting birds. We found 8! Hahahahahaha. The other teams didn't do much better. A few photos on FB.

Bob's birthday was last Sunday. Earlier in the week he told me what he wanted for his birthday. A Roomba! So out we went to Best Buy and got the model he wanted. This thing is FANTASTIC! It really does a great job sucking up dirt, crumbs, glitter and just great general grooming of the carpet and flooring. Since we were having a dinner party for him Sunday I was thrilled with it's assistance for cleaning the floors and carpet. It's so smart that when it's full or needs to recharge it returns itself to the home base to charge up. Takes about 90 minutes and then it returns to work on it's own if it wasn't done. You can set it to do specific times to work via your phone app! LOVE IT! It knows when it's upstairs not to fall down the stairs. It senses the drop and just turns around to vacuum another spot. Seriously this robot is a dream come true for me...and it wasn't my birthday gift.


How's everyone else doing and what are you up to?

[mpizzazz]

That sounds like fun, Farley! Good present for you, too! It sounds much smarter than the one I bought my Mother many years ago. It was always getting hung up and needed a lot of supervision. Then she threw away the charger and that was the end of that.

[pbp908]

I'm sitting here at work waiting for my lunch to be delivered and praying they'll tell us to go home early. I have baking to do if FedEx delivers my black walnuts today.

[mpizzazz]

I'm sitting here at work waiting for my lunch to be delivered and praying they'll tell us to go home early. I have baking to do if FedEx delivers my black walnuts today.

Oh, Black Walnuts! Pam, where do you get them? I have a craving for some and thought maybe down South you would have them. I love Black Walnut Ice Cream and did have it a few times on our road trip last Summer so maybe they aren't just a Southern thing.

[pbp908]

They don't grow well down here in our sandy soil. They do grow wild in SW Virginia in the mountains. Unfortunately, the only way I could get them from there would have been if my cousin had shipped them to me, and then I'd need a sledge hammer to crack the dratted things. (Trust me, that's how we used to do it.) George found some on Amazon and ordered them for me. I needed a pound (shelled) for this recipe, so I guess that's my Christmas present. He suggested I substitute English walnuts, but it's nowhere near the same taste. The black walnuts are sweeter and more pungent. I was pining for something from my childhood so I pulled out my grandmother's applesauce cake recipe. 1 qt. of applesauce, 1 pound of black walnuts, and 1 pound of raisins plus all of the other standard cake ingredients. I have to mix the recipe in a huge stainless steel bowl, and it makes 1 Bundt pan and 3 bread pans of cake. Maybe one day I'll sit down and figure out how to reduce it. I think Mamaw got the recipe from her mother, who probably got it from her mother. It easily has to be over 100 years old and was one of those that you made for large families. I'm going to take one to my sister - I promised her a treat from our childhood for Christmas.

I just checked - Superior Nut Company. $28.95 per pound. It's worth that to get them pre-shelled.

[pamcook]

That's a deal for black walnuts. Grandpa threw them out on the "road" (dirt & gravel path to the barn) until they were dry. As folks would visit, the cars would drive over them removing the husks. I think we just used an old fashioned nut cracker but still had to use thenutpick to get the meat out of the shell. Grandma put them in her chocolate fudge.

[Debbie J]

That Roomba sounds great! I have always thought about getting one but never have.....someday.

The granddaughters are home from college and my little "organizer" helped me clean and organize the downstairs. We had 3 large garbage sacks for the thrift store and 2 for the garbage bin. It looks so good. We even separated stuff I'm moving to Az so that's done too. She's a lifesaver!

[paddlegal]

Your sledge hammering of Black Walnuts is bringing back fond childhood memories for me. My mom would get them, possibly from her sister in IL, and we would do just that. Sit on the floor with hammers and smack away on those impossible shells. I just don't remember what exactly she did with them. At that time I didn't even like any kind of walnut. Pity...love them now. Now I have a hankering for Black Walnuts.

Gee Debbie does she freelance? I could use an organizer.

[azemigh]

We are 10 days out from a wedding, need I say more? Spending Christmas noontime with my mom as that's when they do their big meal there for holidays. Monday, I'm making red velvet cupcakes to take with on Tuesday, which is the day we drive up to Redmond to join the festivities. Will flies in from Tucson tomorrow and is staying through the 5th, so we will get a nice long visit with him too. We will probably be playing board games and finishing up anything we need for the wedding all week and of course, bowl games, bowl games, bowl games!

[pbp908]

AND!!! There's a Dr. Who marathon on tonight and tomorrow, and the new Dr. Who movie Sunday night just in time for the turkey stupor!

[mpizzazz]

At my Great Aunt's house that my Mom and then I inherited, there were walnut trees around the driveway. I remember them falling and then everyone driving over them. They were so sticky and black. I never was involved in the husking, etc.
I'll buy mine shelled!

[Monica]

AND!!! There's a Dr. Who marathon on tonight and tomorrow, and the new Dr. Who movie Sunday night just in time for the turkey stupor!

AHHHH!!! And I'll be at the in-laws, but it will be waiting for me to get home.

[EDelValle]

Tonight I have the honor of hosting for our
annual Christmas Eve gathering. Last year
was the first time in 20 years that it was back at
our house. We went to my son's home since
the grandchildren were born but now they
are in their 20's so it's back to me.
Unfortuanately, my son in law has early
onset Alzheimer's and he fantabulizes all
these confrontations that he had with my son
so he will not be joining us, he hasn't since
he was diagnosed over 5 years ago. Luckily, he's
okay with my daughter coming and doesn't give
her a hard time about it. Some of the medications
made him agressive which she has now had the
doctors discontinue. I've purchased essential oils
as a gift for her to try to ease the anxiety and stress
that he gets, they might help her, too

My gifts are bought and wrapped and under the
tree, I did a few batches of cookies which I've
packaged as gifts to each of them.
We don't eat very much red meat, but I'm making
a prime rib, we had one last year and it came out so
good, I'm doing the same this year. (Kansas City Steaks)
A few little housekeeping chores this morning and
then all I need to do is cook. I'm contemplating a new
recipe this year, a corn pudding, it sounded so
good online, I printed the recipe, and they all
like corn so, if I have room for the roast and
still have a free shelf I'm going to make it.

Farley, I bought my husband a Roomba awhile
back as a gift, but we have a dog and it just
did not no a good job and it constantly stalled out
and it was a model that was supposed to be good
with animal hair. After a few tries, the only thing
it gathered was dust, so I tossed it I redid my
living room.

I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas,
Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays, Merry Festivus,
etc.
This is my favorite time of year and I can hardly
wait to the time for opening gifts. I get excited
watching everyone open the gifts we chose for them.
My daughter still reacts the way she did when she
was a young child, her delight is contagious and it
makes me happy to watch her.

Hoping Santa is good to you all!

[Keitha]

Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Season's Greetings to everyone! I finished all my shopping and wrapping yesterday; this morning Rebecca and I went out to our local bakery to pick up our Christmas morning pastries and we sat and had breakfast together. I'll give the kitchen and bathroom a once-over today in preparation for tomorrow; we're hosting the family dinner this year with dinner upstairs at Rebecca's and the gift opening with extended family downstairs in my suite.

Black Walnuts aren't a thing here although I'm sure are delicious; I will make some Sugar-Cinnamon Pecans later today which are a favourite of Rebecca's. Later this afternoon we'll head to Rebecca's Dad's for their traditional Christmas Eve festivities before coming home and preparing for Santa's arrival; here everyone in the house hangs a stocking.

Farley, I had a Roomba years ago and agree that it did a fantastic job. When I found myself talking to it as it vacuumed, I named it Jed (short for J. Edgar Hoover - I'm sure you can make the connection) and even scrapbooked about it.

[paddlegal]

Merry Christmas and the Happiest of Holidays to everyone!

We are a little weird here and opened "remaining" gifts last night. Years ago when Charley was little we started opening gifts a few at a time as Christmas approached. We felt the anxiety level of waiting for gift opening on Christmas Eve was just too high. So we enjoy the gifts pretty much as they arrive or soon after they are wrapped. We had a great time before Bob's birthday party began last Sunday opening family gifts with his daughter, husband and the grandkids.

We will take our holiday walk up to the Sacramento River Levee today to bird and check the water level. Then I'll start working on our non traditional holiday dinner of Pad Thai. It's a favorite here and I rarely make it. There's a possible scrabble game after while we enjoy some wine and some corny movie. I am so blessed with my wonderful, loving family.

Holiday Hugs to you all