and how did I not notice that I have the same birthday as Will Stanton? I have read "The Dark Is Rising" by Susan Cooper every year as a seasonal ritual since I was first introduced to it... Now there is also a beautifully done BBC radio drama in twelve parts, and I have also been listening to the chapters as I do my morning chores...
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This is just plain lovely... happy Solstice one and all!
This is just plain lovely... happy Solstice one and all!
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"And so the Shortest Day came
and the year died.
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, revelling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us - listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year."
and the year died.
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year's sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, revelling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us - listen!
All the long echoes, sing the same delight,
This Shortest Day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And now so do we, here, now,
This year and every year."
~ Susan Cooper
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I ordered my favorite Grateful Dead album "American Beauty" as a CD (from their webshop so as to bypass the Behemoth), and it arrived today, a timely birthday treat!
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I had been really hoping to get one of the pretty koi ornaments as one of my Advent Swap treats, et voila! The silvery colors of this fish are perfectly complimented with the sparkle of the golden and translucent beads. 
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some experiments are more successful than others... I wanted braised oxtail for a special rare treat, for dinner tonight, but the store said none available til January at the soonest. (and they didn't have any black cod, which is my other special rare treat)
The butcher suggested using a piece of beef short rib instead as a likely substitute. Cooked with the same recipe as I would have the oxtail, it filled a similar niche for flavor, but shrunk to about half the original size in the cooking! The texture was more like brisket than succulent oxtail.
Given that I almost never splurge on beef, I think that if/when I do that again, I will simply get a tiny bit of bavette steak, cut it into crosswise strips and add it to a veggie stir fry. More bang for the flavor buck, as it were...
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~ Solstice sweets ~
After seeing the little cakes Beth made, I wanted to also make something sweet and sunlike for Solstice, but didn't feel up to making pastry. Karen explained how simple shortbread is to make, and since I'd never made it before, I gave it a try. 1 part sugar : 2 parts butter : 4 parts flour. I used gluten free baking mix, pressed the mixture into the bottoms of silicone cupcake liners, and baked in the convection oven for 20 minutes at just under 300F. Filled them with some blood orange marmalade. I particularly like how the corrugated liners left a decorative pattern on the sides of the shortbread.~ Solstice sweets ~
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December SMART goals (x=extra)
| # | THINGS MADE | THINGS FIXED | THINGS GONE |
| 1 | rainbow cowl tassels | more clothesline | recycle bin |
| 2 | 85 origami squares | cardboard down | random book parts |
| 3 | heraldic potholders | set up paperwhites | recycle bin |
| 4 | pine needle stars | grey linen pinafore | yard waste bin |
| 5 | solstice sweets | bandanna hem | yard waste bin |
| 6 | x | x | recycle bin |
| 7 | x | x | x |
| 8 | x | x | x |
| 9 | x | x | x |
today's gratitudes -
1. solstice sweets: shortbread tarts filled with marmalade
2. several short sweet zooms with friends and family
3. Grateful Dead, studio or live...
Time of Isolation - Day 1620
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