Category Archives: Journal

I am noticing something in the Netflix offerings. A few programs they are creating are offering personal growth up as a desirable (albeit mysterious and confusing) outcome. This element was missing in the offerings celebrating dysfunction, violence, intrique, etc. etc. etc. Just months ago we couldn’t find a single new offering from Netflix that we hadn’t already watched, that we enjoyed. And suddenly there are several new one season series that we have enjoyed. So far we have watched Russian Doll, which is black and funny, interesting and intelligent, and going in the right direction from our perspective. Presently we are watching Cuckoo, which is silly, and horrifying in some ways, and yet moves towards people being true to themselves and kind and tolerant of others while doing so, at least so far, we have only watched a few episodes.

Around the time Princess Diana died (1997), I noticed a lot of contempt-for-the-disadvantaged, greed romanticization, and mean-spirited-selfishness used as the unspoken underbelly in many of the ads on TV, and the premise of many programs at that time and since. It was disturbing at the time, to observe the culture going in that direction, and it has degenerated into some of the current leaders in different political arenas in North America. We haven’t hit rock bottom, but only because things can always get worse, there is no bottom.

I certainly hope that what I am detecting on Netflix harbours of a kinder, more tolerant social climate to come. One can always hope.

We are expecting a winter storm, it sounds as if it will be miserable, and I am glad I no longer have a long drive to work over the treacherous roads in the north. Life is full of small blessings. We are well into February now, and winter will soon be loosening its grip. We are warm and comfortable here at Mist Cottage.

One thing about forced air heating (and heating with wood) is that the air becomes very dry, and static electricity is a problem. So far this winter, I have had no nosebleeds, for the first time in decades. I cold still have a nosebleed, the winter is not over yet, but I’ve made it this far into the heating season without issue, and how wonderful it is. The cauterization in my nasal passage seems to have worked wonders. The static electricity means that my fine hair is completely out of control. My hair will NOT be tied back, pinned back, or held fast under a cap! It is always finding its way into my eyes, tickling my nose, catching on my glasses, and it is very annoying. So far I’ve found nothing to subdue it.

We enjoyed a turkey dinner on Sunday last, Attila prepared the entire meal. A ten pound turkey usually does us five or six dinners for the first week, a pot full of turkey soup for Attila’s snacks, and five or six packages of diced turkey meat in the freezer, for future Instant Pot casserole type meals. Turkey dinners work well for us.

This morning I am sitting in the sun, while it continues to shine, and baking muffins for Attila’s lunches. A happy day.

Worldly

Weather

WINTER STORM WATCH
-7°C
Date: 10:00 AM EST Monday 11 February 2019
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 103.1 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: -7.4°C
Dew point: -14.4°C
Humidity: 58%
Wind: NE 19 km/h
Wind Chill: -14
Visibility: 24 km

Quote

“‘Taint’t worthwhile to wear a day all out before it comes.”
Sarah Orne Jewett
1849 – 1909

Sometimes I just feel like writing. There isn’t anything exciting going on, no drama to record, nothing at all to write about except the joy of being alive and feeling my fingers bring my thoughts and feelings into plain view. A small miracle at my fingertips.

The sun is just struggling to come out. It is just after 11:00 a.m. Predawn this morning freezing rain was falling from a dark and apparently overcast sky. Everything is slippery out there. The temperature has risen above freezing now, and the snow and ice are melting. There will be more cold weather to come, more snow, more grey and dreary skies, but I doubt we will see more of the extreme cold that the polar vortex brought deep into the continent.

I’ve been working on cleaning out the refrigerator freezer. There are some mystery items in there, and some surprises. One of the mystery items was a container of applesauce, which had no label. Judging by the plastic container it was in, it has probably been in the freezer for about ten years. It went into the compost bin. A happier discovery was a container of whole cranberries, and they are in very good condition. I am having fun researching the ways in which I can turn them into something delicious.

Tonight’s dinner has been planned, and the diced leftover turkey is thawing in the refrigerator, it will be transformed into Mongolian Turkey with Rice and Mixed Vegetables by dinner time. A lot of our meals are cooked with rice and mixed vegetables. Rice is inexpensive and easy to cook. The mixed vegetables consist of frozen diced carrots, corn, and green beans, and we eat about 1 1/2 cups each most nights for dinner. Most of the dishes I prepare are in the Instant Pot, and consist of mostly vegetables, some rice, and a small bit of meat, usually chicken, occasionally ground beef. The flavourings are what makes each meal unique, and delicious. Attila is very, very fond of the roast pork I prepare in the instant pot, so I try to serve that once a week.

This past weekend Attila craved pizza. There is no pizza available at grocery stores, or at restaurants, that does not contain preservatives, so we have to make it ourselves. No problem! My pizza crusts have not been to my liking for the last few years, because I use a lot less salt, and also mostly whole wheat flour. I tried a new recipe this time around, and it was a great success, light, and delicious. The trick, a tip from an organic farmer friend, was to add an egg as part of the liquid ingredients, and a tablespoon of gluten flour. I have always added the gluten flour, so I think the egg is what made the real difference to the dough. I use the bread machine, dough setting, because kneading dough now hurts my bad arm and shoulder, and the machine does a perfectly respectable job.

Our pizza is relatively low-sodium, low-fat, low-cholesterol, and low-sugar, it hits all the buttons. The sauce is where I really score points for keeping it healthy. We use my canned spaghetti sauce, which is sodium-free. Commercial sauces are shockingly high in sodium. I do indulge in a little cheese, and some pepperoni as well, but I keep the amount reasonable, so that I stay within my dietary quotas.

Well there, I managed to fill this page with the unimportant doings at Mist Cottage. My how I love the unimportant doings of life!

Worldly

Weather

2°C
Date: 11:32 AM EST Monday 4 February 2019
Condition: Mist
Pressure: 101.4 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: 2.1°C
Dew point: 2.1°C
Humidity: 100%
Wind: N 2 km/h
Visibility: 2 km

Quote

“There are two types of people–those who come into a room and say, ‘Well, here I am!’ and those who come in and say, ‘Ah, there you are.'””
Frederick L Collins
1882 – 1950

Who would you rather have walk into the room?

What a difference a day makes! The extreme cold has departed, it was part of what the weather people call a polar vortex. it is a balmy -5C today. That was the temperature of the interior of our country house, the early winter when we had no source of heat. Not particularly comfortable for indoors, but downright balmy for a February morning!

I’ve been thinking about snacks. Snacks are tough. What I would love to eat for health are chocolate bars, potato chips, french fries, cheesecake, ice cream… well, you get the picture, all those decadent empty calories that pave the path to poor health.

I -L O V E- sugar. I come by this honestly, my Grandpa was the same way. I remember watching in fascination as he took a large slice of sweet fruit pie, poured heavy cream over it, and then sprinkled white sugar generously over all. He also smoked his whole life. He was lean and fit all his life, and lived to be 90 years old, in good health until the day he stopped being alive. I too love sugar, but unlike Grandpa, when I eat a lot of it my blood pressure begins to do funny things, not good funny either. So I have to accept that those are the cards I’ve been dealt, and play my hand accordingly.

Finding something to nibble on that tastes good, that is low-sodium, low-sugar, low-cholesterol, and low-calorie, is pretty challenging.

When I am craving something sweet, I take out the blender, a frozen banana, and a bit of 1% lactose free milk. Blending the banana and the milk results in a sweet, creamy concoction that I can eat with a spoon, I like it much better than ice cream! The blender we had was not able to function properly with the frozen banana, it was quite an ordeal to get the job done. So for Christmas I used the money my Mom gave me for Christmas, and some money I’d saved, and bought a 2 hp motor, 1500 watt blender that has no difficulty at all handling a frozen banana. The frozen banana/milk treat is my favourite.

Another snack I really enjoy is a little more decadent. A sweet potato cooked in the Instant Pot is mashed and mixed with a teaspoon of maple syrup, a teaspoon of oil, and a teaspoon of Roasted Garlic and Pepper herb mix. This is a warm, filling, and a simply delicious sweet and salty snack, that is low everything it needs to be.

Other snacks consist of Turmeric Cookies, and homemade muffins. Cookie and muffins can be very high sugar and high fat, but not these recipes. The cookie recipe calls for 1/3 cup of brown sugar, and the muffin recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. Both recipes include a cup or more of pureed squash, or applesauce, or grated carrots, or a little of each. Both recipes are made with only one cup of all-purpose flour, and one cup of oatmeal. Well, they are healthy recipes, and the results are sweet enough for my sugar/salt/fat adjusted palate.

Of an evening, Attila has taken to preparing a green salad for himself, as a snack. I asked if he would make enough for me to have a small bowl as well, which he has gladly done. Not wanting to use the store-bought dressings, and not eating enough salad to warrant a batch of homemade dressing, I came upon the idea of using my canned applesauce as a dressing. It is delicious as dressing! I also top my little salad with a tablespoon or so of walnut pieces, and a light sprinkling of Roasted Garlic and Pepper herb.

When I seek a little bit of salty I turn to two herb mixtures bought at the grocery store. The first is Roasted Garlic and Pepper, which has 210 mg of sodium per teaspoon. The second is Garlic Plus, which has 110 mg of sodium per teaspoon. Salt has 2,325.5 mg of sodium per teaspoon, so you can see the benefit of the herb mixtures. Because my palate is adjusted to low-sodium, the Roasted Garlic and Pepper herb mixture tastes very salty to me, and the Garlic Plus just salty. I usually use Garlic Plus to sprinkle on bland food, or cooked vegetables, to give the a little flavour boost.

Sometimes for a snack I just grab a little dish of my canned applesauce, or my canned strawberry/rhubarb (which has sugar added, I won’t, can’t really, eat rhubarb without a bit of sweetening).

When feeling extremely decadent, I pop some organic popcorn, add a little butter and sprinkle it with Roasted Garlic and Pepper. I don’t do this often, i am also conscious of calories, and I am definitely not underweight.

Well there you have it, my snacking habits revealed.

Worldly

Weather

-5°C
Date: 11:00 AM EST Saturday 2 February 2019
Condition: Cloudy
Pressure: 101.8 kPa
Tendency: Falling
Temperature: -5.4°C
Dew point: -8.2°C
Humidity: 80%
Wind: SW 27 gust 40 km/h
Wind Chill: -13
Visibility: 24 km

Quote

“The charity that hastens to proclaim its good deeds, ceases to be charity, and is only pride and ostentation.”
William Hutton
1723 – 1815

We have just come through another very frigid night. The furnace chugged away, doing its job without fail, so that Mist Cottage remained comfortably warm while we slept.

I am sitting in my easy chair, in a pool of sunshine. How glorious it is. It is Friday, and Attila will be very glad to see the end of this work week. The weather people say that by Saturday the temperature will rise above freezing. Such a contrast in the weather from one day to the next!

This morning I read a very interesting article about slavery in Canada, historical in nature, including the enslavement of both aboriginal and black individuals. The details were new to me, but I was not surprised in the least that a great many prominent Canadian historical figures, people wielding power in governments, and having affluence to protect, supported slavery. The article asserts that when the investment in human flesh offered tenuous returns, the practice of slavery declined. The article also asserted that it was the activities of humanely oriented individuals that eventually eroded the profitability of slavery, weakening its hold on economic infrastructures. Some humane people did what they could, when they could, and eventually the scattered drops that fell from their efforts became a river.

I watched a vlog the other day, where a woman who crochets described a derogatory comment made to her about her hobby, by a woman who knits, and felt that knitting was the superior pastime. The insult was offered up with a friendly smile, as the insulter felt that her opinion represented not only the truth, but a truth that was universally agreed upon. The insulter felt downright cheerful in airing her contempt, putting the crocheter in her place. Evangelism is just another “ism”, with much in common with other “isms”, like racism, sexism, ageism… the list is long, very, very long. Them, the crocheters, and us, the holy knitters. The division is false, but it served a purpose.

The woman describing the incident was upset by the experience. I would be too. My feelings towards people, who offer up reasons that they and their choices are superior, and you and your choices are inferior, are summed up by the words disgust, pity, and sadness. Toxic behaviours always make me feel sad, it is such a failure of human potential, such a misuse of the human spirit.

It doesn’t have to be yarn related pastimes that are used for these kinds of evangelistic strikes on another’s peace of mind. Any topic can be used as ground zero.

I run into this kind of evangelism on occasion. It is not the most common form of interaction in my world, MOST people do not have a lurking agenda when I interact with them. That is refreshing.

A bit of a rant from Maggie.

Worldly

Weather

-20°C
Date: 8:00 AM EST Friday 1 February 2019
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 102.9 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: -19.6°C
Dew point: -22.9°C
Humidity: 76%
Wind: WNW 11 km/h
Wind Chill: -27
Visibility: 24 km

Quote

“Ninety-eight percent of the adults in this country are decent, hard-working, honest Americans. It’s the other lousy two percent that get all the publicity. But then–we elected them.”
Lily Tomlin
1939 –