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St. Lucy's Day
Dec. 13th, 2019 10:48 pmOh joy, the portion of the carpet in the basement that the Sparrowhawk cleaned already was actually dry this morning. We got down to work and moved all the furniture onto the clean part. This meant taking all the books out of the bookshelves again and stacking them on the couch and floor so we could move the bookcases. I found out the smears of concrete on the baseboards can be scrubbed off, but I didn't have time to do very much of it. That's a small but annoying problem that will have to be left until later. I did wash some smears off the walls and wiped the dust off the empty shelves. We moved many things that are very heavy, and most of them will have to be moved again to assume their final places. Gumption traps abounded! So many gumption traps! But we kept going, and the Sparrowhawk returned the carpet cleaning machine on time, and then took the car in to find out why the oil change light is on although it isn't time. Apparently it was just a defective sensor, which hopefully is now fixed.
We got two lovely pre-Christmas gifts today. The Diva participated in a Christmas program on her local FM station. We tried to listen to it streaming live, but the streaming service had a problem and cut out just as her part started. She texted us that it was going to be rebroadcast tonight, so we got to hear her reading "The Gift of the Magi," by O. Henry. It was perfect. I think the Diva is the perfect reader for this story, because her voice communicates all the pathos and humor that have to blend to make the story magic. Also, like the characters in the story, her heart is pure gold. She's an actor, so she didn't burst into tears while reading, but I did. Also, two mysterious packages arrived from the World Wildlife Fund. The Philosopher had told me that his Lovely Friend had made a donation in our names, but said it wasn't for Christmas but just because she wanted to. So I opened them. Mine held a plush octopus and a certificate of symbolic adoption, and the Sparrowhawk's had three plush honeybees. We posed with them for a picture to send the Lovely Friend with our thanks. I have several toy octopuses, but this one is really the best. It has such a sagacious expression that I like it the most.
After we'd finished up downstairs, I made Lucy cats, because this is St. Lucy's Day, formerly the shortest day of the year before calendar reform changed that. Lucy cats are delicious saffron rolls, called "cats" because they are often made in the shape of a cat. Mine are not--they're a more traditional curly form. Because the dough is rich, they often come out kind of dense. It's hard to get them to rise well, because it's cold in December. And I only had one packet of yeast left, much to my consternation! I warmed the oven and let them rise in there, and they have baked to a golden-brown perfection, and are nicely soft and puffy inside. The Sparrowhawk loves them so much that he ate three. They are extremely good with a bit of ham, and we just remembered that there is a bit of leftover ham in the freezer, so they just might serve as breakfast too.
We got two lovely pre-Christmas gifts today. The Diva participated in a Christmas program on her local FM station. We tried to listen to it streaming live, but the streaming service had a problem and cut out just as her part started. She texted us that it was going to be rebroadcast tonight, so we got to hear her reading "The Gift of the Magi," by O. Henry. It was perfect. I think the Diva is the perfect reader for this story, because her voice communicates all the pathos and humor that have to blend to make the story magic. Also, like the characters in the story, her heart is pure gold. She's an actor, so she didn't burst into tears while reading, but I did. Also, two mysterious packages arrived from the World Wildlife Fund. The Philosopher had told me that his Lovely Friend had made a donation in our names, but said it wasn't for Christmas but just because she wanted to. So I opened them. Mine held a plush octopus and a certificate of symbolic adoption, and the Sparrowhawk's had three plush honeybees. We posed with them for a picture to send the Lovely Friend with our thanks. I have several toy octopuses, but this one is really the best. It has such a sagacious expression that I like it the most.
After we'd finished up downstairs, I made Lucy cats, because this is St. Lucy's Day, formerly the shortest day of the year before calendar reform changed that. Lucy cats are delicious saffron rolls, called "cats" because they are often made in the shape of a cat. Mine are not--they're a more traditional curly form. Because the dough is rich, they often come out kind of dense. It's hard to get them to rise well, because it's cold in December. And I only had one packet of yeast left, much to my consternation! I warmed the oven and let them rise in there, and they have baked to a golden-brown perfection, and are nicely soft and puffy inside. The Sparrowhawk loves them so much that he ate three. They are extremely good with a bit of ham, and we just remembered that there is a bit of leftover ham in the freezer, so they just might serve as breakfast too.
