The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

[TheLobster]

Here, the Chrismas day is suddenly freezing, with lows of +/- 10 degrees, depending on your temperature scale. No snow, though.

 

[sirhugs]

Well, I wrote Christmas cards yesterday. That should tell you where I'm at.

I have to make a double batch of minty gluten free brownies today, because tomorrow I'm making a double batch of chicken cassoulet. We're having the in-laws over, nine people total. My wife still has house cleaning to do, I need to clean out the fridge, and neither of us has wrapped presents.

I was hoping to watch The Family Stone tonight, and perhaps Charlie Brown Christmas. I may have to settle for listening to the music on YouTube after I go to bed.

Charlie Brown Christmas almost makes me undepressed

 

[NuclearFairy]

Merry Christmas!

I'm tired from having stayed up extra late last night, but the day is going well.

 

[dirk2024]

Charlie Brown Christmas almost makes me undepressed

This music always works for me.

 

[stickygirl]

Didn’t poison anyone, forgot the baked bread to go with the scallops and nearly forgot the gravy We haven’t eaten the pudding yet but there’s always tomorrow

 

[sirhugs]

This music always works for me.

It's Linus on the true meaning of Christmas that always gets to me

 

[ColtonWrites]

Didn’t poison anyone, forgot the baked bread to go with the scallops and nearly forgot the gravy We haven’t eaten the pudding yet but there’s always tomorrow

We ended up eating in two parts because the duck just didn't want to come up to temperature- we had potatoes and spinach and cranberry sauce, and THEN roast duck, lol.

Theres a cherry pie cooling on the counter but I dont know if I will still be hungry!

 

[NotWise]

That's it for the broccolini. We've been eating it for two months. I harvested enough to volunteer a dish for Christmas dinner, but I also threw a lot away because of aphids. That spells the end of it--and the end of the 2025 garden (finally).

 

[Candy_Kane54]

So what did everyone get? I see all of the gifts are gone and the wastebaskets are overflowing. I put on a fresh pot of coffee. See you in the morning.

 

[MrPixel]

Christmas dinner here was the same as Thanksgiving - spaghetti and sausage meatballs. Delicious and simple, minimal mess. It was just us and the dog, and, no, he does not get table scraps.

Christmas present was a new-to-us car. Deliberately sought an older model that didn't have all the whiz-bang tech imposed on you in current new vehicles. Found a very nice one with 25,000 miles on the odometer.

C simply cannot deal with new cars. She's a crank windows and stick shift sort of gal, having learned to drive a stick in a VW Bug on the hills of San Francisco. Modern? Every beep and bloop and flashing yellow light is an accident-in-waiting as she freezes trying to figure out what's happening to her.

 

[sirhugs]

I had pumpkin pie...

 

[Candy_Kane54]

It's foggy here so I'm glad Santa had Rudolph to guide his sled. Christmas dinner was a smashing success and everyone had a great time. Now comes the great cleanup.

There's a fresh pot of coffee brewing and the teapot is hot. I've put out donuts but there's still a lot of leftovers from yesterday. The tree looks lonely without the pile of presents around it. I hope everyone got something they could use.

I'll be over in the corner trying to get some writing done. I'm still recovering from eating too much so I don't know how much I'll get done.

 

[Duleigh]

So what did everyone get? I see all of the gifts are gone and the wastebaskets are overflowing. I put on a fresh pot of coffee. See you in the morning.

Today, the 26th of December is the Second Day of Christmas! It's Boxing Day in Canada and Western New York, it's the day we remember those that helped us through the year - mailmen, trash collectors, a favorite waiter/waitress. For the rest of the USA it's the day Americans put the Christmas gifts they received in a box and return them to Walmart. Personally I'm going to spend the day writing. I have several projects to work on, one is kicking off a new book, Gods Save the Queen - the Last Elf King, I'm outlining another Sci Fi book - Alan Scarlett, Why Robot? and finish up another book that takes place here on earth. Stormwatch - The Winter of our Discontent.

I'm going to need coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

 

[old_prof]

We flew back from NC (and its 70 degree weather) mid-day yesterday (Christmas day). I wore shorts on the plane (it makes TSA easier vs-a-vis my knee brace), but it was snowing and a wind chill of 2 F when we landed. We had no food in the house to eat, so my wife looked online to see who ws open. Several places lied and said they were, but driving around, we spotted a chinese restaurant (of course) that was open. And very crowded. It was good, at least once me moved to a table that wasn't getting blasted every two minutes when someone opened the door to the arctic conditions outside.

 

[NotWise]

Whoever voted on my stories late last night and early this morning was not spreading holiday cheer.

 

[BlueZen]

Whoever voted on my stories late last night and early this morning was not spreading holiday cheer.

They're sad and lonely and it's no reflection on you. <3

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Good morning, all!

 

[NotWise]

They're sad and lonely and it's no reflection on you. <3

Thanks, but of course not!

Whoever voted on five of my stories a little later this morning 5-bombed every one of them. Even the What I Wrote and Why essay on Mom, Sex, Drugs and Rock-n-Roll got a five.

Choosing among the available feedback, those are a reflection on me .

 

[NotWise]

Finally got my little truck back. Note to self. The dealer doesn't care about you if your car isn't under warranty. It made the appointment three weeks ahead, and had to wait another week-and-a-half to get a brake job.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

British Boxing Day is possibly the best day of the year. Great food that just needs microwaving, and lounging around with your books and presents and no expectations.

I did go to the shop, but only because I wanted a walk in daylight and it's about as far as I can get to. Not many bargains. but I did pick up another three Christmas puddings and lots of chocolate biscuits (as in hard cookies).

I did stay up late with a book and eating too many of my chocolates (all of them), so time to start the next one I think.

 

[MrPixel]

We flew back from NC (and its 70 degree weather) mid-day yesterday (Christmas day). I wore shorts on the plane (it makes TSA easier vs-a-vis my knee brace), but it was snowing and a wind chill of 2 F when we landed. We had no food in the house to eat, so my wife looked online to see who ws open. Several places lied and said they were, but driving around, we spotted a chinese restaurant (of course) that was open. And very crowded. It was good, at least once me moved to a table that wasn't getting blasted every two minutes when someone opened the door to the arctic conditions outside.

Yeah. That. Your experience is why we stopped doing holiday visits a couple of decades ago. Anything not go as expected, you're just flat hosed. Hell, we don't even have the Chinese restaurant backup here, they close for Christmas, too. If nothing in the house, at least Walgreens has limited hours, so we can certainly scrounge enough there for a meal if we get there by 6 p.m. Haven't yet been reduced to stale sandwiches or those grungy hotdogs from the 24/7 convenience store.

Problem for us is solved, anyway. No family to speak of, 'cept our son who I've mentioned, and holiday visiting is sorta not realistic considering his Hyderabad posting. We stare at the four walls and argue about what Christmas music we're not going to listen to.

Finally got my little truck back. Note to self. The dealer doesn't care about you if your car isn't under warranty. It made the appointment three weeks ahead, and had to wait another week-and-a-half to get a brake job.

I gave up on dealerships for servicing... gosh... nearly 50 years ago. The guy who taught me how to work on cars - up to and including engine and transmission teardowns - had a saying, "Fine. Go ahead and take it to the dealer. You'll be back here fixing what they didn't fix, plus the stuff they broke in the trying." Aside from his superior skills and wisdom, he had a very hard life lesson in losing his family to a botched brake job at a dealership. His life's purpose from then on was to make certain his friends knew how to work on their own cars, and the right way.

He was rough and tough sometimes. "What'll it take to get you to do that right, dammit? 2 by 4 to the side of your head?" But he was Dad's best friend, and came to appreciate that my skills with a wrench ran circles around Dad's.

Too old for that shit now. Even crawling under for oil changes is a too much. Got a really good guy with old-school attitudes in walking distance, and he gets everything these days.

 

[yowser]

I cannot handle myself when I hear someone say 'No food in the house!'

Maybe because I grew up in an area with hostile winters (no more,) but I cannot imagine not having a home without food supplies that would get you through at least a week.

Rice, dried beans, cans of tomatoes, long term (root cellar) vegetables like onions and potatoes. You can do wonders with very little.

 

[TheLobster]

Rice, dried beans, cans of tomatoes, long term (root cellar) vegetables like onions and potatoes.

I mean, if that's what I had in the pantry, I too would shout 'No food in the house!'

And yes, this is exactly like standing inside an overflowing walk-in closet and complaining you have nothing to wear. A lady lobster has to have standards.

 

[NotWise]

The flower on the patio opened the rest of the way!



It's little smaller and darker than the summer version. So far, anyway. With nothing else flowering, it's nice to see.

 

[yowser]

I mean, if that's what I had in the pantry, I too would shout 'No food in the house!'

And yes, this is exactly like standing inside an overflowing walk-in closet and complaining you have nothing to wear. A lady lobster has to have standards.

There is no fast food restaurant in the world I would take over half an onion, a box of pasta, and a jar of tomato sauce, 20 minutes max preparation time. There is zero reason not to have decent supplies at home, not even talking about the emergency preparedness business, which is non-trivial. I know not everyone likes cooking, but the thought of driving around trying to find an open restaurant to me seems crazy.