Christmas Update

Miss Libby counting the moments until I'll let her back in the house. Our entire yard had the same footprint pattern... notice that tail wagging at warp speed. Yes, our dogs wear winter coats, but not those frou-frou "fashion" numbers meant for chihuahuas who never have to walk under their own power... these coats are tough-as-nails winter coats made by the same folks who make equally tough winter horse blankets. This particular one is close to 20 years old, nice thick fluffy insulation, ripstop nylon lining, nearly-indestructible Cordura outside, velcro closures and seat belt webbing for trim.

Hubby a.k.a “my patient” is doing very well. We had a period last week where he was, shall we say, “not himself” due to Valium on top of about a dozen painkillers a day, but I pitched the Valium and he’s now down to a mere five Norcos a day - 10/325’s for all you pill experts – and he’s back to his normal humorous self and therefore no longer at risk of being dropped off at a homeless shelter sans identification! (Just kidding, Connie!) He trundles around on his walker, can relocate himself in whatever room he needs to be in, and has his very own wheelchair (I love ebay!) he parks in front of this computer. The home nurse signed off on him today, but we still have P/T coming in twice a week. He's no longer waking up at 3:30 every morning – life is good! Big ol’ bright light at the end of our tunnel! Note to self: No more planning surgeries during winter! Shoveling snow & ice, managing cold, wet, muddy dogs... too much.

I managed to produce a Christmas dinner for two consisting of grilled ribeyes, baked mashed potato casserole with almonds, fresh asparagus, fresh brussel sprouts, our favorite creamy lime gelatin salad, homemade cornmeal rolls (standard white bread recipe with ½ cup of cornmeal thrown in for interest), a mincemeat pie and a pecan pie. Only managed to get one Christmas cookie recipe made, a macadamia eggnog bar. Very good, but almost too sweet for me.

My Christmas Eve excitement was to make a new batch of homemade dry laundry soap, this time with Zote laundry bars (as recommended by one of my sisters) instead of the Fels Naptha brand. I did something different this time – instead of grating the bar soap with the attachment on my Kitchenaid mixer, I cut the bars into about one-inch cubes, added a cup or so of the baking soda, and just did it in two batches in my food processor with the blade. It worked very well and fast.

Here’s the recipe:

DRY LAUNDRY DETERGENT

approx 4 lb box Borax
approx 4 lb box washing soda
approx 4 lbs baking soda
3 bars Fels Naptha or 1-1/2 bars Zote laundry soap, grated

Mix all ingredients well and store in a sealed tub. Use 1-2 tablespoons of powder per full load.

There are a bunch of laundry soap recipes out there, many of them for liquid, but I love this dry one. Liquid soap takes up way too much room!