very, very ordinary, perhaps even relentlessly mundane, and yet it is mine

[alchimie]

Yesterday at the farmer's market my daughter and I picked up tamales, 5lbs of grapes, fresh-pressed apple juice (which will be gone in a few more weeks and then reappear in September or so, but while it is here it is delicious mixed with a very spicy ginger beer to cut the sweetness), and goat shanks. The previous week we had bought goat ribs and spouse roasted them on Saturday and they were divine; lightly salty and crunchy on the outside, rich and tender on the inside, everything I like in a meat. The shanks I am not certain what we will do with, they seem like they would braise well, and I have seen a few Greek recpes which braise them in tomato, but I might like to try something a little farther afield than that.

I did not make bread, I was tired and my shoulder very sore for no good reason, but spouse made dolma in the evening with smol daughter to everyone's delight, especially mine as now there are some in the 'fridge -- the rest went to work with him. I did do much folding of laundry, smol daughter made good progress on her project, and we even had a family trip to a nearby park (not the lake) although we missed most of the sun. In general a reasonable Sunday, although I stayed up far too late last night finishing a book (reading not writing, alas) and am thus paying the price in grogginess today. I suspect whether or not I do better tonight will depend upon external factors.

This morning after dropping off the children (very successfully, by which I mean the drama quotient was much lower than in the last few weeks) I went to Target and bought more snacks for the gymnastics bag, spicy ginger beer for use as above, school leggings for my smol son (who has worn holes in the knees of all his extant ones simultaneously), and two new soft blankets -- a large wine-coloured plush one for my bed, to replace the disintegrating blue one I bought on the eve of my wedding for a friend to use when he came to visit for said wedding, and a grey-and-white one (perfectly matched for the colours of my demanding cat) to put for my lap when I am using my laptop on my desk instead of on my bed. I have it on my legs now, it is warm and lovely.

Now I will grab something quick to eat and go fetch my children from school.

Comments

[kass]

These are lovely things, and I am glad.

[alchimie]

Thank you!

I enjoy your gratitudes posts very much, they always remind me to slow down and look at what is around me, and I think that has been contributing to my general sense of pleasure with my life right now despite various stresses.

[forestofglory]

I very much enjoy your mundane posts!

[alchimie]

Thank you! This is good to know. I enjoy reading other people's but in my own I always come up against that worry that because it is so personal and ordinary it will be rather boring, whereas if I am writing about books at least other people might have read them and had opinions.

[graydon]

Apple juice and ginger beer sounds amazing!

The blankets sound excellent.

[alchimie]

I used the very spicy ginger beer that is sold as a alcohol mixer at our local Target, and it is excellent. I may repeat it tonight.

The demanding cat has, as predicted, absolutely taken over the one in his colours and can now be found sleeping on it every morning.
Arguably this has something to do with its proximity near the heating vent, but I think he also approves of the matching colour scheme.

[graydon]

Cats do seem to have a notion of, and appreciation for, camouflage, which does rather make sense in ecological terms. They wish to both sneak up on the mousies and not be noticed by the coyotes and the owls.

And they're pretty much all heavily in favour of fuzzy things to sleep on! :)

[alchimie]

I have gotten some very good pictures of him curled up in it, enjoying the camouflage; I will have to see if I can figure out how to post them.

Do you have cats of your own? I think I saw a holiday picture of one.

[graydon]

There are guides to posting images to dreamwidth, which have to go through dreamwidth's own hosting. This is a little fussy but does represent a sensible security decision.

I do have a cat! Aoife is curled up (and very well camouflaged; Aoife is a void, and the cat bed is dark grey and the light is low) in the cat bed on the desk.