Isn't it self explanatory?
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxlj4Tk83xQ]
According to Michael Davis (author of Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street), this excerpt was from a show aired a year after Will Lee, the actor who played the character Mr. Hooper, died.
Nearly every year for the past 15, we’ve hosted a New Year’s Eve party. I think we’ve missed two before this year (once because we were living in the rental house). This year, we talked about it, but our hearts just weren’t in it. We’d had a busy and fun Hanukkah and Christmas and that seemed like just the right amount of celebrating, so tonight it’s just a small party: the three of us, my sister, and the pets.
Even though it’s a mellow evening by the fire, we’re sticking to at least a few of our traditions:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzUfmh3G9AE]
To all our friends and family, we send you wishes for a very happy, healthy, and peaceful New Year.
(p.s. Thank you, Amy, for finding this video!)
At last (I know you’ve been wondering), here’s a video of the holiday performance at Hyla’s school last Friday.
I took this video with Hyla’s nifty little video camera just to test it out and I’m not really happy with the quality of the video, but I think that’s my fault because I used the wrong setting and then wasn’t sure how to fix it later or import it onto my computer correctly. Anyway, I think you can still make out Hyla’s HUGE grin while she’s playing “Good King Wenceslas” (did I spell that right?!).
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4alA77K3ybg]
In past years, we’ve put up quarts of jam and gallons of pickles and applesauce during the summer and fall to send to family and friends for holiday treats. For some reason this year, we did none of that. Absolutely none. Our larder isn’t empty because we have leftovers from last year, but it does seem a bit less festive without all those wrapped jars taking over the kitchen this time of year.
Lest you are worried, though, we of course made our traditional candied orange peels.
This year, because we still have a broken oven and can’t bake cookies or french pastries that shall not be named in this post, I attempted a second candy: sponge toffee. This is thanks to my sister who really knows how to make candy. Me, I’m afraid of boiling sugar, but she’s a brave soul and has ventured further into scalding sugar territory than I ever care to go. Every so often, she gives me a simple recipe, but even just reading the recipes is scary (“What’s an aliquot?” I ask my sister).
Ok, but Mr. Broken Oven pushed me to the edge and I made an attempt at candy and the cool thing is that it was easy, easy enough that I could make several batches in one evening and most of them resembled the candy they are supposed to be.
Sponge toffee is a simple but interesting candy. There’s not much to it (sugar, corn syrup, water, and baking soda), and, while it’s sweet, it has a distinctive burnt, almost-but-not-quite bitter, edge to it. The first night I made the toffee, Hyla came by and asked for a taste. This took us a bit by surprise because Hyla usually isn’t keen to try any new food, but she does seem to make an exception for new foods in the candy category. She loved it. Sweeeeet!
I have many things to post, but am trying to catch up on work, so am trying to ignore the “call of the blog”. In the meantime, here’s a video for a song I’ve loved for years. Just hearing the first guitar notes makes me smile, even though I’m at work and not at all in a smiley mood.
Thank you, Michael, for thinking to look for this video for me!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq7X_6PlilE]
Two videos from yesterday.
Golden Guernsey goats at play at Spitalfields City Farm in London:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psszqX1LITQ]
These are the type of goats we have our hearts set on. Unfortunately, they are a rare breed, originating in England, and can’t be imported to the US. Southwind Farm, which boasts the only purebred Golden Guernsey herd in the US, claims on their web site that there are only 11 purebred females in the United States. Fortunately, there’s a group of people working on developing both a British and an American Golden Guernsey breed, by crossing purebred GG bucks with high-quality Alpine and Swiss does. The aim is to “breed up” to as pure a GG bloodline as possible.
Also, here’s video of a newborn yak at Steadfast Farm in Waitsfield, VT (possibly New England’s first yak herd):
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdFcu0GvHnc]
We love yaks. What’s not to love? They’re shaggy, and they grunt. We have not yet made yak cheese, but believe me, we intend to try.
Now that NaBloPoMo is over, I figured I’d want to give myself a blogging break, at least for a day. But now that the day is nearly done, I feel reluctant to simply stop this thing I’ve become so used to. It’s become almost as much of habit for me as my (near) daily walks with Gryfe. At least for today, I’m not ready to stop.
Maybe now that I’ve flexed my writing muscles a bit, I should give myself bigger challenges. Write more. Write better. Write for a purpose.
At any rate, I’m not stopping with yesterday. Maybe today, with this post, I’m treading water, staring out at the expanse of ocean all around me, knowing that I need to keep my legs moving, and trying to decide which direction will take me to the shore.
So, I’m sitting here at the computer on a Sunday evening, looking back at the last four days, feeling pleasantly tired, and happy to be writing here.
This year’s Thanksgiving wasn’t the big bang-up festival like the kind we had in 2006. Instead, it was quiet and mild and made me feel grateful for all sorts of tiny and important things, like the good friends we have, and the beautiful blue skies when you least expect them in November, and being able to pull off a Thanksgiving meal with a broken oven, and having friends who make you want to get up the next morning and cook a whole new meal the day after Thanksgiving.
I’m grateful for being able to haul logs for hours with Michael and to be able to smile when we were finished at the good work we’d done. I’m grateful for a daughter who makes me laugh and who uses big words when small words would do. I’m grateful for the taste of turkey and cranberry sauce in a corn tortilla. I’m grateful for a sister who can cook like Julia Child and sing like Ethel Merman. I’m grateful that I can hear music on the stereo, and that I’m married to someone who loves listening even more than I do.
When I took the dog for a quick after-dinner walk this evening, it was very dark and the snow was falling. When I turned back to the house, the windows were glowing. Safe shelter. Warmth. Music. Books. People I love. A fridge full of leftovers. It’s not such a bad life.
If I didn’t feel compelled to write a blog entry tonight because I’d committed to NaBloPoMo, you wouldn’t be seeing this. After a busy couple of days of cleaning, cooking, socializing, eating, reading, and having fun, I had a single margarita this evening and fell asleep on the couch while watching “Thoroughly Modern Millie” with my sister and Hyla. When I woke up at the end credits, Michael reminded me about the blog. As Mrs. Meers (from the film) would say, “Oh, Pook!”
We’re all in luck, then, that Michael and Gryfe had a walk in the November sunshine today and came back with some beautiful pictures. As these pictures and the last couple of days remind me, November isn’t all bad.
