Trying to Keep Up with Life

Cinnamon Monkeying Around Bread
dough going into fridge overnight to rise

Soft outside, buttery and cinnamony outside

There's always school, isn't there; always there are lessons to be honed for the next day. But there are also chores, puzzles to do, reading about pies and maternal boundaries, too much TV to binge, and resting the knees. On top of the usual, I've started my Christmas baking tests. Yesterday I did King Arthur Flour's Monkeying Around Bread. It's a single layer monkey bread made with a simple enriched dough with a cinnamon sugar coating. We are considering baking at school, and this is one recipe for consideration. Each child can make her own batch and take it home. 

Nelly loves one of her new toys so much that she managed to push it into a back corner that I could not reach. But Amelia came yesterday and snagged it out so that Nelly is happily back in business.

00:31

Amelia also fixed the garage door openers so I don't have to worry about animals in the garage during the day. The oil tank in the garage is also protected from the wind now. Except a big flower pot fell on the feeding pipe and had to be retrieved—the copper pipe was not damaged.

In particular, these are the animals I want out of the garage:

The Porcupine

This is not the photo I posted earlier this week. It's the same porkie, just another shot. I couldn't decide which of the two shots was best. They were both handheld shots. The wind and rain kept slamming the door on me, so the tripod (which I did get out of the car and into the house) would not have worked. But somehow, on that dark day, I managed to get the settings right for the light and held the camera steady enough for better shots. I can imagine how good they would been with a tripod. The porcupines have been quiet this week and I have only seen one. I will drive up to the trees in a couple days to see if they are okay or not (Lucy has given no indications that one fell out of the tree, so all should be well).

I've missed some awesome shots this week: a manure spreader in a whiteout, a flock of starlings, candid dog and cat shots. Starlings are rare here and I get excited to see them. They may not be native, may even be invasive, but they are so intelligent and beautifully patterned that I enjoy them greatly. 

I came home to see Betsy in the new cat tree. I woke her up and got this shot:

Betsy

Even though it has been wicked busy and tiring, these have been happy non-depressed days. Classes have been going well. The little bitty kids and I are learning about snowflakes. We also read a Hanukkah book and played dreidel. My snowflake catcher has arrived from Vermont Snowflakes, so we will capture some and attempt to photograph them. Two other classes are doing rates. One class in a consumer orientation, the other in a pure mathematics orientation. There are only two full weeks of classes left before break. The two weeks are followed by two and a half days of kids frenzied by Christmas (the little ones already are) and all of the activities. 

I am truly looking forward to that long break.

_/\_/\_