Hmm… Maybe I’ll start cussing…

Or being blasphemous in my post titles – – funny thing, but I just cruised through the reader list to try to catch up after my nearly 2 week absence (um…yeah…work got a lil hectic and wore me down to not having a creative notion in my soul and no desire to write anything but tomorrow’s to do list OR this morning’s intentions – or tonight’s gratitude list (some days, I struggle on the ‘gratitude’ list past the obvious things…i.e.:

• I’m Alive and Breathing
• I have shelter/heat
• I have water to drink/food to eat
• I’m not dodging bullets, bombs or tornadoes –

As I persued my posts list, to see when last I posted…

Sigh – funny how weeks just go by in the blink of an eye…

I realized –

Me at my most frustrated is what gets the most interaction…

Hmmm…you do know how I feel about drama queens and whiners, right?

So I ask myself tonight…did my 3 year experiment at Facebook turn me into a drama queen?

Perhaps….will let you know once I know….

In the end, I realized maybe I should ‘check in’ instead of just liking/commenting…

…just so folks don’t wonder if I’m dead and someone is auto-liking for me – 🙂

We are doing well here at Bally Bin – more recipes tried (with substitutions because rarely, do I have everything on hand some snazzy thing shared online calls for…)

We’ve had some cold weather and snow – one wet, one dry and both falling like the fabled Christmas Eve snow – instead of snowing horizontally because the bloomin’ wind is at 60 mph – with gusts near 70mph.

I have had to talk myself out of putting up holiday decorations and baking cookies, instead of working, oh- so-many days, already this fall – –

Just when I’m about ready to give in to the pure joy of ‘doing holiday stuff, way early’ – don’t ya know, sunny weather returns, melts everything and my flannel shirt over thermal shirt suddenly feels like overkill and I’m sweating while doing the Post Office run and wondering if I took down the window A/C a tad too soon –

Not that I’m complaining…

So many here, in my circle, are really rather tiring of the never ending rain they are getting – so, I guess, if all I’m dealing with is bundling up one day and shedding layers the next, well…I’ve got it made, right?

No flooding crawl spaces, cellars here….

And no ground blizzards, just yet, although, the man child is staying in town, with friends, until this latest front passes through – just in case the wind picks up – he doesn’t want to risk being unable to make it to work OR a wreck on icy roads – which makes me happy – cuz then I don’t worry….

Round-Up of Projects…

Country Plum wine attempt has stalled – – not moldy, not vinegary, just not ‘fermenting’ along – so apparently, I didn’t leave ‘open’ for wild yeast propagation long enough – will pitch some yeast in and some sugar to see what happens – I just haven’t ever experienced the whole ‘smells sweet – no mold, can stand to smell without puking, but no vinegar, no alcohol’ thing before – so…new experience….

Have successfully made booze infested gummy bears with no corn syrup anywhere in ingredients – – gives a nightcap AND works for ‘dessert’ all at the same time –

Made Marsala Chicken for first time ever – – boy howdy! Too rich for my tastes, but didn’t let the sauce reduce, so might be the issue – – good enough to try again – man-child ate all that was left, so no way to test the next day to see if it had ‘mellowed’ in the fridge.

Managed to burn the you-know-what

…out of my index/middle finger/knuckle area of my left hand with very hot coconut oil – (small skillets, juggling two different things and turning quickly doesn’t work….)

Yup – cold water, douse in straight Lavender oil, followed by some Tea Tree oil (straight – no dilution) burns like a mother-f***kr –

On the other hand, aloe vera, in a mister bottle, with a splash of both essential oils in it, and spending the rest of the evening keeping hand gently rested on top of ice packs, with intermittent sprays of ‘burns, then feels better’ blend, means, 2 days later I am rather amazed, yet again…

While skin is still red, and two of the 5 blistered areas have already ‘popped’ I haven’t been in agony, even though about 48 hours ago, I was so certain I would lose DAYS of computer work/crocheting time – due to impaired left hand functionality –

See how wrong a person can be?

I will say again…

Lavender essential oil may burn/sting way more than peroxide/antibiotic washes/gels, but…time and again – the sting is short lived, overall AND stuff just seems to heal faster.

Therefore, I will curse like a sailor (seriously, the man-child was laughing that I cussed more after dousing with essential oils than I did when he first watched the large splash of oil go straight onto my hand – scored some ‘tuff’ points with him, cuz he remembered his owies during his year working in the restaurant.)

I am willing to grit my teeth, cuss, and mix my water-wine a little heavier than usual, for the benefit of not being ‘down’ for more days –

Fingers still rather swollen, but with storm fronts, scaldings and cold weather, who can say just which thing is most to blame? And, the aloe vera gel really dried out my already dry/winter skin (haven’t mixed up my ‘winter body butters’ yet (yes, I’m late on just about everything…) but figure a couple more days and I can start slathering on the tallow or lard – 🙂

I almost shared a pic of the burn area…

But, it’s rather embarrassing that I talk so much about natural skin care and then show how badly I haven’t taken care of mine – – LOL –

Let’s Do Winter Wonderland Pics, instead….

These do not do justice to the sparkly world I woke up to that first snow morning – the magic glitter of the world liked to blinded me – couldn’t see anything inside for the first few minutes after I ducked back in to warm up.

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First attempt of Chicken Marsala –

You’re Right, I should show what a hypocrite I am…

So yes, will show you the sorry state of my ‘working, injured hand that tell just how often I actually engage in ‘beauty/skin care’ regimens (rarely – usually after I injure myself, am laid up and nothing better I can do – 😀 )

Don’t scroll below if you don’t like pictures of folks who injure themselves in their own home, when they should know better – 🙂

When hot oil meets hands that are neglected….

P.S. Yes, I’m certain I was discussing politics while cooking with hot grease and switching out skillets to keep multiple batches going – see? Never mix politics with pre-dinner conversations – – 🙂

Happy Monday (gulp – Tuesday) 😀