November Came and Went...

 Where has the year gone? How is it now December? We've been doing this covid thing for almost 9 solid months now. Ugh. But the end is in sight. Miriam is looking for it. 

This is upside down, but I bought a fancy leaf vacuum mulcher thing to reduce how many leaves I have to rake. We don't have huge trees in our yard but all our neighbors do, and tons of it ends up in our yard. No more bagging, just little mulches. 

Why have I not been buying frozen rolls and making them all my life? 

THE chickpea stew. 

Helpers.

Election day. Gearing up for a wild ride. Soothed ourselves with Crown Burger.

And a delivery from Mad Dough. 

And more food from Hello Fresh. 

And then some chicken tortilla soup where I made my own fried tortilla strips. That is key. 

Evening sky.

Oh yeah, there were cream cheese brownies too. Maybe that's why I've gained 5 lbs. 

Dale and Clare - what? Miriam is horrified. 

Hello Fresh pork chops. I'm still glad to have these meals show up from time to time, even if they get a little formulaic. A rice, a sauce, roasted something.  

Art. 

Thanks goodness. Looking forward to civility, and the end of twitter rants and ego.

Tried to put together a new cabinet thing with all the help from the cats. They're the best/worst. 

It snowed!

Anthony went out of town on a caving weekend trip, so Lacey and baby Rosie came to visit. 

Buddies.

Got bored one day and organized my icons. 

It's impossible to put on a duvet cover with a cat. But I got a new one from West Elm and it's so super great. Also Leo gets little alien eyes when he is under the covers. 

A cat-proof puzzle solution! Except this board is so huge. 

Our skylight dripped. I worried it was leaking from the roof. Which led us to buy a ladder, which is a super adult purchase when you get a great one at half price for early Black Friday. Luckily the roof is solid and sealed. Just some condensation. 

Tacos tacos. Real Taqueria down the street is pretty good. The tamales were not super, though. 

Surprisingly, yes, Google. Same person. 

This is Miriam's favorite spot. 

And here's our amazing ladder. When I looked on Friday, the website said our local store had 12+ ladders available. When we went on Saturday, they had like 2 left. Luckily we nabbed one. Adulthood. 

Can't keep this guy away from plastic. 

Tried out more of those frozen rolls, and I preheated the oven, forgetting that I was letting them rise in there. Whoops. 

Mostly cat-proof puzzles. He still likes to watch and try to steal a piece. 

Listened to a Georgetown webinar with some solid folks. It made me miss DC. 

New trainers. 

Leo's favorite spot. 

We went out for dessert one night. 

Then fittingly had to watch the Great British Baking Show. It was pastry week too!

Creeper. 

She is such a beggar. But doesn't seem to care about her own cat treats. 

Little Q had a birthday, so we went to visit and take her some birthday presents. Opted for some outdoor hikes so we could safely hang out. 

I just love her. 

Made pans of stuffing since we ordered a catered Thanksgiving meal that didn't come with it. It's my favorite side. 

Small business support time - back to Normal ice cream. This molasses ice cream with gingerbread stuff and cream cheese icing on it was so good. 

Thanksgiving day! Miriam was ready, but we locked the cats up so we could eat in peace. 

We ordered fancy prime rib from Provisions down the street. Their ordering and pickup had a couple snafus, but that's okay. The food was excellent. 

And this from Trader Joe's is so good. 

Really good! No dishes to clean but also no leftovers. Kinda sad about that. 

I need more chives in my life. 

The rest of our Thanksgiving Day. We opted not to hang out with extended family, so we kept it us and the kitties. 

Luckily dinner also came with pie. 

Got in a little walk before the food coma hit too hard. 

Packing up to go south for a couple days. Wish we could pop these cats in the bag too. More on that later. 

We left for two days and came back to this. They were fine. 

Got back to cell service land in time for Cyber Monday deals so I could start snagging furniture for our house plans. A lamp sold out over the weekend and disappeared from the website and I made frantic phone calls to a store in Philadelphia and another in Berkeley to find it. I am pleased to say my stalking paid off, and I am now in possession of said lamp. And hooray for all those other discounts on this stuff. Flooring measurements happening soon. So done with this carpet!