Wreaths

Today was the day for wreaths. It needs to be cold enough so the greenery doesn't wither too fast, and that usually means after at least a bit of snow. So the big boots came out and I went for a wander with them in the forest behind Betty's, armed with secateurs and choppers and a big IKEA carrier for the spoils. I was up to my knees in the white stuff in places and it was all so soft and silent. I love what snow does to noise.

I gathered lingon twigs, bilberry stalks, juniper, spruce and young fir. I took more lingon than I usually do, for a change. All of that bounty is laid out on the big table in the laundry room and the three wreaths are constructed. This time I began with the little one for Betty's, then the red house, and finally the rest could be used on the oversized one for our front door. Like baby bear, Mamma bear and Papa bear. It's a lovely job, smells great and demands a certain amount of problem solving. My hand suffered as always, I'm a bit sensitive to fir tree prickles - but it's worth it to create our own wreaths and the pain stops after a while.

We dashed into town, collected Rose and had a meal out before the last film of the season at film studio. The French film "Delicious" was a treat to finish on. See what you think here. It was a bit of a fable but literally delicious to look at. Very enjoyable pre-revolution revelations concerning starving peasants versus obscenely rich nobles, lording it all over everyone else.  Time for a revolution!  Which happened.

My glögg has been behaving strangely and is making gas of some sort. Not what you want. This morning I boiled it all up and skimmed off lots of froth, something isn't right in there - but it tastes right and there is not much sweetness left so I don't think it's regular fermentation with the yeast I added. Keith mentioned the word vinegar but it tastes delicious (!) so who knows what's going on. I hope it settles down now. It is normally very low maintenance, but not this year. 

The plumber came and did some final things, but needed a stronger drillbit to screw the toilet into place, so he'll be back tomorrow. Alongside the technicians putting in a new heat exchange unit for the red house. We are hoping it will fit where we hope it can do the best job, over the kitchen window. But the ceilings are so low there is not a lot of room. We'll keep our fingers crossed. I'm doing a lot of that at the moment, poorly people, people waiting for news of a house they are desperate to buy, news of treatments, and on and on.

 My morning meditation today was this. Yes to life, in spite of everything! I will get to your journals soon, but not tonight. My bed is demanding my presence.