T-1 and counting

And what do we do the night before Thanksgiving?

We grumble about the sausage these days, for one thing.

It's so lean I had to add butter to cook the vegetables.  But a tablespoon of goodness later...

Tomorrow this will become stuffing

And what is Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie?

It's brown from the fresh spices

Yesterday I wrote about the different meals we have around here.  Today I want to share break-fast, what we have as soon as we get up.

That's a slice of what we like to call Lembas, with some fresh-ground nut butter, seasonal fruit (clementines in this case) and hot tea. Three to four hours later we have hot breakfast, which is timed to last my husband through work.

Onward to the work of the day -


What I wore today

A top in a lavender William Morris print and my chambray work skirt

Dinner/supper today:

Mulligatawny soup/tofu salad

 Knitting of the day:

I want to put off starting something new until I start this project on the Solstice.  So for now I'm finishing things.  Today I worked on the Grandmother Shawl, so named because it's the same color as a sweater she always wore, and ought to be as warm and soft as her hugs

Sewing of the day:

I worked on my practice quilt square and also on a stocking I'm making for our cats.

Yes, we hang stockings for our cats

Book of the day:

I haven't started one yet.  Maybe after Thanksgiving

Exercise today:

Running around my kitchen

Schoolwork today:

This will start on the Solstice

Housework today:

Washed and folded the towels, dusted the living and dining rooms, cleaned the mirror in the hall bath and made it nice for company

Words written today:

T-2 and counting.

  The T is for Thanksgiving, of course.

So what does an Atheist homemaker do two days before Thanksgiving?

Well, she goes into her kitchen

 Pulls out the Guest of Honor

Gives him a good spicy rubdown

And then makes gluten-free bread cubes, gluten-free nut crust, and cranberry sauce.

After all that she makes up her supper

I ought to explain about supper.  Around here we have four meals a day, break-fast, hot breakfast, dinner and supper.  This is what happens when your husband works a night shift.  Mostly I'll just be showing pictures of dinner, since that's what changes from day-to-day, but one day soon I'll share the other meals and I'll share if anything changes.

Supper around here is always a big, healthy, green salad.  This one has:

Green leaf lettuce
Spinach
Kale
Collard Greens
Cucumber
Radishes
Orange bell pepper
Tofu

We use Brianna's dressing as it has no HFCS in it.  Tonight I went with Ranch.

Dinner/supper today:

Leftover Chicken Alfredo pasta/tofu salad

 Knitting of the day:

I worked on a swatch for a project I'm starting tomorrow

Sewing of the day:

I worked on a sample project, on which I'm learning how to hand quilt

Book of the day:

I'm starting a new one on the first of the month

Exercise today:

None.  I didn't get out there.  I do plan to do my stretching routine before bed.

Schoolwork today:

None.  I plan to start on the first of the month

Housework today:

I scrubbed the kitchen, prepped for Thanksgiving and folded two batches of laundry

Words written today:

1,306

Statement of intent

Time wasting in the Bay Colony was a criminal offense. As early as 1633 the General Court decreed:

No person, householder or other, shall spend his time idly or unprofitably under pain of such punishment as the court shall think meet to inflict: and for this end it is ordered, that the constables of every place shall use special diligence to take knowledge of offenders of this kind, especially of common coasters, unprofitable fowlers and tobacco takers, and to present the same.

A year later the Court fined two men the heavy sum of twenty shillings each for "misspending their time" - David Hackett Fisher
            Albion's Seed

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So what is the modern Puritan ideal?  Well, from reading the blogs and websites devoted to this ideal in theory it involves being submissive to god and you husband and raising children who are submissive to god and their father.  But in reality this is what they seem to aspire to:

• Keeping perfectly clean houses at all times (Or just long enough to take the show-off picture)
• Wearing skirts every day (and bragging about it)
• Look entirely perfect, slender and ethereal  (Even though they rarely exercise)
• Creating three home cooked meals a day (made with lots of processed crap and rarely complete meals)
• Being well read (even though they only ever seem to read books put out by Vision Forum and Jane Austen)
• Doing handcrafts like proper ladies (although this is usually paper and glue.  If any sewing is involved it's simple lines only.)
• Having the equivalent of a college education (even though they never leave home and usually stop homeschooling around the age of 12 when they have to start looking after little siblings)
• Run a home business (even if it's really a multi-level marketing scheme)
• And of course all the while having ideal relationships with everyone.

This is the question then, can you have this so-called perfect life, this Puritan ideal, even while being irreligious, liberal, feminist, and very pro-alt-sexuality?

I believe you can. 

This year I intend to:

• Keep my house clean.  Keep it vacuumed and dusted at all times, keep the bathrooms clean, keep the sink empty, and re-organize all the closets and cupboards
• Wear either dresses or feminine tops and skirts every day, no matter what I'm doing
• Cook three meals a day, all with fresh, nutritious food
• Work my way up to my first 5k, 200 push-ups and 100 sit-ups, as well as mastering the bicycle for transportation.
• Read 36 books in 12 months, 12 of their favorites, 12 off the ALA Banned Books list and 12 non-fiction
• Read the entire bible
• Complete 12 embroidery projects
• Complete 12 knitting projects
• Complete 2 large quilts
• Work through a number of real college lecture series
• Write a novel as my home business
• And stay happily married to my wonderful husband

If all goes well I'll even throw some volunteer work in there, but since I have yet to set that up I can't promise anything.

Watch this space.