I’ve had a scratchy throat and ate a couple of handfuls of pumpkin seeds today on the assumption that foods rich in zinc might help relieve the symptoms.

On the other hand, Ron and I ventured to Edgewater today to cut down the decorative grasses.  When we started out it was drizzling.  As we were about to pack up, the rain picked up.  James was nice enough to tell me how much Bonnie appreciated the gluten-free baked goods.

Later on, I decided to clean up a cluster of leaves in the front yard here that’s been bothering me for a while.

Finished a draft of the new Foreclosures website.  Hot shower, very light supper and enjoyed “Lincoln”.

Woke up around 7, made coffee, had breakfast with Ron.  Went back to bed; slept until quarter of noon.

We had an easy if overcooked dinner – spiral ham (an 8.8 pound ham mismarked at $4.25 as a 3-pound turkey, but Roche Bros said “Take it, our mistake”), greens (kale) and roast fingerling potatoes from the organic farm, ‘used’ asparagus, apple pie baked a couple of days ago and ice cream intended for Robert.

P&B gave us some marvelous coffees which I’ve been enjoying.

We didn’t leave the house until 6 to look at lights.  Nothing on 28A, so we drove around Ballymeade; very pretty, low-key as expected.  Used the GPS to get back to 151.

Feels like I’m coming down with a cold.

Aside from a little fiddling with Foreclosures and NEPS, I spent a good part of the day – the whole afternoon, in fact – helping Robert bake some Christmas treats for Bonnie.

She didn’t want us to buy anything for her, so I asked Peter if she’d like some gluten-free baked goods.

Robert kindly agreed to come over, and in fact, he took over the kitchen, and did a fine job with some reasonably complicated recipes.

Gluten-free baking is a lot more demanding and a lot more expensive than baking with wheat flour.  The mixes are costly and even scratch baking requires piles of eggs – we went through over a dozen.   We also went through a pound of butter, could have used more, and almost 2 pounds of chocolate.

In total, we made a bread pudding, a dozen blueberry scones and a flourless chocolate cake that looked like a cross between brownies and a flan.  Robert made a ganache for the cake and a whipped topping for the pudding.

Almost done with 3 dozen custom oatmeal cookies for Ron, one batch with white chocolate, one with butterscotch chips.

I also washed and re-hung the living room curtains and vacuumed a little.  Ron cleaned the bathroom and picked up pizza for lunch, insisting that I shouldn’t have to cook.  Good guy!

It’s been raining all day, putting a crimp in plans to do outdoor chores.

We dropped off our last service provider gift and stopped at Roche Bros. for last-minute supplies needed for tomorrow’s baking marathon.

Turns out, this was a good choice, since almost everything on our list was on sale.  Plus, we scored on a ham and a great sale on batteries.  We saved exactly as much as we spent.

I picked up two loaves of Finnish bread this morning, and did the Senior Center/library/post office circuit.

Finally taped up the holiday cards.  Pain in the neck but glad I did it so we can enjoy them.

Watched “Blackfish” this evening.  Unspeakable.

Sent Festivus greetings to Peter and the O-F mailing list.

Funny cartoons from Dot!

The best brunch of the year today at Cathy’s with Cindy, Mary and Sandy, another friend of Cathy’s.

Cathy put out a French-themed spread:  Mimosas, baked brie with apricot preserve and pecans from Cindy, hummus, quiche and croissants.  We brought cider but unfortunately, everyone was afraid to drink it because it was too authentic (not strained).  Mary brought a fabulous apple pie.

Got some nice gifts, including portable chargers and a magnificent gift certificate to Mahoney’s.  Only Cindy and Cathy won anything with the scratch tickets.  As usual, the House won.

When we got home, we changed the sheets (thus avoiding sleeping in a motel for yet another day – joke) and watched the Patriots win.

I finally hammered out and uploaded some changes I’ve promised Jim B. for a couple of weeks.

Must meet Janet for pulla tomorrow morning right after Senior Center.

Ron and I finished cleaning up the grasses between 3 and 4 PM – in t-shirts.  It reached 57 today.

I paid bills this morning and baked a gluten-free bread.  We did the transfer station run and picked up a load of used vegetables at Stop & Shop.

Mailed Christmas cards and gifts to our service providers.

I roasted cauliflower, onions, asparagus, carrots, and from the organic farm, beets, turnip, brussel sprouts and kielbasa.

December 20, and right now at 7 PM, it’s 45 degrees.

Had a solid meeting with the Commissioners IT group today, helped to get one of their web apps running on their server.  Dropped in to see the CCYP staff; they couldn’t have been more gracious.

Stopped off at the Organic Farm to pick up brussel sprouts from Kijya.

Ron and I did some grasses cleanup in the back yard.

I made a really good bread pudding this morning.

Saw Peter at the store.  Talked with him about ordering Ron’s Christmas gift.

Paid bills.

Cheese from Sid Wainer and crackers for supper!

Found the recipe, so made a batch of the Sid Wainer mushroom soup with porcini powder.  Very good, very filling.

Ron had his first meeting with the Rec department today.  Sounds like they’ll need him around April.

We picked up more cider at Sprout Farm for the brunch on Sunday, plus a couple of jugs of hard cider.

It’s been snowing most of the day.

Ed stopped by to say hello.  I had a conference call at 1.

Afterwards, We picked up bacon, sausage, ribs, kielbasa and organic vegetables at the Cape Cod Organic Farm.

We went to the Coonamessett Farm Foundation holiday open house at Alchemy Farm, then to Steering.

We did our annual holiday visit to New Bedford yesterday with Emme.  Stopped at Sid Wainer, loaded up with gourmet items, then the produce shop, then Kyler’s.  Made our way back to the Osterville Library for the annual Friend’s tea.

It snowed a little but the roads were fine.  This morning, there was slush everywhere.  We did the transfer station and stopped at Sprout Farm for cider and Macouns.  I made oatmeal cookies and got a php website to work.  Finished up some leftovers for supper.