Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
I am cooking:
Ham (with brown sugar and whole cloves)
Stuffed Celery (stuffed with pineapple cheese)
It’s carb day! Yay!
For dessert, TLK-approved chocolate cake
I also found this song that I’ve been hearing on ads for “Flirting with Forty”. Love it.
Later, we are going to see “Bolt”, which I hear is in 3D.
27 shopping/cleaning days till Christmas, people! I can’t wait :)
TLK brought home a science review sheet of things involving physics. I don’t remember my one physics class (astronomy) discussing kinetic energy, work and loads of other things physics, even though it was a physics class.
Step 1 – Clear her head. She is overwhelmed by 25 physics questions. I sent her outside to play.
Step 2 – Get through 1/2 of the questions.
Step 3 – Eat dinner (Ian’s spaghetti). We need to be able to think, and we can’t do that whilst we are hungry.
Step 4 – Finish off the questions.
I’m glad this is going to be an open book test tomorrow, although she seemed to have a really good grasp on it all.
(somewhat)
Aside from having all the time I could spare to talk to a certain MK poet, I:
Spoke to my mother, who seemed in good spirits today, and appreciated my Martha Stewart spirit of adventure, when I made these curtains without having to sew at all:
TLK stopped in her tracks when she saw the curtains. “MOM! They sparkle!” Me: “Yes, they do! I made those”! hehe
I put together a roast dinner (this is it in the pre-cooked stage. It included yukon gold potatoes, onion, carrots, celery leaves, sliced apple, salt, pepper and a little bit of cloves):
I covered it with foil and baked it at 350F for … oh… 3 hours? It was quite yummy! I made gravy after we were done. I like to take left-over roast and stuff it inside of hard rolls with gravy drizzled over the meat. Wrap each sandwich up in foil and heat it in the oven until it’s hot (350F again). Really excellent stuff.
Then, TLK and I potted herbs (or “herbs” as the British say..lol)
(basil, dill, chives and marjoram)
… then I re-potted two very unhappy plants, which seemed to be immediately grateful:
In between, I caught up with Jane, went out to shop a bit, changed my blog design (again), received TLK’s photos (and baby book… yay!) from my ex, thought about Christmas, did a load of laundry, contemplated loads of things, learnt how to feed the betta (who seemed not to be eating) and now I’m writing this, having said goodnight to TLK and said poet.
Lately, I’ve been obsessed with getting curry right. I make curry so often, I am almost to the point where I think…”Not curry again!”, but I can’t help myself.
Just when I’ve got the spices right, and I have purchased the correct yoghurt, the dang yoghurt separates!
My cooking expert explains this is because my pan is too hot. AHHH!
So one more time around, and I should be the curry queen of the world (ok, maybe not so much).
What if you had a really good job where you earned loads of money at times, and worked your butt off to do it. What if the job was monotonous, only involved running as fast as you good and turning left when appropropriate. Maybe you live for the roses at the end. Maybe you don’t care about them. Maybe it’s just a run your forced to do. You train and train many times a day to run faster. When you’re sick or injured, you’re given drugs to keep you running.
At the end of your career, you’re discarded.
That’s what happens to at least 15% of thoroughbreds in America. Their racing days are over, so they’re taken off to the slaughterhouse to become a part of animal food or glue or edible food.
I hear horse meat is good. But to me, eating a horse would be like eating my golden retriever. There is something about horses that calms me whenever I am in their presence. To me, they’re almost human; just like my dogs.
After their racing days are over, a horse could have 30 years of life yet. Places like Lumberjack Farms in Cookstown, NJ are rehabilitating thoroughbreds, and allowing them to live full lives.
You may ask what sort of rehabilitation is required for these horses, and I actually had not thought much about it until I saw a news story about it. The most obvious rehabilitative work is to overcome any injuries incurred during the course of racing. Some of them have been taken out of the racing circuit because they are either too slow or too broken to continue.
The other issues worked on involve retraining the horse to do something besides running at full speed and 
turning left. They learn to trot and jump and just “be horses”. They go through “detox” to get them off of whatever drugs they’ve been infused with to get them up to their top racing form.
I think this is a valuable endeavor. They deserve to be treated with more care than live machinery making people money, only to be tossed away when their racing days are over.
If you’re so inclined, you can adopt a horse for a very small fee here.
Also, horses who do art, here. 
until Christmas Eve, and I meet Ian at the airport. Can’t wait. This is the first Christmas I’ve looked forward to in ages.