Did you watch the Golden Globes? I’m not big on award shows but this one caught my attention, because indeed, this is a year of change. Bigly and Yuge. If you read here often, you know I’m thoroughly horrified at the idea that enough of the people of this country elected such a bullying egotistical mentally unfit sociopathic self absorbed and self obsessed idiot that he actually got elected. I say this and I’m not a Republican hater – I just really believe in the importance of decency and respect in general from a world leader. I paid attention to what all the candidates had to say in 2016. I felt Dems were missing the mark on a few important issues so I was open to a Rep candidate that might speak to all the issues we have before us. As for Republicans – The old guard is showing their true colors lately. I hope “new” republicans will change the ugly face of the old in the near future.
( Note: I’ve already lost 45 supporting readers for the most part, and that’s OK, I get it…In all fairness, a lot of the reasons he was elected were legitimate.. people were tired of the same old that wasn’t working….. and it’s kind of offensive to hear someone talk about your guy or your brand as I do here. I’m kind of offended that they’re not offended, but the beauty of this country is we can all have an opinion and no one is forced to read mine.)
Some good things might come of this turmoil, though. Take that award ceremony. For one thing – women have decided after a self admitting p*ssy grabber was elected President that Enough is Enough. Look how many sleezes have been flushed out of the woodwork in recent months. The sea of black attire at the Globes was a show of support for women everywhere. The message was clear – we will not tolerate abuse, we demand equality on all fronts, once and for all. I commend the men, and there are many many truly good and decent men in this world… I commend them for standing with women on this.
Oprah’s speech- Wow. While there is some noise about her run for the Presidency in 2020 – and the Orange Scream had no more experience than she does so that’s a moot (thank you, anonymous, for the grammar correction) point, I hope she doesn’t take that idea to the mat. Why? Truly she doesn’t have the experience in the political world – I do still think that matters, even though she is far more capable of critical thinking than 45. And we all know now, what a life it is. Would you choose to live under such scrutiny? I sure wouldn’t, no matter what the perks. The meanness in our society plays a full court press in politics. It’s ugly and disheartening and after all she’s accomplished, why do that to yourself?
I wouldn’t be surprised if 45 isn’t thinking that very thing at this point in time – and his whole family, even more so… What the hell did we do? Because their lives are forever changed, and I don’t believe for one minute it’s for the better. Think of the freedoms and the ways they ran their lives under the radar in important ways before, ways in which they can’t now and never will again. After watching his outrageous behavior unbecoming of a world leader on a daily basis, I take comfort in that small piece of knowledge. He’s suffering too. For every cringeworthy tweet and speech he vomits on all of us, for every environmentally unfriendly policy change, for every white supr*macy encouraging move he makes, he deserves what he’s asked for.
Truly, he’s his own worst enemy.
By the way, I bought that book. Not that I’m going to read it – simply because it’s a vote. A vote against all the crap he’s unleashed on us all. I hope it reaches the best seller list and my little purchase is a drop in that sea – because he does pay attention to his numbers. Then again, he lies about them too.
I don’t like my blog to be about the negatives, though. We all have enough of that in our lives, why visit someone else’s site for more of it, right? Most of my posts this year will not encourage this sort of environment. Sometimes it just feels irresponsible to ignore it completely.
So let’s get up out of the swamp, shall we? Until recently I was intimidated by the thought of baking bread from scratch. Something about the active yeast, the kneading, the rising, the possibility of flopping.. it all seemed too risky. I’m a decent cook for cripes sake, so that’s a little ridiculous, no? I decided to try a recipe shared by a fellow blogger, and it came out pretty darn good. But I knew I still wasn’t getting it quite right. Then I asked another blogger friend what her tips were, as she is a master bread baker.
Her tips? Hot water used with the kind of Yeast that is kept in the fridge, even sold that way at health food stores. She also buys her flour at a local mill where there is no crap added to it… and she shared this very very simple recipe with me. Within two hours I had a delicious loaf on the counter yesterday. My guys devoured it and the house smelled delicious. I think what makes this really simple french bread extra special is the touch of honey added to the mix. Yum!
Easy Peasy French Bread
Ingredients
- 1½ cups warm water
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoons Active Dry Yeast
- 3½ – 4½ cups flour
Instruction
- Combine water, honey, salt and yeast. Let sit for 5-10 mins until there is a foam on top.
- Knead in flour until no longer sticky.
- Cover with a towel and let it sit for 20 mins. while preheating the oven at 400*
- Cut slits in the top and bake for 15-20 mins.
I bought these little bulb vases at the grocery store yesterday – There’s a little patch in my garden just outside my kitchen sliders that contains a variety of hyacinth planted from winters past – the smell of a hyacinth is delicious, isn’t it? I do this every year when winter is it’s most ferocious to remind me that spring is coming. These bulbs will join that little gathering outside the door come spring, but for now, I have a little bloom on my kitchen window sill.
I’ve been decluttering and de Christmasing this old house while the temps have been in the single digits, feels a bit like spring cleaning, lifts the spirits.
Now that I’ve purged on this post, and I thank you for getting this far (!) it’s time to head out for barn and coop chores on this almost balmy! morning at 28 degrees.
Till soon, friends –
