Prepare to be Delighted

Oh, do you also need a Rolo recipe? 

Here ya go. 

Aunt Nancy's Rolo Cookies

The things we do for love.

Though February is only 21 days in, I am not exaggerating when I say Polly has baked 20 dozen Rolo Cookies. Texarkana has enjoyed these delicacies in several places--a Super Bowl party, Buck's work, Polly's Choir pals and several others I can't seem to remember at this moment. 

The recipe comes from Aunt Nancy, who kindly shared this with my family years ago. I have fond memories of making these gems--and not only with my children. We had a Girl Scout session making and eating these, which garnered several, "Better than Thin Mints!" comments. 

During the lockdown, my nephew Patrick and a few bonus kids hung out at my home. I had a standing mandate with my teenagers: find an activity to do with the spare kids who were wrecking havoc throughout my home. One day, Polly sat the four of them down in an assembly line and they made these cookies. I believe Buck was sent to the store to buy more candy because the littles were sampling the chocolate. Unwrap, sample. Unwrap, put in bowl. Unwrap, put in the bowl. Unwrap, sample... 

So, thank you, Aunt Nancy for these wonderful memories.  

Today, Polly will be making another 10 dozen cookies. And yes, I do mean 10 dozen. Some are going to tomorrow's Corona night. Additionally, because Texarkana collectively can't cook and word of this novelty cookie has gotten around, there have been requests. So, some cookies are going with Polly to a party. Some are going with Buck. The recipe is staying in the vault. 

Last night, knowing I've stopped sleeping again, Polly left two Rolo bags on the counter along with a note for me, asking to please unwrap every single one of these candies. So, around o'dark hundred, I stood at the counter and did my part to help her bring these chocolate cookies to life. 

First-World Desert Girl Dilemmas

With the exception of the years I lived in Vermont* and Flagstaff**, I've never experienced a winter which lasted longer than a month. Until now. This winter appears to be lasting three months. It's supposed to be in the teens overnight this week. Sheesh! 

The struggle is real people! I'm cold. I don't have adequate winter clothes. My blood is still desert-thin. I'm craving activity, vitamin D, and outside. 

Oh goodie! It will be in the 70s next week. However, a jacket will still be required until noon each day. 

And for the locals around here griping about "hot Texas summers." Yeah... y'all don't know what hot summers are. 

*1968-1971, 1982-1983

**1988

Recovery

I'm fine. No lab results just yet, but I doubt there's going to be any earth shattering news. I wish I didn't feel like I've been hit with a baseball bat. That's all. 

On my agenda now is to figure out a trip to Arizona to see Bonus Dad, because my best guess is the season for his travels to Michigan are now on hold. 

Oh, and to take care of our taxes. 

And my pal Joy is coming over this week and I'm teaching her to sew. 

Plus, there's this whole garden thing to figure out, but IT NEEDS TO STOP RAINING AND THE TEMPERATURES MUST GET OVER 35 DEGREES. It's even too cold to use the greenhouse. 

But first, recovery--which includes a jigsaw puzzle and as little walking as possible. 

Southern Terms

Everyone around here seems to know about my upcoming and insignificant medical procedure, which is really NO BIG DEAL! 

Sigh. What I'd call gossip and a lack of boundaries people in the South refer to as a "prayer circle." 

 

 

Time

Luna and her new toy

Here's how the last two hours of my morning have gone: 

Vet with Luna. 

Took Luna home. 

Went back to the vet to pay (Luna is 70 pounds of uncooperative muscle)

Went to Wake Village City Hall to pay the extortion fee to register Luna and prove she's had her rabies shot. 

Went to Walmart, dropped car off for oil change. 

Took care of the grocery shopping, including buying Luna a new toy which she refuses to let leave her sight. 

Came home, put away groceries, started a pot roast for lunch, visited with Buck and Polly, and paid bills.   

This took slightly less than two hours--only because one doesn't get out of City Hall without visiting with Mr. Burke, the gentleman who works behind the main desk.  

Oh yes! I didn't venture farther than two miles. 

In Mesa, IF the vet would have let me leave without paying and return, this would have been an entire morning of running around. Polly tells me this actually would have taken all day, even without saying hello to Mr. Burke. 

Pre-Playing With Plants

That cardboard box inside
the greenhouse is
full of crepe myrtle branches
which will be used for mulch.
 

It's playing with plants season. Or, it would be if the weather would cooperate. 

Yesterday, I started thinning the crepe myrtles--these fabulous trees that are abundant in my yard. Unfortunately, some of my crepe myrtles have Crepe Myrtle Scale on them, which also needs to be addressed as soon as I can de-winterize the faucets. Oh yes, winterizing faucets is a thing around here. 

I also worked on the exterior of my green house. Marty got me a green house for Christmas. However, there are a few hiccups and it's been too cold to plant out there. Though I do have ideas on how to heat it, they aren't terribly efficient and it's best to start my seedlings in a warmer climate--like the garage. Also, though the greenhouse interior is done, the exterior isn't. I want to put a garden around the outside, to keep critters from burrowing under the floor. It goes without saying--but I'll say it anyway--a liberal amount of SnakeAway will be sprinkled around the exterior as soon as the weather permits.

Today, being Super Bowl Sunday I began trimming the roses until I ran out of room in my trash can. I'll finish this task tomorrow after the trash truck comes by. Did you know every thorn on a rose bush is the beginning of a new branch? Did you also know that rose thorns carry a toxin in them? Now that I've gotten 297,872 thorn prick THROUGH my garden gloves, my hands look like they are suffering from a terrible outbreak of measles. Oh, why is Super Bowl Sunday important? Because my father always told me to trim rose bushes back on Super Bowl weekend. Of course, back in the day, that was in January. 

Oops paint* bought at Lowe's (huge discount!)
 that I mixed with leftover blue paint I already had.
The boards are more of a light periwinkle.
There's a space heater on in the garage so they can dry
sometime in the next week. 

I plan on having a garden around the exterior of the greenhouse.

*Marty was astounded to find out "oops paint" is a thing.
How have we been married 26+ years? 

Because the weather was wamby today ("wamby" is a word a friend in Kent England told me to describe a cold wet winter day), I stuck with painting the boards for the greenhouse exterior after I finished freezing and poisoning my hands with the rose bushes. Sigh, it looks like the weather will continue to be wamby for the rest of the week, with scattered thunderstorms added into the mix. Oh. Yay. 

One more pre-plant playing tid-bit. I bought a shed today so that all my garden stuff, which monopolizes one side of the garage and half of the current shed we have, can live there. What I really need is a workshop, but one project at a time. Perhaps that's what I'll get for Christmas next year.