Outing trip report: errands accomplished

By Elizabeth Prata

After 5 days, I broke my reclusiveness and my silence by heading out this morning with certain errands to accomplish. Bank. Gas. Dollar Store for hard goods. Grocery store for fresh. Special Store for lampshade and bookends.

The grocery store was a pleasure! Few people were out shopping yet. I went early and the aisles were just devoid of the usual crush of people. The markdowns were being laid out in great quantity. I got several things I was hoping for; spinach, something gluten free (gluten free penne for $1.29!), and some picked roasted chicken. I ambled and meandered and took my time and had a relaxing foray into the land of food.

The Dollar Store was the dollar store. Aisles full of abandoned utility carts clogging the aisles, things in disarray, one clerk languidly hanging around. I got what I needed and left. Later I remembered that I was supposed to get Christmas wrapping paper etc. Sigh, I'll have to go back.

The Special Store was fun. The day is warm and sunny, so driving is a pleasure. Windows open, music on. Browsing around was comfortable, too. The owner had acquired a new estate and the furniture was a delight to view. All walnut bureau, a to-die-for huge farm table, marble topped antique doughboy...ahhh. Nevertheless, onward, I needed only two things: lampshade, bookends.

The lampshades are plentiful so it was only a matter of selecting the size and style I wanted. Uh-oh I forgot to check the style of lamp. There are lampshades called spider harp and needs a finial, lampshades called slip uno with a circle thingie that screws into the base of where the light bulb goes, and lampshades that clip to the light bulb. I don't have a finial for it and the slip uno was the one I had now and wasn't working because it didn't fit and kept flopping over and hitting the hot light bulb. Nope, fire hazard. I guess I can be sure with a clip. Eureka, I found a lampshade that goes on the lamp that way!

It's slightly short but I didn't do too bad eyeballing it and having forgotten to check the lamp for needed hardware! It's my reading lamp.

If you look closely you'll see tape on the coaster. Cats like to fling things off of things
and coasters are a special delight for Murray

I did not find any bookends. My problem was, when I bought the small bookcase and put it in the bedroom, turns out Murray likes to climb on it. He's a weird cat. He likes extra small spaces high up to perch on or even nap. Like this one in the living room:

It would not be long before Murray discerns that the bureau is only a small leap from the bookcase, and I do not want him on the bureau. I've had a pair of sneakers on top of the bookcase to prevent his perching there, but the Nikes are ruining the ambiance. I thought if I got some bookends and put a small array of books there it would do the job and be prettier. Sadly, I could not find any bookends. But the lady helped me look, which was nice. She suggested putting an artful array of books on top, stacked sideways. I'll try that.

Meanwhile, sigh, I found some books.

The Frederick Douglass one is providential, because I'd seen that on one of the Black Friday Sales online and wanted it for myself but withstood the temptation. Mainly the books I buy online are to give away, a book ministry. But this one at the vintage store was in fresh shape and only 50 cents! I added another Thomas Hardy to my classics shelf, and a Nora Roberts and Fannie Flagg to the recreational reading pile for Christmas break. Books were 50 cents.

I came away with another find. A brand new small casserole dish. It was pretty. It's a good size for making casseroles for one.

One of the reasons I don't make casseroles is that the baking dishes I have are huge and I'm stuck eating a LOT of casserole for the week. I don't mind eating a lot of the same thing but by the end of the week it's a stretch to choke down another slice of 4 day old casserole again for another meal. This one is just the right size and it was new, a key factor. I plan to make this recipe tomorrow in it:

Chicken, Cheese, and Penne Pasta Bake
https://www.thespruceeats.com/chicken-cheese-and-penne-pasta-bake-3053072

I happen to have some gluten free penne, some chicken, and some cheese! Yay! I am adding the above recipe to the list of things I'll make for Food Prep tomorrow.

Time for a nap, then I'll watch the new movie Pilgrim's Progress for the evening, and read. I hope you are all having a nice Friday afternoon on Black Friday, whatever it is you chose to do!

Travel Vignette: Paris, The City of Light

By Elizabeth Prata

On and off over the years people occasionally mention that they are aware of my travels, and sometimes comment that I should write about them. I've thought about it too. Mainly, the past makes me tired. Yes, I've had wondrous adventures, more than ten women, in fact. But I don't dwell on the past and I dislike memories.

Recently an autistic youtuber began another channel of hers, a new Youtube channel of short video vignettes illustrated by cartoons, and those are very fun to watch and listen to. So, it might be fun for me and others to read some travel vignettes. Here is one from my first day in Paris.

I had traveled to Italy several times, alone, with a friend, and with my husband, and with my husband and father. My husband wanted to go to a place he was interested in, and that was Paris. I was only nominally interested in France, being enamored of Italy and entranced by the British Isles. I was amazed and happily surprised by its beauty and I fell in love with France too.

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Flawless flight, surprisingly good meal on board plane. Transfer from the airport was nice to have, really jet lagged. Walk aimlessly, looking at Lipp's, Au Deux Magots, and the Seine! Beautiful river with lots of 'bateau mouches' buzzing up and down the water. Really beautiful.

Manage to get into our room early and after unpacking fall into a grateful sleep.

The shower is hot!! Long one, dress. Husband and I walk the neighborhood. The Brasseries look good, so good. Eclairs, petit fours, breads, and rolls, glistening and all artistic. Warm night...perfect.

Dinner at the famous Lipp's Brasserie. Wonderful! Super ambiance; tile floors. glowing wood. I had salmon caviar and fresh green beans in garlic mustard sauce and a glass of red wine. He had cassoulet. Wow!

Got on the air conditioned tour bus and took us around Paris from 10:00-11:30 pm. It truly IS the "City of Light". English narration extolled the delights of Paris, which included the Arc de Triomphe, the Place de la Concorde, Champs Elysees, and the Louvre. But this taped narration didn't have to extol much, the city is undeniably gorgeous. All white marble buildings, huge and stately. Thousands of floodlights illuminating the marble so it glows softly. Fountains of blue water lighted from behind with soft lights so the splash of the fountain sprays light in a thousand directions.

But the delight, the highlight, must be the Eiffel Tower. Who would have thought the wrought iron steel could be so beautiful. Orangish lights on every level light every rivet, straight tot he crown ringed with red lights. Grounded solidly to the earth yet soaring up to the sly weightlessly. Truly magnificent.

Our long walk back tot he hotel, 30-40 minutes, was great. Warm air and an illuminated city lay before us. On the way sidestepping other amblers out and about. I stopped at a creperie and strolled the streets of Paris nibbling on a warm apricot crepe and laughing.

Happy Thanksgiving

By Elizabeth Prata

Thanksgiving is a time for food, fellowship, and celebrations of thanks for all we have and all the Lord has done (if you're Christian). The first Thanksgiving I'm sure was full of tales, laughter, jokes, games, dancing, even drinking, but the main event was the food.

Breaking bread with loved ones is special, it's an intimate act to eat with people. It speaks of love, it speak of peace. It is a moment when you are relaxed and all is in harmony. When you break bread with people over a table, your guard is let down and you are at your most free from disturbance.

At Thanksgiving we eat foods we don't normally eat, since we want to mark the occasion as distinct from weekday dinners or Saturday tailgates and the like. We eat fancier food, food that takes time to prepare and  when it's brought to the table with oohs and ahs.

Growing up my ole ma used to be known for her creamy, smooth mashed potatoes. Also we enjoyed the sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top. Well, everything she cooked was really good. Now that I live alone, I don't cook fancy meals or complicated meals. I look for things I can make in bulk or have only three or four ingredients. I like making soups and stews and roasting veggies, but I don't tend to make casseroles very often. That's why I was excited for Thanksgiving.

I saw "was" because I already had mine. I ate the feast cooked at school, in which the lunch ladies do a spectacular job of making all the things associated with the day: real turkey and gravy, sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, rolls, and the like.

Then a few days later we had our church Thanksgiving. The church provided paper goods, the drinks, and the meat: ham and either smoked or roasted turkey. We all brought side dishes and I gorged on wonderful items I don't make myself.

Yum, that's all I can say. The fellowship with the folks I love was so relaxing and lovely, eating over the foods and seasoning our meal with talk of the grace of Jesus.

I'm catching up on reading. I downloaded or saved lots of articles and booklets "to read later". Many times, later never comes, and I forget what I've downloaded. Having time to go through my files on the laptop is like Christmas, renewing my memory of just what all the saved goodies are.

To add to the scene, I brewed some Malaysian peppermint tea and it's in a 100 year old teapot and a 60 year old teacup- Hall's Philadelphia teapot and a Home Laughlin eggshell Georgian cup. I watched a movie earlier, but I got bored with it. Three Guys Named Mike, in which Jane Wyman embarks on a stewardess career (a novelty in 1951 as commercial airlines were new) and meets three guys named Mike. By the end she picks one.

Lots of extended scenes of planes, landings, takeoffs, etc, which I bet the 1951 audience were fascinated with. And of course the meet cute of the 3 Mikes. I watched half then cut to the chase and slid the slider to the end. She picked Mike. Har.

So it's been quiet here. Just me doing some laundry, reading, napping, tea drinking. Nothing new, it's what I always do on school break.

I do plan to go out on Friday. It will have been a week since I grocery shopped and 5 days since I met with humanity in any form. I'll need food, and also head to the Dollar Store for supplies. I buy my  hard goods at the Dollar Store, things like steel wool pads, paper towels, soaps, etc. I buy the fresh at Kroger. I'll also return the book I'd borrowed from the Library, and head to The Special Store.

That is my favorite store of all. Well, of the three I regularly frequent. The ladies buy estates then resell them in their store. You never know what you'll find. The aforementioned teapot and cup came from there. I need a pair of bookends and a lampshade for my reading lamp. The one I have on the reading lamp is too small. The bookends are to go on top of the bookcase I'd gotten there a few months ago from that same store. But Murray likes small spaces and likes to jump on the bookcase, which is only 3 feet high. From there he will soon learn he can jump to the bureau. I don't want him on the bureau. So I'll put some books on the top of the bookcase to prevent the jumping onto and subsequent napping on its top, in feline awkward positions.

It's really funny to see him curled up on a one foot square item, like the hassock or the other small bookcase I have next to the door, where I hang my purse and camera as I come in. Anyway, the bookends will be the barrier. If there are small curtains or sheers at the store I'll pick some of them up too. The curtain at the kitchen window is old and crumbling, and I'm sure full of cooking smells by now.

At Kroger my list will be short and plain. Feasting will be over and I'll go back to regular plain eating, and the grocery list reflects that. Back to reality!

I hope your Thanksgiving Day is wonderful. I am thankful for so many things. I have a great life. The Lord has knitted together a perfect life for me, the way I am and what I need and the job I do...He is kind, our Lord. I love my apartment my job, my church, my cat, my friends, my county, my country, all of it! I'm grateful to Jesus for His regard of this tired, weak, blundering servant.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Run for your lives, turkeys!

Thanksgiving Break

By Elizabeth Prata


Our school system gives its staff and students the week of Thanksgiving off. I love this. By now, as we near the mid-point of the school year (we start school Aug 1), we are tired and ready for a good break. Flu season has begun, as well as sinus season, and kids are dropping like flies. We all need a break from each other and this week we have it.

We can focus on the holiday- our gratitude for the things we have and for our friends and families. Our church is having a meal on Sunday. The church is providing the meat, drinks, and the paper goods, we are bringing the side dishes. From the Google Sheets doc it seems that there will be a good variety of foods from which to select, as we fellowship together in love and gratitude.

Something that visitors and our elders have remarked on is the obvious love and genuine care we have for each other. We have a blessed, God-given unity among us. We are truly thankful for our church, its elders, volunteers, and people, both members and visitors. The dinner should be great.

I see on Twitter that the National Weather Service is advising that a storm is due for northern New England up into Northern Maine, with heavy snow. That is something I do not miss at all. Having moved from southern Maine to northern Georgia, I am thrilled with the weather here. I just went out to check my mailbox and the 64 degree balmy air was so lovely. It's been raining all day but it's a warm rain, the wet leaves glisten as I kick through them, and hear birds still in the trees. Ahhh.

This week I have big plans, but then again, I always do. I don't always reach my goals or have super-duper productivity, but I strive. I want to read the new Grisham book that I got from the library. There are a zillion holds so I won't be able to renew it after 2 weeks. Gotta get it read. I also want to read some of my ongoing books, and at least finish two of them. I want to finish the online course I started, from The Master's Seminary Institute for Church Leadership, on The Reformation. Not much else, just quiet study, reflection, and recoup-ing after the busy school weeks we've had.

Noise bothers me tremendously. School is the only work environment I can really stand, because it's filled with children. It's regulated, too, by a rarely changing schedule, which I enjoy. But the normal noises of the lunch room, the gym, the bells if I'm not expecting them or if I'm near one when it goes off, unexpected slammed doors, the squeak of the chairs, all pierce me to the quick and lodge in my tissues, cells, and marrow until a saturation point is reached I need time to shed that build-up of overload. Hence my hibernation whenever I have a school break.

There's more to my need for solitude but I'm not really ready to delve, just suffice to say that I'm relieved the Lord gave me a work schedule with regular and frequent breaks.

Right now the cat is snoozing on the little blanket I put on the table behind the laptop. The rain and wind have kicked up, I had turmeric-ginger tea poured from my Tetsubin (small, Japanese cast iron pot), and I'm about to watch a movie on Netflix. I've had a good day, the first day of school break. Tomorrow is the church service and supper afterward, and Monday hopefully I'll be making progress on my learning goals. Have a good Sunday everyone.

Food Prep Nov 10-15: Peppers, peppers, peppers, and soup

By Elizabeth Prata

I got lucky and happened to hit the mark-down section in the produce area just right, and came away with a 99-cent bag of red peppers and a 99-cent bag of small variously colored peppers, also a 99-cent papaya.

I'm roasting all the peppers. The colored small peppers will be put into a vegetable soup. The red peppers will become part of a salad I've been enjoying lately: tomato, mushrooms, and Italian dressing. Adding the red peppers will make it like an antipasto. I might get some olives to put in, too.

The veggie soup will have some quinoa in it for the protein, also carrots, celery, and broccoli. Chick peas for fiber.

I obtained a marked-down bag of broccoli slaw, and that will be turned into a stir-fry with tofu and sweet and sour sauce. And that's plenty for the week!

Breakfast: Oatmeal, fried egg on 5" hard taco chip

Lunches: Soup, turkey sandwiches. Fruit: grapes, papaya, banana.

Dinner: salmon with baked potato and broccoli; stir fry, refried bean taco salad with avocado. Scrambled eggs with veggies; thawed lentil burgers I'd put in the freezer at last week's food prep.

Snacks/Dessert: peanuts, pumpkin pie.

As far as I know this is all FODMAP friendly and should present no issues upon consumption!

Have a good week everyone :)

Saturday Update

By Elizabeth Prata

So far today on this sunny, crisp Fall Saturday, I've written a blog essay, answered email and comments online, did 2 loads of laundry, did the dishes, listened to Francis Schaeffer's "How Then Should We Live" video part 1, listened to Ligonier Q&A with Nathan Bingham and John MacArthur, re-potted my succulents and refreshed the patio area, cut up a papaya and nectarines for the week, had a nap, and I'm about to read the Bible and journal and study for the afternoon. Here is the scene outside-

Happy Saturday in the November chill!

By Elizabeth Prata

Good morning! It's a chilly one here (finally) in north Georgia. Temperatures are below freezing, the day has dawned crisp and bright, and all is well. Fall leaves are still on the trees but are slowly dropping, while the peeking sun is illuminating them, under a blue-blue sky. Here is the scene:

Happy Saturday!

By Elizabeth Prata

It finally got cold. Overnight temps were in the upper 30s and highs only got to 65. Yay. It was the first day I bundled up in leggings, oversize sweatshirt, socks and threw another blanket on my bed. Winter's here.

I've been on Fall Break from school. I got home Wednesday night after grocery shopping, and closed the door, and here I stayed. Sadly, I woke up last night with a temperature and aches with stomach issues. How can that be? I have not talked with or interacted with anyone since 5:00pm Wednesday, and it's Saturday morning now. Sigh. I'd planned to bundle up and go out and do some errands in the crisp day. But I guess not! I just hope the fever breaks early enough so I can attend church and small group tomorrow.

Being at home, I am using some of the gizmos I've bought over the years. I try not to succumb to impulse buying. I buy what I need and what I think I'll use.  Sometimes I'm wrong, and I don't end up using some of the things I buy as much as I thought I would. Thankfully, those missteps are few. Here are some things I have bought recently that I use every day, and that I LOVE! These two items truly do make life easier for me.

When I got the book Biblical Doctrine, the systematic theology book by John McArthur & Richard Mayhue, it weighed 4 and a half pounds and is over 1000 pages. Heavy to hold up. It is 2.3 inches thick, and it was hard to peer over its thickness to read the top of the page. So I bought this upright book holder from Amazon. The description of the book holder said 'holds law books' which are typically thick and heavy. So, I bought it and it holds both my thick Biblical Doctrine book, also my study Bible, a huge tome in itself, as well as slim little paperbacks like this one. It allows me to be hands free, also, to sip tea or make notes in my journal.

You can adjust the height of the holder to various levels. It folds up flat, is light but well-made, and I store it under the table where I study. I LOVE this gizmo:

I love tea. During the cold seasons when I get home from school I can't make a pot of tea fast enough. Fortunately, this electric kettle boils a large volume of water fast and it comes out hot. It re-boils it fast too, if I want a refill. It keeps it warm for a while, too, and has an automatic shut off. I've used this gizmo almost every day and I love it. It has not failed me yet. It was not expensive, either.

Ginger turmeric tea, coming up:

I tell you truly that my cat has a lot of places he is allowed to lounge. He can go anywhere and everywhere in the apartment except the kitchen counter and the couch. He can go on the bed, chairs, even my table where I read and study. But he chooses this? He loves the little places.

Cats are funny!