Quiet

[rejectomorph]

January is being very January-like so far this year. It was mostly cloudy and chilly today, though it was also the warmest day we'll get this week. The temperature actually got up to fifty degrees. It won't be dropping very much tonight, so the feral cats' water bowls won't freeze. In fact it might stay in the forties, which is no colder than the coldest nights one might get this time of year in Los Angeles. I wonder if it will make me nostalgic?

Half of the back lawn is now raked, though I haven't yet put the leaves into the wheelie bin. A feral cat night make a nest in the pile tonight. They sometimes do that to keep warmish. That's why I like to leaves piles laying about in the winter. There isn't supposed to be any wind, so the pile ought to stay put. I might try raking the other half of the lawn tomorrow, if I wake up early enough. Afternoon will be grocery shopping time, and the evening will be dark early, so I'd have to get the raking done in the morning.

It's been very quiet around here. Everybody is staying indoors, I guess. Even the dogs. I heard only a few barks all afternoon. The dogs over the back fence barked a little while ago, so I think here might be raccoons on the way. That's what the dogs are most likely to bark at this time of year. The feral cats have eaten all their food, and the walnuts are all gone, so if the raccoons visit they probably won't stay very long. Life must be difficult for raccoons in January.

I have to be pretty careful with the money this month. I just wrote a check for the second half of the property taxes, and by the end of the month my bank account will be at its low ebb for the year, especially since the gas bill is apt to be enormous. The furnace has been running a lot, even though I haven't set the thermostat above 66 degrees except when I take a shower and have to get the bathroom warmer. Still, I'll probably end up with a bill close to $200, if not over it. Good thing Safeway is having a sale on ramen this week. Ramen actually makes a pretty good meal this time of year.

One of the PBS channels has English murder at nine o'clock. Time to go.

Comments

[daisydumont.livejournal.com]

Ramen is very good, esp. if you slice in a boiled egg or add a chopped green onion. There are several restaurants here that serve fresh ramen. I find it too salty, but it's very popular.

Oh geez, now I'm hungry for some variety of Asian soup. Tomorrow: pho. It's cheap and good on a cold day.

[rejectomorph]

There's no pho in this town. They might have it in Chico but I never get down there anymore. Asian food is one of the things I miss most about Los Angeles. My neighborhood was about half Asian, and there were a tremendous number of Asian restaurants within a short distance of my house— Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, and several regional varieties of Chinese.

[daisydumont.livejournal.com]

As you'd expect, moving to Seattle from the East Coast was eye-opening. I'd never seen so many ethnic Asians all around, and there are so many restaurants! (The food's all high in sodium, which isn't too good for my blood pressure, alas.) Ramen's not a bad at-home substitute, though.