It is a little chilly

It was 27 degrees BELOW zero this morning..that is -33C for my Canadian friends. I just get cranky when it gets this cold, okay that is untrue..I get crankier. Luckily just like yesterday, I do not have to go out. The cupboard is full of groceries, Chance has lots of food..if I learned how to bake bread and if Far Guy would use powdered milk on his cereal..or if we got a cow ..but a cow would mean that someone would have to go out and do chores..besides that we have no barn..and farm animals need a barn. Anyway we could hibernate inside longer if I baked bread and if Far Guy didn't drink milk.

Chance is valiant..he heads outdoors with great enthusiasm..after about five minutes..he begins the great paw exchange, holding one paw at a time in the air to warm it up. We play ball indoors on days like today..I wish I could get him to walk on the treadmill...

I have to make a list..one of those dreaded list of things that need to be done around here. Some of the projects are just down right boring like cleaning the oven. However there are a number of very organizational things I will do this year, I tend to like organizational type projects and actually look forward to them. Far Guys Mom kept every obituary from every funeral she ever attended. Likewise I have kept some for many years. Every time someones dies..I put their obit in my white Bible that my Grandparents gave me when I was confirmed. Since I am now getting older, lots more people die every year and my Bible is plump. So de plumping my Bible is on the list..I have a photo storage box and should be able to alphabetize them.

Years ago one of my cousins and I volunteered to make a family cookbook. We have collected recipes. I have been looking at Cookbook Software. Some of it is very high tech and confusing. I just need a simple program, we will print it out ourselves on something heavier than regular paper and bind it together..one of us cousins has a machine that does that. We will have to come up with a front and back cover design too. Does anyone out there have any suggestions for software? I found one called Mathilda's Fantastic Cookbook Software. It will create an address book too..and a birthday calender. It looks simple to use. My cousin is now milking hundreds of cows twice a day( I am sure if she had her druthers she would just rather be a farm wife working on the recipe book with me instead of helping her husband milk everyday..she is doing what she has to do...when are the farmers going to catch a break anyway?) So I will have to recruit other family members to help with the typing.. I have all the recipes..in a big yellow folder file..just waiting for organization...there are already a few family stories in there too. It should be a delightful family project. "The Cousins" want to have this project done and ready for sale by the family picnic in August. Yes, we will sell them but only to recoup the cost of paper, ink and bindings. It is a big project. And even though I don't like to cook..I do like to read recipes..strange isn't it? Far Guy says "I think you read recipes so you can cook in your head..and that is good enough for you."

I have cooked twice recently..he really appreciates it when I cook. One night I threw some salt and pepper on a couple of Catfish Fillets and then dredged them through some flour and then fried them up in a little butter..dumped some lettuce in a bowl..viola.. supper fit for a king! We both love good Catfish..I know not everyone likes them..but we lived in the south long enough to learn to appreciate the delightful flavor! I would have purchased some crawdads..but they only had fancy crustaceans. We both like crawdads too.

Fish houses down on the lake.

Why do you suppose I think of Crawdads and fresh oranges right off the trees this time of year? It must be the cold weather, and they are comfort food to me on a chilly Minnesota day:)
Update:  My brother just stopped by..he gets up earlier than us!  He had 39 BELOW ZERO at his house this morning..but we do live just south of him:)