New Year

Well it's a new year and time for some new things! Most importantly, we finally replaced our ancient, leaking hot tub. I put my foot down this time, and made sure we got rid of the old one.

I listed it on Craigslist, and got someone to buy it! And more importantly, haul it away.

We cleared the patio, and waited. And waited some more... not all that patiently...

But finally it arrived.

We got a curtain for it, and lights, and got the furniture all arranged and such. It's so nice! It's the only way to deal with these cold days.

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Weather Note
We got some good rain early in the month.

This is the fullest I've seen the gauge get in one day! We had to dump it out so it didn't overflow. We got more than 6 inches total from that storm.

After the rainstorms, it turned cold. The broccoli is still producing, but it's not as happy.

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We've been picking our citrus. The mandarins ripened first, followed by the lemons.

The oranges are just ripe now, and seem more juicy this year.

I'm still fermenting everything in sight, including this weirdly flat cabbage from the Yangs. I also made sauerkraut from our napa cabbages--yum! But probably the best is the "bar mix": cauliflower, carrots, and onions, with curry, caraway, garlic, and turmeric.

I tried fermenting some lemon slices. The big jar is small pieces of lemon for making picklemon. And the two colorful jars are red and green cabbage with carrot shavings and some orange slices. I also added toasted caraway, celery, and mustard seeds.

I made some little scarves. I like how the buttons make it fancy.

I made this one for Laura. I also made one for Jane and a couple for myself. I'm still making "cancer hats," but I think I'll finish up and actually donate some!

Ed got his kegerator set up. We had to inspect it!

My folks came to visit. My dad can't resist posing in a funny hat.

On New Year's Eve day, we walked to a couple of pubs with Karen and Glen, then walked to the farm, and walked over to Titus and Jane's for a bit of Rock Band, then stumbled on home.

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What We're Eating
The girls are laying like crazy and we've got tons of broccoli, so... broccoli quiche. I actually made the crust myself, and with a little tweaking I think I can get it to come out great. I used the food processor to cut in the semi-frozen oil, and used a bit of vodka in the water.

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