Footle and Grok

Today is my twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. On December 30, 1995, Hubby and I stood under the bright southern California sun in Calico Ghost Town at high noon and promised to stick together through thick and thin. (We did not promise to obey.) It was a fun casual event with friends and family. Very us.

In the afternoon, we drove to Sedona, Arizona, where we were honeymooning. Along the way, we stopped at a Carl’s Jr for dinner. Very us.

For our silver anniversary, we had hoped to eat at an Italian restaurant in Salem, Oregon that we’d never tried but always wanted to. Unfortunately, they are only doing take out, which would be great if we were at home, but not great in a car. Instead, we’re going to stick with tradition and have Carl’s Jr. Very us.

As I said yesterday, I’m trying to finish some projects so that I can start 2021 with a new list. I had a few craft items that were almost done, so I knocked them out. I can’t share them all because some are gifts, but I did finish a cute one I wanted to show off.

I have made this spooky pattern more than once. Usually, I turn them into pins, but I had no orange or black felt. I did have some orange foam from another project, so I made a magnet instead.

It feels good to finish projects one hundred percent. It also feels good to start a new year with new projects. I hope you have some fun projects waiting for you in 2021.

I have a long list of things to get done before the end of the year so that I can start a fresh list on January 1, and that includes finishing several books (I’m reading an amazing book on time that I can’t put down.) I’m sure many of you have just as much to do.

I hope you perused my reading challenge (you can find it by clicking here.) If you have suggestions or questions, I’ll gladly respond. I want it to be fun and mind-expanding. Let me know if you decide to give it a try.

I read a lot of books because there are more books out there than I can ever finish, but I’m going to try. I know many readers who feel the same way. If you don’t read much or don’t think reading is for you, I promise that your perfect book exists. The trick is to find it.

I hope in 2021 we all get somewhere in life and enjoy some books as we do.

I love earning virtual badges. I ran/walked every day in 2020 for virtual badges. I also love to read, and every year I choose a reading challenge to do. Last year, I did a Harry Potter reading challenge that had a ton of virtual badges.

Bookriot had a nice list of reading challenges, but they were all for grown-ups and had no virtual badges. You can see the article here if you want to try any of them.

Since I didn’t find any reading challenges that worked for me, I created one for Footle and Grok. My reading challenge has two advantages over the others. One, it has three levels, so you can do as little or as much reading as you want. And two, you can earn virtual badges as you read.

Go to the Footle and Grok website to see the rules, challenges, and badges. In a nutshell, there are three categories, and each category has fifteen tasks. You can choose to finish one, two, or three categories and earn virtual badges.

Since I had so much fun making the badges, you can choose from three different styles. There is a badge for everyone.

I hope you will join me in my reading challenge. Reading should be fun, and a challenge can bring new books into your life. 

Many of us are trying to declutter our stuff. It can be an overwhelming task, especially when we don’t know where to start or don’t have a lot of time.

Someone shared an app on one of the decluttering Facebook pages I follow, and I decided to try it out. I liked it so much I’m sharing it here.

Toss is a simple free app. Each day it tells you which small area of your house you should declutter. Once you have done so, you record how many items you removed from your life. That’s it. The cool part is that the tasks repeat eventually, so you don’t have to stress that you missed something. You’ll get another chance to improve every part of your house.

I’ve had a lot of fun focusing on areas that I never thought to declutter, like my hutch drawers, or the shelf in my laundry room. Somedays, I remove twenty items; other days, only two. But any day I can do any decluttering is a good day.

The best part about the app is once you have done the day’s small decluttering task, you don’t have to think about it for the rest of the day. It’s very freeing.

You can find it in the iPhone app store or Google Play by typing “Toss” into the search bar. Try it out and see if it helps with your New Year’s decluttering goals.

Merry Christmas!!! This year’s celebration may not be the same as other Christmases (that’s certainly true at my house), but I hope you can embrace the joy and love of the season no matter what your day entails and who you get to see. May all your impossible dreams come true.

If you need some Christmas cuteness, I have included some Christmas memes to make you smile.

Happy National Eggnog Day.

I love eggnog. And by eggnog, I mean the thick yellow drink that comes in a carton and tastes like dessert. I’ve never had homemade eggnog, and since I don’t drink alcohol, I probably should stick to store-bought.

The eggnog we drink today is for pleasure; its medieval predecessor was for both pleasure and preservation.

Posset was a popular drink in the middle ages; it’s even mentioned in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. This eggy drink was often served at English weddings.

What makes posset different from eggnog is its layers. Here is a description from Smithsonian Magazine.

“Posset recipes varied widely, but they usually contained wine or beer, cream, sugar, and egg, and were thickened with bread, biscuits, oatmeal or almond paste, which formed the top layer.”

The posset was served in a two spouted pot so the liquid could be poured off before the top layer was eaten like dessert. The bread on top, along with the alcohol and sugar, would help preserve the drink, so the wedding party didn’t die from food poisoning.

I’ve often wondered how anyone survived the middle ages drinking things like posset. I’m glad we have pasteurization and eggnog in cartons. It tastes good and won’t kill anyone.

Merry Christmas.

Until this year, the world record for the largest snowman ever built was held by the town of Bethel, Maine. It was 122.1 feet tall. Check out this website to see all the *amazing details.

In February 2020, Gerhard Peer and Erwin Petz built a 124.8-foot tall snowman in Donnersbachwald, Riesneralm in Austria. It took them 40 days. Click here to see a picture. He’s really cute and really tall.

*The Guiness Records site still shows the Bethel Maine record, but the entry is from 2008, while the Austria article is from 2020. There is picture of both so I believe the 2020 article, but either one is frosty.

Another fun book recommendation has gone up on the Chapters and Cats Facebook page. This one is for a wonderful Christmas-themed mystery called The Gift of the Magpie by Donna Andrews.

If I’m talking about it, it must be good, but don’t take my word for it. Chewie did the review, and he was very loud about how good this book is.

This is a change for Chapters and Cats. Originally I had Alfred doing all the reviews, while Hela suggested a good quote, and Chewie gave it a rating. 

Hela and Chewie wanted to do some reviews, so they’re getting their turn. Hela will review children’s books, Alfred will review non-fiction, and Chewie will review adult fiction.

This new format will let me recommend books from various genres. Since I read a variety of books, this seemed like a solution. I could never pick just one type of book to review. I’m also considering turning the Facebook page into a blog since more people can access it.

Yep, I’ve got big plans for Chapters and Cats in 2021. It’s time for my cats to make a scene.

When I ran/walked 300 miles in July, I started about 3:45 each morning, which meant I admired the night sky as it changed over the month. I knew I was looking at planets among the stars, but I didn’t know which ones, so I downloaded a stargazing app.

Along with Venus and Mars, which I expected to see, I learned that Jupiter and Saturn were close to each other and quite bright. It turns out these two planets hang out in the sky together every 19.6 years because of their orbit. However, tonight (December 21), they will be closer than normal.

It’s not accurate to say the two planets will be closer together since they are still millions of miles apart. However, from the Earth’s point of view, they will be within 1/5 of the moon’s diameter to each other. This has not happened since March 4, 1226, and won’t happen again until March 15, 2080.

Some think that these two planets will be so close together that they will look like one bright star; thus, it has gotten the nickname, the Christmas Star. However, no one alive today has ever seen this planetary conjunction, so we won’t know until it happens this evening.

Depending on where you live and how good your eyesight is, you might see one bright object or two separate planets. I won’t see anything because it’s raining at my house, so I’ll have to see the pictures people share.

If you want to learn more about this rare planetary event, check out this article in EarthSky. It’s amazing what our solar system does. And if you have a telescope and clear skies, tonight is an ideal time to view many of Jupiter’s and Saturn’s moon together.