Tara’s a genius, because she added a teaspoon of dark chocolate cocoa mix to her coffee this morning in lieu of sugar and damn if that wasn’t delicious. Inspired by her creativity, I suggested upping the ante by adding a splash of Bailey’s, and that just sealed the deal.
We should open a coffee shop. Or, alternatively, a bar. Maybe we’ll combine the two into a barfee shop.
I may need to work on that name, though…
Our weather has been mild and dry forever. Other than a brief shower on Friday, we haven’t had any rain in a month, and that “rain” was actually snow. Despite a forecast of more 80º temperatures this week, we know that’s not going to last forever—especially with a potentially strong La Nina on tap for the winter. In the PNW, La Nina usually translates to colder, wetter weather. I wasn’t sure how it might affect the climate in western South Dakota, so I did some research and learned that we have a higher likelihood of colder, snowier weather. Yay!
With this in mind, we decided to stock up on firewood. Buying those bundles at the grocery store for $6.00 a pop isn’t very cost-efficient, so Tara found a wood guy online. We got 3/4 of a cord, delivered and stacked, for $150. It’ll be plenty to get us through the winter. It’s piled up on our patio now, just waiting for cooler weather. I guess we’re committed to lots of cozy basement evenings in front of the fireplace now!
As an added bonus, our backyard now smells like a Ponderosa pine forest.
Last week, we ordered a pork pack from a rancher. It came with two bone-in hams, four shoulder roasts, 20 lbs. of breakfast sausage, 7 lbs. of bacon,16 pork chops, and a rack of ribs…all for the low, low price of $180. Our freezer is now stocked full of meat. Between that, the firewood, and the fully stocked wine/liquor cellar, we are well prepared for the Apocalypse! Which is well nigh underway already, of course, so I should say we are ready for the next stage of the Apocalypse instead.
We’ve been watching a Netflix doc called Fear City: New York vs. the Mafia. It’s absolutely fascinating. Probably helps that we binged The Sopranos earlier this year, saw The Irishman, and rewatched both The Departed and Casino. You might say I’ve got a mob mentality thing happening.
In any case, I highly recommend the series (there are only three episodes, so it’s not a big time commitment) if you’re into true life mob stories. A word of caution, though: they do heap a bit of praise on Rudy Giuliani for his role in cleaning up NYC. A reminder that, between the early ’80s and 9/11, he did a few good things before turning into a raging lunatic.
I’m going to leave you with a photo of Sydney chilling in the basement last night, because one can never have too many cute cat pics, right?
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