My sister and I

This is Christmas 1951 which means I am 2 and Denise is One year old. We have two older brothers, Phil who is 3 and Dicky who is 4. It looks like we are supposed to be enjoying a tea party. I don't think I am having a good time and Denise looks like a doll propped up on a chair with red cheeks and a red nose. It looks like I got a baby carriage for Christmas there, off to the right. Although I didn't have a lot of dolls, I loved playing with the dolls I had. What a simple tree we had back then. We were still living on the West Side of Manchester at this point, on Notre Dame Ave? Because we didn't move to Brown Ave till I was three. So this was an apartment. I still sit with my hands on my knees like this a lot.

What a day. I baked bread and began a batch for Denise. The one I baked today didn't have the 18 hour rise time. It only had 14 hours and I tested the baking time. I wanted to see if bread that didn't have the long rise time still tasted good. It does but I feel is lacking in the taste of age, that sour dough taste.

I also made four chicken pot pies that came out fantastic, if I say so myself. The first batch I made my sister, she said, were rather dry. So I altered the recipe and I do think this will be a big success. And I used puff pastry for the crust. Once they are cooled, I will freeze them individually so she can come get them when she wants. She lives on a boat and does not have the storage space in her freezer like I do. I will be anxious to hear what she thinks.

I also bundled up 2009 in bills and put together figures for taxes and organized all my files. More throwing out stuff that is totally space-hogging. Old catalogs from four years ago. Imagine.

I wrote to my doctor about the past year and my health and my recent B12 experience. Now she is going to want to see me, but she is in her office the same days I work and I hate to rearrange my schedule to see her only to have to insist that I will not add any more drugs to what I already take. You know how doctors are. Always wanting to have you take more pills. I hate that. I have spent the past year changing so much. Even the way I walk. I even smoke half the cigarettes I used to and I don't smoke much. I think that the cholesterol thing has to do with the anti-depressants I take. I have heard that. I have read that. I never had high cholesterol until now. But then, I never took this medication either.

So it is nearly one in the morning and now I will settle down and work on my embroidery. It is quite the project, and I will blog it when it is done. But for now, tiny stitches and patience. I have had to open the window in my livingroom. With all the cooking, it has gotten warm in here.