Kicking Up My Feet

It is growing darker out side as the position of the Sun sinks slowly into the river. The pale grey skies and crisp Autumn air mark the transition from what was an amazingly warm day to what will prove to be a cold and frigid night.

I've kicked my feet up on my coffee table after a long day of puttering around and cleaning my apartment. This morning I filled my bucket with hot water and soap, and got on my hands and knees to wash the kitchen, bathroom and living room floors. I don't own a mop, thanks to my Grandmother, I could hear her voice in my head; "What, well what the hell is that? A Mop? Well what the hell do you use it for? Washing the floors? Haven't ya ever heard of a dish rag and a bucket of hot water and soap? Let me see it, give it here... My goodness, this God Damn thing wouldn't clean shit of a horses ass. God dammit." Yup, that's my Grandmother - so needless to say I'm actually terrified to get a mop, the woman would roll over in her grave, or haunt me or something. Did I ever tell you about the time my Grandmother (in her younger years of living on a farm) tried to mount a horse? She led the horse to a fence, climbed the fence, jumped on the horse, and as she struggled with her dress (women weren't allowed to wear pants in those days) she fell over and landed in a big pile of horse and cow manure. She wore pants after that.

Its been nearly two months now and I will be honest and admit I am not fully moved in yet. There are still minor touches yet to be done; lights over top of my artwork, window sills dusted, and I haven't gotten around to sewing up my window coverings and shower curtain. Some days I wonder if the finishing touches will ever be complete, but I know its only a matter of time...

I've almost finished decorating my living room. I am happy sitting here watching a movie, reading or blogging. I'm still looking for a fern or two to hang in front of the windows, a new ceiling light and a lamp for the back corner of the room by my desk. No one would ever know 4 months ago this room was covered in a thick oily, smoky residue from my apartment fire. (Check out the before pictures HERE)

Here is a quick picture of my living room that I took this afternoon:


The kitchen is coming along nicely - well certainly alot nicer than the charred remains of the last kitchen. I took these too this afternoon:

I am very happy with the way things turned out. I actually like my apartment better than before the fire. My kitchen is totally brand new. My oven is full sized now and I have no problem fitting in a few dozen cookies at a time ;)

Earlier this afternoon I realized it was time to clean out my fridge. I had odd vegetables here and there, some never used, some left over from previous meals or my morning juicing - so I decided to make a big pot of soup! I love soup especially "kitchen sink" soup where all my ready to spoil veggies go.

The recipe is easy. I started with a few tablespoons of butter in my soup pot, along with some bacon and onions chopped up. Once those were cooked, and starting to brown I added 1/4 cup of flour and mixed it really well and let the flour cook for a few minuets. I jacked up the heat and whisked in 8 cups of chicken broth (the best tasting brand I've found comes from the Dollar Store believe it or not!) Once that heated I added the rest of my milk, about 3 cups (it was about to spoil - I rarely drink cows milk and usually have just a little here for when friends stop by for tea - I'm a big fan of rice milk). Once all that was nice and hot I added cubed potatoes, sliced carrots, celery, tomato, and broccoli. No specific amounts, just what I had in the fridge. You really can't mess this recipe up.

The soup has been simmering on the stove for a few hours now, and its ready to eat anytime. The nice thing about soup is that it keeps in the fridge well, and freezes even better! I save my old yogurt containers and fill them with soup, label them, and freeze them.

I have a couple of friends coming to visit tonight so I better jet and get prepared!

Have a Wonderful Weekend!

Embrace your Journey.

Bret