Drinking with יֵשׁוּ‎ on Christmas ?

Hi again.  Rereading the previous post "mostly things are opening, or fully open again", that is kind of true, but it's far from over.  The Omicron variant is fast spreading, and many things (especially flights) are getting cancelled.  Most people seem to be going maskless.  Not a good thing.

Yes, we bought the house in August (well, there is a mortgage).  We love it!
Not long after I moved to Dayton (before the millennium) my sister (et al) bought a new house.  Over the years there was a swing set the wore out and was discarded, different trees and things that happen to them, some fences were replaced with different ones, the neighbors did some construction, etc, etc.  So many changes, so many of them unexpected.  I said too bad you didn't take a picture of your yard every month, besides the seasons you would have a sort of movie of what was and what it became.

When her son (who played on the aforementioned swing set) bought a house [since his wedding was postponed due to covid, he said I'll use Wedding Budget to buy a house, and next year's planned House Budget to have a wedding], I told him about this, and recommended he find some angle, and take a monthly picture, just something that shows the yard plus some neighbors or street or anything else.  He liked the idea and set a monthly reminder on some eCalendar.

So naturally since we bought a house, I am doing it also.  I take 2 pictures from the front, and 2 from the back.  Photos at end of post

For X-mas we went to dinner with Rose and the Hagans +1 to a Chinese restaurant - Fu Mon Lau.  I highly recommend it.
On the menu was a coconut drink named Yeshu, how appropriate for the day! I had to order it.  But I think the one they brought out was a different brand.

 

In other food news: I got another advent calendar (no photos) - Ilchester Cheeses, 24 days, 9 flavors.  For a few days we would open 1 and split it, after a while I opened all the remaining doors and divided the cheeses into 2 piles, for me and for Lisa.

• mexicana cheddar (did not like at all)
• cheddar w/apple, onion, sage (did not care for)
1
• applewood (and vintage) smoked (reminds me of bacon, not in a good way)
• double gloucester (v. good)
• cheddar (and vintage) (v. good)
• red leicester (and aged) (v. good)

/>
overall, though, it was fun.

Bedroom view	Porch view - out	Porch view - down	Garage view
2021-08 - first pictures, to test.
2021-09 - first pictures, really, in the series
2021-10 - nothing much changed
2021-11 - colors changed rather quickly.  trees were trimmed, stairs removed.
2021-12 - Many bare trees.
2022-01 - nothing much changed

"two or three little things make one big thing"

4 month, so much has happened.

Covid: Yes, we got vaccinated, pretty much as soon as we could. One of us Pfizer, one Moderna. (I got the better one) 😉
I also got a nice pin.

Mostly things are opening, or fully open again. Masks are still required for medical environments, and a few other exceptions.  At least in the US. In some parts of the world things are still very bad, and the new Delta Plus variant looks concerning. Here too.

Job: Last October I was hired as a consultant by NLB to work for Cognizant, doing (mostly) Salesforce work for Allergan (B2B), whew.
Anyway, last month, I was hired by Cognizant directly, to do the same work.  So that's good.

Games: A few new ones, some more on their way. The soonest expected is TM:Ares Expedition.  After 448 days we finally got back to weekly meetups.  I gave some door prizes I had wanted to do for my birthday - everyone that came that week got an appropriately named "Player Appreciation" Ohio lottery scratch card. We had 2 winners. And from the extra ones I won $100  Woot Woot.

Indoor excitement: There was a tornado alert (on our phones) a week ago. "Should we go down to the basement?"  Then the sirens came on. We went down for a while until the warning expired for our area.

Outdoor excitement 1: Brood X (ie "brood ten") of the 17 year cicadas.  None seen here in Lebanon, but plenty seen and heard all over the Dayton area. Here are some empty shells (exuviae):

   

Outdoor excitement 2: After a few years of just missing the bikers, I finally got some photos of folks competing in Race Across America (RAAM) which starts in Oceanside, CA, comes by less than 700 feet from our house and on to Annapolis, MD!

 

And maybe the biggest news, we're buying a house.  After (it seems) giving our realtor a hard time by not being able to really narrow down our tastes to some specific styles.  Long story short:I found a place Lisa and I both liked for assorted reasons.  Even though it is in Vandalia, somewhat further from family than we wanted.  How much am I joking when I say the reason is the street name ... ?

 

 

Ç'est plus Bonne

As foretold - the conclusion. Not really that much to say, mostly photos.

Surprisingly, day 21 was the "Christmas Spice" one, so I saved it unopened for the last day, and had two flavors on pancakes.  Overall we tried them on toast, toast with butter (my favorite), ritz crackers, saltines, cookies, pancakes, waffles, and I think some cheese blintzes.

We liked them all. My favorites were perhaps, in no particular ranking order, seedless raspberry, mandarin, and lemon-yuzu. But I don't know if I would buy a full size jar of any of them. We'll see how I feel after I finish the 2 jars of mango-peach.

Any questions?

day 18

day 19

day 20

day 21

day 22

day 23

anticipation

day 24

Pancakes!

Jam, Not Jam (Sorry, Not Sorry)

 or "My Second Advent Calendar, (Part I)"

I really like Bonne Maman jams, especially, recently, Mango-Peach, though I usually buy cheaper (store) brands.
So, when I was researching variety advent calendars, I saw there was one by Bonne Maman, but naturally I thought it to pricey, and where would I even get it?  Then on a visit to Jungle Jim's International Market (the Eastgate one), I saw a marked down BMAC, and without too much thought, I added it to the cart.

Officially it is "24 Limited-Edition Mini Fruit Spreads and Honey".  And if you search their site, the word "jam" has no results. So what's the difference?  Maybe legally, or whatever, it does have to do with pectin, how much fruit, how much sugar.  But I won't be picky. If it walks like a jam, and quacks like a jam ...

Wikipedia has a lot to say on the subject, but does say: Although the FDA has Requirements for Specific Standardized Fruit Butters, Jellies, Preserves, and Related Products, there is no specification of the meaning of the term fruit spread.


Anyway, Review:  
First of all, I am very glad I got it.  Lots of nice anticipation.
I did have a hard time opening it at first. It looked like there was a "sleeve", but I missed where it said "Open Here" just under the roof (as it were).  So I ended up opening the box and taking out the two trays, so there's a 50% chance I put them back swapped, and I am not eating the jams in the intended order.  Whatever.

Basically all (so far) were nice. Some were too mild and just tasted sugary, with some je ne sais quoi jamminess. They do seem to have a looser consistency (less pectin) than jams I'm used to?  
Some specific comments, in the order I tried them...
"Seedless Raspberry" was very nice, obviously nicer than I expected.
"Rhubarb Strawberry" was disappointingly un-rhubarby.
I'm not sure what the difference between Wild vs non-wild Strawberry, but the combo jam was good.
Honey, tasted like a good wild flower honey.  What can I say?
"Fig Cardamom" had a cardamom after-taste I didn't care for. 

and again, most were good, none were bad.

7 more to go.  So there will probably be a Part II

now photos

the sleeve
list of flavors
ingredients
other side
day 1
day 2
the empties
day 3
3 open
3 out
some Spot UV
day 4
day 5
day 6
day 7
day 8
regular size for comparison
day 9
9 open
day 10
day 11
day 12
day 13, you can see
the 2nd tray underneath
day 14 Honey
so I opened day 15 as well
day 16
day 17