My holiday knitting is coming along; between the new house, work, and now sickness (whatever bug is going around), it’s been hectic, but since my goals are not so lofty this year, I should be able to meet them.

We had our housewarming party last weekend. Rigel was exhausted halfway through the evening by all the excitement of visitors and large quantities of food (he stole a new wedge of some lovely aged Mitica cheese, without anyone seeing him, and almost stole a poached pear stuffed with walnuts and blue cheese — luckily my friend Mel was vigilantly watching the pears while everyone else was on the deck). I made two different Spanish omelettes, albondigas, the afore-mentioned pears, and a flourless chocolate cake (Valrhona /Scharffen Berger), and set out various cheeses, crackers, olives, and nuts. Good food, tasty wine, good company — I think everyone had a nice time.

We have of course more to do with the house. The roofers are coming Monday to replace/repair the roof before the rains begin. We’ve purchased the paint for the dining alcove (Yolo Stone #4, neutral greyish color, nicer than that sounds), kitchen and nook (Yolo Air #2, a warm cream), and cabinets (a light turquoise-y blue), but probably won’t start painting for a week or two. Dave and I may take an adult ed class on gardening in this area so we can start learning more about landscaping, gardening, etc — we had a small meeting with a landscaper and wow! getting it done professionally is way expensive.