Life in the Bristolwood

Now that the “big event” of the root canal is over and everything is back to “normal”, I found myself pondering just how much anxiety caused me to stop dead in my tracks like a deer caught in the headlights of a car!

 I found myself cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, and all the mundane little jobs that are what make life so un-interesting! I felt just fine today, although my cheek was sore where the Novocaine was given. The dentist had told me to take ibuprophen along with the antibiotic ,so I took it this afternoon and was a little surprised how it took the edge off the hurt….The “pain” isn’t really bad…it is more annoying as it hurts when I bend over to pick things up. It is kind of like a headache.  Other than that, I feel just fine.

The day heated up (yeah, sure!) to just above freezing today, causing all the ice on the tree branches to drip, drip, drip. The sun actually poked through the clouds a few times today, giving the icy branches a nice little “sparkle”! I was able to (finally!) shovel the ice off the back deck, as the temperature caused it to loosen up.

It is hard to believe that we are heading into the middle of February already. Wasn’t it *just* Christmas?

We are bracing for some really chilly polar air this week. Although the cold isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, it really does help with many things. One thing that it helps do is kill off larvae of destructive bugs that mess with farm harvests. We are really missing a good snow pack that is vital to the water table. I really would love to see a good old-fashioned winter! Before we know it, though, things will be greening up and winter will only be a memory.

And speaking of cold weather, I made up a batch of “hearty vegetable barley soup”. I am not a fan of soup, but this was quite tasty! I had been reading a little paperback book of healing foods found in the Bible, and it mentioned barley. I had never made anything with barley before. Mark is fond of rice, which I really dislike most of the time. The barley was a good switch, and everyone loved it. The kids have been feeling a little miserable today with symptoms of a cold so the soup really hit the spot for them.

I also made a chocolate cake (I don’t like chocolate much, either!) today and for one reason or another, the thing just kind of fell apart as I cut pieces for everyone.  It was one of those days that everything seems to fall apart at the seams, but I just didn’t care! Even though the presentation was a bit “crummy”, (or crumbly) everyone liked the cake.

Hmmm….now that I think about it, must be the talk about the root canal being a piece of cake that caused me to bake today!!!