December 9th

I have to say, many would regard this day of mine as a bust. I have nothing to show for it. A job I assigned for myself took about 8 hours and amounted to big miss: I did not accomplish the goal of fixing a technical issue in one of my trip itineraries. Bummer, you say? Not really! I thoroughly enjoyed trying to fix it! It's as if I was already navigating airports, train stations and coffee shops (which featured prominently in my adjustment plans). Will I try again tomorrow? Or the next day? Probably not. This was my last free day for... a long long time! 

Ed, too, immersed himself in trying to fix something. Basically, he wanted to know what the hell is going on with our oven. It's never baked things well, despite the fact that I inserted a thermometer in there to see if it really heated to the temperature that was indicated on the nob. Well, equipped with his best Sherlockian detective skills and devices (a watch and a faultless thermometer), Ed has indeed unraveled the issue: the dead band -- meaning the interval between when the oven first heats to a certain number and when it goes on to reheat to that number after a pause, is too long and the temperature drops a whopping 100 degrees in the interim. This is why for years, my cakes have required an excessive baking time, way longer than the recipe asks of them. Of course, the results are imperfect: too crusty on the outside as we all wait for the inside to be done. It's not a problem for muffins or cookies, but it is a huge problem for breads and especially cakes. 

Like for my travel technicalities, there is no easy fix for the oven problem. (My idea -- get a new oven, preferably an electric one -- is not going to play well in this neck of the woods where we, or should I say Ed, are, is, loathsome to swap out an old item for a new one. But, as with my travel stuff, this was not a wasted day. We learned something! And, too, I feel like all those cake imperfections I've struggled with in recent years have a ready explanation. It's good to know what's wrong, even if the fix isn't obvious.

All this may lead you to believe that the day was unusual and exasperating. Neither is true. I still fed the animals...

And we ate breakfast together  -- fruits and croissants (I did my run to the bakery!), along with the delicious cherry bourbon jam we'd picked up in Sun Prairie several weeks ago.

And very soon after, we took a walk in our local county park. We went early because I knew, I knew that I would lose myself in travel details and once that happened, I would not want to take a break until I was done. 

We were surprised to see a thin layer of ice on a part of Lake Waubesa. You can see it because the ducks and geese are actually on top of it! Sure, it's December, but we had had a warm up yesterday. Today as well -- it's not below freezing. I have to attribute it to our super cold nights. Which are only getting colder in the days to come.

Evening? Oh, really lovely. Warm, with our easy supper and a continuation of the new series I'd picked up on our streaming device (we have two free months of Apple TV+, so if you have recommendations before I ditch the service, let me know!). 

And yes, the tree twinkled and the music occasionally played and the cats went in and out and we were all as content as two bears buried in a den on a winter's day. Snug and yes, very cozy.

with love...