December 5, 6

 Really bright sun today and some moderate temperatures. I had a brief errand today to pick up a new prescription for Mom. I also decided to go by the grocery store (just across the street from the drugstore) and pick up breakfast rolls, cold cereal (I forgot to put on my Instacart list) and a heat-and-eat Mac&cheese for supper. I intended to simply barbecue a couple of chicken thighs. I didn't expect them to be so BIG. Mom wouldn't be able to eat a whole one. So I removed the skin and deboned them which was far more work than I anticipated for this morning. I almost gave cooking any dinner at all a pass but a bit of a rest gave me back some energy. I still have the "family" pack of chicken breasts to break up and put into individual packages for freezing. It has been a long time since we were able to eat one each. Now I split those as well. I spent far more than I anticipated because I let a lot of items go down to nothing or nearly nothing. But those stocks are back where they should be. And the bones and skin from processing the thighs are cooling after simmering most of the morning. Tomorrow I will put the broth into mason jars and freeze the stock.

06********************************************

We are back to cloudy conditions with some chance of rain. But the temperatures are still well above what was once normal for this time of year. I have been busy so far this morning. I spent a couple of hours of embroidery working on the third corner of one of the tablecloths on hoops. I warmed up the broth I made from the bones and skin from yesterday's work on skinning and deboning the chicken thighs because it had gelled in the fridge overnight. Again more work than I wanted to do but finally got everything strained and put up two quart jars of stock. I also had to get the chicken breasts separate into individual packages for the freezer. I put the navy beans on to cook in vegetable broth with onions, bacon, and ham. It is about done. Usually I make cornbread but decided it was too much effort after a busy morning.

Well, Trump's adventure in Venezuela have, so far all the hallmarks of his activities: brilliant military operation that goes off flawlessly, apprehension of Nicolas Maduro and his wife who are moved to the U.S. for "trial", and ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA OF WHO IS GOING TO DO WHAT OR WHAT WILL HAPPEN GOING FORWARD. So far the Chavista regime is still in place with the former vice president sworn in as "interim" president but she was a supporter and the entire structure of the government is still in place. She is trying to navigate between Trump's demands and the powerful figure who still occupy important positions. Trump has basically admitted that oil was his aim but the Venezuelan oil industry has been neglected for a couple of decades with crumbling infrastructure and most of whatever was valuable stolen long ago. Trump claims that the U.S. oil industry is salivating to get back into Venezuela but he also said that they will spend billions to rebuild the infrastructure and BE REPAID BY THE U.S. If so U.S. taxpayers will fund the oil industry. Trump takes care of his own.