Advent, Day 2

[wiseheart]

I've decorated yesterday's cookies and am very content with the way they turned out. Actually, they aren't cookies in the general sense of the word: they are rather proper biscuits, with icing, decoration, various shapes and all that. I'm happy to have reached this phase of the baking.

The janitor came, took a look at the balcony and made some vague promises concerning a solution. We'll see. In the meantime we pray that whatever rain comes our way (and a lot of it is expected in the near future) won't fall diagonally, like two nights ago. Nice, straight rain the balcony can deal with. it's when the rain falls in a sharp angle when the water comes in, probably where the metal window frame is inserted into the concrete. The windows are 26+ years old, I think the stuff they were fixed with has become a bit brittle. The janitor says the windows will have to be specifically insulated from the outside - which will probably mean more costs. But by this phase we'd gladly pay whatever is required, if only the balcony becomes water proof again. It was water proof for about twenty years, after all. It's only recently that the leakage has started.

I also made a food run in gently falling rain in the morning and cooked lunch. Mum and I spent about two hours in the kitchen: I decorated my biscuits and she watched me and we chatted. It was nice.

Oh, and I've started writing Christmas Gift Fic #5! Now if I only could come up with half a lame idea for #6!

Comments

[noadvertising.livejournal.com]

Where do you take all that energy from?

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

All born of sheer frustration, I guess. *g*

[noadvertising.livejournal.com]

Oh well, I am frustrated, too. Only my energy has gone missing...

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

You have a lot more people draining your energy than I, though.

[meathiel]

Ah ... the water isn't on the balcony but coming in through the window?
I hadn't realised that.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Basically, it comes in where the window frame is installed into the concrete and drips along the frame.

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

I tend to say "cookies" anyway because I'm American and to us "biscuits" means these sort of sconey things we eat for breakfast and usually put butter or honey or jelly on.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I was told that cookies are those things that you put on the tin with the help of teaspoons and they become flat and rather big in the baking process, while biscuits are where you roll out the dough, cut it into various shapes and decorate after baking. But I was taught British English originally, so perhaps that's why.

[chocolate-frapp.livejournal.com]

I'm sure that's why. In American English those are all cookies.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Although they are very different kinds of baked goodies.

[red-day-dawning.livejournal.com]

Yum. I call those biscuits too. But then Australians of my generation tend to use British English. The young ‘uns tend to be mixed American/British. And All my spelling is Brit except for this weird “Z” thing I can’t shake when I write words like realization. Which my spellcheck (set to British English) then complains about. I’ve been doing that since High School.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

The same here. I tend to do the "Z" thing, too, because these international words are written with a z in Hungarian. The funny thing is, they are written with an s in German, which is close to being my second mother tongue, seeing that I started with it at the tender age of 3 when I couldn't read or write yet — and still I'm stuck with the z.

[elwenlj.livejournal.com]

It's awful that it may involve extra expense to fix the balcony, but sometimes we just have to bite the bullet.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'd happily bite the bullet if only they would finally fix the dratted thing!

[noadvertising.livejournal.com]

Believe me, there may be a lot of people around me, but it was worse when I had to take care of my mother, before she got admitted to the hospital! It was easy to love mum but hard work to provide what she needed! So I know what you accomplish every day!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Not many people can imagine, unless they've been through the same. Fortunately, Mum is a real darling and not a demanding one; but even so, my life does rotating around her needs. I hope it will continue so for years upon years yet, mind you, but sometimes it is draining, yes.

[medievalrosalie.livejournal.com]

Oh dear- the balcony is never-ending. The cookies and biscuits are also never-ending but in a really great way! They look fantastic!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Thanks. As for the balcony... well, clearly, it wasn't meant to be. At least it's nice and warm in the flat due to the insulation, so we haven't paid that exorbitant sum for nothing. (It was the amount of 6 months of my pension...)

[amedia.livejournal.com]

Mum and I spent about two hours in the kitchen: I decorated my biscuits and she watched me and we chatted. It was nice.

That sounds like a lovely peaceful oasis of time together. ♥

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

It was. We like doing small things together.