I remember my maternal grandmother telling me that she had harvested walnuts in Northern California. Nowadays, the harvest is done by machines. Some brief research tells me that California grows most of the walnuts in the US and that the English Walnut was brought to California by the Spanish padres in the late 1700s. We used to get tangerines and whole walnuts in the shell in our Christmas stockings along with peppermint candy canes. Turns out this is an old European custom, ( the tangerines or oranges and walnuts). My maternal grandmother was English and I think the tradition was passed down from her. It’s been pretty nuts here in California recently with all the fires popping up North and South. I still have a suitcase packed in case of emergency. I like to think the fires will skip our town since we had them just last year and had to be evacuated. It’s a real shell game though and we can not take it for granted that we will be spared. Hope the rain comes early this year.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday, #SOCS,  is hosted by Linda G Hill. Today’s prompt word is ‘nuts.’

Featured image of ‘bulk nuts’ by Kazvarpal on Wikimedia.org

‘Alea iacta est’ (the die is cast),  I heard someone say recently. And who knows what the future brings. We sail on troubled waters and hope for the best, but if we keep our faith in what’s right, we will come through it all just fine. Just feeling the butterflies in my stomach from the turmoil in the country and some personal stress too.  A bit tired to write more.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday, #SOCS,  is hosted by Linda G Hill. Dan Antion is hosting this Saturday while Linda is away. The prompt for today  is “ent” “ten” “net.” Use one, use two or use all three (bonus points for using two, double-bonus points for using all three).

Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, used the phrase ‘alea iacta est’ yesterday when she announced that the US House of Representatives will begin the formal impeachment inquiry against our President.

Featured image of a fisherman’s net by Dominique Martin Touchard via Pixabay.com

Used to be that department stores had a Gift Wrap department where you could take your gifts and have them wrapped in paper of your choosing. There was a free version available with minimal decoration or you could pay extra for more fancy wraps and bows. A display of wrapped boxes on the wall helped you make your selection. There were wraps for all occasions, like birthdays, baby showers, weddings, or graduations. I think many stores have done away with this now. Shops do sometimes provide a simple wrap consisting of a bag and some tissue paper. I miss getting the option of having my gift wrapped at the store. The ladies who worked in the Gift Wrap section were good at wrapping and could do a much better job of it than I could. The paper was always wrapped tight and folded just right.

The featured image is of Furoshiki by katorisi on Wikimedia.org  Furoshiki is the Japanese way of gift wrapping using a colorful cloth. It is environmentally friendly and very creative. You could wrap a gift for the kitchen in a colorful dish towel or something for the bath in a hand towel.

Stream of Consciousness Saturday, #SOCS, is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt words for today are “wrap/rap.” Use one, use both (for bonus points), use ’em any way you’d like. Enjoy!

I like writing with different color pens and have a package of them to chose from. I have pens close at hand while I do genealogy research so I can take a lot of notes. Both my husband and I go through a lot of pens and I find myself always looking for replacements when mine run dry. Right now I have a bright blue ball point sitting next to my computer. Kind of a conservative color choice. Maybe switch to purple or chartreuse green next. What color do you like to write with?

Stream of Consiousness Saturday, #SOCS, is hosted by Linda G Hill. The “prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “blue.” Talk about the first blue object you see when you sit down to write your post.”

Featured image is ‘Testing every color pen’ by Marco Verch on Flickr.com

Bloggers go out their way to weigh in on many pressing issues of the day. Today’s Stream of Consciousness prompt led me to wonder how much curds and whey can you eat in one sitting on a tuffet. And would the amounts you can eat be affected by the presence of a spider sitting beside you?

Stream of Consciousness Saturday, #SOCS, is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt words for today are ‘weigh, way, whey.’

Featured image of ‘Maman’ by Louise Bourgeois at Bilbao Guggenheim Museum by Juan Carlos Garcia Menezo on Pixabay.com

I think as long as people, (women), have been washing dishes, there have been ads for dishwashing soap to make their lives easier and the task more enjoyable, all while guaranteeing softer hands. I confess I have tried various dishwashing liquid soaps and like to buy these cheerful sponges too.

Ocelo Sponge

Yet, it doesn’t make me feel any better when my sink keeps filling up with dirty dishes. Well, at least I don’t have to wash my dishes in a barrel while wearing a bonnet and pointy-toed little shoes.

The Scullery Maid c 1738 by Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin

Stream of Consciousness Saturday, #SOCS, is hosted by Linda G Hill. The prompt words for today are ‘clean/dirty’. Featured image of Swan soap ad from the Ladies’ Home Journal c 1889 via the Internet Archive on Flickr.com Image of Ocelo sponge via me. Image of ‘The Scullery Maid’ c 1738 painting by Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin from the National Gallery of Art on Wikimedia.org