I follow Martha Stewart via several of her Instagram accounts, and yesterday watched one of the Martha Bakes videos as she went through the steps for pound cake. Last week she did a bourbon soaked cake, and that's a bit rich, and I'm not going to make fruit cake (though I printed out Charmion's recipe for consideration, and in years past made the Norwegian light fruitcake called Yulekaka). But this double loaf batch of pound cake would make for nice gifts if I used my smaller loaf pans. I usually make pumpkin/sweet potato bread and banana bread, simple soda breads. The pound cake ups the ante with lots and lots of eggs and butter. Learning something new is, as Martha frequently states, "a good thing."

The new piece of rolling luggage has made its way into the bedroom, and I think it will live below the clothes hanging in the closet, next to the small chair and step-stool. I'll have to move it out if I ever decide to sleep in there again, but that's the least of my worries under those cold weather conditions. Most of my luggage-type items are hanging or on the shelves in my office closet, and the old suitcase was kept in the corner, but it was a major excavation to get it out. The rolled-up backpacking sleeping pads used to be in the way in there, though they are still in the bedroom since the closet habitation. I think if I have to do that again I'll move into the hall bathroom; it's larger and won't warm up as much, but I would be able to actually stretch out to sleep and still let the dogs be right there also. #ClimateChange in the world.