One of the things I got for my birthday was a yogurt maker, because it sounded fun, and also because it sounded easy, and those are the two main qualifications that I look for in a kitchen appliance. We’ve already made one batch – plain with no flavoring at all, and it’s just as easy and fun as I expected. This morning I set up batch number two, this time with a little vanilla extract stirred in to provide at least some form of taste (plain yogurt is really quite…plain), and now I am pondering how to duplicate my very favorite yogurt flavor – orange and cream – for batch number three or four or whenever I get around to it. The possibilities, they are endless.

I have actually been extremely productive today, especially considering it’s just barely past lunchtime as I write this. I took the day off, but there is really no point in me ever attempting to sleep in again as long as Sebastian’s voice maintains it’s charmingly air horn-like quality, and his level of persistence remains firm. So I got up at the usual time, which meant by the time Richard had headed off to work I had already started a batch of rice, started the batch of yogurt, and whipped up broccoli and basil frittata for breakfast. And even with giving myself an hour here and there to just camp out on the sofa and knit, I’ve also managed to run two loads of laundry, two loads of dishes, vacuum the upstairs (where the where the worst of the dust bunnies always seem to lurk), and make lunch. And not once this entire morning have I played any Civ IV at all.