Monday Musings

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How about this bunch of bananas?!? I took this photo at the butterfly garden in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Probably not a photo expected from our Alaska/Canada visit!

Fall pumpkins continued to roll to various places in the house today.  I got the kitchen pretty much finished today.  I then moved on to the dining room table.  I usually keep a tablecloth on the dining room table as it tends to be a place where things get put down…purse, key, sometimes mail that needs to be tended to, etc.  This time it also had things on it that are needed to finish the front door…it still hasn't been painted…I’m hoping soon, once temperatures cool down just a bit.  I put those all in a plastic tub put them aside…at the moment on the floor in the dining room…just to keep them close to the front door where they will be used.  Anyway, I totally cleared off the dining room table and removed the cloth and pad.  Then polished the table.  It's all shiny and nice…now to NOT put things on it for a while!  I am now trying to decide which of the special hand embroidered cloths/doilies/runner, that my grandmother made, I will use to put the decorations on…round or rectangular…have to iron whichever I choose…a decision that I will make in the morning.  The embroidery that is on these is cut work!  Lovely work.  I say that my grandmother made them, but there is a possibility that her sister made them as they both did wonderful handwork and, I imagine that they gifted each other their work so it could belong to either of them…either way I treasure each and every piece that I have of theirs.  I really don't remember my grandmother, as she died when I was two.  But my Aunt Mabel, I got to see several times in my life.  She lived in Massachusetts and we lived in Arizona.  We would visit with the Massachusetts relatives when we visited my mother's sister in MA…so I saw her there and visited in her home.  Then she and Uncle Bill visited in Arizona and so got to visit them in my home so I definitely have more memories of them than my grandmother.  Since I love doing needlework, I really love having pieces they made.  And, I have a drawer or two full of various linens that they embroidered over the years.  I love using them!

At this point I just have to distribute pumpkins on the dining room table and then put a cornucopia filled with Fall leaves and wooden apples on the family room mantle…then my decorating efforts will be finished.  Surely I will be able to finish up tomorrow! 🤞

I am home from prayer meeting and hope to relax in my recliner, stitching on the latest Christmas ornament and watching a cooking show or a needlework YouTube (what we stitchers call FlossTube).

To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious.

Sunday Favorite Alaskan Photo

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Saturday Doings

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I have zoomed around today…well…as fast as I zoom these days!  I just know that I did a lot of tasks today all related to cleaning and decorating. And, one task just lead to another.  I did accomplish quite a bit, but am not finished yet…but getting closer! My living room is finished except for clearing off the pumpkins on the table in the living room.  Those are the pumpkins that are waiting for me to pick for their place in my Fall decorations for this year.  I cleared off the dining room table getting ready to make a center piece.  Then I will finish in the kitchen and do the mantel in the family room.  I also have the buffet in the dining room decorated. I did a lot of furniture dusting and polishing.  And, moving aside furniture to vacuum under it.  Once I got started, I just wanted to keep on…but…at a point my back said it was time to stop.  On top of the decorating,  I did two loads of clothes

I will rest tonight and hopefully get to put a few stitches in a Christmas ornament…or give myself a treat and stitch on a sampler.  

To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

Remembering

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Can you believe that it is the 25th anniversary of September 11th?  

I have had a fairly low-key day…though a bit busy.  I did go to the grocery store and ran another errand.  I have done a little decorating…but not as much as I wanted to…a lot of my energy went out the door with my getting groceries, putting them away, etc. 

I did get the Christmas ornament finished last night and got underway with the next one…the number done is rising and the to-do list is growing shorter! I think the count of finished is 16…(seems like it should be more!).

To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

A Peaceful Moment

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Tonight's photo shows one of the most peaceful moments that I had on our Alaska cruise…walking into Tongass National Forest. We visited this area while we were in Sitka, AK.  I just looked it up to make sure of the name of the forest and found out that the Tongass National Forest covers 16.7 million acres across southwest Alaska. It's the world's largest temperate rain forest.  There's your school lesson for the day!  But walking into that forest was a very reverent moment…very peaceful, though there were others from the tour all around me.  A refreshing memory!

I have kept pretty busy today…vacuuming, dusting, polishing, and distributing pumpkins to cleaned surfaces.  I have even moved some pieces of furniture so I could vacuum under them…now this was only smaller pieces of furniture…no couch!  But I have moved end tables and the coffee table.  All these efforts took place in increments  of time during the day.  I cleaned one area and then sat and rested for a while before I moved to the next area.  And, the living room is not cleaned nor decorated completely.  But it is cleaner than it was and hopefully tomorrow it will be even cleaner…and, decorated! 

I did stitch some last night and am closer to a finish on another Christmas ornament.  I’m hoping that I will be able to finish it this evening.  

To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious! 

  

Cook, Clean, Decorate

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Of the three things that I listed in tonight's blog title, cook took up the most time.  I did clean off one half of the countertop on the sink side…moved everything, wiped off the countertop really well.  Then when I put things back I added in some pumpkins and got out the cooking items I needed for my cook of the day.  

I made chicken and shrimp gumbo…tasted very good for a late lunch.  While cooking I tried to keep the mess under control.  And, it did help when I had the gumbo finished.  I haven’t run the dishwasher, yet…waiting to put the last of today's dishes in.  I plan to turn it on in a little while.

I’m later checking in tonight as a couple of friends and I visited while their husband's were in choir practice.  

It has been a good day…really a little cleaning, a little decorating (at least I have started!), and spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen.  My house smelled like gumbo when I came in the house tonight.  There are worse smells!  I guess I had better get that dishwasher going to perhaps take some of that smell away.  

I hope to stitch for a while tonight.  I need to get back to working on Christmas ornaments.  Last night I took a break from Christmas ornaments and stitched on a sampler.  I think I need to be disciplined tonight and get back to Christmas stitching!

To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!

A Fun and Busy Day!

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I did get underway with my decorating for Fall today..but didn’t make a tremendous amount of progress as it is slow at first since there is cleaning to do.  I washed a lot of glass objects and started clearing off tables to give them a good dusting and polishing.  I got the vacuum out to do a more thorough vacuuming job then my usual "push it through traffic areas." 

I put the cleaning/decorating aside to head off for an early lunch with Linda H.  We had a nice visit.  She came to Tullahoma for an appointment so we met up before her appointment.  That worked out perfectly for me to meet Donna to work in the church library this afternoon.  Donna and I worked and visited.  So I got a lot of visiting done over the hours that I was away from home!

And, I guess I was tired as I was awakened by the phone about an hour ago.  I can't remember when I have fallen that soundly asleep in the middle of the day!  I guess…that I must have been tired!  Wondering now if I will be able to get to sleep at a decent hour tonight! 🙄

To be continued! Be safe! Be well! Be cautious!