A Cooking Thursday

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My main accomplishment for today is a nice pot of New England Clam Chowder…pretty yummy. My kitchen is almost cleaned up.  I have loaded up the dishwasher and will after I blog go check to see if I have missed anything that can fit in it…then will run it and straighten up the kitchen a bit more and then put a closed for the night sign on the kitchens. It seemed like it took a long time…but I did have a few breaks while making it…a phone break with Cheryl, then a lunch break, and towards the end of it's cooking time another phone break with Melany. 

I thought that Melany was going to come this weekend for a sewing day, but she isn't finished with the cross stitching that she plans to finish here.  So we are now planning a slumber party/sewing time during her Fall break!  

I have gotten a little farther on my last cross stitching ornament gift for this year. Slowly closing in on that finish.  Maybe tomorrow? While I cooked I listened to the next selection for my  Cottey College Alum Bookclub…one way to kill two birds with one stone!

I got pretty sleepy late afternoon and did sneak in a nap.  Hopefully that means I will be able to stay awake to stitch this evening…a method in my madness?

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

Feels Like Fall!

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Today when I went outside during the day, it actually felt like Fall…so much cooler…high in the 70s…big improvement over the last weeks' hot temps!

Today has been just a do-little-of-this-and-that day.  I tried to concentrate on doing some more stitching on that elusive last Christmas ornament.  Getting closer…but still quite a few stitches to go.  I hope to put in a few more stitches this evening.  I also did some reading…the next Cottey Bookclub book and another book. The Cottey book is an audio book…so listened to that one on my iPhone and the other one is an e-book so read that one on my iPhone. I am reading a "real" book, too…but just not today.  

Nathan stopped by this afternoon and visited for a little while.  He had been to a conference and stopped by on his way home.

This evening I went to Bible study at church.  When we came out…a little before 7pm…it was getting dark…another sign of Fall…getting dark earlier. It is getting obvious that days are getting shorter.

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

Fall Arrived Just Moments Ago!

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Fall's official arrival was at 7:05 pm Central time.  So…welcome Fall.  I’m anxiously awaiting those cooler temperatures.  It still hit 90° here according to Alexa…but then it wasn't Fall yet…maybe tomorrow will be cooler!? I keep telling myself not to complain about the heat, as I will probably be more miserable when the temperatures drop…I’m not much on being cold, either!  I like the times of the year when I might need a sweater, but will probably not need it for part of the day.  We get a few of those days in the Fall and a few in the Spring.  But at the moment, I’m feeling like cold would be welcome!!!  I will say that when I went out late this afternoon to roll the garbage can to the road, that there was a breeze and a bit of cloud cover and that it actually felt very pleasant…my next trip outside this afternoon, it was sunny and no breeze and it felt hot! I am sure that it will be back and forth for a while…hopefully pleasant mornings and warmer afternoons.  October is just around the corner.  I’ve also noticed how that the days are growing much shorter.  

The news that has me excited today is that this morning I finished another ornament and started on my last Christmas  ornament gift for 2026.  This is the third time that I have stitched this ornament…so I have to a point memorized the pattern.  I still have to check about the positioning of certain items in the pattern, but having stitched it before it is an easier stitch.  And, I got underway with it this morning before I went to work in the church library.  Donna and I worked on several things at the library.  One of our patrons had asked for some books dealing with a certain subject so we did some searching in the card catalog (housed these days in the computer) and then pulled some books and did some searching in those.  We found two books for him to start out reading about the subject…and, know where more are if he needs more. Then we did some shelf searching for some children's books that are classics that have been read so much over the years that they need to be replaced.  We did regular maintenance in the library and managed to come upon no mysteries to solve…made for a good library work day! 

I came home and emptied wastebaskets and got the garbage can to the road for tomorrow's pickup.  I also got recycle out to the road.  I don’t do recycle every week, but I had quite a bit of paper and some boxes from an Amazon order to get rid of this week.  It is nice to have weekly curbside recycle service that Tullahoma provides.  It really helps me to keep from having stacks of papers, magazines, catalogs, etc. pile up around the house.  And, so nice to be able to get rid of ungainly boxes.  All I have to do is flatten the boxes out.  Each time I get the recycle material ready for the road, I think back to when we ere doing Woody's dialysis at home.  Then…I was very thankful for being able to get rid of boxes.  I went through many, many boxes weekly.  It usually took several trips out to the curb to get it all out each week.  When I picked up that light load of two boxes, I thought how easy it was to maneuver that few over the number I used to have trouble getting out the door with…today's light load was a breeze in comparison!  

Well, guess I will get back to my stitching…so close to having them all stitched for this year.  I think that my total count, if I counted correctly, for this year will be 22 ornaments, when I complete that one I am stitching currently. I think a few less than last year…but this year couples are getting an ornament to share!  

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

Monday…Again!

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Mondays just keep rolling around!  And, I can’t believe that there is just one more Monday in September after this one!  Didn’t I just turn the page on the calendar?!?

I’ve just gotten home from prayer meeting so the day is drawing to a close.  It has preen another hot day…not quite as hot but our high was still in the 90s.  When we came out of prayer meeting we were greeted with damp sidewalks, parking lot, and streets.  When I got home there were actually small puddles on the driveway so I’m thinking that we may have gotten a little more rain here than we did at the church.  But still not enough to get through all the trees and get everything underfoot wet…my street still had dry places…in other words it didn’t rain very hard or very long. But right now we’ll take what we can get and be thankful for it! 

I’m coming right along with the Christmas ornaments that I am giving as gifts.  I’m on the last one from my original list, but I added one to the list, that is, if I got finished with the others in a timely manner.  Since it is still "just" September, I will have time to do that one, too. My goal has been to finish the ornament stitching by the end of September.  Then I can get busy making them into ornaments in October…stitching is only the first step towards finishing each one!  But a big step towards finishing. I want them completed and ready for gifting early in November.

This afternoon I spent some time in the kitchen.  I divided the pork loin roast into chops and cubes and got them into the freezer.  I did cook a couple of chops for a couple of my meals this week.  I was trying to figure out what to make to go with them and remembered that I had a partial bag of Pepperidge Farm stuffing in the pantry.  So I sautéed onions, celery, mushrooms, and apples and put together some dressing to eat with them…tasted very good…guess that is me starting to want Fall food items!  Still pretty hot for things that I like to eat in the Fall.  I keep thinking that the temps are going to go down and I keep putting off making my New England Clam Chowder…but going to end up making it soon whether it is hot or not outside.  

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

Sunday Favorite Alaskan Photo

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Sizzling Saturday

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Today lived up to the heat advisory prediction.  According to Alexa, it got to 99° with a heat index of 104°.  I just stayed inside…never even poked my head outside.  

We had an enjoyable Bookclub Zoom meeting…always good to get together with Cottey alum.  It's not a large group, but we share plenty of different opinions about what we read.  And, it is fun for me as several of my classmates participate.  Friendships shared through the years! 

I have had an Amazon hassle going on for months.  Back in April I bought two replacement blades for a vegetable chopper.  They only sent me one blade.  I told them about the error and they sent me the set of two…told me that they couldn’t send me just the one blade they neglected to send at first.  I was also told that I didn’t have to send anything back.  Ever since then I have gotten messages periodically saying that I had neglected to make the return.  I would then get on the Amazon site and explain that what they had sent was a replacement…nothing to return…they would apologize and say they had taken care of it.  BUT I kept getting requests for the return…I would go through the same thing and they would apologize and say it was taken care of.  Then about a month ago I got a notice that if I didn’t send the return they would charge me for it.  Again, I went back to Amazon to explain my plight and they said no problem…all taken care of.  But then came the day that the amount was taken out of my account…so back to communicating with Amazon…again, apologies…money will be back in 3-5 business days.  I waited ten business days and when it wasn’t deposited, I contacted them again…and…finally yesterday it showed back in my account!  It was not a large amount…but it was the principle of the situation…and, I was determined Amazon wouldn't win the fight!  

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

Sizzling Friday

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Today has been another hot day…once again we are under a heat advisory and have been for a couple of days and will be for a couple more.  I think we are all looking forward to some Fall temperatures and some rain…so hot and so dry!

I stuck to my Friday schedule and went to the grocery store.  I bought a couple of things for recipes and shopped some of the sales…such as they are these days! My main way of shopping is to shop sale items…especially in the meat department.  If I don't have immediate plans for the meat in a recipe, I freeze it for another day when I will plan a meal around what I have already purchased.  Today's sale wqs a pork loin…I plan to cube part of the roast for sweet and sour pork or a soup recipe that calls for cubed pork.  I think that this time I am going to cut the rest into pork chops…not going to use it as a roast at all this time.  Sometimes I use half for a recipe and the other half I roast. A week or so ago chicken thighs were on sale and I bought some…skinned and boned them and popped them in the freezer to use in a recipe that I like to use thigh meat. With the cost of everything these days, I’m trying to shop and cook smart!  I can't aways shop smart if I go in wanting to make a certain recipe and that week some of the ingredients are sky high in prices…just watching these days!  Doing it this way I find that I have a good varied diet of recipes that I enjoy cooking…when I let my freezer do the inspiring rather than the grocery store aisles!  

I bought a new pan to replace two of my cooking pans that had gotten old and probably shouldn't be used any more…those nonstick surfaces on pans just don’t hold up no matter how careful I have been with them…no dishwasher…no metal utensils, etc.  I am in the process of switching to stainless steel.  I have been very pleased with the ones I have gotten as replacements so far…hoping the new one I am pleased with…less in my cookware drawer by replacing two with one.  One of the ones I am replacing had a bit lower sides and the other a bit higher sides.  I hope that this one in the middle will do the job of both of them…time will tell! I am planning to make New England Clam Chowder sometime this weekend so will try this new pan out.  

After getting the groceries bought, brought in from the car, and put away.  I was pretty done in…this hot weather seems to wipe me out…or maybe it is my age…probably both!  But I was very ready to stitch and read this afternoon.  I finished the book and did a little more on the latest Christmas ornament. 

I’ve got my dishwasher running and that is it for this evening…more stitching and reading is in store for me this evening. I’m looking forward to tomorrow as once again it is time for my Cottey Bookclub tomorrow late morning. I’d probably better go find a summary of the book and read it prior to the meeting as I read tomorrow's selections some time back…probably need to refresh my memory!

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