Friday Happenings

One of main things that happened today was that the honeycomb shades got hung in the sunporch.  They arrived a couple of weeks ago and we had been waiting for Nathan to hang them.  He had to put off this job just a bit as he burned his hand and arm in one of his juggling programs after juggling flaming torches.  He has a fireproof cloth on the stage when he juggles that he wraps the torches in so they go out.  Unfortunately this time some of the fuel must have gotten on the cloth and it ignited when he was attempting to put the torches out.  He had to head down the church aisle with it burning to keep from something catching on fire in the church.   He said that he was sure that someone would oopen the door for him!  He got 2nd and 3rd degree burns on his right hand and lower arm.  He made one trip to his doctor and was given some medicine.  But in the end he had to go to a wound care facility here in town to get them finally to heal up.  He still has to be careful not to hit his hand on things and scrape it...his arm is more protected from bumps.  But he was able to get the shades up today.  We are glad to have them up as some pretty frigid temperatures are heading our way.  We are pleased with them.  We've never had these windows covered in the 35 years that we have lived in this house.

Woody headed off in the cold this morning to do our weekly grocery shopping.  I made a trip outside to experience the cold after he got home, when I brought the groceries in the house.  He later headed off to run errands with his friend and was gone several more hours.

I have done a little of this and a little of that throughout the day.  I put groceries away, I moved furniture around getting the living room ready for the Christmas tree.  I have put a few more Christmas around the house...so slowly but surely the decorating is getting done.  I had to remove things from the sunporch.  After Nathan got the shades hung, then I dust mopped and then mopped the floor in that room and in the laundry room.  I made cookies that Woody can eat.  So our Christmas cookie jar now has a purpose...other than just looking cute in the corner!  I put part of the cookies in the cookie jar and the other part in the freezer so we can fill the cookie jar again.  I kept an eye on a couple of cheesecakes that Abigail baked in our oven.  She was baking multiples so needed our oven as well as theirs.  (She likes the way our oven cooks over theirs...she's wishing that they would get a new oven!)  After all the baking I decided that the kitchen also needed to be mopped so did that.

It just seems like the day has gone by too quickly...there is still more that I needed to accomplish...but at least I did get some things done.  It's beginning to look a little more like Christmas, but still not there yet!

Trying to Focus!

Trying to focus on the Reason for the Season so decided that I would put out the Precious Moments nativity set.  It was easy to get to as it was one of the only things that I got out last year for decorations.  For those who follow closely there were two reasons that I didn't decorate last year...we had Esther's cat, Georgia, rehabbing in our house and the kitchen was supposed to be done after the first of the year (and, it did get done after the first of the year...just not till summer!  I was already emptying the kitchen cabinets  so I would be ready for the remodel.  So I only did a minimal amount of decorating.  We even borrowed a tree from Nathan and Kathy and children so we would have a tree (children came up with the solution of borrowing their small tree) for our Christmas family celebration.   Thus I am a bit out of practice for decorating having missed a year!  The nativity was a good place to start!  The Nativity is Woody's favorite of our decorations.

It has been a dreary, rainy day as a cold front approaches.  The temperatures have been dropping throughout the day.  It is supposed to get rather cold over night and I think I heard it predicted that it will be in the teens for a low in a few days.  Woody and I both stayed in and kept warm and dry today.  I did have school this morning.  It was Isaac's long time with me.  He is continuing to learn about simple machines.  He moved on to axles today and built a well and was able to have a "bucket" go up and down by turning the axle that he built.  He made a couple of adaptations to the  instructions...perhaps I am seeing a future engineer coming out in him?  He is very determined to get things to work correctly...sticks to tasks very well.

The Storm Before the Calm!

It looks like a tornado tore through our living room!  I decided that I needed to wash the windows before I got  very far in the Christmad decorations.  Once the tree is up there is no way to wash two of the windows.  There is another cold front coming through so I wanted to get them done before it got cold again and today was a beautiful day.  I came home from working in the church library and got going...had to light a fire under me as it gets dark so early these days.  I managed to get all four windows washed inside and out.  I washed outside (our windows do fold into the house so washing outside doesn't mean going outside) of the windows first since I knew that I could wash the inside tomorrow and not have to open the windows.  Then I wiped out the sill part that is exposed to the elements...again a job that had to be done with the window open.  After that all the work could be done with the windows closed.  I also ran the curtain panels through the dryer on an air only cycle...they needed a good dusting.  They are now all hanging back up.  Quite a job...but glad to have it done.  The items on the couch are the shades for the sun porch.  I'm hoping that Nathan can work on those on Friday.

Woody had an appointment to get his anemia and B-12 shots today.  He gets those here in Tullahoma at an oconology office.  He was gone quite a while.  It took a while because they wanted to up the dosage of his anemia med and had to get it approved by Woody's insurance.  On his way home he stopped for a hair cut.  He spent quite a bit of time outside today, picking up sticks in the yard.  He wanted to get that job done before rain returns tomorrow.  He spent some time sitting on the porch resting before picking up more sticks.

Last night I spent time in the sewing room putting threads away and getting surfaces cleared off from my last Christmad sewing efforts...just so I can mess it up again as I work on more.  But it is nice to have things put away for a moment at least.  When I was embroidering Joseph's shirt, I kept knocking off embroidery thread spools so I knew that it was time to put them away before I got underway again.  I have a few projects in mind so will attempt to do them in the evening after I am played out from cleaning and decorating.  And, hopefully the living room will look more like the calm after the storm tomorrow!  I look forward to the calm aftermath once decorating is complete (complete is still a figment of my imagination!), but at least I am underway.

Blank Slates

Before coming upstairs to blog, I got the dining room table completely cleared off and then put on the table pad.  This is where all my "everyday" decorative items will collect till I have boxes to store them in till after Christmas.  When I empty Chirstmas decoration boxes I put everyday items in them to store till after Christmas.  I like to clear off the surfaces of tables, bookcases, etc. so when I find Christmas items I can just place them as I unpack them.  I like starting off with "blank slates," as I like to call these emptying surfaces.  I may clear off some more surfaces in the living room before I go to bed, but then I might not as I'm really dragging this evening.  I think that the time change is still 

messing with me.  

I had a usual Tuesday school morning.  Joseph was pleased to find his shirt all embroidered and ready for him on the school table when he came over.  I'm glad that I got that done last night.  I burned a little midnight oil to get it done...hmmmm...guess that could be another reason that I am dragging!

Woody headed off after lunch to visit one of the couples in his Deacon family care group.  He also went to the prayer room at church.  On the way home he stopped at the pharmacy to pick up some of his prescriptions.  

At this point in the day, I guess we are once again settled in for a quiet evening.  The kitchen is closed (meaning it is cleaned up and ready for tomorrow's cooking messes). I only warmed things today...a break from "real" cooking...so not a lot to clean up! The load of wash I did is put away.  I need to go into the sewing room, but not sure that is going to happen.  Reclining back and picking up one of my books is tempting...but I imagine I won't get very far in that endeavor either, as eyes will probably shut!  Woody is settled in his chair downstairs in front of the TV with a book in his lap.  I'm sure that both our bodies are saying it is later than it is on our clocks!  Even Esther's cats are confused.  I fed them for Esther over the weekend and I usually feed them at 4:30.  When I went out today at 3:30 to take the garbage can to the road, they came running trying to convince me to feed them.  I told them they had to take their hunger up with Esther!  The last I heard she was trying to explain to them about the time "falling back!" Don't think they were interested in the reason!  

Is It Time for Bed Yet?

It is so hard to get used to a time change!  I keep looking at the clock thinking that it is later than it is and then I realize that it really is later according to the time that my body had been on for almost nine months.

The decorating is going along slow!  I have the Christmas cookie jar out and then found the above arrangement in the Christmas closet last night.  I got it out of its box and fluffed it today.  As I was doing that I wondered if I might like this on the rolling island.  This a new arrangement that Cheryl,
my sister, gave us last year.  I didn't get it out of the box last year since I didn't decorate except for a few things so this arrangement is brand new in my Christmad decorations collection.  It always takes me a while auditioning new things to find just the right place.  It may end up staying here in the kitchen, or I might use it as the centerpiece on the dining room table. I won't be able to decide about the dining room table till everything is finished as I use the dining room table to put things while I am decorating.  There is also a possibility that it could go on one of the end tables in the living room.  I took tonight's photo with the flash so the sparkles could be seen on the arrangement.  It is called a "frosty pine" arrangement.  You should see all the frosty glitter on the floor where I fluffed out the branches.  Guess that calls for a bit of vacuuming before we track it everywhere!  The glitter is reminiscent of cards Cheryl used to send filled with confetti...those unaware could make quite a mess!  Do you think that she planned this?!?

Speaking of the dining room table, I did get all the fall decorations packed up and put away.  I did that yesterday.  Today I had school, cooked and did a little decorating.  I made two pots of soup—chicken noodle mainly for Woody and potato for me, since he can't have most of what is in the potato soup.

Yesterday Woody did cut up the pumpkin and peeled it.  I cooked it and puréed it.  We have a LOT of puréed pumpkin now...lots of possible pies...or maybe pumpkin bread.  I still have to freeze it in two cup portions.  I had to get some broth out of the containers that I need for the pumpkin.  I used broth in both soups so that emptied out a couple of containers.  Those containers are in the dishwasher and will be ready to freeze pumpkin when the dishwasher is finished.  I also baked/roasted the pumpkin
seeds.  Since Woody can't eat pumpkin seeds I decided to add a little sea salt to them.  They are pretty good...I still prefer sunflower seeds...but usually avoid those because they have so much salt on them and I'm not supposed to overdue in the salt department, either.  I figured it would be okay on these few pumpkin seeds!

Woody headed out after supper to go to the Monday Night Furnacr Room Prayer Meeting.  He hasn't gotten home yet.  Once he is home we will batten down the hatches and settle in for a quiet evening of reading, TV, or...Oh, just remembered that I guess I need to go back into the sewing room and embroider a monkey on one of Joseph's shirts.  I told him today that I would do that before tomorrow.  Guess I will be doing a bit of machine embroidery this evening and then get back to my book, oh, and go finish up in the kitchen.  Almost everything fit into the dishwasher after my cooking spree, but there are a few stragglers that need to be done by hand.  Woody just came home so I guess we are both in for the evening.  Surely it is almost 9pm...but, no, it only almost 8pm.  Time change makes the time seem to slow down...at least for the first few days of getting used to it.

It's Begun!

This morning while Woody was at the library, I headed into "his" room (the family room) and vacuumed the hearth well.  Found several spider webs!  Imagine that!  Then I decided that I would do a little more "insulating" before I put down Mr. Snowman.  I got a large piece of quilt batting and placed it on the hearth for snow...but actually to block more of the cold air that filters through the fire place door vents and cracks.  Then I put down Mr. Snowman and some of his friends.  I knew that I wanted the red tin tree that Mother gave me her last Christmas (I have three different sizes and colors, but wanted the red tin one in the kitchen since it is what I consider "barn red.").  I knew that these trees are at the front of the Christmas closet so could put my hands on them and get the red one for the kitchen.  I had been picturing it in the kitchen since I started thinking about Christmae decorating.

Do you notice that in both pictures that there is something that isn't Christmas?  Fall is still in both of them.  In the kitchen you will note the large pumpkin.  The Hasty's stopped by this afternoon and 

gifted us with the pumpkin.  They used it on their front porch and we're through with it and knew that we cook pumpkins so offered it to us...and I couldn't pass up their offer.  Woody says that he will peel, degut, and cut it up tomorrow after church.  I will then cook it and purée it with the food 

processor. I think that Woody thinks that his job is messier than the cooking part!  But both are pretty messy.  Looks like we will have fresh pumpkin for our Thanksgiving pies.  I will freeze the pumpkin in batches the right size for pies...looks like there are quite a few pies in our future.  Woody also makes pumpkin pudding that he enjoys taking over to the neighbors (Nathan, Kathy and family).  The children love it...especially if he includes some Cool Whip!  In the family room picture, there is still a Halloween card from my sister on the mantel.  So there is still a little Fall around...for a bit anyway!  The dining room table is full of all the pumpkins...have to get those put away next.

I am tired!  It has been a busy cooking, cleaning, decorating day.  I stewed a chicken, deboned the chicken, made chicken stock, made sweet red pepper sauce, and made a meatloaf.  I came upstairs to sit for a while and rest and while resting write the blog.  I have cleaned up the kitchen several times and it needs to be done again.  I have the dishes stacked waiting for me to unload the dishwasher from the load I ran earlier in the afternoon.  I still have to finalize tomorrow's Sunday School lesson. 

Woody went to the library this morning.  He also made a stop at the hospital to visit with a church member.  Saturday is Woody's day, as a member of the deacon visitation committee to visit any church members who are in the local hospital.  

Tonight we turn our clocks back.  I have already done our clocks, so now I am very confused as to what time it really is!  Do I go by today's time or tomorrow's?!?   I had changed them before 6pm today's time and it was already dark by 5pm tomorrow's time!  But it will be light earlier in the morning at 6:30 whereas today it was still dark!  An even trade-off?  Woody's melanoma doctor said that he would be glad for the time change as he doesn't like arriving for work in the morning when it is still dark.  Everyone has their feelings about the time change.  I know that many of my friends don't like this time change because they don't like it to get dark so early.  Of course my reason to be happy about this time change is that I move an hour closer to my sister and Arizona family members.  One hour difference is so much easier to manage than two when trying to make telephone calls.  I favor this time change...but they no longer give us a full six months of this one which I don't think is fair!!i guess I will enjoy it for the time we have. In a few more hours I will have moved an hour closer to my sister!  

Welcome, November!

Today was pretty much a cooking and cleaning day for me.  I cleaned bathrooms and mopped floors in all three bathrooms and the kitchen.  Then I got busy on making part of a meal for a friend.  Got that done and then Woody and I drove over, picked up my co-supper taker and then headed across the street to deliver the meal.  She had knee replacement surgery on Tuesday and came home yesterday evening.  She is doing quite well...or so she let on to us.  My co-supper taker couldn't believe that she could already straighten out her leg.  She said that it took some time for her to be able to do that...she has had both knees replaced.  I came home to clean up from all the cooking that I did. I have the dish washer going and a sinkful of dishes soaking that I couldn't get into the dishwasher.  I'll do those after I blog and sit for a few minutes!

Woody went to the grocery store for us first thing this morning and then a little while after he got back he headed off to run errands with his friend who has no transportation.  That took a couple of hours.

One thing that I planned to do today that hasn't happened yet is to get started on Christmas decorating.  I don't usually do it this early, but with Thanksgiving so late this year I have to be decorated before Thanksgiving as I am having my ladies' Sunday School class Christmas brunch on the 8th and I KNOW that I don't dare try to decorate in just a week's time.  Starting now will allow me to do it a bit leisurely and hopefully not have my back go out with having to do it quickly.  I have opened the Christmad closet doors...does that count as starting?!?  I thought that I would at least get Mr. Snowman out and get him on the hearth in the family room.  He acts as a draft dodger all winter.  The only problem is that I need to vacuum and clean the hearth well before putting him down and I'm not sure that Woody would appreciate the noise competing with his Friday news programs!  I wanted to get that done while he was running errands today, but my mopping happened during that time.  I guess I have rested long enough.  I will go do the dishes and then grab the towels out of the drier and then fold them...and perhaps call it quits for today!  I should also sit in my chair and jot down some thoughts for Sunday's Sunday School lesson.  Always something to do...no time for boring around here!