We're Home!

The trip home was okay except for a little rain, until we got into Virginia.  Then we had some traffic issues, but eventually got here.

We got everything unloaded and brought in, then unpacked and put away.  Been working pretty much non-stop today.  The bed has been changed, bathrooms cleaned, all the laundry done.  We did a couple errands this morning.  Then the Christmas decorating got started!  Even though it's been raining all day and cool and gray, I went ahead and decorated outside.  Most of that work was from the porch, so not too bad.  Golfer came out and helped put our wooden snowman out and the little sleigh, and hung the wreathes.

I hauled all the boxes out of the library closet and started sorting through them.  We got the trees set up, but not decorated.  That's tomorrow's job.  The furry kids are all tired out from helping with everything!

The girls and families are all well and busy.  Nurse J got stuck in traffic coming back from Roanoke.  Finally she just had to pull off and get a hotel room last night.  There were lanes closed and back-ups from the really bad bus accident on the interstate.

One highlighted news story this morning was the end of hurricane season.  That's fine to make note of it, but I've always thought that if God wants it to storm, it's going to storm.  He doesn't consult a calendar.

So, all is well.  Stay safe.  More later.

Hello from Georgia!

We're  having a great visit with Bikini, Brief and the kids!   The furry kids have been particularly attentive!

Thanksgiving dinner was delicious.  Bikini did a great job.  Here she is making "Thanksgiving peanut brittle".  :)

And here I am helping a little.

We went over to see Brief's family and had another dessert later in the afternoon.  Yum!  And then on the way back to the house we detoured by Toys r Us so Bikini and Brief could get the kids new bikes.  Bloomer had outgrown hers and Boxer's had been stolen from their driveway recently.  Conveniently there was a limited time sale that was worth the trip.  Crowded, but successful.  Golfer and I waited in our car.  :)  That has been the only shopping.  We've stayed away from the crowds.

We did venture out this morning to see the new Good Mews Cat Shelter.  It is lovely and there are many wonderful kitties waiting for their forever homes.  The new shelter has large sunny windows and plenty of places for the kitties to sit in the sun.

Right now there is some outside work happening and Christmas decorations being put up.  Also some quilting for a project going on.  I decided after emptying the dishwasher that it was a perfect time for a blog post.

Stay safe!

Some Important Words

Theodore Roosevelt's ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907. 

 

'In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language.. And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.' 

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Every American citizen needs to read this! 

BRRRRR!

We started out this morning at almost 60 degrees and rainy.  The wind has picked up, the rain has come down, and the temperature has dropped.  Right now it is 44.

And because this has not been a good day for doing yard work, cleaning up leaves, or playing golf, we went to a movie.  We rarely go on a weekend.  We like to be in an un-crowded theater.  :)  But "Spectre" has been out for a couple weeks and we figured most people would be seeing the final Hunger Games movie.  We were right.  "Spectre" was excellent!  I already want to see it again.  It will be on one of our wish lists soon!

It had been a little while since we had been to a movie.  Today we discovered that they now serve beer at the concession stand!  Go figure!  I supposed it's nice to offer the choice, but I don't really see the need.  Our popcorn and Cokes were very good.  I used the AARP card for the special and
Golfer used the free popcorn ticket he got today.  :)

Nurse J is doing okay.  She's very tired and having some occasional nausea; and lots of doctors' appointments and testing.  So far, so good.  Another happy blessing from God.  He has a plan.

We will be seeing Bikini for Thanksgiving and we're looking forward to spending time with them.  Boxer and Bloomer have probably grown a foot since we last saw them!  She has told us we get to help her decorate while we're there.  :)

Life is good.  Stay safe!

It Gets Hard to Keep a Secret

Cutie Girl has an announcement to make, with BeyB's help!

Stay safe, people!

Been Busy!

Hey, all!

It's been busy around here!  The landscaping work is all finished.  Looks good, and will look even better when the grass comes up in the bare spots that are now covered in compost.  Golfer and I worked outside all day yesterday.  We had to clean up bits of little limbs, cut roots that got left, and a bazillion leaves.  Then Golfer mowed and trimmed.  I scrubbed the deck and furniture.  Besides the mud that got tracked onto the deck during the work, some visiting birds left some deposits.  I don't know what they had been eating, but their poo did not just hose off!  I also cleaned up the porch and walk out front.  I recommend the Exterior Windex that you connect to a hose.  Works very well for all sorts of things.  We got a lot done and we were both tired.  I will try to get a better picture later.

Saturday I went with Nurse J and the girls to the annual Smithfield Marketplace.  First time we had gone to that.  It was very nice, but too many people and too crowded for us.  But the weather was good and we had a nice time.  The fresh air and sunshine, and all the walking - or riding in a stroller - wore the girls out!

Sunday Golfer and I went with Nurse J and BeyB to Ferguson Center to see "White Christmas".  It was a little different from the movie we watch every Christmas Eve, but it was very good.

I'm getting ready to head out to do a few errands now.  Stay safe!

The Work Has Begun!

Hooray!  The landscaper and workers appeared this morning about 7:45 and got right to work.  Evidently, the whole "wait for things to dry out" plan is out the window.  Today is sunny with a little breeze and it's in the mid-60's.  But it is still pretty wet out in the yard.

I have adopted the "if they mess something else up, they can fix it before they get paid" line of thinking, and am trying not to worry about any of it.

For a while they had a very large remote controlled stump grinder out there, just like we have seen on HGTV!  The furry kids were not amused though and if looks could kill.........  They did  not like the noise and strangers in our yard.

I was asked a little bit ago what we wanted to do about the leaves.  I very nicely said that we had been keeping them cleaned up ever since we thought the work was going to start about a month ago, but it had been too wet recently for us to get out and do any clean-up.  If they didn't want to clean them up, just blow them out onto the grass and we'd try to get them later.  We can't do anything out there now without getting in their way.

Our sprinkler system set-up is not what the landscaper expected and the sprinkler guy will be coming to do some work soon.   There has to be some adjusting of locations and such to have everything covered.   Conveniently, they work together a lot I'm told.  And also, they know and work with our new yard guy.  So pretty soon our yard ought to be looking great again!!

In other news... all the usual daily chores and things have been getting done.  Trips to the "Y" have been made.  Golf has been played.  Christmas cards have been started. Good books have been read.  Many shows have been watched.  Oh, BTW, we found another new show we like!  Try "Agent X" if you get a chance.  It's on TNT.

Better go now, the dryer just beeped.  Stay safe!

A Laugh!

I don't know where Golfer found this, but it made me laugh!

Here is a turkey recipe that includes the use of uncooked popcorn as a stuffing ingredient -- imagine that!  When I found this recipe, I thought it was perfect for people like me, who just are not sure how to tell when the turkey is thoroughly cooked, but not dried out.  Give this a try.

8 - 15 lb. Turkey

1 cup melted butter

1 cup stuffing (Pepperidge Farm is Good)

1 cup un-popped popcorn (ORVILLE REDENBACHER'S LOW FAT IS BEST)

Salt/pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brush turkey well with melted butter, salt, and pepper.

Fill cavity with stuffing and popcorn.

Place in baking pan - making sure the neck end is toward the front of the oven, not the back.

After about 4 hours listen for the popping sounds.

When the turkey's a** blows the oven door open and the bird flies across the room.... it's done.    

Stay safe!

Just Saying HI!

Updates:

Landscaping project:  Nothing being done yet.  See following weather update.

Weather:  Yesterday was in mid-80's and muggy.  When we got up this morning it was already in 70's with 87% humidity.  Did not feel like November.  As I'm writing, a front is coming through.  It is raining again.  Temperatures are falling.  Supposed to be in 50's tomorrow and sunny.  But the ground is still wet and soft.

Neighbors:  There is work being done next door in the house that has been vacant for months and months.  So glad someone is working over there!  But it doesn't help us any that they are power washing the side of the house where we want our side yard to dry out.

Leaves:  The leaves were all cleaned up a few days ago and looking out now you can't tell we did anything at all.  That's just the way it is.  :)

Golfer and I are doing well.  I hope he and the other guys got their round in before the rain started.

We've been doing a few small cleaning out projects around here.  There's always something that needs to be done.  Yesterday I went to the laundromat to wash our king size quilt.  When I changed the bed I switched to our holiday quilt that Bikini made for us a few years ago.  Here's a picture of Cinder and Angus enjoying being first to get on it!  Actually Cinder was first "on".  Angus is the lump under the quilt.  :)  I think Cinder is contemplating sitting on him.

All is well, life is good.  Stay safe!

Sigh................

Well, the long-waited-for landscaping work and repair in the yard has not started.  Rain started; but no work.  He came by early Monday morning to talk to us and look at the yard again.  Today is sunny and warm, no rain.  If it dries out enough, work might start by the end of the week.  But more rain is predicted for Thursday and some on the weekend.  Really, what do the forecasters know?!? So it's pretty much "wait and see".  A major point of concern is how to get the heavy equipment to the back of the yard without tearing up the side yard and causing more damage.  I am confident that he is going to be careful.  I just want this all done.

But, that's how it is.  I have been busy with the usual things around here that need doing every day.  And I've done a little extra cleaning on bigger projects.  I spent several hours concerning Christmas, doing an inventory of our Christmas shopping so far.  And then, since I had everything pulled out of the closet, I decided to just go ahead and wrap things.  Then I made a new list for the remaining items we still need to get.  I also worked on our address database in preparation for doing cards in the near future.

My latest project is cleaning out our files.  I usually do that the end of December, but there have been some changes made in some things and updates and new labels were needed.   Plus, some were quite full.  So I've been sorting and shredding.

The temperatures have been back and forth.  A couple days are really cool, then a couple warm.  The leaves are really falling down quickly now.  I'm not seeing the vibrant colors that I've seen some years, but they are still pretty.  If only they would rake and bag themselves!

So.  Life goes on.  Life is good.  I'm going back to the shredding now.  Stay safe!

P.S.  Did you go vote????

Really, People?!?!

I always look through the coupons that come with the Sunday paper.  I came across this.  Really??? Was there a huge need for this product???  Who thinks of these things???

I don't know about  you, but when I want a snack, Spam certainly isn't the first thing to come into my mind.

I remember Spam from my childhood.  Mom and Granma both liked to fry it.  Spam and eggs for breakfast, usually with something like fried mush, or as a side to Maypo or something.  There would also be Spam hash, Spam sandwiches, and other delicacies.  It was never one of my favorites.  Have not had any in many, many years.  And I don't plan to try snacking on any in the near future!

Stay safe!

Final Halloween Post :)

November 1st.  The Halloween decorations are about to be packed away.  But first, some pictures!

Boxer and Bloomer participating in pre-Halloween pumpkin gutting!

Cutie Girl getting ready, and not quite understanding the whole Trick-or-Treat thing yet.

And finally, BeyB.  Her costume was "code 404, not found".

And now it's on to Thanksgiving!  Stay safe!