The Pied Piper of Bread

Saturday I baked 12 loaves of bread, about a dozen rolls, and 6 pans of frosted orange cinnamon rolls. I am really out of shape. At the end of the day it was like being hit by a truck putting in a day of hard work. I think with the labor, cleaning the kitchen, and the cost of ingredients I earned about 50 cents an hour. Back to the drawing board. The good part was how happy everyone was to come get their bread and take it home.

The smell of fresh bread wafted out the front door until every child on our end of the culdesac had come inside and announced their hunger! One six year old girl asked me what the bowls of flour were. "Is that sand?" She said she had never seen flour, and never tasted home made bread. Those two statements had her seated at the table with a large plate and a glass of milk in short order. She ended up getting very excited about the whole process and pitched in at the kitchen sink standing on a chair to help wash dishes. Next time I am working on a smaller quantity I'll let her play with some dough and make some rolls. I am such a sucker softie for little girls. My other neighbors growing boys also came in running their hands over their stomachs and practically freaking howling for something to eat. You know loving food as much as I do that I can't say no. It goes to PROVE that when presented with good whole foods that children will chose them and eat them. My bread is 100% wheat. Nobody left the crust and nobody said it wasn't good. I sent them home with one cinnamon roll each. Too bad children can't pay I'd have a booming business already!

 On the home front I bought carpet today! My long search for the best champagne carpet on an beer inexpensive budget paid off! Ya'll my vote is hands down for LOWE'S!! They gave me the carpet I wanted and marked it down. No bargain shopping at Home Depot. I also went to a local business but they could not compete with the $100 install special. The carpet I chose is just gorgeous. It is 100% nylon with a very soft feel to the hand or soon to be feet, it is 65 oz and 4 twist; new vocabulary words.The brand is Mohawk and they actually have a carpet identical to this in the premium line that really isn't any different but is twice the price.  Hopefully we won't have to wait long. We are going to save money and kill ourselves by taking all the furniture and old carpet out so it will be ready to lay the new when they come. Yowza!

The upstairs bedroom is almost finished and Kayla will be moving upstairs. I will be going back down into the room I used to have before the girls moved here. All of this upheaval is actually a whole lot like moving period.  It's a good thing I cleaned out the crap closets and drawers before starting this.

Now that the carpet is ordered and the hall is done I can begin the new photo hanging ideas. I hope to have this week to get frames painted and hung on rods and put back in the hall. I WILL show you step by step.
Everything is coming together.

Really big news. My daughter that I have not heard from in at least 5 to 6 years called me! Big answer to prayer--huge--gigantic-- even colossal! We had a very sweet conversation. She did most of the talking because I was to shocked to talk. It takes a lot to leave me speechless. We have talked three times now. My other big news is that I am having surgery on Monday the 8th. If you are a praying person I appreciate your prayers; if you are a good thought person that will work too; whatever you send up!

Next post will be something fun and in color and thank you for not disappearing with my sporadic appearances. Ya'll are so nice drawl that out real good.

Slow Progress

Little by little we are making progress. I am not patient. Working very slowly is usually hard for me; but in this case, I am grateful for any progress. I haven't been bloggin because I hate whiners, of writers block  pain. Did you know that sitting is really important for typing? Of course you did. It may be hard to believe but sitting has been out of the question for any period of time. One would think with the berth I have that would neva be an issue!!

All the books in the house are stacked in the kitchen and amazingly they fit! The verdict is carpet. I know some of you are so appalled disappointed. I have been shopping for the last couple of weeks trying to put together a good deal and get something that I just might be thrilled to pieces with. Emptying the house and removing the old carpet saves a good bit of money so that's what we (who is we?  the husband is doing everything )are doing.

Everybody likes all the plants together in this little jungle arrangement so they may stay here when we are finished.

The big surprise was fitting all this stuff into the kitchen and STILL be able to use the table and walk around in here! I'm not going to get this done before February of that I am sure.

The hall is painted. My camera doesn't do it justice the color is fabulous. It's a warm almond or dark cream and the blend with the living room is perfect. The Hunny did a great job. He always does.

I'm sleeping in the laundry room to avoid the stairs. My chassis has a catch in it's git-a-long. Stairs aren't in my vocabulary right now so I am camping out.
Besides the hip the alternate shoulder got into the circus act and a hideous problem with my ears. That's all you want to know get. Trust me it's just another tale of litany of complaints woe. Since ya'll don't get paid to hear that crap I'm saving it for the local MD's who get the big bucks to listen.

I am actually going to apply for a government hand out and be a slug disability. I know I know, you thought that was settled months ago. But no--hope being a hard head  dies slow around here. However I am trying to get a sunnier outlook on life and have a few ideas of things I CAN do as my mobility gets better.  Some of those ideas are to be a peddler sell bread and also cook for busy mothers. As I get a clientele I can also offer to cater parties and do laundry whatever people need help with and will pay me for. I think it could work. While waiting to see if the core procedure is going to work on my hip, I can make little bread tags and figure out a system for what I can offer.  It's going to be OK.

I have missed ya'll. The truth is I have not been  too much pain thinking straight. I decided tonight to take drugs buck up and just  spend a little time gabbing at you. What's up in your life?

Santa Lives in New Zealand

The mailman rang the bell yesterday and delivered this. I was on the couch where I am growing roots. Another week went by and I accomplished nothing at all. Ihate whining. Here is my list. My hip is a mess--surgery is in my very near future.The shoulder on the opposing side is also a mess, haven't even started that evaluation. My cold is clearing up but my ears are flared up with the loudest roaring you have heard. Meniers in the good ear is getting active. Ailments depress me. I am a good caregiver and a horrible patient; I am depressed. BIG TIME.

What? Out in the universe someone was thinking of me! That is humbling.
Will you look at this? Can you believe how pretty? Awh shucks--*wipes eyes*

And it's heavy it feels like it's full of rocks. *Laughs*  ooooooooh what is in here?

Nobody sends rocks from New Zealand.

It's full of more goodies. Have you noticed the price of postage lately?

Look!

Look at this, chocolate! The little pillow is full of fragrant herbs. The silky black bag is for lingerie. It has a cute corset appliqued on it, that didn't show in the picture. Trust me it's adorable.

She even sent an extra cute button. The bag is just incredible. You would not believe the stitching she does. It's all made by Chris, from diet Coke Rocks. Her blog is now private but if you are nice and want to be invited that can be arranged.

I love to read blogs where women are making things. I don't sew much any more but I like to see what others do. It's just fun to see what people make, and how they live and what their interests are. I just love people.

But let me tell you, this present just blew me out of the water. WOW.

This is a cup that was in the bubble wrap. It is toooooo cute!

Perfect for my coffee.

And the card was also handmade.I am so classy I read the card last. I already KNEW who sent it!  It made me think of Santa Cruz. Beach towns have the same feel all over the world. What a woman this lady is ; and what a friend.

You blessed me socks off, you sweet tart!

Starting the New Year Right- Total Chaos!

There are a lot of things I want to do this year, besides the usual weight loss crap that I never accomplish. In fact in spite of the head cold (which I am grateful has stayed in the head); I have begun. The first thing to do when you want to begin your year well; is destroy the place. Not exactly destroy but it feels like it because I have plunged the whole house into chaos again.
This is my room. It is empty. This is a before shot. I tried painting the border a solid color to match the paper and see if that would passify me.I am not easily passified. It is better than the big blue flowers on the border that were there before, but no thank you just the same. I gave it a chance at least a month.

All of my stuff is everywhere else in the house.

Taking a shower and getting dressed takes careful planning. My underwear and socks are in this chest in the living room. My clothing is hanging in one of 3 closets.

The bed is in the laundry room. It fill the whole room.

I do love this paint it is so pretty.

And the cabinets that the Hunny (who is out of the dog house) built. Of course since we under construction AGAIN the counter top is catching everything.
This room was cleaned up and organized perfectly for less than a week, before we started yet another mess.

Someday I am going to get my head examined.

At some point it is much easier to sell, and just move than to redo the house you have just lived in for the past 9 years. Note the piles of books! Just note THE PILES!  Piles must be moved many times to accomplish anything. I should be in shape from all of this- but I am not; my husband is.

He is also working on this. Definitely out of the dog house.

It is primed and the paint is cut in, it's a cream color.

I have what I hope will be a very cool idea for this hallway. Trisha, Butterfly's mom, suggested painting the picture frames different colors from a color palette that goes with my house. I like that idea. Then in a magazine I saw picture frame collages that are suspended from a metal rod and connected by hook and eye hardware. Just one of those cool little items is a hundred bucks. I think we can make our own. This hall is going to be a major project but I think the effect when it's done is going to be really awesome. We will see. I know you will speak your mind when you see it all done--sometime in the next century. Sometime hopefully before I am too senile to remember what it was that I was doing!

Finally I have saved the best for last. I have been bitching asking sweetly, to get rid of the carpet and put in laminate flooring for about 10 years. I started  bitching  when he said "I do" before we even lived here. When we moved here I wanted flooring but cost prohibited it and I begrudgingly chose a carpet. At the last minute I changed the color. BIG mistake. Do not change your mind at the last minute about anything carpet. I was also under a lot of stress at the time and picked the carpet quickly just trying to get the job done. I don't recommend hasty decisions when you have to live with them for a long time forever.

Guess what?  You won't believe this.

Since the carpet has been gone off of the stairs I have noticed a few things. Bare stairs feel treacherous are noisy. I really hang onto clutch with both hands the side rail more. How has it stayed in the wall? The dust is phenomenal. I see dirt everywhere. I have mental pictures of me swiffering all of the floors on a daily basis and screaming. I am a freak about keeping the house clean sterile and my compulsions just might go buzzirk off the deep end,  if I see floating balls of white cat hair blowing about the floors at all hours of the day and night.

What am I saying exactly? Well I am thinking about carpet instead. WHITE Shag carpet or better known these days as Frieze. I have been looking at carpet and I just love it. I do want a light color that will not show the long white billows of cat hair. I think it will be gorgeous. GUESS what? NOW laminate is FREAKING cheaper than carpet. What gives with this?  Am I under a curse?  I could blow a stinking gasket!  The carpet that I like is a "green" product, supposed to be good for allergies. It is not outrageously expensive only $#*%$#** a yard!
Well not quite, it has $** before the decimal point for change. The first number is smaller than a 4. The carpet I really like is in the $40 to $50 a sq yard price range. Even I have my limits. Not really my wallet does.
I could love really expensive carpet no problem! Reason must dictate here! So smart shoppers just where do we find outrageous deals on carpeting? Really this is no time for silence! Speak quickly my credit card is twitching!!

I told you before that I am crazy ( I have 3 cats but I love DOGS)
 now you believe.

Getting Out of the Dog House

My camera was out of batteries this morning. I was going to take a picture of my husband painting on his hands and knees. Something about seeing that, is getting him out of the doghouse.He is working on the hall.

Somebody was really relaxed. I missed the shot where he was lying with all 4 paws just sprawled. When I moved to get the camera, he turned to look at me, and moved his front paws. Tucker is somehow related to Garfield. I am sure of it.

This is what I plan to do today. Copy the cat and lay around and eat.

I have a cold so Happy New Year! I won't be drinking much or celebrating much. I went out today and bought my stash of cold drugs and Puffs. It's amazing how fast a nose can get sore. Kayla brought this mess home. She has been sick as stink. My hope is for a smaller version of what I saw her get.

*Washes hands wildly*

This was my holiday baking in total.

One grande home made banana pudding.
One apple cider nut bread.

So how then did I gain 5 pounds?

  Was it one large bag of mint chocolate M&M's? And 2 bags of Hershey's Mint Truffles Kisses? How about the holiday creamer for coffee? Pumpkin Spice or Chocloate Mint Truffle? You think so? How much did you gain? Go ahead and tell. I double dog dare ya!

Which brings me to the subject of, New Year's resolutions.  Actually I make it a resolution not to make resolutions. BESIDES losing weight has anybody thought of anything really inspirational for a New Year's Resolution? If you have a great one maybe I'll sign up. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

OK I've Got A Proposition.

I have noticed that we are all having postSANTAdepressionitis. That is a new word. Everybody is blue, well it seems like it. Everywhere I have been reading people are bleak.

  Santa skipped me completely this year. It is the first time on Christmas morning that I had no gifts. I had some early ones and I bought myself some. I had told my husband he didn't have to get me anything because of our finances. Wow big mistake. He took me at my word. Go ahead and say it, "you asked for it." Well being smart has never been a total state of being for me. I alternate between smart and insanely stupid. You just can't predict your emotional reaction to something. ZAP SMACK KAPOW, it was a total bust. Combined with the fact that said husband would not get up out of bed. He moped around and acted withdrawn and sappy; and the kid would not open her gifts until said husband was present. By then I was mad, yelling,  and every other negative adjective. Go ahead and give it a whirl, yeah that too.

  As Kayla opened each gift (at 10:30 after said husband's shower!)  she looked sweetly at Pa and thanked him. Once when she held up a pair of earrings he did actually speak. He said, "Never seen them before." That should have given clueless a clue as to WHO was responsible for her awesome Christmas morning; but nope. Clueless undauntedly continued smiling at that MAN. Ever seen Bill Cosby's skit (Bill Cosby Himself) about teaching his son to play football? When the kid is a star and all the glam is on him you know, the spotlight and the microphone; the kid waves to the crowd and says, "Hi Mom." Yeah, something like that.

  Did you get the idea that Christmas morning was a total bust at our house? The next day I packed up all the decorations and put them away.  I know the meaning of Christmas, but it didn't help. I had some great experiences prior and after. I did have a couple of nice gifts before.  The actual morning was not pretty. I'm still a kid, I like the magic and the fun. I wanted my husband to think about me and at least get UP out of bed early, and smile, and be sweet. He could have tried to make pancakes. Or a card with a promise for a date or something. that is the point SOMETHING not NOTHING! He could have least tried to be somewhat festive instead of a big grump. I could've killed him!!

  Anyway, it's done. So if you want to air your disappointment go ahead. OR...

  On the other hand. I have an idea and this is the proposal. How about we just move on and have some fun.
Karen at TheRockingPony.blogspot.com gave her kids an awesome gift. She painted their rooms and fixed them up the way the KIDS wanted them to be. I was thinking about some times when my Mom re did my room as a surprise and it was not such a great surprise. Once it was really bad. So did you ever come home to a room that was redone for you and what was your reaction to that?

  Well what do you think? Does it sound like fun?

  If I was smart I would set up that Mr.Slinky so you can leave your story and all that. If you want to do this maybe I'll figure that out. If you really want to do this maybe I will pick my favorite best story and give a prize.
Maybe we better just have your story in the comment section or send it to me in an e-mail. I can post the best one.

Want to play? Want to win something?

We've Been Watching Movies

What do you do when your tired of everything else? I go to the movies or go rent a pile of them. Lately we have done both. So move over Grandma J, I am going to do some reviews!


AVATAR. We loved this movie. We saw it in 3D and it was just awesome. EXCEPT for the story line of the old evil exploiting empire= us Americans. It's Dances With Wolves in space.
The planet Pandora ( is this from the fable Pandora's Box?)  is a very beautiful place and all the creatures are very engaging to look at. Personally the riding of giant butterfly colored flying prehistoric birds is just way to cool, and very exciting. I really loved the movie, I'm just sick of this story line. I think it's terrible when a story makes us all hope that OUR marines get killed off so the other guy can win. You will feel that way because what is being done on this planet is soooooo wrong.

Now for a really big surprise. This movie is old news; it is a new release at Blockbuster. When is the last time you read a blah book and the movie is better? Has Holly wood ever taken a book and made it better before?
Isn't it ALWAYS, "they ruined this book"?  If you remember I wrote a pretty tough review of the book "Julie/Julia the project. I really loved the idea but the book was just trashy. There was so much in it that a really good editor would have cut out. Guess what? That is exactly what they did in the movie. I rented it and LOVED it! The movie develops the story of Julia Child in more depth. The movie cuts out all the profanity, the weird sex ideas, curiosities, and other thoughts that are not related to the overall theme of this story. The movie also cleaned up the Julie character giving her a more compassionate heart. In the book she is very cold and detached. In the book she is not just a bad housekeeper but a disgusting one. The movie cleans up the apartment, makes it inviting, including making you feel like you could go over and eat there. I loved the movie.
I hated the book, and that ladies and gents is a first for Hollywood.

What else have we been watching? Thought you'd never ask. Every Hallmark movie on TV, and all the Christmas specials. Are you wondering if something is different? Do you remember we turned off our TV months ago?

I have some splainin to do.

We got a notice that our DSL bill would increase by $15 a month, our new subscriber special was completed. They also offered us basic limited cable for $5. a month and that would keep our current rate for the DSL at it's current price. So the question was to pay $5 more for more services or $15 for the same. They got me. I turned it back on. I have been like a junkie on a binge ever since. Me the person who said they didn't miss TV has been stinkin glued to the dang thing. I watched Holiday On Ice twice because I loved the music mixed with the skating and the alternative was to clean house or some other notion that I could easily talk myself out of. It seems that everything these days is distracting me from my blog. Today I got up and declared that I would post! So here it is! I know you are greatly relieved that I have not slipped into non blogger oblivion. I do however think it would benefit me greatly to go back to work and get a life.

Merry Christmas to You!

We've been celebrating with our friends and getting ready for the big day. Now it's almost here.
I just wanted to take a few minutes to say to my blogging friends; I wish you the merriest Christmas and may your hearts be full of joy and hope.

These little children are the grandchildren of our good friends. I asked permission from their mother to share this with you. These children are 4 year old twins. Maybe I am stating the obvious (which I am very good at) but it sure seems to me that kids are much smarter these days, much younger. Spoken like a real old lady.

The photos of the different nativity scenes were taken at a friends house she has over 75 of them. I shared a couple of favorites. I especially love the gourd, it is from Colombia.

We enjoyed the Carols by Candlelight show with our friends. All that beautiful music gets my heart singing and in the right mood; it never fails.

And believe it or not I have managed pretty well with the spending this year. I went a bit over board on the girls but you know how it is. Kayla doesn't have a single gift under the tree. (yet) Maybe she will believe in Santa Claus again!

Have a wonderful spirit filled Christmas!!

It Makes ME Think

 What do you do with your "junk" mail? It seems like in December I get at least a half dozen requests per day for different charities and social causes. I usually toss them out, at least most of them. Not being a total Scrooge, there are a couple that I will open up and mail a check too.

I almost tossed this one. But then I looked at it.  A little child in the snow in a shirt. Children that are freezing cold. No-- after what just happened to me; I cannot toss it.


www.worldvision.org/Clothing

Do you love a good deal? Do you love to make your money stretch? Well how about this? Brand new beautiful warm clothes to freezing kids. Sounds like a way to say Merry Christmas to me. Even $15 will send $210 of warm clothes and shoes to someone who is COLD.

I think near freezing to death may have thawed my apathetic heart. It's easy to ignore in the warm comfort of my own home. I am still a bit traumatized. It is weird that if I feel the cold; I also feel a bit of panic. I have to talk myself down and remind myself that I AM ALRIGHT.

World Vision isn't asking me to do this. I'm not getting anything for it. I am just asking you, to take even a small amount or a nice big fat amount;  and send it to this very reputable organization so they can deliver all these nice new warm things to freezing kids.

Jesus said, "I was naked and you clothed me," when you did it to the least of these you did it for me.

Spread some Christmas love! ...and warm coats.

Verra Near A Catastrophe

Friday night we were invited to a wedding. I had really been looking forward to it. The wedding was in the evening and a year of preparation went into it. The mother of the bride is a friend of mine and she has a black standard poodle. We always talk poodles and of course the wedding. She had asked me if I would mind helping out, by coming by her home before the wedding to let her dogs out to have some "potty time." I said sure. I love dogs and it would be no trouble at all. She had a little fiest she is dog sitting, a new puppy of one of her relatives (a Chi-poo) and Jag the big pooda. She asked me to let them out one at a time.
The baby puppy would be in the bath tub because he is 2 pounds and too tiny to be around the other dogs. He had his pee pads and food and water in there.

It sounded like too much fun too me. I love dogs and a baby one too. Puppy breath. I was feelin the love!

When I got there and opened the back door, both the dogs scooted out before I could bat an eye. Oh well, they would just romp. I was going to look for the puppy as I was unsure of the location of this bath tub; when I heard the little fiest yelp. I thought I had better check them because Jag is a big dog now at least 50 to 55 pounds. I stepped out to look at them and-- the door closed by itself-- behind me.

I tried to open the door and it was locked. The windows were locked. The place was locked up like Fort Knox.

I was locked out, in the back yard. In the dark with basically nothing but the porch light on. The yard was fenced with standard tall fences all the way around. I could not see any gates. There was no way out. It was 6:30 pm and very cold. VERRA VERRA COLD! I bet the windchill was 10 degrees. The temp was bout 30 and I was dressed up for a wedding.

I will not belabor my misery. I did not cry at first. I used a plastic barbecue tarp to make a wrap and hunker down in. I tried to break the glass on the back door when I thought I might die out there of cold. Did you know that it is very hard to break a door? I think only the crooks know how, because I could not do it. Do you also know that a good boy scout always carries matches? There was a barbecue and a chiminea and a fire would have made the whole experience much better.  Then the dogs and I could have comfortably waited for a rescue. I knew eventually some one would come back home. They expected to return after midnight and I really hoped it would NOT be that long.

I didn't have a cell phone. My husband didn't have their address or the code to the gate. He wasn't sure of how to find me,  and he freaked out when I didn't show up at the wedding.

There was one shorter iron fence I looked at, trying to figure out how to get over it. It had spikes on top. I imagined the spikes sinking into my fat flesh if I couldn't haul over them. Not a good plan.Then I would be cold and hurt too. They had some heavy iron patio furniture. I thought of taking two chairs down there and picking one up and setting it over the fence, and then climb on the chairs. It was dark over there and hard to see. The chairs were heavy. VERRA heavy! I thought I might shorten my time of being trapped and freezing only to suffer for weeks with a new back injury. I have a verra bad back. So I huddled by the door and shivered. I vetoed the heavy lifting escape plan.

A lot of things go through your mind in an unexpected problem like this. Periodically I yelled for help. Then I realized that the neighbors were most likely at the wedding! I didn't know how long it had been because I didn't have on a watch. Some lights went on next door. I began hollering LOUD for help. I yelled and yelled and then sat down again about to despair into tears. My shivers had gone from little to big. Have you ever seen movies where cold people are convulsing with cold? I was having the big huge shakes. It was traumatic.

I had returned to the chair, my tarp, and the little fiest who had decided to get into my lap when he got cold. Sweet little rescue boy we cuddled each other and it helped. I was beginning to despair, tears threatened.
Was I going to die out there?

I heard a man's voice ask, "Is there someone there?"

Instant freak! YES HELP ME PLEASE!!!! I began talking one-hundred miles an hour. "I'm here to take out the dogs and I got locked out hours ago- and I'm FREEZING TO DEATH!!!!!" PUHLEEEZE HELP ME!
I was crying hysterically. All efforts to keep it together went right out the window. He said they had a key and would come right over. I asked him to call my husband and gave him the phone number. They didn't have a key it was the one I had used; and it was in the house. The door was open but nobody tried it.

So he got a flash light and figured out how to take that iron fence apart. We walked through it and he put it back together. He took me to his house where they had a fire going. I told them what happened, it was 10:30pm. I had been out there for 4 hours. He said," No good deed goes unpunished." I looked at him and asked, " Are you medical?" Yep a retired doctor. He was cool and calm that night and later told my friend he was worried about how cold I had gotten.He also told me that what took him awhile from my calling to answer me was he was looking for his pistol. Oh my God that would have done me totally in. I told him thank you for not pointing a gun at me in my dire straights. We did laugh. It felt so good to laugh. It wasn't long before my own knight in shining armor arrived to help me home. That man has never looked so good.

I did take my temp when I finally got home, after a shower and under a mountain of blankets, with the electric on high; and I was OK. It took a long time to quit shivering. The next day all my muscles hurt and I was deeply fatigued. Very grateful not to be injured.

My brush with disaster. And do I have a flashlight and a book of matches in my purse today? No, but they are coming believe me. I do have an answer to this question. Which is worse to be too hot or too cold? Too cold. Burning up in a dessert would be pretty bad, but freezing is just horrid. I do realize it wasn't even that cold, this is after all the south, but it was cold enough to be really painful and scary.

My New Years resolution will involve some kind of survival kit and the boy scouts. Do they have scouts for Grandmothers? I want a basic survival back pack. I am serious. After the 1989 earthquake in California I kept a huge sterilite bin with emergency supplies in my car and took it everywhere. I still have 2 transistor battery operated radios and more flashlights than a person needs. One small purse light coming right up.


It is Christmas but if you want to share your disaster stories I am all ears.

Let It Snow

 

 

These pictures were taken at 11:00 at night. They are not black and white. Isn't this pretty? The snow was a nice soft dry powder and we went outside to play in it and play with snowballs.I know that if  you have lot's of snow all the time it's no big deal. We have heat. It was still 94 degrees in early November here. In the last ten years I have lived here we have never had enough snow to make a snow ball, so of course we had to go out and play in it!

Always a LOT of Work.

I have been working on these. I have been painting and sanding and climbing on stepladders. I haven't been blogging much, because my body is working against my will. It just keeps going. I think I have those pink batteries in my innards. What would be nice is to sit down and have coffee. I would like to go blog visiting and reading, maybe even write a little.

Instead the work list is growing because now it is December again. What happened to this year? Didn't I just harvest my garden last week? How did this happen? I feel like Rumpelstiltskin.  Every year we haul out all this stuff.

It's a chore that I dread doing, alternating schizophrenically between bah- humbug and ooh goody it's Christmas! Is anyone else that weird? My back may go out while wrestling the tree into one piece, or hauling those storage boxes out from under the stairs. One never knows what perils lie waiting to plague one while getting into the festivities. Then you may happen upon a loan dead cockroach ( it's the South)or a spider lurking in the tissue paper.

But when it's done....and the music is playing.

I shout halleluiah I am finished let's celebrate!
Bring on those libations!
Yeah libations--spiked eggnog--hot toddies--Ben &Jerry's
OK--a glass of wine will suffice.

It's ready for Santa if he should happen to be in the neighborhood.

He is here.

That's good news. He'd smile but his feet are temporarily resting on my present. It's flooring! It may be next Christmas before we finish putting it in but it's going to get done eventually. Do you know what the perk is for him? Can you guess why a man would volunteer for a job like this? He doesn't have to do any shopping, other than trips to Lowe's! That place has become our second home.The man is comfortable at Lowe's.  He has been working very hard in the utility room. It is almost finished, when you see that you will be impressed.

The other little project I did yesterday was put these "valances" up. It's actually just fabric kinda wrapped around the rods and pinned with straight pins, a real Joe Maggee job. Joe is proud!  I have learned from the master.If you sew and are wonderful please don't say anything. This is it around here; me and Joe.

Joe rhymes with Moe which explains this picture.

Just when you think your family is complete someone else wants to move in. Meet Moe. He got left when the next door neighbor moved away. Moe eats here daily but never wanted to come in until the weather cooled off. Now, he is coming in the house. Santa is not so keen on another indoor/outdoor critter. I am perplexed. I am a dog lover! What is the deal with all these cats? A big cosmic joke. Moe is a nice cat, he is shy, but he's OK for a cat. He is neutered which is great. Tucker is at the vet today having that rude operation.That is his Christmas present, getting his cat nads snipped. I wonder if the Marlboro man snips their pets? The calf nut posts are really something aren't they? Pruning sheers and a hot fire....sounds like a song--"calfnuts  roasting on an open fire". I'm really getting into the holiday spirit don't you think?

As you can see all of this work and not enough sleep last night has provided you with a lot of free flight of ideas! Yeah it's rambling. But if I don't post it you may not hear from me until New Year's. Well at least that is my excuse.

Merry Christmas to us and God bless us every one.