To Pout, Or Not To Pout

I spent this week mainly at home, which was not how this week was supposed to go. Plans were made and cancelled, and the only constant in my life was pouting and processing tomatoes.

Planned but didn't happen:

Chicken broccoli impossible pie, cucumber tomato onion salad

Pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, tossed salad

Leftover kung pao chicken, rice, asian slaw

Out to eat

Pumpkin sausage soup, coleslaw

Veggie meal TBD

Ball game meal, either sloppy Joe's or hot dogs 

Things that did happen:

Monday: 66 Days till Christmas

The weather was finally getting a little cooler. I had to actually wear a shirt with sleeves, and Tennis shoes, but I was still wearing shorts!

The day felt great and the a/c was turned off, hopefully for the season. I was able to open windows and let fresh air in. 

I did a lot of organizing for the week, and headed upstairs to change out more seasonal clothes, before heading into the room of doom.

Monday dinner: TheHub said he would like soup for dinner. It was easy enough to do.

Chicken potato chowder, crackers

Tuesday:65 Days till Christmas I did a ton of laundry which was a good thing to do on a slightly overcast day. TheHub was out of town until late afternoon, and I was thrilled to have a day all to myself. Other than enjoying the day, taking a leisurely shower and some self pampering, I did little else other than read and cook more blooming tomatoes.

Tuesday dinner: Because I did not know what time TheHub would be home, I did not start  cooking. Leftovers to the rescue.

Kung pao chicken, rice

Wednesday:64 Days till Christmas

We were supposed to go to the beach, but I have learned unless there are transportation tickets purchased, not to get my hopes up. Once again the non-retired retiree's work took precedent. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

Since I was not traveling I amused myself cleaning out my armoire, and drawers, rearranging my side of the closet, and packing up more seasonal clothes that will not be worn again until spring.

I've bought several new items, so I also went through all fall and winter clothing to create a fairly large donation to The Exchange Club. I need to go ahead and get them out of the house before I have a chance to change my mind.

Wednesday dinner: TheHub wanted soup again tonight. Easy enough

Kinda sorta Thai chicken soup

Thursday: 63 Days till Christmas

I headed over to My Beloved Sister's house to see what all she has been up to. It was a lot. Part of it was just cleaning out some of her husband's things. She has gotten rid of the bulk of his clothes, and he had a ton of them, but I love one of the ideas she had. 

He had about 200 tee shirts. Whenever they went somewhere he bought one, so he had them from concerts, travels, art events, you name it and he bought one.  Some of them are seriously cool and she will hold on to them, but the others she plans to wear once, wash them and once she gets a load she will donate them to one of the homeless missions in town. I think wearing them first then donating is a double way to honor him.

Another thing she did was completely change the home office. Before it was dark and crowded. Now it is my favorite room in her house. Her husband was an artist, and left scads of paintings. She streamlined the desk, got rid of some of the heavier furniture and has turned all of the walls into a gallery. The room is so bright and happy now.

Though she has made a point of donating most of his clothes and shoes, she found 2 pairs of golf shoes that were new in the box. I suggested she sell them, so I listed them (she does no social media of any kind) on our local FB trading site. They were a great bargain for the men who bought them and she got some unanticipated cash.

After I finished oohing and cooing over her decorating skills (she is wonderful at it) TheHub and I went out for lunch. The restaurant is attached to our local fish market, so naturally I also had to go into that section and see what the catch of the day was. Veni, edi, emi ( I probably really screwed that up. My intention was I came I ate I bought

Thursday dinner: We came home from the fish market pretty full, and decided to have a light dinner.

Tomato cucumber onion salad, smoked tuna dip, crackers

Friday: 62 Days till Christmas

This was a kitchen work day. Of course tomatoes took precedent, but I also started deep cleaning the kitchen before the holidays. I spent the entire day in it and I am not yet finished, but I am close to being done. 

I also straightened and inventoried every single thing in the pantry, made a list based on what shelf they were on and posted it on the inside of the pantry door. I have an overwhelming amount of food, and when I actually listed I found I don't have duplicates of most things, but I have a back up to the back up for the back up.  I did not even make it to the "stash" in the laundry room. Geez! 

Friday dinner: We bought sea bass filets Thursday. Set the tone for the meal.

Broiled sea bass, baked potato, tossed salad

Saturday: 61 Days till Christmas

This was a ball game day. The weather started with blue skies but quickly became a gray gloomy day Sadly with the change in the barometric pressure my hip started yelling at me. We were invited to a party at one of our favorite neighbors house, but my fun was ruined by my stupid joint.

Instead we just hung at the house. I was bummed out

Saturday dinner: With the hopes of a fun evening with friends down the drain I pouted, thawed some pork and made dinner

Mexican pork stew

Sunday: 60 Days  till Christmas

TheHub had a bad night and did not sleep much at all Saturday night. It was time to get ready for early church and he was sitting in his recliner wrapped in 2 blankets  That is a big tell. He is one of those happy morning people who just irritate the crap out of us night owls. If the weather had been better I probably would have gone on to church without him, but it was rainy and gruesome out, so I stayed home with him. 

Did I mention it was our anniversary? We celebrated by watching ball games and movies, often with our eyes closed. Actually we had a delayed celebration planned for a few days later, and planned on doing nothing other than cooking out.

Sunday dinner: It was raining and TheHub still felt (and looked) bad, so we changed our plans and had some comfort food.

Mac and cheese

Planned for the week:

We are planning on taking a little road trip to the Shoals area in Northwest Alabama. After getting my hopes up the past week for the beach and having them dashed, I am refusing to go there this week. Passive aggressive? Possibly.

I only need to plan 5 meals for the week, which probably will change but hope (or delusion) springs eternal.

1. Corned beef hash, coleslaw

2. Lasagne, tossed salad

3. Hot dogs, coleslaw (our traditional Halloween meal)

4. Italian chicken casserole

5. Taco salad

Books read in October:

The Backyard Bird Chronicles

107 Days

The Women

The River Is Waiting

Have a great week staying on plan, going off plan, or with no plan at all.

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

Oh no just 9 weeks till Christmas

Finally! Drum roll please! I worked a few days in the Room of Horror, and managed to do some pretty serious arranging, tossing and rehoming items.

 

I went through all 600 of the ornaments I normally put on the den tree and reduced them by at least half. Those I no longer wanted were put into 2 separate containers, whimsical ornaments and traditional ornaments, then were listed in my local Buy Nothing Facebook group. 

I swear they were not listed more than 60 seconds before I had people who wanted them. 

The way the admin has the one I use set up, is to let the listing simmer for at least 24 hours before making a decision on which person can have whatever is offered there. I am not about to make a decision, so I assign them a number 1- whatever and have a random number generator pick for me. I make sure beforehand that anyone who is interested knows I will choose that way. For me the best thing that can happen is to have the items picked up and gone before I have a chance to change my mind, and those were gone by the next afternoon.

While I literally had my hands on each ornament, I decided to do something different (at least different for me) with the colored balls). I took 3 of the same size balls, in different colors, and used a green chenille stick to bind them together. I probably made about 15 bunches, and in my mind they will look really nice on the tree, however; sometimes my mind's eye plays tricks on me. Worse case scenario is that I undo them and use them as single balls.

All stored, used ribbons were ironed, bows were untied, ironed and retied, and all the little tchotchkes (jingle bells, snowflakes, pinecones, evergreens, etc.) I tie on each gift were put into small container based of type. I do not add them until I am ready to put the gifts under the trees.

I found a million (gross exaggeration to make a point) gift bags and gift boxes that are ready (whenever I am ready) to make the journey downstairs. I am going to give a lot of them away because we no longer give gifts to TheHubs side of the family. 

Like most families, once his parents were no longer with us, each of his siblings families (and ours) established their own Christmas traditions with their own kids and grandkids. My Beloved Sister and her husband continued to come to our house on Christmas day after Mom and Dad passed away, but they live just 10 minutes away (if they were stopped by the two traffic lights between our houses). Now that her husband has died, she will keep Christmasing with us, probably coming earlier and staying later than they did before.

There is still a bit more to do. The very back of the gigantic closet holds things I have not seen or used in years, and I need to go through it. I am betting most can be tossed or given away, and since I planned on digging in and finishing today, I need to close this post for now and get my tail upstairs before it gets any later.

5 days until Halloween

34 Days until Thanksgiving

60 Days until Christmas

Ho, Ho, Holy Toledo!!!!!

Oh no, Just 10 weeks until Christmas

** EDITED POST**

I got busy Sunday and forgot to hit publish, so this is what was meant for then. The Days Until are actually different, but I am not changing them from the original post. 

The tenth week before Christmas has come and gone, and it was pretty much a bust as far as Christmas planning goes.

I did get all my wrapping supplies organized and got all of the ribbon I recycle either ironed or steamed and ready to be used again. Sorry, but I am just not going to toss satin ribbon, when once it is ironed it looks brand new. I have done the same for some polyester ribbons using a steamer to straighten them. I figure there is no reason not to use them since once tied in bows no one knows I have "used" products on their gifts. 

I will confess I have done the same with tissue paper. I fold it and keep it in my craft cabinet, then run over it with a warm iron and it works like a charm.

I found a couple of Christmas gifts and ordered them but they have not arrived yet, so that only halfway counts.

And the room of horrors? Yep it stands untouched again. But my aim for Monday is to finally get in there and even if I don't finish, at least make some headway.

12 Days until Halloween

39 Days until Thanksgiving

67 Days until Christmas

Ho, Ho, How do I keep procrastinating!

Another day, another tomato

This was a nice week that had some fun things along with some down time. Overall it was my favorite type of week. 

But, I am still being overrun with tomatoes. My Beloved Sister suggested I pack a suitcase and head to Bunol Spain for the tomato throwing festival . Sadly it is in August, so I missed it! Instead I will just make tomato sauce or paste daily. I know it will come to an end soon, but right now I have about 40 tomatoes on the counter and 5 or 6 cups of cherry tomatoes.

What was planned (but mostly didn't happen)

1. Spaghetti with meat balls, tossed salad, garlic toast

2. Out to eat (birthday celebration)

3. Pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes (leftover), broccoli

4. Big salad meal TBD (must require lots of tomatoes though)

5. Veggie meal TBD

6. White bbq chicken, collards, cornbread

7. Sloppy Joes, tossed salad

Things that happened and meals that followed:

Monday: 73 Days till Christmas:

I typically do not like to plan anything on Mondays. It is a day when I try (sometimes unsuccessfully) to catch up on laundry and organize the week. Though sometimes my organizing is my nemesis, because while I am looking at the various things I want to do, making lists, planning where we will go or what we might do, I see something sparkly. Then my tiny squirrel brain sets off in a completely different direction and all of a sudden instead of organizing the week, I am making something out of toilet paper tubes or trying to get knots out of a necklace. Monday was one of those days!

Monday dinner: You say tomato and I say "holy smokes something has to be done with the morning's harvest" I used 8 of the approximately 1 billion sitting on my kitchen counter.

Spaghetti with meatballs, cucumber tomato onion salad, garlic toast

Tuesday: 72 days till Christmas 

This was TheHub's birthday, and though we are getting older I am thankful for the opportunity we both have for another year for each of us. I had a friend bemoaning getting older and all I could think was "Well, it beats the alternative". Did I make him a birthday cake or shower him with presents? Nope, we gave that up a few years ago. Individually we both buy what we need or want, and neither of us need or wants any doo-dads to clutter up our space or lives. And neither of us want that much cake hanging around with just the two of us here.

Tuesday dinner: DIL2* and My Beloved Sister joined us for dinner at Half Shell Oyster House. Everyone ordered what they wanted so I am just posting my meal and what was shared.

Shrimp and grits, asparagus (mine), crab claws and caramel cheesecake (birthday cake alternative) for everyone

Wednesday: 71 days till Christmas 

I woke early to a drop dead gorgeous day, got a few things done  at the house, then headed to my Wednesday class. Afterward, I had a couple of quick errands to run before heading to Homewood to meet a few friends for lunch. What a wonderful group of women they are! 

After good food and better conversations I ran a few more errands and found one specific item I was looking for. Score!

Wednesday dinner: Unfortunately for TheHub I had eaten a much bigger lunch than normal (black eyed peas, turnip greens, fried green tomatoes, cornbread) and was not hungry and did not want to cook. Fortunately he had a meeting Monday and brought home half of his boxed lunch and also brought home his side dish from his birthday dinner.

Doggy bag dinner, 1/2 chicken wrap,  red beans and rice

Thursday: 70 days till Christmas

TheHub worked at the dining room table (still!) most of the day while I was able to go to my Happy Place. Because it was October and the month for all things pumpkin, I decided to try a non-traditional pumpkin recipe, that the participants of Independence Place could make at home with little assistance. It was a little dicey because it was something different, and sometimes different does not work. This week with the exception of 1 participant, the pumpkin sausage soup was a huge success, with several participants even wanting seconds. 

As I have said, time and time again, I love being able to volunteer there. I get so much more from it than I could ever give.

Thursday dinner: Whatever we had was unremarkable and by Saturday when I wrote this neither TheHub nor I could remember what we ate.

Something, but who knows what it was

Friday: 69 Day till Christmas

It was another beautiful, warm (overly warm) day. I had a little running around to do, and TheHub needed a break from the work he was doing (I am pretty sure he is supposed ot be retired, but I think other than having an office away from home (and away from the dining room table while 2 dedicated offices in my house remain unoccupied) retirement for him was just theoretical.

We ran out to eat lunch then ran a couple of errands before he went back to the grindstone (AKA the dining room table) for about an hour, then to the golf course to hit a few balls before dark**

Friday dinner: We had a nice lunch and were not terribly hungry, so we ate a little later and it needed to be something I could cobb together quickly. The tomatoes on the counter top were screaming "use me, use me"

BLT*** salad, dinner rolls

Saturday: 68 Days till Christmas 

I woke, showered and put on my game day clothes early. Saturday mornings are usually spent watching/listening to ESPN's "Game Day" or "SEC Live".  This Saturday was an exception to our norm. 

ThePig was having a vendors day****, where folks (mostly local) set up tables inside the store with samples of their products. They have it yearly and it is a great way to try new (or just new to me ) products, and to get to know some of the faces behind the companies that produce them. They all want to chat about their foods. 

This is the first time TheHub has ever gone with me, and he enjoyed it as much as I did. In addition to the shopping list I had made Wednesday from their weekly food ad, we came out of the store with several unintended purchases, just because of the delicious samples . I did pass on the cheesecake which I would have bought if I had freezer space, but The Pig is carrying it regularly now so I can buy it when wanted.  (And yes, I am perfectly capable of making a delicious cheesecake myself, but sometimes if we have a house filled with houseguests I had rather spend my time with them than baking. )

Once home, after turning on the game, the blasted tomatoes started screaming at me. So I used some to make a soup base.

TheHub and I watched the game, folded laundry, and did a few chore while walking in and out of the den, stopping just to see some of the really good plays ( but with the volume turned up we could keep up with the game).

Next up was Georgia/Ole Miss. We actively watched it until Son2 came to the house so he and TheHub could leave for Tuscaloosa and the Bama game.

I watched it by myself until DIL2 came over. We saw the tail end of that game, then flipped the tv back and forth between Alabama/ Tennessee and Auburn/Missouri. Good night for Bama, not so good for Auburn.

Saturday dinner: Once the soup base was ready I threw everything but the kitchen sink it it and would up with a gigantic pot of soup.

Vegetable beef soup, dinner rolls

Sunday: 67 Days till Christmas

We woke extremely early to make it to church for the communion service, traditional worship, and Sunday School.

Afterward we came home changed and had some of the soup for lunch. (I had transferred it to the crock pot Saturday and kept it on the low setting over night). After eating I transferred it to a bowl to cool in the fridge before packing it in 2 person servings to live in the freezer until we want it again.

I was just about to head up to the room of horrors when  Son2 and DIL2 stopped by. I was so sad I was not able to head upstairs to work in that room (she said sarcastically, since she will use any diversion to keep from actually doing it)

Now, after we visited with them for a bit, I could have headed up to the room, but TheHub turned on the Eagles game so that both of us could put our feet up  and "watch" the game with our eyes closed. 

When my eyes opened, I decided I did not have enough time to go up and start work before needing to make dinner. (You might notice a pattern of avoidance here)

Sunday dinner: TheHub  thought Chinese food sounded good and who am I to argue with take-out? There is a place near us that has such huge servings, we buy one meal and two egg rolls. It is enough for dinners two nights and at least one lunch. 

Kung pao chicken, egg roll

Planned for the week

1. Chicken broccoli impossible pie, cucumber tomato onion salad

2. Pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, tossed salad

3. Leftover kung pao chicken, rice, asian slaw

4. Out to eat

5. Pumpkin sausage soup, coleslaw

6. Veggie meal TBD

7. Ball game meal, either sloppy Joe's or hot dogs 

There is a possibility we might head to the beach this week and if so all planned meals are off the table.

Books read in October:

The Backyard Bird Chronicles

107 Days

The Women

Have a great week staying on plan, going off plan or with no plan at all.

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

*Son2 was working in Nashville and could not join us.

** It is getting dark too early for me. When we revert back to CST I will be in daylight mourning until late January when I start noticing the days getting longer again.

*** I cook 4 packages of bacon at once, then freeze it for future uses. It is a snap to grab a couple of slices and nuke them, whenever we need/want bacon.

****Unintentionally we were among the first 100 customers, only because it was game day and we wanted to watch the Vandy/LSU game. Unbeknownst to me, the first 100 received a free loaf of bread and a pound of coffee. Of course neither cover the cost for the excess we spent buying the impulse buys, but it was still a nice surprise.

Another Halloween House

 This is a house* about 10 houses from mine, in the original section of the neighborhood.  Back in the mid 60’s those couple of streets were that year’s Parade of Homes featured  neighborhood. The following youtube video is interesting to me and the only interest to any of you might be the building materials the builders were so proud of. Start at about minute 6:23

I did not even know there was a part 3 until it started playing after part 2 ended. It turns out our first house in the neighborhood was called the Monticello 2:34. I had no idea until I saw this video today.

* The Bigfoot by the front door is reversible, either black or white. It stays there year round and is always outfitted with seasonally appropriate accessories. For instance Santa hat at Christmas, bunny ears at Easter . . . . 

As an aside part 1 at the 5:23 minute mark is our first home in the neighborhood. We bought it when I was 23, from the original owners. When we had outgrown that house, we literally moved 3 streets away. I really do like living here in this hood and we like the house we are in now other than the fact that there are too many doors.  

This will not be our last home. In a few years it will be time for us to scale down and we will move across town closer to where Son2 and DIL2 live. It will be different for me because I have lived in this area forever, but life changes doesn't it?

What Day Is It Now?

It seems that I am a day late once again. I guess my Monday post is actually becoming a Tuesday event.

What was planned:

1. Chicken and dumplings, vegetables of some sort

2. Baked potatoes with leftover chili and shredded cheese, tossed salad or coleslaw

3. Grilled tuna steaks, mashed potatoes, coleslaw or tossed salad, bbq bread

4. Out to eat

5. Big salad meal TBD

6. Veggie dinner TBD

7. Something with baked chicken, no idea what though 

What we ate and what was joyful*:

Monday: 80 days till Christmas

My Beloved Sister went with me to Independence Place. As anyone who reads me regularly knows. it is my happy place. I hardly get inside the door and am greeted with hugs, smiles, and happiness from all the participants. They have my heart! 

My volunteering there always has some recipe, usually a very simple one that any of them would be able to make with little assistance.  I figured Monday's recipe might be a little dicey since we were making a vegetarian version of "tuna" salad. It is a chickpea version of the traditional dish. To my surprise they not only ate it, but most of them asked for more. 

We have a system of grading the recipes; thumbs up if they like it, thumbs sideways if it's meh, and thumbs down if they don't like it at all. This time it was totally thumbs up, which usually only happens with candies, cookies or other sweet recipes. 

We got back to our side of town just as school let out. Something as simple as that alters my route. I live in an incorporated suburban town with its own school system, which has no school buses. That means each kid in the system has to be picked up by a driver (single car  pick-up or car pool) and that in turn means an insane amount of cars on the road between 3 and 3:45.  I have lived here long enough to accept it for what it is, and just make my life easier by adjusting where I drive during that time. If it means driving a little out of my way to get to the house, so be it.

Monday dinner: I had not taken anything out of the freezer for dinner so we ran out to a local meat and three to grab dinner.

Pork chop, greens, squash casserole, cornbread 

Tuesday: 79 Days till Christmas

 I began having coffee on the screened porch, listening to the birds. The mornings are cooler now and it is the greatest way to start my day. The rocking chair only adds to the enjoyment. Next up for the day was doing laundry. 

I do not understand how just two people create so much of it, but we do. After a few loads, and a few cups of coffee, I was about to go upstairs to tackle the Room of Horrors, but I was saved by the bell. Son2 called and wanted to talk a bit while he was driving out of town. After he called I decided I needed/wanted to talk with the other 2 sons so I called both of them. I guess I will use any and every excuse to ignore that blooming room. By the time I hung up with both of them, something sparkly caught my attention and I was off in another direction. 

Tuesday dinner: Earlier in the day TheHub had mentioned that Tuesday was National Taco Day. Being a good citizen we had to almost obey the law.

Taco salad

Wednesday: 78 days till Christmas

 My normal Wednesday class was cancelled so I hung out around the house doing whatever I could think of to avoid finishing up the room of horrors. I am a wonderful avoider!

Wednesday dinner: TheHub suggested we run up to a local meat and three for dinner. I am never going to say no to going out to eat somewhere really casual. We were just about finished eating when 2 long time friends walked in. They sat at our table and we were enjoying catching up with them. "B" asked me about a couple of mutual friends, and I had just told her I run into them at the grocery store every now and then, when who walked in? Yep the very same couple we were just talking about. The night turned into a reunion of sorts and we sat and talked until the place was about to close.

Mac and cheese, turnip greens, okra

Thursday: 77 Days till Christmas

TheHub and I had a run around day. We started at the produce stand I frequent, the headed to Duluth Trading, Aldi, The Pig, and a quick drugstore stop. We made a stop back by the house to put the groceries away, and have a quick lunch, before running out for TheHub to do a little business chore. After that we ran to our church to drop off a couple of bags of groceries for the food pantry.  

Through donations our church maintains a rather large food pantry, and every other week hosts a drive through pantry pickup for anywhere from 250-300 families who need food assistance. We have 3 drop boxes in the church building for shelf stable items, and I try to add something every week. I am very thankful for Publix's bogo!

Thursday dinner: I had a meal with planned overs

Baked potato covered with leftover chili, coleslaw

Friday: 76 Days till Christmas  

This was just a beautiful day, and a good day!

Friday: Neither of us were particularly hungry.

Toasted cheese, tomato, and onion sandwiches

Saturday: 75 days till Christmas

Game Day! Alabama had the early ball game, vs. Missouri. TheHub and I begin the morning watching ESPN's Game Day, and The SEC Network morning sports show, clicking back and forth between them as we walked through the den. (We mainly listen to the tv shows)'

But then, at 11 we were both glued to our respective seats in the den to watch Alabama and Missouri square off. It was a close game, then we watched/napped/ listened to whoever played next ( I have already forgotten)

The night game was Auburn/Georgia. I was hoping Auburn would win, but no dice.

Saturday dinner: Since we here not heavily invested in the Auburn game and the night was beautiful we decided to fire up the grill right before the game started. We just listened to it until we finished eating.

Grilled steak, mashed potatoes, tomato cucumber and onion salad

Sunday: 74 Days till Christmas 

We began our Sunday in the usual way, with the communion service, followed by our traditional worship, then Sunday School. It is a great way for us to start our week. It leaves me in a good headspace ( at least for a while. By the next Sunday I am always in need of a re-set)

We had no plans so we headed home, changed into casual clothes, (still wearing shorts, tee shirts and padding around in flip flops here) and did a few things before coordinating our calendars for the week.

Sunday is for rest and we did just that!

Sunday dinner: I would say I cooked but I didn't. TheHub had to run an errand and he picked up dinner from Guthrie's

Chicken tenders coleslaw

Planned for this week, maybe.

1. Spaghetti with meat balls, tossed salad, garlic toast

2. Out to eat (birthday celebration)

3. Pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes (leftover), broccoli

4. Big salad meal TBD (must require lots of tomatoes though)

5. Veggie meal TBD

6. White bbq chicken, collards, cornbread

7. Sloppy Joes, tossed salad

Books read in October:

The Backyard Bird Chronicles

107 Days

Have a great week staying on plan, going off plan, or with no plan at all.

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

* I am not putting this on each day's list, but our tomatoes are producing to the point of overproducing. I am making either tomato sauce or tomato paste every single day, and we are giving cherry tomatoes to any neighbor who will take some.  Right this minute it is not joyful, but it will be this winter when I have the base for soups, spaghetti, or chili

Oh no just 11 weeks till Christmas

First off, did I attack the Room of Horrors this week? That answer would be a big fat no. Why, you might ask?  If I were to answer honestly, the answer would be I just was not feeling it. And now with a 10 week countdown facing me, feeling it or not no longer matters. I have nothing planned for Monday except to face the room of doom and get it done. Unless I can think of another lame brain excuse!

I've gotta stop with the excuses and just get Christmas going!

Meanwhile, I did get  few presents for both the sons and the DILs. Some of them were smaller  odd sized presents, and I made boxes to fit them. I am actually getting pretty decent at box making.

Everything bought so far has been wrapped, but most are not tagged or bowed yet. I write the name of each recipient on the bottom of the wrapped gift with a fine tip black sharpie marker. If they want to complain that I have ruined the integrity of the package by doing that, so be it. I'm not going to lose sleep over it one way or the other. 

I do not put the tags or ribbons on the presents until I have the trees up and can artfully arrange them beneath the tree  have somewhere to toss them where they will not be in the way, or get stepped on.

Because it is so close to Halloween, I have been investing my energy toward that holiday. By that I mean driving around and looking at everyone else's lovely decor, not by doing anything here at home. It's the thought that counts, right?

I did finish buying all the Hershey chocolate bars for the ghosts an goblins that will be coming by the house on the big night. This year I upped my count to 90 bars. Last year I ran out and had to turn off the lights and quit answering the door earlier than normal. I know every year some kids phase out because they think they are too old and it is not cool, but every house in the neighborhood that sells has a family with kids. I never know quite how many we will have.

1 Day till Thanksgiving (Canada)

19 Days till Halloween

46 Days till Thanksgiving (U.S.A.)

74 Days till Christmas

Ho Ho Hold on to your hats. It's coming!

More Halloween

 I am really enjoying all the Halloween yard decorations near me. If you have noticed there are no pictures of my yard or house, because I have done zero Halloween decorating so far. I tend to do any outdoor decorating at the last minute and limit it to my front porch and staircase.

I do usually decorate the inside of the house, particularly the living room, foyer, and dining room, but TheHub is STILL using the dining room table as his office, and all of his overflow stuff is in the living room. (Brief case, backpack, portfolio, file boxes, calculator, etc). 😖

Enough said!

This house pictured below has a variation on this same theme every year. The only thing that really changes is where the skeletons are climbing. It is also in the adjacent neighborhood that I drive through nearly every day.

Another Day, Another Halloween Yard

This House pales in comparison to the house I posted pictures of yesterday. I do admire their restraint. 

It is not in my exact neighborhood, but the one adjoining mine. I ride through it nearly every day (have to to get where I am going if I am headed south) and have noticed the increase in their decor every few days.

Things I Forgot

Yesterday's post promised pictures from a house in my neighborhood, which I forgot to attach. Rather than including them in that particular post I thought I might give them one of their very own.

These folks are Halloween aficionados and their work needs to be shared. Understand that all of these photos are in a single dwelling home's front yard.  I love stopping in front of the house and looking at it. I see something I had not seen before every time.

This does not do the magnitude of the display justice, but at least you can get an idea. I only wish I had a wide angle lens on my phone.

They are having their house painted which is why the bucket of paint is in the yard

I have no idea why the blue underlined stuff is in the body of the text.

Must be the spirits in these photos acting up.

Late Is My New Normal

Well, once again I am too late getting this posted!

Monday: 87 days till Christmas 

Not a lot happened on Monday. It was mainly a stay at home and try to get caught up on some neglected chores type of day. The day was gorgeous and instead of hitting it hard, I sat on the porch having coffee and bird watching.

Monday dinner: There was nothing exciting about the meal, but it was filling and tasty.

Lady peas, mac and cheese, coleslaw

Tuesday: 86 days till Christmas

We had been trying to host a retirement dinner for two men TheHub worked with, along with their spouses since June. It is kind of hard to get everyone together on the same night, but between all the  travels and other obligations we finally agreed on Tuesday night. 

It felt good to put on night time makeup, and some slightly fancier than church duds and join all those folks who enjoy the food scene Birmingham has to offer.

We met at Dyron's Low Country for a lot of conversations, catching up, and laughs. Thankfully we were seated in a private alcove where no one could hear us. It was a win for the other diners!

Tuesday dinner: Dyron's celebration, and I am listing the food we shared, as well as my dinner since everyone ordered what they specifically wanted as their entree.

Apps: Crab claws, okra, charcuterie board, Entree: snapper, green beans, cheese grits, Dessert:pistachio cake (TheHub and I shared)

Wednesday: 85 days till Christmas 

I got up early, read a bit, then went to class. 

Since I was dressed to be in the company of other humans, and TheHub likes to eat out at lunch, I called him on the way home, stopped by the house to pick him up and we went to lunch at The Electric. It is a low key neighborhood bar/eatery with good food and space at lunchtime to have some good conversations.

The day was drop dead gorgeous and we rode around to look at some of the many Halloween decorations people have up.

I took the following pictures from one house in our neighborhood. To say they are Halloween enthusiasts would be putting it mildly. And yes all of these are in one single home's front yard.

Wednesday dinner: I had some leftovers that needed to be used, and we had tomatoes coming out of our ears.

Chicken bog, tomato cucumber onion salad

Thursday: 84 Days till Christmas

I battled the refrigerator and finally won. I did the big clean, removing everything and cleaning every surface, then wiping off all containers, bottles and jars, before replacing them. 

Since I am no longer the only one here during the daytime, my days of being the fridge police person are over. Evidently, if whatever said person is looking for and it might be somewhere crazy like behind the almond milk, someone other than me goes into the pantry, opens a new whatever, then puts the newly opened one back in the refrigerator. 

This  resulted in 3 bottles of ranch dressing, 4 bottles of ketchup, and 3 jars of maraschino cherries all hanging out. on various shelves.  I incorporated all like items, which freed up an amazing amount of space. 

I also found things I did not know were even in there. Unopened pickled brussels sprouts or an unopened jar of TJ's browned butter? I know I had to be the one who bought them, but I must have brought them home and stuck them in the fridge, forgotten about them and they were pushed to the back of the shelf. I placed them where they should have been to begin with, and now they can be seen and used.

Thursday dinner: The Greek Food Festival began Thursday. We had conflicts Friday and Saturday night so we ran by and just did a pick up instead of getting to enjoy all festivities by dining there.

Greek Chicken or Souvlakia, rice pilaf, spanakopita, tossed salad

 

Friday: 83 days till Christmas

The Parkinson's Association had a golf tournament and TheHub left the house by 7 to help set things up before playing in it. I got to enjoy coffee, have my music up loud and do whatever I wanted without having to be quiet. It was wonderful!

Our neighbor had asked TheHub to feed their cat while they were out of town a couple of weeks ago. She knocked on the door Friday night with a gorgeous loaf of sourdough bread and a mason jar of pesto sauce. we had already eaten of we would have had that for dinner. The bread became toast for the next few days, and the pesto went into the fridge.

Friday dinner: TheHub picked up extra for for his dinner when we went to the Greek Food Festival.Hooray I only had to warm his. I was in the mood for soup.

Coconut soup, sliced cucumbers, radishes and pepper strips

Saturday:  82 days till Christmas

Game day! TheHub and Son2 went to the Bama game while My Beloved Sister and DIL2 came here to watch the game. We did a lot of game watching and talking, along with a little cooking.

Saturday dinner: After the game Son2 and DIL2 stayed and ate with us

Chili, corn chips, brownies

Sunday: 81 days till Christmas

We woke and made it to the early communion service before going to our traditional early church service, followed by Sunday School. The only part I don't enjoy is getting up so early on a Sunday. We used to go to Sunday school then would go to the 11a.m. service. Now instead of getting out of church at noon, we are through by 10:50. It gives a whole other meaning to beating the Baptists to restaurants*. When we go out to eat afterward, we see mainly the Sunday brunch/lunch crowd, who did not go to any services anyway, so they are the ones who get the really good seats!

We came home and I was tired. I am still fighting the post Covid fatigue, but a large part of it might have been that I went to bed at 3 and woke at 6:15. So I did some dozing off and on, sitting up with a book in my hand. I would wake when the book hit the floor, pick it up, read a page or two, then doze, wait for it to drop again and repeat the process.

Sunday dinner: I had that gorgeous pesto in the fridge and it was screaming to get out.

Pasta with pesto, tossed salad, toast

Moving forward with what might happen:

1. Chicken and dumplings, vegetables of some sort

2. Baked potatoes with leftover chili and shredded cheese, tossed salad or coleslaw

3. Grilled tuna steaks, mashed potatoes, coleslaw or tossed salad, bbq bread

4. Out to eat

5. Big salad meal TBD

6. Veggie dinner TBD

7. Something with baked chicken, no idea what though

Books read in October:

The Backyard Bird Chronicles

Have a great week staying on plan, going off plan, or with no plan at all

May all your weeds be wildflowers.

Anne

*Growing up Methodist, our sermons never ran over. The reason given was always so we could beat the Baptists to lunch.

Oh no just 12 weeks till Christmas

This week I started Christmasing pretty slow, or not at all, but by midweek I was feeling a little differently. 

I had been checking my Libby app for new 2025 Christmas magazines and on Wednesday 4 appeared. I  have them until next Wednesday and went through them this weekend to see if they had any new ideas I want to try. The answer unfortunately was yes!

I ordered a couple of "add in" presents for my DILs and My Beloved Sister 

My sister has said she wants nothing for Christmas since she is busy streamlining her house  Honoring her wishes, the things I have for her this year will be/are all either consumable and/or extremely useful  I do like to have some large presents under the tree for her to open so this year. One will be an 8 pack of toilet paper and another will be a pack of garbage bags. She can't get upset with me getting her those, can she?

Our great nephew was selling wrapping paper as a fundraiser for his school. I ordered some from him figuring it would take a while for it to be shipped to me. Turns out there was a three day turnaround from the day I ordered it until it was at my house. 

They had a special deal where you could order 3 rolls (their choice) for the price of one roll from the new collection. I figure they are papers from past Christmases that did not sell out, and that is what I ordered. I was surprised that they were three lovely different prints, and all were reversible. It is actually like getting 6 papers. I was more than pleasantly surprised.

Again I ignored the room of horrors, but I am determined to do better this week. 

As a holiday aside, since it is now October, and Halloween is near, I got my skull plates out of the china cabinet for daily use.

25 Days till Halloween

53 Days till Thanksgiving

80 Days till Christmas

Ho, Ho, How did I manage to do so little this week