End of a Busy Week

I have just finished making a batch of dog biscuits. Again, I will be moving half of the batch into doggie paw print gift bags destined for the freezer to be given out closer to Christmas.

Yesterday I went into Napanee and hit a couple of stores to finish up Christmas shopping. I have wrapped the stocking stuffers for my daughter and her husband and will be taking them with me when I go to Cobourg tomorrow morning to drop off the Advent Calendar gifts to my grand children. While shopping for others, I picked up for myself a 4x6 area rug for $10 to place at the door where people enter with their snowy boots. We will have snow that stays very soon. I also had to buy a new battery for my van. That was NOT on sale.  They never are. On the way home, I stopped at the local Christmas Tree farm and bought a mixture of evergreen boughs for my 3 front yard planters. It is much cheaper to buy them here by weight than going to Home Depot and paying for prepared bunches. I used the yellow twigged Dogwood in my own backyard for the centre height, and also I pruned some smaller branches from my Juniper bushes to fill in the gaps left by the larger branches.

This is one of my planters at the entrance to my verandah. The second is off to the other side. The third is in the background by the downspout. I only added a solar light and a gold star (from the Dollar Store). I may add some more red and gold with a ribbon or something.

This week I did not make ANY Christmas cards at all. I have been shopping, wrapping, cooking or chopping and freezing food I bought in abundance on Tuesday, cleaning out the basement and dealing with all the stuff I have been bringing upstairs. I have thrown out a lot of JUNK and I have been moving stuff out of the house and into the shed (where it may eventually get tossed in the Spring). I have NOT been doing any housework except to sweep up all the grit that is coming upstairs from the cellar. I will thoroughly clean each room before I decorate. I did however clean my fridge by removing everything and washing all the shelves before I went grocery shopping on Tuesday. And I removed everything from under my sink and thoroughly scrubbed under there....just because it needed it badly and I couldn't stand it any longer. I made a lovely chicken vegetable soup that has given me lunches all week.

 I cut up the four bags of broccoli and placed the florets into a large freezer bag, and I peeled the stalks and sliced for the medium sized freezer bag.

 I shredded one of 3 heads of cabbage and sauteed in butter.

I used two bags of frozen tomatoes (from last summer's garden) to make a tomato sauce for tonight's moussaka when my son and his fiancee come for dinner.

Yes, I am still following my Doctor's recommended diet to control my blood sugar. It is a lot of work, but it is getting easier. I don't see her again until January.  This week's goal is to buckle down and get those Christmas cards made and sent off in the mail. How are your Christmas preparations going?

No Card Making Today

Today was a lovely day, weather-wise. It was sunny and warm-ish and presented itself as the perfect day to get outdoors and get some errands run. I left this morning to pick up groceries after I went to the Post Office. I had intended to hit a couple of grocery stores, but I found so many of my list items on sale at the first store, that I decided to go home straight afterwards. I arrived home just before  noon and remembered that I hadn't eaten breakfast yet. So I ate a mushroom and zucchini omelet for lunch and then I brought down the Rubbermaid bin of outdoor Christmas lights from one of the spare bedrooms. It took several hours, but I have the lights put up. I will wait until December before I turn them on in the evenings. I only have evergreen garland across the railing on the front verandah. I am trying to make things easier on myself by just hanging lights where I used to place both. The fake evergreen gets weakened and damaged with exposure to the elements, and I don't feel like replacing them anymore. My decorating could use a little understatement anyways. I picked up a multi coloured rope light at the hardware store when it went on sale a couple of weeks ago. I really don't like, nor can I afford,  the new outdoor decorations that have come on the market the last few years. So today I made a Christmas tree for the front garden by turning a tomato cage upside down and wrapping the 15 foot rope light and some old evergreen garland around the form.

My DIY Christmas tree from an upside down tomato cage.

I have taken pictures of today's grocery shop, but tomorrow I will have to slice and dice everything up and get it into the freezer.

 Meat cost a total of $56.42

Chicken breasts were $2 a pound and the cap off rib steaks were on sale for $3.49 a pound. I also picked up 3 lbs. of lean ground beef for $10, salami, Italian sausage and kielbasa

 Dairy cost $28.07  The blocks of cheese were only $4 each

 The produce was where I did very well. I bought so much, I made it into two photos for a total of $36.19
I bought zucchini, peppers, mushrooms, spinach, avocados, apples and blackberries.

 I bought 4 bags of broccoli at $1 a bag, 3 cabbages, a turnip and 2 eggplants to make more yummy moussaka.

My only pantry item was a bottle of olive oil for $ 7.99 which brought my total grocery bill to $129

I have yet to pump water out of the basement, but I did return some emails and phone calls that were pending. I am going now to eat a chicken stir fry for dinner.

Daybook: Monday, Nov. 20/17

It is 6 o'clock Monday evening. I have decided I am going to post my Daybook before I sit down for dinner, or I will never get it done. I was thrilled to see that my blogging friend Nathalie posted something this morning, and also relieved that she took off the comment section. I try really hard to read blog posts, but I just haven't had time to comment on anyone's. Maybe I will do the same thing. At this time of year, no one has time to "fritter" on the computer. After all, I started this blog only to keep friends and family informed of my daily activities.

Outside my window.....there is snow on the ground. It started Saturday night, so that Sunday morning we woke up to our first snowfall of the season. A lot of it melted away, but then again this morning, it began snowing again. It is dark outside and has been for a couple of hours.

I am thankful for.....on-line shopping. I am buying a lot of my stocking stuffers from Amazon and loving it. It is worth it to me to have stuff delivered right to my door, in all kinds of weather.

From the kitchen.....this weekend, I baked a batch of doggie biscuits and immediately put half of them away in the freezer for all my doggie friends at Christmas. That means I will have to bake another batch this weekend and again put half of them away. I have them wrapped up in paw print bags. I made a chicken broth this afternoon and another Tex Mex casserole for dinner tonight.

I am wearing.....black leggings (SURPRISE!), black button down shirt, black socks, and a red sweater with white polka dots. 

I am creating.....more Christmas cards. I wanted to make 15-20 last week, but only accomplished  ten. I need to speed things up. I also put together quickly an easy beading project.

I am going.....to have supper, watch the news, and then some Netflix for the rest of the night.

I am hoping.....I can finish cleaning up the cellar this week and also get out my outside Christmas decorations.

I am hearing.....the furnace coming on.

Around the house.....there is so much to do, it is beginning to affect my sleep. My mind is racing in the early morning hours with everything that needs doing. "Dee" reminded me this morning that to eat an elephant, you need to take one bite at a time.

One of my favourite things.....I don't know. I don't want to think right now.

A few plans for the rest of the week.....include wrapping all the stocking stuffers for my daughter and my SIL. The Advent calendars are finished and I will have to arrange meeting my daughter in Cobourg (which is halfway for each of us) and have lunch somewhere and I can give the kids their Advent gifts for the first of December. I want to finish up as many Christmas cards as I can so that I can mail them out at the end of November. I NEED to do some grocery shopping. I want to start putting up some outdoor decorations and lights. I have to call and arrange an appointment to have my winter tires put on. I want to finish up the cellar so I can call someone in to find the source of the water that is still on the basement floor. My son and I replaced the eaves trough and downspout, but I am having to pump water out of the basement every single day. My plan is to bring up all the bins and boxes and "deal" with them up here. I have thrown things out. I have found storage for some things up here on the main living area or out in the shed. But nothing is going back down into the cellar. Period.

Here's the picture I am sharing.....

.....some Christmas cards...

Daybook: Monday, Nov. 13/17

Outside my window.....it is gray and cold looking. It was actually snowing earlier, but none of it stuck on the ground.

I am thinking.....of all I need to accomplish this week. On Saturday, as I was in a rush to get out the door for the day, I realized that the furnace had stopped and that the house was getting colder. It turns out there was water in my cellar. I won't go into the gory details right now (that is for another post), but my temporary solution worked and I do now have heat. BUT, this week I need to wet vacuum up the rest of the water off the floor and see about fixing or replacing my eaves trough (gutter) in the back of the house. That, and work at trying to get prepared for Christmas.

I am thankful for.....friends and family.

From the kitchen.....I have a large pot of homemade beef and vegetable soup simmering on the stove.

I am wearing.....a purple and white polka dotted  top with denims and mostly gray Canadian themed socks.

I am creating..... another mini album (it just needs the covers made and the binding done) and more Christmas cards. My goal for this week is 25 or 30 handmade cards.

I am going.....nowhere today. I was in the hardware store earlier this morning to pick up an order.  I also worked outside a bit taking some items into the shed for winter storage. I hunted down my wet/dry shop vac to vacuum up the basement floor, only to discover that mine is missing some key components (like the hose), and I have no idea where they have gone. I will ask my son if I can borrow his. I also unearthed the missing pieces of the eaves trough and downspout that came down as a result of ice. I will have to buy more eaves trough hangers.

I am hoping.....that I will be able to put up the eaves trough on my own because the professionals are now booking into next year. It seems they are swamped.

I am hearing.....occasional traffic outside, still more blasting going on, and the furnace coming on (thankfully)

Around the house.....there is so much housework that needs doing, but it will have to wait, as I need to complete my cards and Advent calendars and stocking stuffers that need to be delivered by months end.

One of my favourite things.....is a working furnace. Funny how these things gain more value and prominence when you no longer have them.

A few plans for the rest of the week.....have already been spelled out. I have no appointments or places that I need to be. I would like very much to attend the Christmas bazaar on Amherst Island this Saturday.

Here's the picture I am sharing.....

That's right. My Dad and "Dee" are taking me and one of my sisters-in-law on a Caribbean Cruise mid January. Am I spoiled, or what?

Frustrating Friday

I don't know why this is happening to me lately. I write the title of my blog post, and then  I must do something wrong because it immediately posts before I have a chance to write one word. Oh well. It is further proof of how frustrating my Friday has been.

I had plans to accomplish a lot this week. I am definitely working on things and being very busy with it all, but as usual, they are not the things I planned to do. I need to make at least 15 Christmas cards a week in order to make my self-imposed quota. I only got 5 made, but I have addressed the envelopes of all the cards I have made so far. I made a wedding card and sent it off in the mail with a gift card inside. I made my grand daughter a mini album for her graduation photos and that has been put in the mail today. I have printed out, cut and scored some projects that I will be taking to the Craft Day tomorrow on the Island.

This week I finally removed the air conditioning unit from my bedroom window. I brought in the outdoor Halloween decorations and I also washed up my ceramic indoor decorations and found a place to put ALL of my fall paraphernalia that doesn't involve storing it in the cellar. I HATE my cellar. It is spooky enough without my  Halloween collections. I watered my indoor plants again, picked up my Avon order, phoned in my prescriptions and picked them up. I drove to Walmart to pick up some dog food and found a few more stocking stuffers to buy.                .

I did some grocery shopping and promised to post it, so here goes.....

 Dairy cost me $29.45

 Meat cost $11.90

 Produce cost $22.18

Coffee, tomato paste and vegetable oil (to make the dog biscuits) came to $8.65
The bleach, 2 sizes of freezer bags, and scouring sponges cost $5.12

Daybook: Monday Nov. 6/17

Outside my window.....my autumn coloured silk leaf garland is still hanging from my porch railing. My 10 little  pumpkin lights are still sitting in the garden. A basket of hanging vines is still suspended from the porch ceiling where I transplanted them before I left on my trip out West, and amazingly they are still alive. We have had a couple of hard frosts.

I am thinking.....there is still yard cleanup to do, but I may hold off until I am ready to put out some outdoor decorations.

I am thankful for.....a day without rain. We have had so much of it recently. I noticed quite a few areas that have flooded when I went into Kingston earlier this morning.

From the kitchen.....I made a big batch of  beef vegetable soup on Saturday, doggie biscuits yesterday morning, and right now I am lightly sauteing a large pot of shredded cabbage in butter. In another hour or two I will fry some eggplant slices to make a pan of moussaka for dinner tonight and tomorrow.

I am wearing.....my uniform of denim jeans, a blue long sleeved T-shirt with hoodie, and socks.

I am creating.....several Christmas projects. I've made some birthday and thank you cards to gift at Christmas. I have 14 completed Christmas cards, and some ready to put together, as well as 6 Christmas cards with boxes attached. I have made and mailed out another "Thinking of You" card. I need to make a wedding card to go with a gift certificate I bought this morning. And I am in the middle of putting together a mini album to send my grand daughter for all her graduation photos.

I am going.....nowhere else this afternoon. I did my errands and running around this morning.

I am hoping.....to complete at least 15 Christmas cards a week through the month of November, so I can mail them all out at the end of the month.

I am hearing.....school buses going past the house, which signals the fact that it is now after 2:30 in the afternoon.

Around the house.....I hope to get more cards and projects worked on this week. I went absolutely nowhere last week, not even the post office. This morning I picked up a lot of mail, including 3 packages. It was better than my birthday. I received two Halloween cards from two of my grands, the wedding announcement and photo of my niece's wedding, and  a sympathy card from a good friend on the passing of my stepdad. I wish I could say that I saved money by not leaving the house (no gas, no money spent in the stores); however, two of those packages came from Amazon, so you know that was not the case. I also picked up some groceries. This was the first shop for the month and I will post those photos later.

One of my favourite things.....right now is a Christmas 12" x 12" paper pad that I bought at  Michael's after Christmas sale about 3 years ago. It was a fantastic price and it continues to provide me lots of options for Christmas cards all these years later and for several years more.

A few plans for the rest of the week.....include 2 events that are both happening this Saturday. At 12:30 I will meet with one group of friends to celebrate a birthday lunch at a restaurant in Kingston. From there I will need to drive to Millhaven to catch the 2:30 ferry over to Amherst Island where I will be meeting up with another group of friends for a  day of Christmas Crafting. We will be making several different projects to sell the following Saturday at the annual Amherst Island Christmas Bazaar. We need to bring a dish to share for our potluck dinner. Hopefully, we will be able to get a lot of projects made for the sale in those few hours. Because I will be away from home for so long, I will need to bring the dog out to my son's place before I go to the restaurant for 12:30. It will be a very busy day...but fun.

Here's the picture I am sharing.....

My sample pack of Freebies arrived in the mail. From left to right, Breathe Right strips sample pack, Sensodyne mouth wash, full sized  Pedigree Denta Flex and Denta Stix bones, Little Caesar dog food, two Keurig coffee pods, sample of natural peanut butter, 3 different granola bars, coupons for free dairy products (creamed cottage cheese and a container of oat milk, and some high value coupons. I LOVE free.