A Wet and Rainy Halloween

I am pretty sure that a little rain will not dampen the enthusiasm of trick-or-treaters tonight. The temperature is mild (at 12 C degrees) and I have been watching the kids as they pass by my window on their way home from school. They look very excited for tonight. I should have cleaned and swept off my verandah yesterday after returning from the cravings workshop because it was a warm sunny day, but I was feeling tired. So I worked on it this morning in the rain, and put out a very few decorations. I sold a lot of them this past Spring in my yard sale, so didn't have much left to work with. That's okay. I have not been able to part yet with my Halloween ceramics, so I still have those and my silk leaf banner. I just set them up on the summer "cooking" table at the end of the deck. The earthenware pickling jar underneath holds my outdoor hand tools for the flower beds, like the trowel, shears, cultivator, etc.  I have a string of orange lights inside the ghost, but I will light some candles to put in both jack o'lanterns.

I will wear my black witch's robes tonight, and I will wear this cute little witch fascinator that my DIL bought for me from Dollarama. It is purple satin, black feathers, lace and netting. And you may or may not be able to see a large purple gemstone on the brim of the hat. I will be a stylin' witch.

Today I took a break from Christmas. It only seemed appropriate on All Hallow's Eve.  I was able to pick up some very lovely Christmas card stock at Michael's on Monday after getting my winter tires installed. It was not the 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch that I was looking for, but for only $12,  I was able to get a huge 12 inch by 12 inch scrap booking paper pad with 48 sheets of card stock.  I have enough to make all kinds of packaging for the Advent gifts and have some leftover to make more cards when I am ready.  Over the last couple of days since then, I was able to more than double my card stash and get several more gifts wrapped. I also got more supplies to work on more Christmas gift projects.

Most of the small gifts I pick up are difficult to wrap, so I love to print out these free gift box templates from the internet onto card stock that I just need to cut out, score and fold, and tape together. It makes life so much simpler, and they look very festive. I always seem to pay more for packaging than the gift is worth. Ha.

Have a good evening. I will be sitting in front of my computer screen here in the front room while waiting for the goblins to arrive. The lights will be off in the rest of the house until about 9 PM, at which point I will turn out the outside light and this room before heading upstairs to my bedroom. Have a terror-ific and spook-tacular time.  Hope you can scare up some fun on this boo-tiful night.

Daybook: Monday, October 29/18

Outside my window.....it is wet and overcast, but rain is better than snow which is what I woke up to yesterday morning. This morning, there are two surveyors working directly across the road from me.

I am thinking.....of my appointment at Canadian Tire in about an hour to have my snow tires put on. I made the appointment after I got back from Elliot Lake. I will use this errand into town to check Michael's for Christmas card stock. I also need more printer paper and I would also like to visit the Dollar Tree for a couple of items.

I am thankful for.....all the phone calls I made and received over the weekend. I like to keep in touch with family members.

From the kitchen.....I made my usual 2-egg omelet this morning with zucchini and shredded cheese.

I am wearing.....blue jeans and a thin knit gray sweater and black socks.

I am creating.....mostly handmade Xmas cards and some Christmas gifts.  I say mostly handmade because this year I have used some  die cuts to embellish some cards. I will show you some later on.

I am going.....into town this morning to run some errands.

I am hoping.....to get my parcels mailed out to Vancouver early this month. The Post Office is set to go on strike. Right now they are slowing the mail down as a strike tactic, so I need to get my mail out in case they end up going full-on work stoppage.

I am hearing.....the blower on my furnace.

Around the house.....I took out all the trash, recycling and compost. I also watered my indoor plants and vacuumed both the upstairs and downstairs rooms over the week-end. The rooms are still cluttered but I hope to do a deep clean when I get ready to decorate for the season.

One of my favourite things.....is my small 8 inch fry pan which is the perfect size to make my omelets.

A few plans for the rest of the week.....include my cravings workshop tomorrow afternoon. It is the third in the series. A fourth one will be announced for a month after tomorrow.  Wednesday is Halloween. This Saturday, I will be meeting a group of ladies in Red Lobster to celebrate a friend's birthday.

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

Christmas Cards

I know. It isn't even Halloween yet and I am talking about making Christmas cards. But if any of you follow any of those "Getting Ready for an Organized /Frugal Christmas" blogs, then you know that you should have at least one sixth of your cards signed, addressed and stamped at the end of this week. There are only 5 weeks left until the first of December. I have roughly 60 plus cards to make and send out, so I presently have 12 finished. The four up top follow the same card map or design, but each are a little different in the kinds of paper and embellishments I used. You may recognize some of the stamped images that I coloured before I left for my trip up north.

These four follow a different card map. I always make sure I do my grand kids, nephews and nieces cards first. I like to make cards for the younger ones before I start on the cards I will make for my family and friends.

At this point, I decided to make only 2 cards for each design. This year I hope to use up more of my stash of Christmas papers and let them form the basis of my designs. But as you can see, I am still using my stamps and die cuts in some of them.

So that is all I did today....that and answer some emails and read some blog posts. I think tomorrow I shall get some housework done -maybe some vacuuming, taking out the trash and compost, straighten up a bit. I need to do something before I become overwhelmed by it all. Hope you all have a great weekend. Got any plans?

Another At-Home Day

I was thinking of going out today to Michael's to look for some printed card stock for making my small gift packaging, but I would hate to go into town just to find out they will not be putting their Christmas stock out on the floor until after Halloween. I will wait until I have a few errands to run so I can group them together. When I picked up my groceries the other day, it was after my cravings workshop. I also took the opportunity to fill the van with gas, go to the bank and visit the post office. So instead of going out today,  I went through the three collections of gifts for my grand kids again and made boxes from heavy white card stock which I was then able to wrap in Christmas wrapping paper.  The rest can wait. I can go back to making my Christmas cards, or Housework. There is no lack of something to do. This afternoon I finished the sixth Xmas project that I started yesterday. Shhh. It's a secret.

I have been trying some strategies for the cravings workshop I am attending. Since eating constantly in front of the TV is a problem for me, I am eating dinner later (around 7:30) at the dining room table with no TV distraction. I eat there until I am satisfied, clean everything up and put away, turn out the lights in the kitchen and dining room and have my last cup of tea in the living room while reading. Then the TV goes on. When I feel like I could go up to my bedroom around 9-9:30, I give myself permission to eat a bowl of blueberries and yoghurt (a treat), again at the dining room table with no TV. After I get ready for bed, I will continue to watch screen programs on my tablet, but I don't feel any cravings for food once in bed. Hopefully, this will break the trigger and I can introduce other changes.

Today I was able to make a big pot of chicken soup with the stock I made. I added the leftovers from the chicken stir fry from last night. From the freezer, I added bits of celery, carrots, green beans, cherry tomatoes, peeled broccoli stem "coins" and cauliflower rice. I ate two bowls for lunch. I also peeled and diced half the 5 lb. bag of turnip, boiled, mashed and put away in the freezer.  Dinner tonight is chili con carne (without the beans), shredded cheese and sour cream.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I started my day with dividing the ground beef I bought yesterday into 3 pound sections and freezing. I also put the 3 chicken legs with backs attached into my crockpot with 2 quarts of water. This way I get a nice chicken broth for making soup and I have some cooked chicken meat to make up into other dishes.

I wanted to take a break from making cards, so I decided to wrap as many of the small Advent calendar gifts as I could. Anything that is flat (books, stickers) or anything that comes in a box of its own can be wrapped up with Xmas wrapping paper.  I need to get some card stock from Michaels that is already pre-printed with a Christmas design. There wasn't any the last few times I was there and there may not be until after Halloween, so I made a couple with just plain coloured card stock.  I was able to put one gift inside a cardboard tube and wrap it. I made the green pillow box and added stickers and ribbon. I made a green pyramid box for another and a Lego box for yet another. It doesn't matter what colour card stock I use for the Lego, as it comes in all colours. The dots were punched out of craft foam.  But the majority of gifts are  small items that need to have containers made especially for them. It would be so much easier on me if I could use Christmas card stock. Then I wouldn't need to wrap everything.  Above are just a few of the gifts I managed this morning.

Then this afternoon, I started my 6th Christmas project. I am half finished it already but I can't show you what I am doing until after Christmas.  If I work a little bit making gifts every day, and not wear myself out, I should get it all done. Anyone else making Christmas gifts this year?

Another Tuesday. Another Cravings Workshop.

Last Tuesday's workshop stuck with me all week, so I paid attention to what I was eating in the evening and why I was reaching for snacks. I am already very aware of my problem areas, but I was looking for possible distractions and strategies that might work for me. However, as I had not yet read through the handouts and the assigned workbook all week, I sat down this morning after breakfast and got the job done. I was able to put some ideas down.

I ate leftovers from last night's dinner for my lunch at noon because I needed to leave at 12:30 for my 1:30-3:30 workshop downtown. I stopped at the post office to pick up my mail and to send off some more Halloween cards. Then I drove to my bank to buy a roll of loonies ($1 coins) to feed the meter. It was a very good discussion at today's workshop and I was able to share my experiences with the group. On the way home, I stopped at No Frills to buy groceries (hopefully the last one for this month)

Frozen produce cost $23

Fresh produce cost $5.95  Four zucchini cost $3.98, but the 5 lb bag of rutabaga was only $1.97

I bought more meat for $26.46 (lean ground chicken, 3 chicken legs with backs attached and ground beef was on sale for $2.97 a lb)

My biggest expenditure, dairy, cost $35.73

Pantry items (and more Halloween candy) cost me $25.38, for a total cost of $118.41, incl. tax.
I know I already bought 2 boxes of 50 bars each, but I like to hand out 2 small bite-sized treats to each child, and I plan for 100 children. I use any leftovers in some of the grand kids Advent calendars, and I can use any other leftovers after that to make treats for the upcoming Amherst Island Christmas craft sale in November. I have no problems using up the chocolate leftovers. Don't worry about me binging  on chocolate. I have been true to my Keto diet and do not crave sugar or carbohydrates any longer.

Since writing my last blog post, I have finished a fifth Xmas project and started making my Christmas cards. ANYTHING, to keep from doing housework. Haha.

The Week is Over Already??

But I just got back. How did that happen? I wrote on Tuesday and indicated a few plans for the week and now time is up. Let's see how I did.

On Tuesday I was on my way out to an appointment. It is a 12 member group workshop for cravings and "food addictions" and how to change your behaviour (which my doctor thought would be helpful to me). Yes, I am eating healthier, but my behaviour towards food has not changed. When I reach the end of the day, I eat and I don't stop eating until I go to bed. This workshop goes on for another 2 2-hr sessions this month, with a workbook and a folder full of handouts, and homework. I have not yet cracked open the workbook (mainly because it is just another thing I have to do), but I will take it seriously.  After the workshop, I stopped at No Frills and bought a few grocery items, before stopping at the Hardware store to buy a huge bag of potting mix.

So very sorry for the poor photo quality. I don't know why I bother. I still have not got used to taking pictures with my tablet. It was just so easy with my Blackberry. Anyways, there are 3 containers of yoghurt, 3 bags of frozen veggies and a cabbage. In the back of the stove you may notice a large pile of Swiss Chard that my BIL gifted me before I left Elliot Lake the day before.  I used some of the greens as a veggie one night. I made a mixture of ground meat and cauliflower rice and rolled a big tablespoon of the mixture inside a Swiss chard leaf (like a cabbage roll), baked in the oven with some of my sister's homemade tomato sauce (without sugar added). There were enough for two large dinners this week and they were so yummy.

I have used up the whole bag of potting mix to repot my 12 geraniums and have since brought them inside to overwinter. I have also cut both the front and back lawns. I do have to move the gravel that is still left in my driveway; but as far as the garden beds go, they will probably wait until Spring. I have run out of warm weather and winter is definitely coming. I found enough sunny weather and warmish conditions this week to do up two BIG loads of laundry outside on the line.

I mailed out the Halloween cards this week. Thank goodness  I had those all complete several weeks ago. I gave out my Halloween cards to the intended recipients during the Thanksgiving weekend two weeks ago. Here  are the poor quality photos of those cards.

I have not been a domestic goddess this week. I have cooked for myself, changed out the bed linens, and caught up on my laundry, but for the most part I planted myself at the dining room table since Wednesday and just made cards for the gift sets I plan on giving at Christmas. I accomplished quite a bit in that regard. I made an appointment for the end of this month to have my winter tires installed, and my social calendar for November is filling up quickly. I took up three  bags of  Christmas gifts to Elliot Lake, so that is done. I have most of the kids' Advent calendar gifts bought, but not wrapped yet. I still have Xmas cards to make and I need to still work on my Christmas projects. (I only have four of them done). I have mostly caught up with my emails and other peoples' blogs.

All in all, I guess I haven't done too badly since I returned. Hope you all had a good week and a restful weekend.

Daybook: Tuesday, Oct. 16/18

Outside my window.....it is a beautiful mainly sunny day. I am longing to go outdoors to work because I haven't been able to for several weeks, but I have to leave for an appointment in less than an hour. It is the reason I chose to go to Elliot Lake for a very short visit last week after Thanksgiving.  I will keep my fingers crossed that we get a few more days like this before the snow flies. I experienced a day of snow flurries last week while I was away.

I am thinking.....that the month is flying by so quickly. I should be mailing out my Halloween cards today on my way out of town. I am so thankful that they are already done.

I am thankful for.....a safe trip up north. I drove up last Tuesday from Smith Falls, following closely behind my Dad and "Dee" (8 hrs. driving and a one hour lunch break) and came home yesterday a different way. (8 hours driving and two hours break at my daughter's house in Bradford to see the grand kids very briefly) It poured rain for 4 1/2 hours, followed by very strong winds and blowing leaves, and 1 1/2 hours of darkness.

From the kitchen.....there is nothing going on. I had some cottage cheese last night for dinner at 7:30 that "Dee" had packed up for me before I left yesterday morning at 8:30   I went to bed early.

I am wearing.....black jeans, a long sleeved ivory coloured t-shirt, and black socks.

I am creating.....nothing yet, but I have to finish some more Xmas projects, some card sets and I was able to find more Advent calendar items for the grand kids while I was away. They need to be wrapped.

I am going.....to the dietician's office for two hours this afternoon. I need to pick up some dairy and frozen veggies on the way home. I will stop at the Post Office on my way in.

I am hoping.....to catch up on emails and blogs this week, and respond to them.  I am always so busy when I am away.

I am hearing.....the blower of the furnace, (I have had it on since the first of October) and lots of traffic noise outside the house.

Around the house.....I need to tackle the last three windows downstairs. I need to cut the grass at least once more. I need to vacuum and dust all through the house. I would like to pull more weeds and lay down some mulch. I definitely need to bring in my repotted geraniums to overwinter starting this week.

One of my favourite things.....is my van which can still take me where I need to go.

A few plans for the rest of the week.....include my appointment this afternoon, a trip to pick up some groceries, and perhaps an appointment made for the end of October to get a tune-up and have my winter tires put on.

Here's the picture I am sharing.....(nothing). I drove through some of the best autumn colours I have ever experienced and did not take one single photo. The weather while I was in Elliot Lake was inclement. I admired the colours, but did not think of stepping out in the snow, rain, wind to capture the moment. Oh well.

The Checklist

So there are things that need to be accomplished before leaving my home for an extended period of time.  In this case, I will only be gone for one week, but there are still things that need doing:

Go to the bank and withdraw cash
Phone in prescription refills (if needed) and pick up
Pick up and pay for Avon order made last week
Use up or freeze perishables in the fridge
Prepare Thanksgiving cards for presenting
Do up laundry
gas up the car
Load up all the transplanted perennials into the van
Bag up all the egg cartons that I save and put them in the van
Pack my suitcase
dye my hair, wax brows and upper lip
water my indoor plants
take garbage and compost out of the house
program my GPS and check routes on Google maps
Load Xmas gifts and suitcase into the van
pack tablet and cell phone and chargers into my purse
bring Thanksgiving cards
Double check that I have my prescriptions with me
Load all dirty dishes into the dishwasher

On Thursday afternoon, while drawing up this list, I realized that I had two eggplants in my crisper drawers that needed to be done up. Yesterday afternoon I made my moussaka so I could have two slices for last night's dinner, two for lunch today and two for tonight's dinner. I have never frozen my cooked moussaka before. Maybe I should  try it to see how it fares?

Then on Thursday night before I went to bed, I washed up two small loads of laundry so I could hang them out on the line. That was the first thing I accomplished from my list yesterday morning. Then I headed off to Amerstview to go to the bank, pick up a prescription,  and pick up a couple more stocking stuffers to finish off the gift bags I am taking with me. I went to the salon next door to the Pharmacy and had a wax. My brows tend to get unruly (wild even) and I have never been able to pluck them into submission. *laugh* I don't cut my hair often, so I spend my salon dollars on this.

I gassed up the car on my way home to  wrap the final gifts. Two of the Autumn cards that I made, I mailed out last week as note cards. The rest of them are being hand-delivered  on Sunday as greeting cards, so I printed out Thanksgiving sentiments about gratitude and  attached them inside the cards where I will just sign my name. Then because the sun disappeared and it became overcast again, I brought the laundry in from the line,  folded and put away. The sun and breeze from the morning was enough to dry them fully. I  will be packing my bag today.

I have put the unopened cold cuts and kielbasa in the freezer and the few remaining fresh vegetables will be used up in my omelet tomorrow morning. The unopened package of mushrooms will be sliced and fried for the freezer, along with the packages of cheese and the remaining bags of milk. It is pouring rain again today. I hope that is not the end of our sunny days in October. I have now completed four of my Christmas projects, but if I have spare time today I will not be starting a fifth. I will instead make up some more cards for my gift sets. When I get back, I will be concentrating on wrapping the Advent calendars and beginning my Christmas cards. Having gone back this morning to read last October's entries, I was correct in thinking I had a late start this autumn. No wonder I am feeling behind. 

Getting Ready For a Long Weekend

I never mentioned yesterday that I had slept in until ten o'clock in the morning. And I was sleeping soundly. The day was already half gone when I sat down at the computer and wrote my blog post which was to catch you up on all the goings-on here at my house.  I guess I had also been trying to catch up on sleep. It was yet another wet and overcast day (no sun since Saturday), so after I posted on-line, I moved to the dining room table and started making some card sets. I plan on making at least 3 sets of cards....one of all birthday cards and two sets of all-occasion cards.  I managed to make 2 birthday cards and 4 occasion cards during the afternoon. That wasn't bad. After supper, I finished my third Christmas project. I am taking photos as I finish each one up so that after Christmas I can show you what I have been working on.

This morning I was up at 6:30 and picked up all the trash from the rest of the house and got my garbage out at the curb for 7 AM.  Since I had finished all three Xmas projects that I had prepared, I got busy and prepared four more.  It was pouring down rain again this morning so I figured I needed to keep working on my projects if I had to stay indoors anyway. Well, at 11:30 the sun came out and it got very warm outside. I knew my garden would be a mud pit, so I decided to stay inside and continue working on Christmas presents. I am sure things dried up well today, so maybe tomorrow I can venture out. I am doing up some laundry tonight before bed, so I hope it stays lovely out so I can hang my laundry on the line tomorrow morning.

Dinner tonight is a veggie casserole made with a cream cheese sauce and chunks of ham over cauliflower rice.

I'm Here..I've been busy.

Since I last left you, I have

• grated all 4 cauliflower into cauliflower rice

• cut most of the pork loin into chops and one small roast

• cut the eye of round roast into three smaller roasts

• repackaged the Italian sausage into smaller freezer portions

• sliced the smoked ham into slices and repackaged into freezer bags

• peeled, sliced and repackaged 10 pounds of carrots for the freezer

On Saturday,

• I washed a super large dark load in cold water and hung outside

• I worked most of the day outside in the veggie garden pulling weeds. I have cleared one third.

• I showered and washed my hair afterwards because the mud was caked on, after more rain. 

• I brought in the washing off the line

• I finished my first Christmas project and started a second.

On Sunday,

• I ran a full dishwasher load

• talked on Face Messenger with 3 members of my family

• left the house at 1:30 to serve at Special Meals and returned home at 7:15

• Worked on my second Christmas Project

On Monday,

• I unloaded the dishwasher and started another

• finished my second project...started a third

• prepared gift lists for three members of my family in Elliot Lake, since I will be going next week

• had my son and DIL over for supper and laundry and a nice visit

On Tuesday,

• stopped at the Post Office on my way to Amerstview to mail off some Autumn cards

• shopped at Shopper's and the Dollar Way for additional stocking stuffers for Elliot Lake

• Made up my own gift boxes from cardstock and wrapped all of the gifts

• updated my gift lists

• worked on the third Xmas project