Winter arrived today

The view from our front door

This was a good day for staying inside. Since my Sweetie had already picked up some building materials yesterday from Home Depot, we decided this morning to start the job of doing some repairs in the upstairs bedroom.

Cracks in the ceiling gyproc

The ceiling is in pretty good condition. The previous owner placed gyproc over the old lathe and plaster, but did a very poor job of finishing the seams. We decided not to pull down the ceiling (too messy and time consuming), so we decided instead to give it a cosmetic fix by nailing thin tongue and groove pine boards over the top. They can be painted later, but my son's GF actually loves the look of the pine as is. 

Tongue and groove pine boards hide a lot of sins and levels out the ceiling

We (my son and I with my husband's direction) were able to get 1/3 of the ceiling covered today. We stopped for lunch and then I realized how tired I felt. Fortunately, my son had to go into Kingston, so he had to stop work. So I don't  feel too badly about not being able to continue. I am not used to this work I guess. I used to be able to go all day. I lay on the couch and fell fast asleep.   I had a pork roast in the crock pot, so I only had to boil potatoes and fix some veggies when I finally woke up. 

Tomorrow we plan on building a 2X4 wall on the north side of his room. Instead of tearing out the old wall, we will put up an insulated wall on the inside of the old one. I will take pictures to demonstrate what I mean. By the weekend we may be ready to put up new gyproc and mud on the seams. It's a lot of work, but my son and his GF are looking forward to learning all these skills for building their tiny house in the Spring. 

My haul from Michael's

It is cold this Monday morning. Almost feels like winter. I accompanied my Sweetie to his clinic appointment this morning which involved another X-ray of his lungs. They want to see him in two weeks again after making a few changes in his prescriptions. He is feeling so much better lately. 

On the way home I stopped at Michael's to spend one of my gift cards I received for Christmas. I made the most of my gift card by buying all my paper clearanced at 50% off or more. It might not look like much, but that paper represents a lot of projects in my future. I bought a rubber stamp for Valentine's Day for only $1.50, another two brand new blades for my Fiskars paper trimmer and a set of Stampendous flower stamps that I have been wanting to buy for over a year now. I took the plunge today because I found them AND because I had a 50% off coupon for any regular priced item. Thank you very, very much family in B.C. You know who you are. I love it. 

A knitting project

I am not a knitter. I am self taught. I hold my needles funny (apparently). I don't know how to read a pattern. But mostly, I don't know how to correct my knitting mistakes. I have not got much to show you here because I have already torn the whole thing apart once already. I don't want to jinx myself but I will show you what I have done so far. The wool was free. It was given to me, and the pattern was printed from the Web. It will be an infinity scarf hopefully when it is done. I would like to accomplish at least two Xmas presents a month this year. More is better, but I will aim for two. 

I found out today that my presence will not be requested for my mother next week. My sister and step-sister have decided that they can look after my mom between the two of them. They feel that my time should be at home looking after my husband here. So until I hear from them again, I will stay put. I have lots of projects that need my attention here. 

My dad and D------ are back from Mexico, thankfully. He has a doctor's appointment tomorrow. His last few days on holiday were much better than the first few days, but I can see where he has lost a lot of weight due to his illness. Hopefully, he is on the mend. 

I didn't accomplish too much yesterday. I made more dog biscuits. I rested. We ate leftovers for dinner, so no cooking. Just a lazy Sunday afternoon. Hope your weekend was terrific. 

A little bit of Christmas

Simple paper gifts

Because I wasn't around home during the Christmas week, I didn't get a chance to tell you about some of the gifts I received or made up to give away. Above is a photo of some of the smaller paper items that I made to include in some of the Christmas gifts. These are also some of the items that I make for the craft table at the Amherst Island Christmas craft sale. The paper teapots hold three singly wrapped tea bags. Santa and Frosty are simply wrapped chocolate bars and the reindeer noses are 8 malt chocolate balls with one red candy cherry ball. Templates and papers are free for printing on the Web, and seem to add a lot of fun to an otherwise frugal gift. 

Spice mixes make a nice gift

I bought the tiny mason jars as a set from the Dollar Tree. The labels I printed from the Web. These are spice mixes that I make myself at home for my own use, which include taco seasoning, seasoning salt and Rajin' Cajun spice mix. All recipes I got from various sources on the Web. I have seen small spice mixes like these in gift stores for quite a bit of money. The homemade gift that I made "in bulk" this past Christmas was a mini scrapbook. They took a lot of time and effort to make, but I think were quite worth it. I didn't take a picture of even one of them. But I have decided that I will make more of them (at a slower pace) throughout this year. I will post a photo of my next one. 

Woven wall hanging

I received this lovely home-made gift along with a gift certificate for pizza. It is presently hanging in my living room. 

A sign for one of my flower beds.

I've made these garden signs for other people, but never made one for myself. My son's GF made this for me. She and my son also gifted me with a new patio umbrella for my deck table. They took a cue from a small wish list I keep on my fridge of things that I want to replace because they are broken or torn or cannot be mended any more....things that are not dire needs but are important enough to make my wish list. I was so happy to get this. 

Our very dear friends in Charleston Lake gifted us with a collection of home preserves and a portable roaster oven that works a dream. I used it to cook our turkey when my daughter and her family came to visit after Boxing Day. It will save me electricity from not having to use my oven. My brother in Smith Falls gifted me with a mandolin and another admission to the Annual Cheese Festival in Picton this summer. I received a lot of gift certificates and a ton of crafting supplies which made me feel really happy and blessed to have so many people around me who know me well. 

The gifts I gave seemed to be well appreciated. Some of them were very simple. For instance, my brother got a cardboard box from me that was wrapped in brown paper and string, with a tag that read "brown paper package tied up with string, filled with a few of your favourite things". Inside were smaller packages also wrapped in brown paper tied up with string. The tag on the salsa jar read "from your nacho ordinary sister". The tag on the box of assorted hot chocolates wished him  "warm winter wishes". The tag on a box of brandy beans (liquor filled chocolates) assured him that he had "bean" a good brother, etc., etc. There were 6 or 7 gifts inside the gift....all with terrible puns and word plays. What I lack in funds, I try to make up for in imagination and creativity. 

And speaking of creativity, I made four more valentines yesterday afternoon, while I cooked the chicken thighs in my crock pot. I added water and a bag of peelings from the freezer (onion, carrot, celery and cauliflower) to make a pot of soup stock for the freezer. I took all the meat off the bones to make a chicken stir fry later in the week. My son and his GF are making us dinner tonight. I forgot to mention that I used the crock pot the day before yesterday to cook up a pot of pinto beans for the freezer. And today I am making black beans. The crock pot is the most used appliance in my arsenal. 

I am off now to get some laundry in the machine. It is the weekend, when hydro rates are the lowest. Have a great day everyone.

Another grocery shop

I don't have a set day and time to go grocery shopping. I might go in with my Sweetie when he has a doctor's or lab appointment like he did on Tuesday morning. Today was the Costco pick-up, so I decided to pick up the specials at Freshco. Here they are.....

Produce cost $9.33

Making cards

Some of my Christmas cards

Thrift Shopping

Yesterday I reported going into Kingston to do a bit of grocery shopping. I also hit the Thrift Store in the same mall. I was looking for a pair of jeans that fit me well. I found a pair of Lee Riders that are not pictured here because I am currently wearing them. I am very happy with them.

While spending time with my mom at the Retirement home, I realized that I needed some long sleeve tops that are lighter in weight than the ones I wear at home. They keep that place so very warm (much warmer than I am used to). I also needed a few clothes that are a tiny bit dressier than what I own. I am retired. When do I ever need to dress up?? When I left work, I systematically purged my wardrobe season by season until I was basically left with jeans and sweats and t-shirts. I own two pairs of black dress pants which fortunately I remembered to pack with me when I went to Cobourg. These older people dress up....let me tell you. They dress to the nines just to go to the dining room. I felt very out of place. So I bought a few things. I didn't even have a pair of black flats, my last pair had literally disintegrated this past Fall.

Fine knit top (with bling) and Dr. Scholl's  black casual shoes

New tunic top with original tags still attached

My new duds set me back only $ 27.25 before tax. 

Today I made a rich turkey soup that we enjoyed for dinner tonight. My hubby and I made a sliced ham and tomato sandwich to accompany the soup, while my son made a sandwich with kielbasa sausage. 

I set out two bags of garbage at the curb and used up my last two garbage tags that cost us $2 a piece. The price went up to $2.50 a tag a few months ago. I remember when I bought them that I thought they might last until the end of the year, and I was correct. 

I read a long list of emails that were pending in my mailbox over that chaotic period in my life that was the Christmas holiday season. I am nearly all caught up. 

I coloured my hair with L'Oreal Preference which I bought on sale at Shopper's  Drug Mart. 

Since I am feeling like I haven't accomplished much since the New Year, I plan on starting some of next year's home-made Christmas presents NOW. Maybe I can start a knitting project that I can pick up or drop when I have a moment here and there. I don't want to leave it all until the end like I did this past year. Have a great evening. 

Coming up for air

The last post I wrote was entitled "I'm almost ready" (for Christmas). I remember it was a race to the wire. Well, I feel like I have been racing ever since. When I got back late New Year's Day from Cobourg, I was completely drained. I needed to sleep, and that I did for three days. Yesterday I unplugged the outdoor lights and took down my indoor Christmas decorations and put them away. Did I not just put them up a few days ago???? I made a quart of my laundry detergent and some more miracle clean for my spray bottles. I made a turkey stock from the frozen Boxing Day turkey carcass and home-made pea  soup with the juices of the New Year's ham. (The bone is still in the freezer)