My first REAL grocery shop of the month.

Snack foods cost me $41.50

 There are items that are not shown here because they will be wrapped as "last minute" gift items for when I am presented a gift by a neighbour or friend that I was not expecting.  Some of these items are also going to be used in gift baskets and to make certain other recipes. I normally don't buy snack foods very often.

Cereals and breads cost $16.45

 The cereals will be used to make bits and bites, or nuts and bolts. I needed to buy the oatmeal and cornmeal to make doggie biscuits for all our canine friends.

Dairy was $13.13 

 I managed to pick up two blocks of cheddar yesterday, another pound of butter and 3 pounds of baking margarine. I haven't started baking yet, but I will be ready if the mood strikes.

Meat cost $23.39 

 Yesterday I picked up 4 pounds of ground beef for $10. Otherwise, we have been eating from our freezer over this past month. We still have spareribs, ground pork, roast beef and a small turkey.

Fruit and juices cost $26.45

Pantry items cost $26.96

 Some of my grocery items are missing from the photos, but I have added them up in my totals.

Sundries cost $31.67

I still have not been able to find washing soda, so I bought another liquid laundry detergent. I also bought 2 $50 gift certificates today, bringing my total expenditure with taxes to a whopping $303.80 Aside for paying my son's GF back $50 for a gift she picked up for me, I think I am done. But I do need to do some baking, as that forms part of the gifts I will be making. I also need to pick up more items locally.

The last two days my Sweetie and I have been very ill. I caught that nasty cold bug from my husband, so now my head is congested and I am now "coughing from my boots". I have my sexy voice. Yesterday after the Radiation treatment and the Pre Surgery appointment  we both came home to bed. We left around 9 AM and came home after 3 PM. It was a long day. Today, neither one of us felt like shopping, but it needed to get done, so we bit the bullet. I will medicate myself tonight and pour it on over the next two days.

It has been difficult getting ready for Christmas this year, but I have had some help. My son and his GF have picked up items for me, and friends of mine have also picked up things I have asked for. I did not have time this year to do a lot of crafting, so I have used some ingenuity to come up with gift basket ideas. I am sure people understand how little time in the day is left over after all the medical appointments. And just having everyone here to enjoy good food and good company is what is most important.

Day 20 is a nail file and Day 21 is Polynesian Island shower gel.

Daybook: Monday December 19/16

Outside my window.....it is snowing. The temperature is quite cold this morning. My son is outside brushing snow off the windows of the car.

I am thinking.....this is the last week before Christmas and I need to get the final push on to get things ready for Christmas Eve.

I am thankful for.....my son and his girlfriend for helping us out. My son has been shoveling snow and moving things for me.

From the kitchen.....there has not been a lot going on yet. I will be baking a couple of things this week, hopefully. And I will be doing a clean in there between bakings. My cupboard doors and appliances need another washing down. My floor definitely needs a scrub.

I am wearing.....blue jeans with a gray knit sweater, and socks.

I am creating.....another Christmas card this morning for one of my husband's friends. When he asked to speak to me last night to wish me a Merry Christmas, he mentioned how much he enjoys receiving my homemade cards. I had asked my husband to verify that the address I had for him was still current (which we found out it was), so this morning, instead of mailing out the store bought card I had already prepared for him, I made a card. He made such a fuss about how he has kept all the cards I have made for him, I didn't have the heart to tell him that this year was going to be different.

I am going..... to Hotel Dieu Hospital for my Sweetie's echo cardiogram mid-day and then off to Kingston General Hospital for his radiation therapy. I will stop to get some baking margarine and butter to start a batch of cookies.

I am hoping.....we don't get too much more snow today.

I am hearing.....the blower on the furnace. I also just heard an emergency vehicle with its siren going past our house. I didn't look up to see, but I think it was the fire department paramedics responding to an accident.

Around the house.....there is still way too much  to do.

One of my favourite things.....lately, is the wheelchair that I borrowed from my SIL in Smith Falls. It has been so valuable in getting my husband to his radiation appointments. We can park closer to the Cancer wing, so I don't have to run ahead to the Main Entrance to try and find one that is available. There is no way my husband can walk the distance on his own.

A few plans for the rest of the week.....include a 2-3 hour appointment tomorrow for Pre-Surgery. My Sweetie had some eye surgery scheduled for mid-March, but it has been moved forward to January 4th. He still has his radiation appointment scheduled before this Pre-Op appointment. This coming Saturday is Christmas Eve. We will be having company here for dinner with a gift exchange afterwards. We have a long standing event with our good friends from Charleston Lake. We go to their place for Thanksgiving, and they come here for Christmas Eve. Their son and his wife and our Middle son and GF are also part of this Christmas Eve Special. Sometimes we have been fortunate enough to have other family members join us, but it has been going on now for over 30 years.

Here is a picture I am sharing.....

Day 17, 18 and 19...an eyebrow and eyelash comb, Chamomile eye makeup remover and Shea lip butter.

Snowy Weekend

It snowed overnight on Friday and we woke up to a driveway full of snow.

The sun came out after the ice storm on Saturday night

I wanted to take a photo before all the ice melted. 

It was a great weekend to just stay put if you didn't need to go out. My Sweetie is down with a nasty cold and he is coughing "from his boots". He spent most of Friday, Saturday and today in bed. I guess I needed to sleep as well because I lay down on the couch about 1:30 after lunch and a hot cup of tea, and I didn't wake up until 5:30. What?!

I did manage to decorate the tree. I have put up some decorations, cleaned off some surfaces and put decorations and Christmas serving dishes down, but I am still not done. I have kept the dishes and laundry done up. Hopefully I can do a little bit of baking this week. The next two days however are going to be full of medical appointments. Besides the usual radiation treatments, we have an echo tomorrow and a pre-op procedure on Tuesday for an upcoming eye surgery the 4th of January. Busy week ahead.

Day 15 and 16...eye shadow brush and luscious mango whipped lotion.

Get 'er Done

Sometimes you just have to do it. If you wait for inspiration to strike, or wait for a day where you aren't feeling overwhelmed, or wait until the sky turns pink, it doesn't get done. Yesterday morning I started my day with my usual chores, and I peeled, cubed and boiled my second 5 pound bag of turnip, and I wrapped up some more stocking stuffers. Before I knew it, it was 12:45 and time to leave for the hospital. When I came home I realized that at this rate I would never feel up to cleaning and decorating my house. So I just started taking pictures down off the walls and placing them inside an empty Rubbermaid tub. I took out the boxes of decorations and started placing them on the dining room table that I had managed to clean off on the weekend. I switched out the pictures that I took down with Christmas decorations.

My dining room table was my main staging area. The pretty dessert plates in the centre of the table were taken down from the dining room wall and hand washed to put away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I substituted  those for some Christmas plates for decoration.

Oil paintings were substituted for more festive Christmas decorations. This 3_D shadow box is one of my favourites because it was handmade for me.

I used the feather duster to dust down the walls and door frames before I hung the garlands and lights around the door frames.

On the dining room wall looking through the French door into the living room.

On the living room wall (same doorway) looking into the dining room.

I brought out the Christmas dishes from the buffet and changed them out for my everyday dishes. Now I will have to clean off surfaces on tables and shelves to place the remainder of stuff that still sits on my dining table. But at least I have started.

This morning I did not need to cook 5 pounds of any kind of vegetable, but I did have to bake up another batch of doggie biscuits. I got my parcels into the mail, so they will arrive before Christmas.

Day 13 and 14 of my Advent calendar....an eyelash curler and British Rose shower gel.

Daybook: Monday December 12/16

Outside my window.....there is a lot of snow; but it is also mild outside, so it is melting quite quickly. The roads are very wet and slushy.

I am thinking.....of how tired I am feeling today. I woke up at 6 this morning and didn't go back to sleep. I went outside to start clearing the driveway. Shoveling in the fresh air can easily be tiring.

I am thankful.....that my son got up and took over. I am also thankful that my sister was well enough to be released from hospital this weekend, and that she is feeling much better. She still has to take care of herself.

From the kitchen.....I have peeled and diced 5 pounds of turnip and it is now simmering on the stove top. The crock pot has potato, carrots, a tomato, and sliced kielbasa cooking up for dinner. I also have a load washing in the dishwasher.

I am wearing.....yes, a pair of blue jeans, with a black shirt and a pair of slippers.

I am creating.....nothing today. I have mailed out all my Christmas cards. I may attempt to wrap a few stocking stuffers because I don't feel I have much energy to do too much else today. Bummer.

I am going.....to Radiation therapy this afternoon. We will leave approximately at 1:30, which is one hour before the appointed 2:30; and because it is Monday. we will be seeing the oncologist as well at 2:55. On the way home we will have to stop at Shoppers for bread, milk and dog food.

I am hoping.....to get the house cleaned and decorated this week. I would like to start doing some baking next week.

I am hearing.....my dishwasher running.

Around the house.....there is lots to be done. I will do what I can.

One of my favourite things.....is my Advent calendar. It gives me something exciting to look forward to every single day. I also am enjoying my husband's Advent gifts. Although there are only two choices, chocolate or scratch ticket, they are two of his favourite things. He is really going to miss these once Christmas is over. He has won $3 so far, but the promise of winning more is exciting. He has not cashed in his ticket yet because he can't decide whether to buy another ticket or two chocolate bars. *laugh*

A few plans for the rest of the week.....include more visits with Radiation and to get my parcels in the mail. They are packaged, wrapped and addressed, but I haven't driven them over to the post office yet. Must do that.

Here is a picture I am sharing......halfway through Advent. 

Black eye liner pencil

Weekend Happenings

Day 9 was a new slanted end tweezers.

I had so many items on my To-Do list for yesterday, it would make your head spin. All I managed to do was put together two more homemade cards (I thought I was done with those). I have addressed and stamped all of the cards (I hope). Some of them were the store bought variety, but I still managed to make 40 handmade cards to mail out, plus the 15 I sold, makes 55 homemade cards that I didn't think I would have time to make this year. Whew! I washed up and put away all my stamps, and I once again cleaned off my craft room table. I also managed to clear off most of the dining table. It doesn't seem like I accomplished much yesterday at all, but it was huge. My muscles today are sore as proof of the work I did yesterday.

Strawberry lip balm

This morning, as I type this, I am dyeing my hair. It so badly needs it. My Sweetie and I are driving out to Charlestown Lake for a Christmas Drop-in at our good friends' cabin in the woods. They have a lovely log home....the perfect setting for a Christmas affair. She has had her decorations up for weeks now. I don't. But those are my plans for this week. I will clean each room (dining room first) and then put up the decorations, ending with the living room and the tree.

Today's gift is vanilla chai body gel-lotion

So much continues to happen in our family. My step-dad was to have moved finally into the same Long-term care facility as my mom this past Tuesday; but by then, the home was in quarantine. So he still sits in hospital. My sister in the meantime, was rushed into hospital herself. They have sorted out her meds and she was supposed to have been released home yesterday. She has been advised to stay away from work for at least 3 months. She needs a break, as she has been under a lot of stress dealing with our mother's situation. Closer to home, my son and his GF are hoping to hear this week whether or not they have an apartment for January. I didn't even know they were looking, but I guess they have put a lot of mileage on their new car. Gas prices are only going to rise, so they figure they will save a lot of money by moving into town. The rent on this new place is exceptional and is all-inclusive. They are very excited to be out on their own and I am keeping my fingers crossed for them. As I plan to purge and do a deep-clean in January, this will also work well for us, as I get my rooms back and the extra storage space that I gave up.

We are expecting more snow late in the day. Hopefully, it will be after we get back from our Drop-in and safely back home. Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. 

Domestic Thursday??

I did nothing for Christmas today.....no making cards, no wrapping presents, no decorating, nothing. Instead, after coming back from the hospital at 11 this morning, I got busy doing up some long neglected housework. I need a good solid month, but since I don't have that much time, I am scrambling to clear away the cobwebs and the dust bunnies so I can toss a few Christmas decorations around. I vacuumed the entrance/computer room, dining room, kitchen and hallway. I have not done the living room yet because my poor Sweetie was resting and had dozed off. The floors also need a good mop as well, but since I have to clean them again after I decorate, I will wait until then. I folded up all the clothes I washed yesterday and put them away.

In the kitchen, I washed a dishwasher load of dishes, cleaned the stove top, took the kitchen compost out to the main composter and sorted through the recycling. I made vegetable stock in the crock pot overnight by using up some of the "peelings" that I keep in the freezer. I am getting quite a stock pile of those. I will freeze the stock in two cup measures to cook with rice or make some vegetable soup. I " found" the bag of free McIntosh apples that we were given about 3 or 4 weeks ago. If I had put them in the fridge, they would have been fine. But I don't have much space in my fridge because two households are using it and it is considered prime real estate. As a result, I had to throw away one whole apple and I had to cut away some spoiled spots on others. I peeled, quartered and sliced the whole lot. I used half of them to make an apple crumble and the other half went into the freezer for later. I am upset with myself for having waited so long to do anything with these apples, but until today, they just were not a priority. It will taste very good though after dinner tonight, which I have decided will be some of the pork chops we were gifted in that box of meat from our neighbour. I still have half of a pasta bake that I made for dinner last night, but that will be better tomorrow when we have a late appointment with Radiation. I will just need to warm it up when we get home.

Still warm from the oven

Day 7 and 8 from my Advent calendar.....a sharpener for the lip liner I received on Day 6 and a bar of coconut soap. Aren't you guys just lovin' this? I know I am. I am carefully putting all the boxes back in the calendar so I can maybe reuse it for someone else.