IN Carmel

 After working at church yesterday, I decided that today would be an easy day.  Well, I blew it.  Talk about falling off the train.  That happened and I have no one to blame but myself.  But...I accomplished a few things today. I like that. One of the first things I did was to check the front porch to see if my Kisqali medication for another month of cancer treatments had arrived.  AND IT HAD!  How fortunate.  It gets a very early delivery usually before 8 am.  The day started on a very good note.                 The succulents returned home after their job in the church Gathering Center was completed.                                                             They fared quite well making their contribution.  ...

 Another beginning of the week if you don't count Sunday.  So, This Monday has held a lot of things.  This morning, I took time to take a good look at the contents of the refrigerator.  One thing I learned was that the chili needed to be divided into small containers to freeze.  There are three very full containers now frozen with bowls of chili ready for the microwave and supper.  A few things were dumped.  The veg. drawer was cleaned out and now I would say all is well with the refrigerator.  Well, at least for a while.  Nothing lasts forever. At 9:30 I was on my way to meet friends at church to start the changing of the guard.  Or should I say it's time to put things back in the boxes ready for the youth to pack them once again to the attic. Advent will be back again as sure as the sun rises.  Laural took care of the huge new to us nativity set in the Gathering Center.  She worked for two hours getting it packed just right....

 Another morning with fresh out of the oven sweet rolls from Kroger's.  Jared appeared, then Kimmy and then after a very long pause Doug.  Eli was next and then I can say I don't recall the other two's appearing time.  No card playing this morning.  Just talk.   After a bit of that it was packing up time with Jared getting the car filled with stuff.  Pictures were taken and the car left the driveway at 10:43. Back to the Michigan 10-acre farm with a few stops in between.                          The Michigan snow will be gone with the high in the 40s.  It's a crazy winter already.   I heard Ikea among a few other places.  Jacob's second year of college starting in January includes apartment living so he needs a few household things. Collecting is a priority currently.                     ...

  Busy is the word and of course you all know I forgot all about the blog.  Posting Sunday about yesterday is all it takes.   So what happened yesterday?  Breakfast rolls were in the oven by 8.  This time it was the Kroger variety.  There was some 2/13 card playing for a bit.            8:00 AM  He's in his grove already.  Favorite score keeper. That's what he thinks we think.  We expected Eric and family around 9 and we were not disappointed.  Their arrival brought cookies and chocolate covered pretzels along with a cake.  Then it was stocking time and on to present opening which lasted until after 11.                                                                         ...

 The morning started with one last trip to Aldi's and then to Kroger's.  Jared called last night and I thought of another idea for the kid's stockings.  I needed to satisfy myself doing that.  The grandsons receive their grandpa, grandma gifts in their stockings.  Some things are funny, and somethings are serious like money or gift certificates. They never know what to expect and I'll keep it that way.  So another something on the funny side was added!                                Each of the grandsons have a stocking.  Not to big and not to small.  Just right. I spent the rest of the morning making corn chowder.  Kimmy's happy about that. Egg salad is finished and there will be more than enough food for the weekend.  I'll be freezing soup for January meals, I'm sure.   The Michigan car left mid-morning and knowing there is a Michig...

 I would say it was a quiet but busy day.  It started a little early and I got busy with putting together 10 burps.  It's been a while.  The birds got fed and they hung around during the day.  The temperature was great for them.                       Summertime, and the livein' is easy.  We'll not really!  Gardening is work.  Good work. I finished up the shopping in the morning finding some great stocking stuff for the grandsons.  Then it was on to Kohls and luck followed me there finding just what I needed for Doug.  I was thinking about the crowded stores the day after Christmas with folks packing the store shopping for after Christmas bargains almost 55 years ago when we were first married. . It was a ritual with mother-in-law and sister-in-law every Dec. 26. That was the day to buy boxes of Christmas Cards cheap for the next Christmas.  Today Kohls was almost ...

 So what was today like.  I would say the opposite of yesterday in many respects.   It was a slow wake up after the late night or maybe it should be early morning. Breakfast and then I finished packing all the gifts in bags.  This will be a bag year.  Some years it's a paper year.  Not so for us.  I have what many moms have...a shelf full of pretty paper bags that get used over and over again.  So eventually everything got bagged.  I think there are at least 50 more bags for gifts.  It's just as easy and cheaper to leave them on the shelf ignoring them.  I found the Morman Tab. Choir Christmas program in the morning.  It was awesome as it usually is.  The afternoon was a whole lot of Call the Mid-wife on channel 20.  I love that show set now in the late 40's.  The phones still are plugged to the wall and the TVs are tiny boxes.  The nurses still use bikes to get around.  And they are delivering as ...

 It's been a busy day even though the family Christmas gathering isn't till Saturday.  But one needs to be ready.  It's that old teacher thing still sitting on my shoulder.  It is stuck!  So, the morning started with grocery shopping in mind.  But...Doug wanted to do his little bit of Christmas shopping.  While he was gone, I did a massive amount of ripping flannel.  It's been a while since I've done any sewing, and the mood hit for ripping and it happened while he was gone.   A lot of sewing coming my way.  It's got to happen before the first of January when the machine goes in for it's checkup.  Or maybe it's best to wait until I have a "new" sewing machine.  Doug was back home. We took off for Aldi's and Kroger's.  The store was hopping with men who seemed to be living in a cloud of what do I do. Christmas shopping at Aldi's was the choice.  There is food there but all kinds of other things that brought on the...

                                                                 Tonight's pictures are memories.  Another week to do.  I'm so grateful for a body that lets me do all, or almost all the dos that I want to or need to do.  Many folks are not so fortunate.  I had a list of dos that I squeezed around the have to do things that Doug needed to do.                                                                                             I miss my friends.  I read more this morning.  This cancer b...

Not very much happened here at home with one exception.  There were a few birds this morning after I thawed the bird bath.  It took 4 pots of hot water.                                          Mr. Flicker along with the Mrs. stopped in for a quick breakfast.                                                                                                                     Peanuts were on their dining plate. It was a rather short morning and then off to church we went.  The white poinsettia all 4 little o...

                 Cards are arriving from many places.  In this case from Ohio and Michigan.  Tis the season. In yesterday's post I wasn't in much of a hurry.  Today was even more of not hurrying.  It was as slow as molasses in Alaska.  The actual slow winter has set in as of today.  Dec. 21. It's dark outside!  It was another short sleep night last night as appose to a very long night.  That's OK.  They don't last forever.  That's in more ways than one.  I think that's funny. It was a toasted English Muffin and a cup of coffee for breakfast with a few blue berries.  Then the yarn came out and then onward and forward with the needle starting and finishing at the end of the day with six little yarn and wool things.  It's my favorite hand work but pulling that yarn through some of the wool takes a lot of hand strength.  So far, they are not too sore.   To go wit...