There are all kinds of things that happen as time goes by, but as the song says, some things never change.... one thing is for sure if I have a really rotten night where I sleep little even though my eyes feel like they have pound cakes resting on them and when I do finally fall asleep I dream horrible nightmares, you can bet your bottom dollar that the moon is full or pretty close to it. And so, here I sit while the whole house sleeps peacefully, awake with scratchy eyes after a miserable night of tossing and turning. I know when I'm licked..... I just get up and give up on my bed for a bad job.
All night I listened to the clock in my room ticking away and then I came downstairs and the clock down here ticks too. The funny thing is, that I got to thinking about all that ticking.... it's December 31st... the verge of 2010.... it seems like the last ten years have whipped by me in a flash. Do you remember sitting on December 31st ten years ago and wondering if all the computers in the world were going to freeze up and make the world come to a stand still? We didn't even own a computer back then.... Hubby and I couldn't afford one. All I knew was, that if all the computers of the world would screw up world banking, then I hoped it would wipe out Hubby's student loan and drop a few ten thousand into our account. Alas, nothing of the sort happened and life continued in its never ending tick toward the future.
We here at Nicholsville West farm are not planning any great events for this New Year's Eve. It will be a quiet one with no company this year, perhaps a little time watching the new DVD that we got for Christmas called "Planet Earth: The Complete Series". We really can't think of a better way to ring in the new year than by watching something about the destruction of our planet..... unless we could have a DVD telling us about the restruction of our planet. I wonder what the next decade will bring. Will I be sitting here in ten more years thinking about the same things? Will I be here at all.... or any of us for that matter.
Sometime during this day I will call a friend, (maybe you), I will light a fire, (hopefully in the fireplace on my deck), I will finish knitting a glove, (I'm almost there), I will kiss my Hubby, I will hug my Daughters, I will drink a little Apple Cider, and I will wish all my blog followers a good new years, that you all have plenty in the way of needs like I have, that you all have people that surround you loving you as much as I am loved.... that you all have joy in your hearts for a least part of each day, and that you remember to regularly thank God, whoever your god may be, for the power that created this divine place on which we live must indeed be an awesome force.
Happy New Year!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Party Time
Today is the 30th of December 2009..... in case you didn't know. Today I am hosting a party for the Knock-out Knitters and the HH Spinners and Weavers. The party starts at two. I am off to the grocery store for pie pastries.... you know, the little ones that take forever to make... I'm making mini Quiches and my Almond Wedges. I also have piles of crackers and cheese to offer and a little liqueur not to mention punch and tea. I'm looking forward to the little party. I have some little door prizes and I have a nice gift to exchange. It should be fun.
If you are one of the ones coming.... I look forward to seeing you.... and if you live too far away to come.... well, I wish you could be here....
In the meantime... have a good day!
If you are one of the ones coming.... I look forward to seeing you.... and if you live too far away to come.... well, I wish you could be here....
In the meantime... have a good day!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Sunrise.... Sunset
I have an annual thing that I do. After Christmas settles down to a dull roar I start watching the sunrise and sunset times on the weather station until the spring equinox. Somehow it makes the winter more tolerable to know that the days are getting longer. On December 19th there was a beautiful picture here and I thought, -this is really the turn of the year,- when I saw it even though the turn was still a few days away. It was so beautiful that I've been wanting to post it here on my blog. 
This picture epitomizes the winter solstice for me. Now I can watch the skies slowly growing brighter as the days grow longer. It really is a Northern thing I think. When you live this far North the sky can almost become something you worship. It really does help you get past -42 degree temps and make you aware of time progressing into the next season.
While I like to do this at this time of the year there is a feeling of urgency.... a sense of pushing at time to move it on forward faster.... then I hit the spring equinox and I want to put on the brakes and slow everything down. I start to watch the morning sky and I have this wonderful sense of well being.... but for now I just want to hibernate! It is odd how I think I might actually be able to slow or speed time progression... I mean little ol' me... really.... not likely! So you will notice to the right under the header for this blog a new gadget..... the Sunrise and Sunset times will be posted every day that I blog.
Quiet mornings of dark,
Birds hide,
Mice sleep,
All the creeping things are tucked away.
Slowly this land awakes and throws off its blanket of white,
Daylight penetrates my skin,
Suffusing me with well being.
Birds come home and plants bloom,
Alive, all is alive.
I watch and wait,
Patiently, growing warm.
Hope you are thinking of warmth too!
Now.... a little cotton today, I think.... and tea! Perfect for -24.
This picture epitomizes the winter solstice for me. Now I can watch the skies slowly growing brighter as the days grow longer. It really is a Northern thing I think. When you live this far North the sky can almost become something you worship. It really does help you get past -42 degree temps and make you aware of time progressing into the next season. While I like to do this at this time of the year there is a feeling of urgency.... a sense of pushing at time to move it on forward faster.... then I hit the spring equinox and I want to put on the brakes and slow everything down. I start to watch the morning sky and I have this wonderful sense of well being.... but for now I just want to hibernate! It is odd how I think I might actually be able to slow or speed time progression... I mean little ol' me... really.... not likely! So you will notice to the right under the header for this blog a new gadget..... the Sunrise and Sunset times will be posted every day that I blog.
Quiet mornings of dark,
Birds hide,
Mice sleep,
All the creeping things are tucked away.
Slowly this land awakes and throws off its blanket of white,
Daylight penetrates my skin,
Suffusing me with well being.
Birds come home and plants bloom,
Alive, all is alive.
I watch and wait,
Patiently, growing warm.
Hope you are thinking of warmth too!
Now.... a little cotton today, I think.... and tea! Perfect for -24.
Monday, December 28, 2009
18 yrs Old
My marriage is 18 yrs old today. 18 yrs ago I was married on a stormy day in Newfoundland. I had to have the driveway shoveled out before we could go to the church and there is a picture of me with a pair of green rubber boots, and my white velvet dress and my red coat (which the mice have chewed holes in... it's out in the shed and yes I still have it) with a yellow snow plow in the background. Hubby and the best man shoveled the driveway while I hid in the house so that he wouldn't see me in my finery. The service was held at a chapel on campus where we had just finished our respective degrees. I did say obey.... though I don't always.
I can safely say that Hubby and I have had a good 18 yrs together. There have been ups and downs, but definitely more ups than downs. We're not as romantic as we used to be. He doesn't buy me flowers anymore (partially due to the fact that there is no florist in our town) and I don't always have supper waiting for him, but every now and again I will look across the room and catch him smiling as he watches me and I still think he has a cute toosh. : ) We still enjoy spending time with each other and sometimes find that the kids are a confining factor in our relationship. We've grown comfortable with each other and can predict (sometimes) what each other is going to say. Generally we are happy and that is a lot more than some can say after 18 months let alone 18 yrs.
It is funny how we mellow over the years. When I first met Hubby I felt like my whole world would fall apart if he wasn't with me. We pretty much would suck the life out of each other when we were together and then gasp for the air that we provided each other when we were apart. It is not a healthy way to live.... that kind of love has to mellow or you both just burn up in your own exhaust. I'm glad we've mellowed. I don't think I could still survive that kind of initial love, it would suffocate me I'm sure.
So here we sit... he reading, and me blogging in the quiet of the morning. Sharing a time to just be in the halo of each other's company. I just read this post to him and he snorted when I read him the bit about his toosh.... when I finished reading Hubby went back to reading his book and I went back to blogging. Later today we will go for a walk and probably hold hands if it is not too cold. I can't think of a better way to spend our anniversary. As long as we are together it doesn't matter what we are doing.
I'm glad I married him.
Sometimes!!! : )
I can safely say that Hubby and I have had a good 18 yrs together. There have been ups and downs, but definitely more ups than downs. We're not as romantic as we used to be. He doesn't buy me flowers anymore (partially due to the fact that there is no florist in our town) and I don't always have supper waiting for him, but every now and again I will look across the room and catch him smiling as he watches me and I still think he has a cute toosh. : ) We still enjoy spending time with each other and sometimes find that the kids are a confining factor in our relationship. We've grown comfortable with each other and can predict (sometimes) what each other is going to say. Generally we are happy and that is a lot more than some can say after 18 months let alone 18 yrs.
It is funny how we mellow over the years. When I first met Hubby I felt like my whole world would fall apart if he wasn't with me. We pretty much would suck the life out of each other when we were together and then gasp for the air that we provided each other when we were apart. It is not a healthy way to live.... that kind of love has to mellow or you both just burn up in your own exhaust. I'm glad we've mellowed. I don't think I could still survive that kind of initial love, it would suffocate me I'm sure.
So here we sit... he reading, and me blogging in the quiet of the morning. Sharing a time to just be in the halo of each other's company. I just read this post to him and he snorted when I read him the bit about his toosh.... when I finished reading Hubby went back to reading his book and I went back to blogging. Later today we will go for a walk and probably hold hands if it is not too cold. I can't think of a better way to spend our anniversary. As long as we are together it doesn't matter what we are doing.
I'm glad I married him.
Sometimes!!! : )
Sunday, December 27, 2009
A Quiet Christmas
Yesterday was a day of Harry Potter. Daughter#1 is a complete Harry Potter fan. She has read the books something like seven times, so Christmas morning when she opened the Harry Potter DVD set she was really excited. We promised her that Boxing Day would be a day to have a Harry Potter marathon. We waited for her to get up which didn't happen until 10:30 a.m. and we started in. Hubby can't do movies the way the rest of us can so we lost him from about 1:30 till 6 p.m. He went to haul hay for the sheep and the horse. But the Daughters and I sat and did Harry Potter movies all day. We never got to bed till 2 a.m. I'm Harry Pottered out. I even dreamed about Harry Potter.
I did, in between, make a pot of Cream of Turkey soup. It was delicious. Here's the recipe...
2-3 litres water in stock pot.
2 envelopes of chicken oxo
3 c. of finely chopped turkey from your leftover Christmas bird
2 stalks of celery chopped fairly finely
2 cups of peas (frozen are fine)
2 cups of red lentils
pepper to taste and onion powder to taste
one lg container of whipping cream
bring all ingredients except cream to a roiling boil and leave like this for 40 minutes or until lentils and celery are tender. Add cream and reduce heat simmer for 10 minutes.....
Pour into soup bowls and sprinkle with broken crackers.... it really is delicious....
I have company tonight, so we are cooking ham, and scalloped potatoes with pepper bake as a side dish and almond torte with summer fruit for desert.
But in the meantime I'm off to spin some more.... (yes on the jacket commission!)
I did, in between, make a pot of Cream of Turkey soup. It was delicious. Here's the recipe...
2-3 litres water in stock pot.
2 envelopes of chicken oxo
3 c. of finely chopped turkey from your leftover Christmas bird
2 stalks of celery chopped fairly finely
2 cups of peas (frozen are fine)
2 cups of red lentils
pepper to taste and onion powder to taste
one lg container of whipping cream
bring all ingredients except cream to a roiling boil and leave like this for 40 minutes or until lentils and celery are tender. Add cream and reduce heat simmer for 10 minutes.....
Pour into soup bowls and sprinkle with broken crackers.... it really is delicious....
I have company tonight, so we are cooking ham, and scalloped potatoes with pepper bake as a side dish and almond torte with summer fruit for desert.
But in the meantime I'm off to spin some more.... (yes on the jacket commission!)
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Wham, Bam, Thank You M'am
Whoa.... what just happened... nothing extraordinary that's for sure. I'm still trying to think what all the hoopla is all about. Service went well.... check.... visiting friends went well... check... got to bed and a reasonable time... check..... had fun opening stockings.... check.... good Christmas morning breakfast..... check.... opened up lovely gifts.... check.... had a snooze after lunch... check..... had Christmas dinner at the folks place.... check.... Ok what was I making such a fuss about! Now I don't have to think about it for another ten whole months. And actually I'm starting to think about the first week of July.... woo hoo! Anyone who knows me knows that the first week of July is the best week of the year.... it takes waaaayyy more precedence than Christmas.
They'll soon be posting the courses!!! It'll soon be time to register!!! It'll soon be time to book a room in the apartments!!!! I can't wait. I wonder which courses they'll be offering??! I'm soooo excited! All that fleece.... all that spinning chat.... all that learning..... I'm totally addicted to Fibre Week!!!
In the meantime though it's boxing day and this is a day to relax. I don't know what I'm relaxing from since yesterday was pretty relaxing too. My parents cooked Christmas dinner and all I had to do was help clean up a little. Got to love that! We have a little turkey in our fridge too since they did up a doggie bag for us. I got lots of nice things, like an owl, who I've named Smore....
he sits with my other critters, on a shelf, in my spinning room. I also got sox.....
loads of them.... some hand made and some store bought.... I don't have to worry about the Daughters stealing mine anymore. I got my cotton cards and some knitting needles, DPNs for fingers in gloves, and a beautiful poncho from Peru that's made from alpaca/llama/and wool. I also got some really lovely books... one called The Golden Mean which I really wanted ever since I heard the author interviewed on CBC. I also got a book called The Complete Idiot's Guide To T'ai Chi and QiGong.
I'm determined to learn T'ai Chi this year. I also got the next book in the Diana Gabaldon series... 
I've been waiting for it to come out. It's a trashy read but then I love trashy reads too. I also got a lovely heirloom lace bookmark
which I think was my most touching gift. A friend of mine called me a while back and told me she had inherited some really lovely heirloom lace from a family member and asked me if I wanted some. I had intended on taking another friend and going to see her collection of lace. We were talking about what she could use it for and, being a practical person, she wanted to use some of the pieces...(if it were me, I would just mount them and look at them).... but I suggested she make herself a bookmark... she thought the idea was great and so... I never heard anything else about it until Christmas morning when she gave me the bookmark... wow what a lovely gift. I got a knitting magazine in my stocking, and a new nightgown in the softest fluffiest flannelette. So all in all Christmas was quite nice. Still it does seem to be rather "Wham, Bam, Thank You M'am!"
I wonder if that is a sign of old age..... !
Well I'm off today to make amends with my jacket commission whick is languoring in my spinning room. I might even put the handles on my new cotton cards and have a go with them .... aaaahhhhh! I love Boxing Day!
They'll soon be posting the courses!!! It'll soon be time to register!!! It'll soon be time to book a room in the apartments!!!! I can't wait. I wonder which courses they'll be offering??! I'm soooo excited! All that fleece.... all that spinning chat.... all that learning..... I'm totally addicted to Fibre Week!!!
In the meantime though it's boxing day and this is a day to relax. I don't know what I'm relaxing from since yesterday was pretty relaxing too. My parents cooked Christmas dinner and all I had to do was help clean up a little. Got to love that! We have a little turkey in our fridge too since they did up a doggie bag for us. I got lots of nice things, like an owl, who I've named Smore....
he sits with my other critters, on a shelf, in my spinning room. I also got sox.....
loads of them.... some hand made and some store bought.... I don't have to worry about the Daughters stealing mine anymore. I got my cotton cards and some knitting needles, DPNs for fingers in gloves, and a beautiful poncho from Peru that's made from alpaca/llama/and wool. I also got some really lovely books... one called The Golden Mean which I really wanted ever since I heard the author interviewed on CBC. I also got a book called The Complete Idiot's Guide To T'ai Chi and QiGong.
I'm determined to learn T'ai Chi this year. I also got the next book in the Diana Gabaldon series... 
I've been waiting for it to come out. It's a trashy read but then I love trashy reads too. I also got a lovely heirloom lace bookmark
which I think was my most touching gift. A friend of mine called me a while back and told me she had inherited some really lovely heirloom lace from a family member and asked me if I wanted some. I had intended on taking another friend and going to see her collection of lace. We were talking about what she could use it for and, being a practical person, she wanted to use some of the pieces...(if it were me, I would just mount them and look at them).... but I suggested she make herself a bookmark... she thought the idea was great and so... I never heard anything else about it until Christmas morning when she gave me the bookmark... wow what a lovely gift. I got a knitting magazine in my stocking, and a new nightgown in the softest fluffiest flannelette. So all in all Christmas was quite nice. Still it does seem to be rather "Wham, Bam, Thank You M'am!"I wonder if that is a sign of old age..... !
Well I'm off today to make amends with my jacket commission whick is languoring in my spinning room. I might even put the handles on my new cotton cards and have a go with them .... aaaahhhhh! I love Boxing Day!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Christmas Is In The Air
Christmas is almost upon me.... do I scream in agony?!.... no I do not.... I face it resolutely, knowing that I can't be any more prepared than I am. The outdoor lights are up, the tree is up and decorated, the living room is cleaned up... well at least better than it was, house looks as Christmassy as it can, carols have been playing for days, all gifts are done or bought and wrapped, the groceries are bought and put away.... (and you can hardly notice the $700.00 worth that I bought! I'm disgusted).... the Christmas email/poem that I write each year is done and sent.... I think I'm done. Now I can sit and knit or spin.... yeah!
We've ordered a wardrobe for Daughter #2's bedroom. It has nothing to do with Christmas. It was supposed to arrive on the 28th of December.... it showed up yesterday. Hubby was off with the truck so today we will be picking it up and setting it up. This is an unexpected chore. But we want to get it done instead of having it hanging over us.
Hubby is in the kitchen making bagels and lox. He smoked the lox last night and the dough for the bagels is in the bread maker. Today he will boil the bagels dip them in sesame seeds and then pop them into the smoker before baking them.... yum.... I love Montreal style bagels and cream cheese with lox.... normally we have on Christmas morning either raisin molasses bread or cranberry bread that I make.... but Hubby took the initiative this year and made homemade bagels. I can't wait to try them.
For another tip on getting in the Christmas mood.... drink tea with your Hubby... (you need a Hubby like mine).... laughing with your Daughters.... (you need Daughters like mine)..... listening to Christmas music.... but not too much.... and generally being happy.
My best tip for the Christmas spirit.... go to your nearest church for a Christmas Eve service, join your voice to the voices of others and sing old familiar carols, listen to the readings, think about that oh so profound night 2000 years ago, pray, think of world wide peace, listen to the church bells, wish people a Merry Christmas, visit friends, head home to put all your secrets under the tree, chuckle lots, get your cozy pjs on and say a prayer for me... I'll being praying for you....
Merry Christmas
We've ordered a wardrobe for Daughter #2's bedroom. It has nothing to do with Christmas. It was supposed to arrive on the 28th of December.... it showed up yesterday. Hubby was off with the truck so today we will be picking it up and setting it up. This is an unexpected chore. But we want to get it done instead of having it hanging over us.
Hubby is in the kitchen making bagels and lox. He smoked the lox last night and the dough for the bagels is in the bread maker. Today he will boil the bagels dip them in sesame seeds and then pop them into the smoker before baking them.... yum.... I love Montreal style bagels and cream cheese with lox.... normally we have on Christmas morning either raisin molasses bread or cranberry bread that I make.... but Hubby took the initiative this year and made homemade bagels. I can't wait to try them.
For another tip on getting in the Christmas mood.... drink tea with your Hubby... (you need a Hubby like mine).... laughing with your Daughters.... (you need Daughters like mine)..... listening to Christmas music.... but not too much.... and generally being happy.
My best tip for the Christmas spirit.... go to your nearest church for a Christmas Eve service, join your voice to the voices of others and sing old familiar carols, listen to the readings, think about that oh so profound night 2000 years ago, pray, think of world wide peace, listen to the church bells, wish people a Merry Christmas, visit friends, head home to put all your secrets under the tree, chuckle lots, get your cozy pjs on and say a prayer for me... I'll being praying for you....
Merry Christmas
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Christmas Nuthouse
I can safely say that the way to lose any budding Christmas spirit you might be starting to feel is to go shopping anytime in the last four days before Christmas.... you will feel like you just had a bowel movement on your own head.... then wonder how that happened!
Holy Crap There's Only Two Days Left?
I got it into my head to make pinecone wreaths for two of our friends and I'm down to the wire.... two days to go... but at least the service is done for Christmas Eve. I'm presiding over the Christmas Eve service since our minister retired last winter and this is no small thing let me tell you. Hubby and I are headed to town to finish the grocery shopping and take the ill fated stupid artificial tree back to the creeps at the upscale store I told you about.... really they're not that bad.... I think it was a dud tree.... a lemon.... Anyway I have a few stocking stuffers to pick up and I need to get some embellishments for the two wreaths.... and I'm done. Tomorrow Hubby and the girls are going to a friends house for sliding but I will stay home and finish printing the bulletins for the Christmas eve service, wrap the last of the gifts and straighten candles for the candle light service..... (they've been stored in a box in the basement of the church hall for a year and so I will have to clean them up a little). I am hoping to have Christmas Eve day just for fun with the Daughters and Hubby.
Hubby and I have made a decision to walk two kilometres every day unless it is below -30 degrees, then we will stay home and think about it. : ) It is just too frigid for me when it gets below -30.
I have the decorating done for Christmas here at Nicholsville farm but the clean up is not done so I'm hoping to post pictures tomorrow of the job we've done once again in our little log home. We even did a little work in the kitchen and finished the breakfast bar though I need an electrical fix in order to plug in my toaster, bread maker and coffee perk.... other than that it looks great. The door is still not on my pantry.... but I have lots of storage.... mind you if I had tons of storage I'd still find a way to fill it and want more.... there never seems to be enough storage.
Today I will give you tip #2 on how to get the Christmas feeling. If your spouse and family are sleepers in, it bodes well to wake a little early and in the quiet of the morning come to your living space that contains your tree, turn on the lights and just sit in the dark with JUST the tree lights and listen to the silence...... Christmas is there in the silence. That's what Mary and Joseph heard when they were in that stable, that is what the shepherds heard after the angels left. The quiet of the night gives you ample time to hear Christmas in your soul.
Merry Christmas.
Hubby and I have made a decision to walk two kilometres every day unless it is below -30 degrees, then we will stay home and think about it. : ) It is just too frigid for me when it gets below -30.
I have the decorating done for Christmas here at Nicholsville farm but the clean up is not done so I'm hoping to post pictures tomorrow of the job we've done once again in our little log home. We even did a little work in the kitchen and finished the breakfast bar though I need an electrical fix in order to plug in my toaster, bread maker and coffee perk.... other than that it looks great. The door is still not on my pantry.... but I have lots of storage.... mind you if I had tons of storage I'd still find a way to fill it and want more.... there never seems to be enough storage.
Today I will give you tip #2 on how to get the Christmas feeling. If your spouse and family are sleepers in, it bodes well to wake a little early and in the quiet of the morning come to your living space that contains your tree, turn on the lights and just sit in the dark with JUST the tree lights and listen to the silence...... Christmas is there in the silence. That's what Mary and Joseph heard when they were in that stable, that is what the shepherds heard after the angels left. The quiet of the night gives you ample time to hear Christmas in your soul.
Merry Christmas.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Ahhh! Sweet Holidays At Last
It is Monday morning and does it ever feel nice to wake slowly and get up slowly and the Daughters are still in bed sleeping.... Hubby is making breakfast. Tea is forth coming and the tree dilemma has been solved. (sigh... a nice relaxed sigh).
Yesterday, when daylight finally came Hubby and I took a couple of cups of hot chocolate and headed off toward FSJ to look for a tree. We felt that if we found a real tree somewhere along the highway, well and good, we would cut it down and be happy. But if we didn't find one before we got to FSJ then when we got there, we would make a bee-line for Canadian Tire and buy an artificial tree and be done with it. I am happy to say that we never made it to FSJ. We instead, stopped at a well known road side pullout. Off to the right of the road side pullout is a road that leads to an old gravel pit. Trees are growing in this old gravel pit but they are very stunted and grow slowly because of course a gravel pit does not have good soil.... the result is we found one of the nicest trees we've ever had.... what's more is we found another one for our ..... ooops I can't say what we are doing yet.... we also found next year's tree too. We've marked the tree and we will go back for it next year. So I am happy to say that I will not have to purchase a artificial tree for a while yet. Tomorrow the artificial tree that we bought over the weekend will go back for hopefully a full refund which will give me a little more money to spend on Hubby's stocking which is looking like he was a bad boy all year.
When we got home with the tree we discovered that it is bigger than we thought. Hubby was about to lob off a foot or so from the bottom when I got a brilliant idea. It meant moving around furniture again but we have a dining room, a living room, a studio (small), and a tree room!..... I can't wait to finish decorating so that I can post some pictures here. The whole effect is brilliant.
What a difference one day can make... yesterday, Christmas sucked.... today.... well I don't love it but it is a whole lot better than it was!
I think partially because the church pageant is over. It went really well. One of my Knock-out Knitters came. It is great when people come to church that don't normally go. It makes you feel like what you do for the church is worthwhile after all. Thanks L I'm glad you were there.
Christmas eve service is next. I have to work on that since I will be presiding. And though this is the first time I will have presided over the Christmas Eve service, I am not worried about it. It will be lovely.
Gifts wrapped, house decorated, tree up, not too bad for someone who isn't a Christmas aficionado.
One of my favorite Christmas stories is... A Redbird Christmas. If you want to get in the mood here's a sure fire way of doing so....
1. Borrow A Redbird Christmas by Fanny Flagg from your local library....
2. Place it strategically by your favorite comfortable chair....
3. Boil a kettle of water and while doing so, spoon some Carnation Hot Chocolate into your favorite mug....
4. Poor into the powder, three tablespoons of store bought eggnog and stir vigorously.....
5. Poor over this mixture enough boiling water to fill mug.....
6. Sit down in your favorite chair where you located the book earlier....
7. Begin reading and occasionally sipping from the mug of Eggnog Hot Chocolate...
8. Enjoy.....
Merry Christmas!
Yesterday, when daylight finally came Hubby and I took a couple of cups of hot chocolate and headed off toward FSJ to look for a tree. We felt that if we found a real tree somewhere along the highway, well and good, we would cut it down and be happy. But if we didn't find one before we got to FSJ then when we got there, we would make a bee-line for Canadian Tire and buy an artificial tree and be done with it. I am happy to say that we never made it to FSJ. We instead, stopped at a well known road side pullout. Off to the right of the road side pullout is a road that leads to an old gravel pit. Trees are growing in this old gravel pit but they are very stunted and grow slowly because of course a gravel pit does not have good soil.... the result is we found one of the nicest trees we've ever had.... what's more is we found another one for our ..... ooops I can't say what we are doing yet.... we also found next year's tree too. We've marked the tree and we will go back for it next year. So I am happy to say that I will not have to purchase a artificial tree for a while yet. Tomorrow the artificial tree that we bought over the weekend will go back for hopefully a full refund which will give me a little more money to spend on Hubby's stocking which is looking like he was a bad boy all year.
When we got home with the tree we discovered that it is bigger than we thought. Hubby was about to lob off a foot or so from the bottom when I got a brilliant idea. It meant moving around furniture again but we have a dining room, a living room, a studio (small), and a tree room!..... I can't wait to finish decorating so that I can post some pictures here. The whole effect is brilliant.
What a difference one day can make... yesterday, Christmas sucked.... today.... well I don't love it but it is a whole lot better than it was!
I think partially because the church pageant is over. It went really well. One of my Knock-out Knitters came. It is great when people come to church that don't normally go. It makes you feel like what you do for the church is worthwhile after all. Thanks L I'm glad you were there.
Christmas eve service is next. I have to work on that since I will be presiding. And though this is the first time I will have presided over the Christmas Eve service, I am not worried about it. It will be lovely.
Gifts wrapped, house decorated, tree up, not too bad for someone who isn't a Christmas aficionado.
One of my favorite Christmas stories is... A Redbird Christmas. If you want to get in the mood here's a sure fire way of doing so....
1. Borrow A Redbird Christmas by Fanny Flagg from your local library....
2. Place it strategically by your favorite comfortable chair....
3. Boil a kettle of water and while doing so, spoon some Carnation Hot Chocolate into your favorite mug....
4. Poor into the powder, three tablespoons of store bought eggnog and stir vigorously.....
5. Poor over this mixture enough boiling water to fill mug.....
6. Sit down in your favorite chair where you located the book earlier....
7. Begin reading and occasionally sipping from the mug of Eggnog Hot Chocolate...
8. Enjoy.....
Merry Christmas!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Fir or Pine... No Luck There
The decorating is almost done and most of the clean up is done, and I only have a few items left to wrap. There is only one problem... we still don't have a tree... it has become a dilemma.
Hubby took the Daughters shopping yesterday while I spent a lovely afternoon with my spinners and weavers group in FSJ for our annual potluck Christmas luncheon and gift exchange. I did not partake of the gift exchange since this year I just didn't get it finished in time. But it was great fun to watch the other ladies doing their thing with their made items. I hate pressure and though I started a tote ages ago I ran out of spun wool for it and while I wanted to order more I reall couldn't justify buying another pile of rovings to Hubby. Then when I went to make a different one, I just didn't get time to finish it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! Dummy here forgot to bring along her camera though which was really stupid. I had intended on posting the pics.
After the party was over Hubby picked me up and I was happy to note the box in the back of the truck with an artificial tree in it. Finally we had made a decision and we would have a tree forever after. No more waiting till the 20th to put up the real tree... no more Charlie Brown Christmas trees. No more cutting trees in frigid air at dusk just because we had to get one soon or it would be dark.... no, we would have a tree and the darn thing would be up next year right after Daughter #1 birthday and no more cleaning up from the decorations on on the 24th...... at long last our problems were solved. We headed home satisfied that Christmas was prepared for and all was right in the world.
Not!
The artificial tree we bought is a dud. I have never seen a more stupid tree in my life. The dumb thing was falling apart as soon as we touched it. The branches were falling off and it just looked dumb. The bottom third had no limbs at all. It was a five foot tree on a seven foot tree post. We could of cut off the bottom 18 inches and not hit a branch. Hubby packed it back in it's box and back to FSJ it goes on Monday. I'm not quite sure what we are going to do now... that upside down tree is looking better all the time. Hubby and I trudged around in the dark looking for a likely real candidate but all the trees around here are too wimpy. The branches are not likely to withstand the onslaught of decorations. We even drove a ways up the road in hopes that we would find something in the road allowance. Nadda.... nothing.... zero.... zip.... goose egg....
You have never seen a more disappointed bunch of people than the whole lot in this house. I would never have thought that the store (which is an upscale store) we bought this tree from would sell crap.
I am waiting patiently till it is light enough to see.... and I'm going to find a tree. I am past giving a d--n.... THERE WILL BE A TREE IN THIS HOUSE TOMORROW! I don't care if I have to make one.
Hubby started talking about Christmas tree farms the other day after listening to a really interesting interview on CBC with a fellow who started a Christmas tree farm.... Hubby said it was something he had always thought about doing. A Christmas tree farm might just be the ticket.... it would solve all my problems with Christmas trees. I'd never have to worry about where I was going to get one ever again because it would be growing right outside my door! The whole world would abound with Christmas trees!
In the meantime..... 3 more hours before it is light!
Hi ho, hi ho, a Christmas tree hunting I'll go.....
Hubby took the Daughters shopping yesterday while I spent a lovely afternoon with my spinners and weavers group in FSJ for our annual potluck Christmas luncheon and gift exchange. I did not partake of the gift exchange since this year I just didn't get it finished in time. But it was great fun to watch the other ladies doing their thing with their made items. I hate pressure and though I started a tote ages ago I ran out of spun wool for it and while I wanted to order more I reall couldn't justify buying another pile of rovings to Hubby. Then when I went to make a different one, I just didn't get time to finish it. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! Dummy here forgot to bring along her camera though which was really stupid. I had intended on posting the pics.
After the party was over Hubby picked me up and I was happy to note the box in the back of the truck with an artificial tree in it. Finally we had made a decision and we would have a tree forever after. No more waiting till the 20th to put up the real tree... no more Charlie Brown Christmas trees. No more cutting trees in frigid air at dusk just because we had to get one soon or it would be dark.... no, we would have a tree and the darn thing would be up next year right after Daughter #1 birthday and no more cleaning up from the decorations on on the 24th...... at long last our problems were solved. We headed home satisfied that Christmas was prepared for and all was right in the world.
Not!
The artificial tree we bought is a dud. I have never seen a more stupid tree in my life. The dumb thing was falling apart as soon as we touched it. The branches were falling off and it just looked dumb. The bottom third had no limbs at all. It was a five foot tree on a seven foot tree post. We could of cut off the bottom 18 inches and not hit a branch. Hubby packed it back in it's box and back to FSJ it goes on Monday. I'm not quite sure what we are going to do now... that upside down tree is looking better all the time. Hubby and I trudged around in the dark looking for a likely real candidate but all the trees around here are too wimpy. The branches are not likely to withstand the onslaught of decorations. We even drove a ways up the road in hopes that we would find something in the road allowance. Nadda.... nothing.... zero.... zip.... goose egg....
You have never seen a more disappointed bunch of people than the whole lot in this house. I would never have thought that the store (which is an upscale store) we bought this tree from would sell crap.
I am waiting patiently till it is light enough to see.... and I'm going to find a tree. I am past giving a d--n.... THERE WILL BE A TREE IN THIS HOUSE TOMORROW! I don't care if I have to make one.
Hubby started talking about Christmas tree farms the other day after listening to a really interesting interview on CBC with a fellow who started a Christmas tree farm.... Hubby said it was something he had always thought about doing. A Christmas tree farm might just be the ticket.... it would solve all my problems with Christmas trees. I'd never have to worry about where I was going to get one ever again because it would be growing right outside my door! The whole world would abound with Christmas trees!
In the meantime..... 3 more hours before it is light!
Hi ho, hi ho, a Christmas tree hunting I'll go.....
Friday, December 18, 2009
Dull Roar
Things seem to have settled down to a dull roar in the last few days. I'm sure it will pick up again when school closes today. I didn't even have to make breakfast today since there is a pancake breakfast this morning at the school. The kids went out the door in a mad tear as per usual. Then I promptly pulled the front porch to pieces!
When I first moved to our little log house the front (and only) door to this house was in my kitchen and kids and Hubby alike would come through the door and promptly drop everything on the floor. I spent half my time tripping over footwear and mits and hats and gloves when I was trying to cook. I made short work of that because by the following year I had shortened our living room and put an entry to the house on the North side of the deck. The door in the kitchen became the door to the deck and nothing else. Hats and mittens and scarves were now dumped in the front porch.
I realized very quickly that the front porch was becoming a catch-all. Everything that Hubby and the girls didn't know what to with got dumped in there and the corner became a rats nest for papers that were no longer needed for school, mits that were no longer one of a pair, and dust and dirt like you've never seen. Hats that didn't make it to the hooks provided, were thrown on the floor and left forgotten in the mess. Occasionally I would have a fit and get the girls to spend an afternoon sorting through the pigsty. But lately I've noticed that the mess was getting worse and things were going missing and there was no rhyme or reason for the bits of crap that was found in there. In the recent moving around of the house, I have managed to come up with a really nice bureau (highboy or chest of drawers for you folks who don't know that old word) that was empty. An empty chest of drawers was just the ticket for a cleanup in the front porch. So that is what I did this morning.
I gutted the front porch and swept and cleaned the floor replaced old hooks with nice new ones and cleaned out the closet. I even have a mirror to put on the wall for those vain enough to want to look at themselves before going out the door. Each person in the house was assigned a drawer for their hats, mits/gloves, and scarves. Wow! What a difference. I have discovered that the Daughters have no complete set of mits or gloves, that hats are severely scarce for both and that Daught #1 has only one scarf while Daughter #2 has none. I have oddles of leather gloves that the girls have outgrown (their hands are bigger than mine), that Daughter #1 has lost not only her gloves that she uses for riding but one of my work gloves that I loaned her for ridng lessons and she never returned, that there are tons of baseball type hats that no one wears, that Hubby has the most hats and gloves of anyone in the house and certainly doesn't need anymore as it is hard to cram anything else in the drawer and that the Daughter and I are seriously low on accessories. So later this morning after it gets to be daylight I am going out to the shed to see if I can find any of the matching gloves and mittens that lie forlornly on the floor, to find the mirror for the front porch and to finish sorting out the winter gear that's needed by the Daughters. Then tomorrow, when I go shopping for a few more things for Christmas there will be gloves and mittens galore on the list (but not for Hubby he doesn't need it)!
Boy.... does it ever feel good to get that pigsty delt with..... one room finished for Christmas.... yeah! I wonder if there is time to knit hats and mits for the girls.... hmm!
When I first moved to our little log house the front (and only) door to this house was in my kitchen and kids and Hubby alike would come through the door and promptly drop everything on the floor. I spent half my time tripping over footwear and mits and hats and gloves when I was trying to cook. I made short work of that because by the following year I had shortened our living room and put an entry to the house on the North side of the deck. The door in the kitchen became the door to the deck and nothing else. Hats and mittens and scarves were now dumped in the front porch.
I realized very quickly that the front porch was becoming a catch-all. Everything that Hubby and the girls didn't know what to with got dumped in there and the corner became a rats nest for papers that were no longer needed for school, mits that were no longer one of a pair, and dust and dirt like you've never seen. Hats that didn't make it to the hooks provided, were thrown on the floor and left forgotten in the mess. Occasionally I would have a fit and get the girls to spend an afternoon sorting through the pigsty. But lately I've noticed that the mess was getting worse and things were going missing and there was no rhyme or reason for the bits of crap that was found in there. In the recent moving around of the house, I have managed to come up with a really nice bureau (highboy or chest of drawers for you folks who don't know that old word) that was empty. An empty chest of drawers was just the ticket for a cleanup in the front porch. So that is what I did this morning.
I gutted the front porch and swept and cleaned the floor replaced old hooks with nice new ones and cleaned out the closet. I even have a mirror to put on the wall for those vain enough to want to look at themselves before going out the door. Each person in the house was assigned a drawer for their hats, mits/gloves, and scarves. Wow! What a difference. I have discovered that the Daughters have no complete set of mits or gloves, that hats are severely scarce for both and that Daught #1 has only one scarf while Daughter #2 has none. I have oddles of leather gloves that the girls have outgrown (their hands are bigger than mine), that Daughter #1 has lost not only her gloves that she uses for riding but one of my work gloves that I loaned her for ridng lessons and she never returned, that there are tons of baseball type hats that no one wears, that Hubby has the most hats and gloves of anyone in the house and certainly doesn't need anymore as it is hard to cram anything else in the drawer and that the Daughter and I are seriously low on accessories. So later this morning after it gets to be daylight I am going out to the shed to see if I can find any of the matching gloves and mittens that lie forlornly on the floor, to find the mirror for the front porch and to finish sorting out the winter gear that's needed by the Daughters. Then tomorrow, when I go shopping for a few more things for Christmas there will be gloves and mittens galore on the list (but not for Hubby he doesn't need it)!
Boy.... does it ever feel good to get that pigsty delt with..... one room finished for Christmas.... yeah! I wonder if there is time to knit hats and mits for the girls.... hmm!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Well Thank Heavens For That
I'm home and there were no furnace explosions, no house burnings, and best of all nothing froze, or gave out and the water is still running. Mind you every one I talked to today were positively jovial about the balmy temperatures. I mean -21.... I was walking between stores today with my jacket wide open. I felt like I was walking around in the tropics.... especially with all those tacky fake palm trees that Canadian Tire and every box store seems to want to sell.... give me a break palm trees.... a good pine or fir will beat out a palm tree any day for Christmas.... mind you with global warming, you never know... in a few years we might just have palm trees growing around here..... WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT..... THIS IS THE HOUSE WHERE HELL JUST FROZE OVER!!!!!! Global warming my ..... I won't use that word.
Anyway.... Christmas.... shopping is mostly done. Shipping however, is not.
The decorating progresses..... I'm assuming that you've noticed a total lack of pictures lately.... that's because I'm saving them till the end when all the Christmas decorating is done. Besides, I have to dig out another bunch of Christmas stuff from the shed... Tomorrow is gift wrap day.... that should be fun.... Frankie gets stuck to the gift wrap with the tape.... I'm notoriously all thumbs (erp!!!) when I handle gift wrap and tape..... You know all the pictures you see of perfect trees with perfect parcels etc.... that's not me or my house.... we figure if the paper covers it all well and good. Why stick a bow on something your only going to rip apart in a few days..... although I do have to say I'm really liking those Christmas bags. No if I could get away with wrapping stuff in garbage bags (hey! they're reusable) or newspaper (that's recycling folks) I'd do it in two shakes of a lambs tail.....
In other news.... I'm having a terrible time trying to figure out triangles into totes (I can't explain that one as too many people read this blog will know what I mean and it will spoil the surprise). The HH spinners and weavers have rescheduled their Christmas party due to lack of people for the original date. I bought a wreath hanger which was stupid since I already hung my wreath. I've already blown one Christmas gift even though it's not Christmas yet and Hubby was supposed to get that one. I'm freaking out because some of the volunteer work that I do is way behind, not to mention other commissioned things that don't really inspire me and level 3.... be still my beating, panicked, and freaking out heart.... it will all work out in the end right? When hell freezes over.... oh yeah... it already did.... well that's a relief... pressures off... thank heavens for that!!!
Don't worry I'm just having a schizophrenic conversation again..... I think I'll go visit hell for a minute and just put my brain on freeze!
Anyway.... Christmas.... shopping is mostly done. Shipping however, is not.
The decorating progresses..... I'm assuming that you've noticed a total lack of pictures lately.... that's because I'm saving them till the end when all the Christmas decorating is done. Besides, I have to dig out another bunch of Christmas stuff from the shed... Tomorrow is gift wrap day.... that should be fun.... Frankie gets stuck to the gift wrap with the tape.... I'm notoriously all thumbs (erp!!!) when I handle gift wrap and tape..... You know all the pictures you see of perfect trees with perfect parcels etc.... that's not me or my house.... we figure if the paper covers it all well and good. Why stick a bow on something your only going to rip apart in a few days..... although I do have to say I'm really liking those Christmas bags. No if I could get away with wrapping stuff in garbage bags (hey! they're reusable) or newspaper (that's recycling folks) I'd do it in two shakes of a lambs tail.....
In other news.... I'm having a terrible time trying to figure out triangles into totes (I can't explain that one as too many people read this blog will know what I mean and it will spoil the surprise). The HH spinners and weavers have rescheduled their Christmas party due to lack of people for the original date. I bought a wreath hanger which was stupid since I already hung my wreath. I've already blown one Christmas gift even though it's not Christmas yet and Hubby was supposed to get that one. I'm freaking out because some of the volunteer work that I do is way behind, not to mention other commissioned things that don't really inspire me and level 3.... be still my beating, panicked, and freaking out heart.... it will all work out in the end right? When hell freezes over.... oh yeah... it already did.... well that's a relief... pressures off... thank heavens for that!!!
Don't worry I'm just having a schizophrenic conversation again..... I think I'll go visit hell for a minute and just put my brain on freeze!
I Think The Devil Lives At My House
Well after all it is hell here. Once again hell froze over as we got up this morning to a furnace issue. The furnace would cut in but would not blow out any warm air. Hubby figured out a way to get it working as he braved the chill -22 degrees having just gotten out of the shower to climb down the trap to the crawl space flick the "Reset" switch and then crawled back out... thank God we caught it before the cold froze the pump again. I do have to say that a Chinook wouldn't go astray about now.
I have to go get a shower before we head off to town for a day of Christmas shopping. I'm really looking forward to today and getting all the shopping done. I think I'm even looking forward to wrapping all those gifts. Go figure. Maybe all this cold has frozen my brain and, like the furnace I'm working on one too few valves!
Wish me luck.... I hope the water in the shower works!
I have to go get a shower before we head off to town for a day of Christmas shopping. I'm really looking forward to today and getting all the shopping done. I think I'm even looking forward to wrapping all those gifts. Go figure. Maybe all this cold has frozen my brain and, like the furnace I'm working on one too few valves!
Wish me luck.... I hope the water in the shower works!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Ahhhh Balmy Weather At Last
Yes folks there's been a break in this inferno weather (inferno being the key word). It is a balmy -27 degrees and how pleasant it is not to have to worry that my butt will drop off at any given moment. (I do have it attached rather securely with extra chocolate and knitting needles these days!) I no longer feel like grimacing when I open the door for the animals to go out to do their business. I no longer yell and kick when the cat wants to go out and I open the door only to discover that between reaching for the door knob and actually getting it open the cat has disappeared into the depths of the house. It is amazing how they can change their bloody minds when they feel that bivering draft and hold it for another two to four hours. The water even came on of it's own accord today. No hair dryer antics in the depths of frozen hell (the crawl space for you new timers). No more opening the door to let the wolf/husky dog in with white whiskers and a nasty look her face as if I'm cruel. I even felt like taking out my swimsuit and trying it on at one point..... ok so maybe that's an exaggeration.... no woman of my age and stature would ever want to don one of those things....
So with the severe cold over (for now).... Hubby and I are heading off into FSJ for an appointment and a bit of shopping tomorrow. I am actually hoping to get the bulk of my shopping done for the upcoming holiday.... Even Christmas doesn't look so bad after the last few days! With Christmas in the near future, music is in the air all over the house. The church will be having their annual pageant which used to be for the Sunday School but has become an opportunity for all the families of the church to come together and perform something for fun and amusement of all who come. With that in mind my family is presenting "The Mummer's Song" and I will be singing in a duet with another fellow from the church several Christmas Carols. I have been warbling away all over the place as I practice for the event. I will be Granny in "The Mummer's Song" so that should be fun for sure. Then Christmas Eve service will be officiated by yours truly this year. I'm actually looking forward to it.... I think.
It is supposed to get warmer over the next few days and I for one am happy about that. The upcoming events that Hubby and I face are faced more cheerfully if we don't have to go out with enough clothes to make us look like the stay puff marsh mellow man! You may have noticed that anything in the line of spinning, weaving, knitting, or crafting has come to a complete halt. See, that's what I mean.... I've just got to get the house decorated and the parcels wrapped, and in the mail so that I can actually do the things that I like.
But you know what? In all the hub bub of my life I hope you are enjoying these days and finding every reason to smile.
So with the severe cold over (for now).... Hubby and I are heading off into FSJ for an appointment and a bit of shopping tomorrow. I am actually hoping to get the bulk of my shopping done for the upcoming holiday.... Even Christmas doesn't look so bad after the last few days! With Christmas in the near future, music is in the air all over the house. The church will be having their annual pageant which used to be for the Sunday School but has become an opportunity for all the families of the church to come together and perform something for fun and amusement of all who come. With that in mind my family is presenting "The Mummer's Song" and I will be singing in a duet with another fellow from the church several Christmas Carols. I have been warbling away all over the place as I practice for the event. I will be Granny in "The Mummer's Song" so that should be fun for sure. Then Christmas Eve service will be officiated by yours truly this year. I'm actually looking forward to it.... I think.
It is supposed to get warmer over the next few days and I for one am happy about that. The upcoming events that Hubby and I face are faced more cheerfully if we don't have to go out with enough clothes to make us look like the stay puff marsh mellow man! You may have noticed that anything in the line of spinning, weaving, knitting, or crafting has come to a complete halt. See, that's what I mean.... I've just got to get the house decorated and the parcels wrapped, and in the mail so that I can actually do the things that I like.
But you know what? In all the hub bub of my life I hope you are enjoying these days and finding every reason to smile.
Tis The Season To Be Frozen Tra La La La La La La La La
-33 this morning and the heat lamp died in the crawl space sometime during the night and the pump froze. So I guess it will be the hair dryer treatment again today on the pipes. We got the truck running yesterday but the block heater died and so there is no going this morning. Hell hath no fury like a frozen woman! I think I'm becoming that woman!!!
Ah Hubby used a oil pan heater and just came in to say that the truck started but is very unhappy (the truck) about it. I have to bank the house today and put snow up around the crawl space to deal with this problem of the crawl space being so cold. I don't really understand why the crawl space is so cold this year except that there was a problem with the insulation which Hubby fixed. Hmmm..... more insulation???
The Advent decorations are continuing in a very crazy way. I have missed a few days. So today I need to get back at it again. I do have a garland wrapping the rail of the steps and I have put some lights and beads on it. I had wanted to get the Christmas village up but have had a hard time finding the shelves on which it sits. Then finally Hubby found them but they are missing the brackets that hold them up.... so... I am on the hunt now for the brackets. I will find them come hell (which I think is here) or high water. No chance of that with this kind of cold.
Ah Hubby used a oil pan heater and just came in to say that the truck started but is very unhappy (the truck) about it. I have to bank the house today and put snow up around the crawl space to deal with this problem of the crawl space being so cold. I don't really understand why the crawl space is so cold this year except that there was a problem with the insulation which Hubby fixed. Hmmm..... more insulation???
The Advent decorations are continuing in a very crazy way. I have missed a few days. So today I need to get back at it again. I do have a garland wrapping the rail of the steps and I have put some lights and beads on it. I had wanted to get the Christmas village up but have had a hard time finding the shelves on which it sits. Then finally Hubby found them but they are missing the brackets that hold them up.... so... I am on the hunt now for the brackets. I will find them come hell (which I think is here) or high water. No chance of that with this kind of cold.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Hell Froze, Thawed, And Then Froze Again
-39 this morning and all is sort of well here on Nicholsville West farm. We have survived the weekend from hell.
I had church yesterday morning and our retired minister who visited after driving 2 hours made it. Wow! What a trooper. I headed out the door leaving Hubby to work on the water pipes and pump. After church there was a potluck luncheon and then a choir practice. I had to take the Eucharist out to two shut ins and so by the time I got home it was 5 p.m. Hubby had just gotten the water back on and working. Yeah! He took the truck and headed out the door to go feed the horse and go to Pops house to fix a light problem (we are his landlord). I started getting a nice pot of chowder cooked for dinner and biscuits too. Just as I was putting the fish into the pot and Daughter #1 was mixing the biscuits.... pop.... no lights... crap!
The Daughters and I bumbled around in the dark looking for matches and candles and flashlights while my chowder sat on the stove getting cold. And it wasn't very long before we realized that my chowder wasn't going to be the only thing that was getting cold. At -35 temperatures it doesn't take long for a house to cool and with the crawl space only having just warmed up that was a real worry. I called Hubby on our cells and told him what had happened and he came home to help with the kerosene lamp and for moral support. Waaaah was what I wanted to do.... stiff upper lip.... stiff upper lip!
Hubby took the pot of chowder out on the deck and started up our kerosene stove and I watched as his hands started to swell in the cold.... this just would not do! I packed up the family and headed to the nearest restaurant for dinner and to pass the time in warmth till the power came back on. When we got home a few hours later the power was still off and the house was cold.... really cold. We sat on our new sofa with sleeping bags wrapped around us and huddled together for warmth. Brrr! I had called the "Power On" number for BC Hydro and they were predicting another hour.... by this time it was 9 p.m. and the novelty of the pioneer life was pretty much sucking.... at least it was for me. The Daughters got ready for bed and we all trundled off to sleep under a copious number of blankets.
Just as we were getting settled..... pop... on go the lights. Phew! I could breath a little easier. Only it was not very long before we had another problem.... our block heater is not working. I think we blew it last night when the breaker kept tripping in the electrical box. Argh!!!!Hubby and the Daughters are waiting as I write for a ride to school since the buses aren't running and..... well, I just want to know what else is going to happen before this blasted cold breaks. Hell, it doesn't have to be hot to be in hell.....
I had church yesterday morning and our retired minister who visited after driving 2 hours made it. Wow! What a trooper. I headed out the door leaving Hubby to work on the water pipes and pump. After church there was a potluck luncheon and then a choir practice. I had to take the Eucharist out to two shut ins and so by the time I got home it was 5 p.m. Hubby had just gotten the water back on and working. Yeah! He took the truck and headed out the door to go feed the horse and go to Pops house to fix a light problem (we are his landlord). I started getting a nice pot of chowder cooked for dinner and biscuits too. Just as I was putting the fish into the pot and Daughter #1 was mixing the biscuits.... pop.... no lights... crap!
The Daughters and I bumbled around in the dark looking for matches and candles and flashlights while my chowder sat on the stove getting cold. And it wasn't very long before we realized that my chowder wasn't going to be the only thing that was getting cold. At -35 temperatures it doesn't take long for a house to cool and with the crawl space only having just warmed up that was a real worry. I called Hubby on our cells and told him what had happened and he came home to help with the kerosene lamp and for moral support. Waaaah was what I wanted to do.... stiff upper lip.... stiff upper lip!
Hubby took the pot of chowder out on the deck and started up our kerosene stove and I watched as his hands started to swell in the cold.... this just would not do! I packed up the family and headed to the nearest restaurant for dinner and to pass the time in warmth till the power came back on. When we got home a few hours later the power was still off and the house was cold.... really cold. We sat on our new sofa with sleeping bags wrapped around us and huddled together for warmth. Brrr! I had called the "Power On" number for BC Hydro and they were predicting another hour.... by this time it was 9 p.m. and the novelty of the pioneer life was pretty much sucking.... at least it was for me. The Daughters got ready for bed and we all trundled off to sleep under a copious number of blankets.
Just as we were getting settled..... pop... on go the lights. Phew! I could breath a little easier. Only it was not very long before we had another problem.... our block heater is not working. I think we blew it last night when the breaker kept tripping in the electrical box. Argh!!!!Hubby and the Daughters are waiting as I write for a ride to school since the buses aren't running and..... well, I just want to know what else is going to happen before this blasted cold breaks. Hell, it doesn't have to be hot to be in hell.....
Sunday, December 13, 2009
I Think Hell Has Finally Frozen
We're talking cold.. like real cold.... -41 degrees Celcius this morning. I dare not check the Weather Network for the forecast for wind chill.... that might scare me too much! brrrr!!!
Our big development today is that our pipes have frozen. Argh! Last night around 10 p.m. Tootsie the wonder chicken herder came in smelling like cat's pee.... this means that the ground is so frozen that the cats are now using under "My Deck" to take a whiz.... Tootsie, who is little more than a scrap cannot find a place to walk in the deep snow and has taken to using the space under "My Deck" as a bathroom too... and so he comes in smelling rather like a litter box. Since this is not pleasant it means bathing him regularly.
Me: Turn on water in shower upstairs. Slight trickle comes out. "Crap! Deaarr (calling out in a panic stricken voice) I think our pipes are frozen".
Hubby: "Crap!" (great minds think alike) "Is it frozen everywhere.....?"
Me: "Who cares about everywhere..... oh you mean in this house.... I don't know..!"
We check all other taps and there is only a slight dribble coming from the kitchen and the downstairs bathroom.
After Hubby went down into the crawl space under the house he came back quite exasperated to inform me that TC (the contractor) and TCH (the contractors helper) didn't finish insulating the addition and that the furnace vent that heated the crawl space, had been closed offduring the renovations. Argh!!! Hubby spent the next few hours crawling on his stomach in the crawl space insulating thepart of the new section of the crawl space under the addition that had not been insulated. Then he re-insulated the hatch door where the insulation had been torn off.... and then he opened the furnace vent.... and then he put in a heat lamp over the pump. With all this done we went to bed in the hopes that the pump would be thawed out in the morning since we think that the pump is the main problem.....
This Morning:
Me: Crap! Deaarrr (in a melodious voice) there's still no water.
Hubby: Crap! I'll go check the pump....
The result of which is, we are still hoping things will thaw out down there and the water will run again, now that heat is getting in there.
And so I sit here with tea in hand watching Hubby rearrange the animals once again so that the lambs can get to shelter. He is checking them all to see if they need ice removed from their nostrils too. The alpacas have suddenly gotten a whole lot friendlier as they cozy together for warmth. I am heading off to church in a little while if the truck will start. We have a visiting clergy person and I will have to be there in plenty of time to open the doors for her, warm the place up, with a smile on my face.... more than likely it will be a frozen smile....really!
Our big development today is that our pipes have frozen. Argh! Last night around 10 p.m. Tootsie the wonder chicken herder came in smelling like cat's pee.... this means that the ground is so frozen that the cats are now using under "My Deck" to take a whiz.... Tootsie, who is little more than a scrap cannot find a place to walk in the deep snow and has taken to using the space under "My Deck" as a bathroom too... and so he comes in smelling rather like a litter box. Since this is not pleasant it means bathing him regularly.
Me: Turn on water in shower upstairs. Slight trickle comes out. "Crap! Deaarr (calling out in a panic stricken voice) I think our pipes are frozen".
Hubby: "Crap!" (great minds think alike) "Is it frozen everywhere.....?"
Me: "Who cares about everywhere..... oh you mean in this house.... I don't know..!"
We check all other taps and there is only a slight dribble coming from the kitchen and the downstairs bathroom.
After Hubby went down into the crawl space under the house he came back quite exasperated to inform me that TC (the contractor) and TCH (the contractors helper) didn't finish insulating the addition and that the furnace vent that heated the crawl space, had been closed offduring the renovations. Argh!!! Hubby spent the next few hours crawling on his stomach in the crawl space insulating thepart of the new section of the crawl space under the addition that had not been insulated. Then he re-insulated the hatch door where the insulation had been torn off.... and then he opened the furnace vent.... and then he put in a heat lamp over the pump. With all this done we went to bed in the hopes that the pump would be thawed out in the morning since we think that the pump is the main problem.....
This Morning:
Me: Crap! Deaarrr (in a melodious voice) there's still no water.
Hubby: Crap! I'll go check the pump....
The result of which is, we are still hoping things will thaw out down there and the water will run again, now that heat is getting in there.
And so I sit here with tea in hand watching Hubby rearrange the animals once again so that the lambs can get to shelter. He is checking them all to see if they need ice removed from their nostrils too. The alpacas have suddenly gotten a whole lot friendlier as they cozy together for warmth. I am heading off to church in a little while if the truck will start. We have a visiting clergy person and I will have to be there in plenty of time to open the doors for her, warm the place up, with a smile on my face.... more than likely it will be a frozen smile....really!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Really Artificial... What A Way To Go!
I think I might have mentioned a few weeks ago that we had a Christmas tree dilemma. Where on earth do you put a Christmas tree and make it look nice in a construction zone? I asked this very same question one night to Hubby and the Daughters. Forth came some very creative answers of which Daughter #2 made a most irregular one. Her suggestion was that we hang it from the ceiling.... we all had a good laugh at that one but on Thursday when I was shopping for a Christmas tree we saw a very interesting display. There is a nursery in the town where we went shopping and they do a lovely job at Christmas time of making the store and green houses a winter wonderland. They have artificial and real trees galore and each one is decorated in a different theme. It was a real joy to walk through that store and see the marvelous wonders of such creativity. Anything that you might need for Christmas decor was in that place. As we proceeded to walk through the store from one theme area to the next we came across an unusual display. The theme area was crystal with every kind of crystal ornament you have ever seen. The interesting thing is that the store merchandiser had turned a Christmas tree upside down and had decorated the tree so that hundreds of crystal icicles hung above your head where the branches were widest.
Daughter #2 fell in love. Now she wants us to get a Christmas tree and hang it upside down so that our ornaments can be best displayed for all to see. Thing is I'm tempted! I talked to Hubby to see what he thought and he listened to what I had to say. I would not do this for the reasons that Daughter #2 mentioned.... I actually don't believe that the ornaments are best displayed that way. But what a gift to Daughter #2.... to be validated in a way that no other parent in their right mind would ever consider.... it would make her feel like her ideas were taken seriously and I can guarantee that we would have a one of a kind tree. We don't have to do it every year but it would be kind of neat to see the faces of the guests who come to our home.
Our children mean everything to us... just like everyone else out there who have kids.
Why not make lasting memories by doing the unusual. When we go against societal standards just because of the people we love.... well, I think it makes our love that much more real.... Besides, the original idea behind Christmas trees was to bring the symbol of greenery into the house... some people didn't even use trees... just garlands made out of holly or yew.... and think of the memories of the year we put our tree upside down... hoo hoo ha ha... what memories indeed!!!
Want to know if we actually do this??? Stay tuned... pictures will be posted on Christmas Eve.
Daughter #2 fell in love. Now she wants us to get a Christmas tree and hang it upside down so that our ornaments can be best displayed for all to see. Thing is I'm tempted! I talked to Hubby to see what he thought and he listened to what I had to say. I would not do this for the reasons that Daughter #2 mentioned.... I actually don't believe that the ornaments are best displayed that way. But what a gift to Daughter #2.... to be validated in a way that no other parent in their right mind would ever consider.... it would make her feel like her ideas were taken seriously and I can guarantee that we would have a one of a kind tree. We don't have to do it every year but it would be kind of neat to see the faces of the guests who come to our home.
Our children mean everything to us... just like everyone else out there who have kids.
Why not make lasting memories by doing the unusual. When we go against societal standards just because of the people we love.... well, I think it makes our love that much more real.... Besides, the original idea behind Christmas trees was to bring the symbol of greenery into the house... some people didn't even use trees... just garlands made out of holly or yew.... and think of the memories of the year we put our tree upside down... hoo hoo ha ha... what memories indeed!!!
Want to know if we actually do this??? Stay tuned... pictures will be posted on Christmas Eve.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Oh Ye Gods Of Mayhem
Knock, Knock....
Me: Hello
Furniture Delivery Guy: Is this the right place to deliver the sectional couch?
Me: Yes absolutely.
The furniture is delivered and put in the living room... (more about that later). I close the door behind the delivery guys and sit on my new lovely sofa..... ahhh! How relaxing.
Knock, Knock...
Me: Hello
Furniture Delivery Guy: Ummm.... do you know anyone with a 4 x 4, we're stuck in your driveway.
Me: Hmmmm ....!
An hour later after phoning around to many people.....
the big truck unstuck the wienie truck and the wienie truck is on it's way....
The Gods of Mayhem have struck again..... but we shall persevere....
Besides the guy who was driving the big truck that did the towing was really cute.... (What! I'm allowed to look!!!)
I guess Hubby and I will have to do up a Christmas basket of jerky and beer for those responsible for the wienie truck removal from our driveway....
But, for all that, it sure is nice having a sofa.....
Me: Hello
Furniture Delivery Guy: Is this the right place to deliver the sectional couch?
Me: Yes absolutely.
The furniture is delivered and put in the living room... (more about that later). I close the door behind the delivery guys and sit on my new lovely sofa..... ahhh! How relaxing.
Knock, Knock...
Me: Hello
Furniture Delivery Guy: Ummm.... do you know anyone with a 4 x 4, we're stuck in your driveway.
Me: Hmmmm ....!
An hour later after phoning around to many people.....
the big truck unstuck the wienie truck and the wienie truck is on it's way....
The Gods of Mayhem have struck again..... but we shall persevere....
Besides the guy who was driving the big truck that did the towing was really cute.... (What! I'm allowed to look!!!)
I guess Hubby and I will have to do up a Christmas basket of jerky and beer for those responsible for the wienie truck removal from our driveway....
But, for all that, it sure is nice having a sofa.....
Unexpected Changes
I'm waiting for our new couch..... we didn't get the one we were planning on getting but we did buy a sectional. It is olive green and will look nice in the living room with the black leather recliners. I also have a coffee table bt that won't be here until after Christmas. Hubby and the Daughters and I had a long day in FSJ.... we dropped Hubby off at the building that he had to go to for his workshop and then we took off in search of the ever elusive Christmas tree. We checked out what CT had to offer and found one possible. Then we headed over to another store to see what they had and we came to the conclusion that if you want a realistic looking artificial Christmas tree then you have to pay an arm and a leg..... in the end we decided to wait till next week when the winner of the Nicholsville West tree award will go on sale.
Daughter #1 got a chance to go to the Western store to have a look at cowboy boots and other western wear and Daughter #2 and I sat and stared off into space..... we were bored while she was in her hay day. She came away with a horsey tee-shirt and a lunge line for her horse. Then we went searching for jeans and pants since both of the Daughters have out grown everything they own. We had lunch at a Chinese food place and then moved on to the book store where we all felt we could spend a fortune since both the Daughters and Hubby and myself are voracious readers. We puttered around the mall and checked out the central kiosks (I had a great conversation with a lady from Peru regarding Llama recipes, she's really interesting)... I bought some hand and foot cream that was far too expensive so that the Daughters and I could have a spa day and do our feet and hands and nails etc... All in all it was very enjoyable.
Then we headed off to the furniture stores to have a look.... just a look.... you see Hubby and I had made up our minds about what we were going to do in the living room.... we had decided that getting furniture from a place where you can't see what you are buying was stupid. We have done that before and ordered from a catalogue and been very disappointed. This time we were going to do it once again and take another chance that is until.... DA, DA, DA, DA, (drum roll) I checked out this olive coloured dandy that was on sale too.... how great is that. I am waiting for the delivery guys as I write so I can't keep writing for long since they might want to call me for directions and my phone line will be busy. There have been other developments too but I'll write about those later..... maybe I'll be able to post a few pictures too.
Daughter #1 got a chance to go to the Western store to have a look at cowboy boots and other western wear and Daughter #2 and I sat and stared off into space..... we were bored while she was in her hay day. She came away with a horsey tee-shirt and a lunge line for her horse. Then we went searching for jeans and pants since both of the Daughters have out grown everything they own. We had lunch at a Chinese food place and then moved on to the book store where we all felt we could spend a fortune since both the Daughters and Hubby and myself are voracious readers. We puttered around the mall and checked out the central kiosks (I had a great conversation with a lady from Peru regarding Llama recipes, she's really interesting)... I bought some hand and foot cream that was far too expensive so that the Daughters and I could have a spa day and do our feet and hands and nails etc... All in all it was very enjoyable.
Then we headed off to the furniture stores to have a look.... just a look.... you see Hubby and I had made up our minds about what we were going to do in the living room.... we had decided that getting furniture from a place where you can't see what you are buying was stupid. We have done that before and ordered from a catalogue and been very disappointed. This time we were going to do it once again and take another chance that is until.... DA, DA, DA, DA, (drum roll) I checked out this olive coloured dandy that was on sale too.... how great is that. I am waiting for the delivery guys as I write so I can't keep writing for long since they might want to call me for directions and my phone line will be busy. There have been other developments too but I'll write about those later..... maybe I'll be able to post a few pictures too.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Ambitions
Ambitious is what I was yesterday. It of course did nlt happen quite the way I expected. I finished the mirror but didn't get it up on the wall since the wall need a couple of coats of clear coat... that got done. The doors to the vanity got their second coat of paint and I even got the hinges on them and now the cabinet looks slightly more finished. I got a plan for the living room finally after waffling on the couch situation for the last two weeks. We decided the red couch would clash with the red floor and that the sectional would really reduce the room we had. So we picked out a blue couch instead that could do double duty as a bed when company comes. Meanwhile the shelves that I thought were for the Christmas village don't fit so I've decided to have one more look in the shed and if I can't find them I will do something else.
Today is my shopping day with Daughter #1. I'm looking forward to it. We have begun a new tradition... well that was an oxymoron..... we started the tradition about three years ago when they outgrew toys for their birthdays. I take them out of school for a day of shopping and we have lunch and do a real mom and daughter thing. It is usually a lot of fun and they get to miss a day of school .... we are leaving in about 15 minutes (so I had better finish this quick). While shopping today I am going to buy our artificial tree....
When Hubby and I moved to this log house we decided that would only use freshly cut trees and take the girls to go and cut it.... it means leaving the tree till the last minute... Last year was the ultimate fiasco.... I swore I would never go kill a live tree again. I swore I would buy an artificial tree and that would be that. So yesterday I did some internet shopping and found a tree that will suit our need. Small house = small tree.... or least a skinny tree and that is hard to find. So I am scouting for an artificial tree. I think I found the right one. Tomorrow will be the tree decorating..... which will be the only thing that looks sensible in the living room.... hardy har har....
Ok Hubby is out of the shower and I have to dry my hair yet... I'm off... wish me luck.
Today is my shopping day with Daughter #1. I'm looking forward to it. We have begun a new tradition... well that was an oxymoron..... we started the tradition about three years ago when they outgrew toys for their birthdays. I take them out of school for a day of shopping and we have lunch and do a real mom and daughter thing. It is usually a lot of fun and they get to miss a day of school .... we are leaving in about 15 minutes (so I had better finish this quick). While shopping today I am going to buy our artificial tree....
When Hubby and I moved to this log house we decided that would only use freshly cut trees and take the girls to go and cut it.... it means leaving the tree till the last minute... Last year was the ultimate fiasco.... I swore I would never go kill a live tree again. I swore I would buy an artificial tree and that would be that. So yesterday I did some internet shopping and found a tree that will suit our need. Small house = small tree.... or least a skinny tree and that is hard to find. So I am scouting for an artificial tree. I think I found the right one. Tomorrow will be the tree decorating..... which will be the only thing that looks sensible in the living room.... hardy har har....
Ok Hubby is out of the shower and I have to dry my hair yet... I'm off... wish me luck.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
A Day To Do
Yesterday was "a day to do'. I caught up on a bunch of work!!! Even I'm surprised on that since my tendency is to procrastinate when eternity in Christmas hell is all that I face. I painted the trim around the medicine cabinet/mirror that will grace the wall of the downstairs bath room. It should be ready to go up on the wall this evening with some help from Hubby. Imagine that! I also painted one coat of paint on the inside of the doors that belong on the vanity for the downstairs bathroom. Imagine that! After all was said and done, I carded a bunch of rolags for the jacket commission and by midnight last night I had all of them spun. I got about a quarter of a spool finished. Imagine that! I also managed to fix the garland on the railing going upstairs. Imagine that!
Having said that Christmas hell looms. The living room looks like a bomb hit because there is a bunch of newspaper on the floor where I was painting yesterday not to mention a pile of wool droppings by your friendly neighbourhood wild cardeer (get it card-deer carder... ok so my humour sucks this morning!... ). Today I'm hoping to finish the second coat required on the back of the doors for the vanity, clean up my bedroom and bring downstairs the antique settee which dwells in my bedroom under a pile of clean laundry that perpetually lives there... (I'm taking away the settee so that Hubby and I are forced to put away our clothes all the time rather than dump it on the settee). I also want to finish putting up the Christmas lights outside. I started this job the other day but ran into problems with extension cords that wouldn't work.... so now Hubby has purchased a few new ones. That will be the decoration of the day I think. Meanwhile Hubby has found the shelves for the Christmas village and if I get really ambitious I might even put that up.
So with all of that on my plate today I am heading off to get to work.... I'll see what I can do with pictures tomorrow.
Having said that Christmas hell looms. The living room looks like a bomb hit because there is a bunch of newspaper on the floor where I was painting yesterday not to mention a pile of wool droppings by your friendly neighbourhood wild cardeer (get it card-deer carder... ok so my humour sucks this morning!... ). Today I'm hoping to finish the second coat required on the back of the doors for the vanity, clean up my bedroom and bring downstairs the antique settee which dwells in my bedroom under a pile of clean laundry that perpetually lives there... (I'm taking away the settee so that Hubby and I are forced to put away our clothes all the time rather than dump it on the settee). I also want to finish putting up the Christmas lights outside. I started this job the other day but ran into problems with extension cords that wouldn't work.... so now Hubby has purchased a few new ones. That will be the decoration of the day I think. Meanwhile Hubby has found the shelves for the Christmas village and if I get really ambitious I might even put that up.
So with all of that on my plate today I am heading off to get to work.... I'll see what I can do with pictures tomorrow.
Monday, December 7, 2009
I'm Dreamin' Of A White Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know.......
Yep I really, really wish that the Christmases of my childhood were the ones that I experienced now.... you know... the ones where you didn't have to buy your own Christmas gifts......
Today I received a pair of boots that I ordered from Sears... they are from Pops (that's my father). He came to my house a while ago and said, "here's some money, get yourself something that you need and wrap it from me"..... (sigh) it kind of takes the surprise out of Christmas.
I told the Daughters that I wanted hand made sox.... I even told them about the lady who makes them.... they are crocheted and they are lovely... far nicer than store bought sox. I think they bought me a pair at the Craft Fair.... they couldn't keep their faces straight even though they tried when I talked about them. It's not really their fault but it just means one less surprise.....
Hubby said the other day that I should order whatever "spinny things" that I want because he'd screw it up... so basically there are no surprises for me at all. Baa humbug!
Actually, it's ok I'm an adult and I can handle it right! Waaaaa!
Ok so here's how you know your a red neck.....
1.You use your old toilet for a planter on your deck
2. You hang your wreath at Christmas time and hope that people will notice how nice the bow matches the Tuck tape that keeps the vapour barrier from letting in cold air...
I think my Christmas decorating theme should be Christmas meets hardware store.....
Ok so I'm off to paint the frame of the mirror for the downstairs bathroom.
Maybe Santa will put something in my stocking.....
Yep I really, really wish that the Christmases of my childhood were the ones that I experienced now.... you know... the ones where you didn't have to buy your own Christmas gifts......
Today I received a pair of boots that I ordered from Sears... they are from Pops (that's my father). He came to my house a while ago and said, "here's some money, get yourself something that you need and wrap it from me"..... (sigh) it kind of takes the surprise out of Christmas.
I told the Daughters that I wanted hand made sox.... I even told them about the lady who makes them.... they are crocheted and they are lovely... far nicer than store bought sox. I think they bought me a pair at the Craft Fair.... they couldn't keep their faces straight even though they tried when I talked about them. It's not really their fault but it just means one less surprise.....
Hubby said the other day that I should order whatever "spinny things" that I want because he'd screw it up... so basically there are no surprises for me at all. Baa humbug!
Actually, it's ok I'm an adult and I can handle it right! Waaaaa!
Ok so here's how you know your a red neck.....
1.You use your old toilet for a planter on your deck
2. You hang your wreath at Christmas time and hope that people will notice how nice the bow matches the Tuck tape that keeps the vapour barrier from letting in cold air...
I think my Christmas decorating theme should be Christmas meets hardware store.....
Ok so I'm off to paint the frame of the mirror for the downstairs bathroom.
Maybe Santa will put something in my stocking.....
Sunday, December 6, 2009
14 Years Ago
14 Years ago... I woke up early when the nurse came into my hospital room to start the drip again after the day before not having any serious induced labour. Yes I was one of those lucky few who had a baby that wanted to stay in the nice warm belly. As the day wore on and still the induced labour was not producing the required results, in marched the doctor and with a shock, ripped open some nasty thing and broke my water..... and with a disgusting flush that still startles me to this day, labour began in earnest.
Several hours later, and 3 cms of dilation, and a whole lot of pain, Daughter #1 was stuck. So with the whole hearted agreement of myself and Hubby, it was decided that an emergency C section should be done. By this time, it was about 9 p.m. and I was exhausted. I remember being rolled into the operating room where it was frigid and the nurses had removed my nightgown....I had a light sheet over me which was not the warmest thing in the world... I had eaten a light supper while waiting for the baby to arrive so the anesthesiologist, told me that they would have to perform some kind of throat thing when I was put to sleep....(I couldn't have an epidural because of the steel rod in my back). I waited a few minutes shivering in the cold while the rest of the operating staff gowned and washed..... they placed an oxygen mask over my face and I felt like was about to die..... I couldn't breath right.... wait a minute isn't oxygen supposed to help a person breath? For whatever reason, my body wasn't behaving normally so I indicated that I was having issues with breathing in a frantic hand signal..... the doctor at my head who was in the process of knocking me out with a very large needle told me to relax.... RELAX how are you supposed to relax when your breathing is nuts? At that point I just wanted to get knocked out..... the nurse tore off the sheet which was my only defence against the frigid air and the last thing I remember is one nurse holding down one hand another nurse holding down the other hand while my whole naked body was exposed in a way that I really don't care to think about, and the doctor at my head trying to strangle me..... (he wasn't really but he was trying to keep me from regurgitating the offending meal I had eaten earlier in the evening so that I wouldn't choke on my own vom.... well you get my drift). Suddenly there was bright light and a warm summer day and everyone was happy... the grass was soft under my feet and all was happy in the world..... then I woke up on the elevator with the oxygen mask threatening to knock me out again. I tried to take the damned thing off but the nurse who was bringing me to the ward told me to leave it..... so I left it..... except not quite on my face... it was only partially covering my mouth and so I was able to breath regular air.... which really helped my breathing a a lot.
I remember wondering if I had a girl or a boy and what was happening but I kept falling asleep I think... then there were two big doors and a Hubby on the other side of them with a bundle of white towels in his arms.... He spoke to me and I remember him saying we had a girl and he was trying to show the baby to me but my eyes wouldn't focus..... meanwhile I was being hauled down the hall to my room which as luck should have it had no one in it except me. They stripped me down again (what was with them did they want me to biver (that's a Newfy word meaning freeze, shiver) to death?). But then there were lovely warm wet cloths cleaning off antiseptic and Hubby was nowhere to be seen with the bundle of towels. I was re-dressed in a warm gown with warm blankets from the blanket warmer and the stupid oxygen mask was removed and once again I felt like I might survive after all.... That's when Hubby showed up less one bundle of towels.... we talked quietly for a little bit about my recovery with the nurses taking part.... they didn't have much to do since there were only four other mothers on the maternity ward. Then it finally dawned on me that somewhere I had a daughter and that I really didn't know anything about her. I asked to see her and Hubby disappeared for a few moments and came back from the nursery with...... my beautiful baby girl.
It is hard to believe that all happened 14 years ago.... it seems like only yesterday.
She's taller than me.....
Several hours later, and 3 cms of dilation, and a whole lot of pain, Daughter #1 was stuck. So with the whole hearted agreement of myself and Hubby, it was decided that an emergency C section should be done. By this time, it was about 9 p.m. and I was exhausted. I remember being rolled into the operating room where it was frigid and the nurses had removed my nightgown....I had a light sheet over me which was not the warmest thing in the world... I had eaten a light supper while waiting for the baby to arrive so the anesthesiologist, told me that they would have to perform some kind of throat thing when I was put to sleep....(I couldn't have an epidural because of the steel rod in my back). I waited a few minutes shivering in the cold while the rest of the operating staff gowned and washed..... they placed an oxygen mask over my face and I felt like was about to die..... I couldn't breath right.... wait a minute isn't oxygen supposed to help a person breath? For whatever reason, my body wasn't behaving normally so I indicated that I was having issues with breathing in a frantic hand signal..... the doctor at my head who was in the process of knocking me out with a very large needle told me to relax.... RELAX how are you supposed to relax when your breathing is nuts? At that point I just wanted to get knocked out..... the nurse tore off the sheet which was my only defence against the frigid air and the last thing I remember is one nurse holding down one hand another nurse holding down the other hand while my whole naked body was exposed in a way that I really don't care to think about, and the doctor at my head trying to strangle me..... (he wasn't really but he was trying to keep me from regurgitating the offending meal I had eaten earlier in the evening so that I wouldn't choke on my own vom.... well you get my drift). Suddenly there was bright light and a warm summer day and everyone was happy... the grass was soft under my feet and all was happy in the world..... then I woke up on the elevator with the oxygen mask threatening to knock me out again. I tried to take the damned thing off but the nurse who was bringing me to the ward told me to leave it..... so I left it..... except not quite on my face... it was only partially covering my mouth and so I was able to breath regular air.... which really helped my breathing a a lot.
I remember wondering if I had a girl or a boy and what was happening but I kept falling asleep I think... then there were two big doors and a Hubby on the other side of them with a bundle of white towels in his arms.... He spoke to me and I remember him saying we had a girl and he was trying to show the baby to me but my eyes wouldn't focus..... meanwhile I was being hauled down the hall to my room which as luck should have it had no one in it except me. They stripped me down again (what was with them did they want me to biver (that's a Newfy word meaning freeze, shiver) to death?). But then there were lovely warm wet cloths cleaning off antiseptic and Hubby was nowhere to be seen with the bundle of towels. I was re-dressed in a warm gown with warm blankets from the blanket warmer and the stupid oxygen mask was removed and once again I felt like I might survive after all.... That's when Hubby showed up less one bundle of towels.... we talked quietly for a little bit about my recovery with the nurses taking part.... they didn't have much to do since there were only four other mothers on the maternity ward. Then it finally dawned on me that somewhere I had a daughter and that I really didn't know anything about her. I asked to see her and Hubby disappeared for a few moments and came back from the nursery with...... my beautiful baby girl.
It is hard to believe that all happened 14 years ago.... it seems like only yesterday.
She's taller than me.....
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Updates
I had a look at my blog from the point of view of someone just having a quick look and decided that my blog needs a few updates..... I have seriously fallen down on the job of keeping up my lists to the right.....
I think I will start with the Christmas list. I'm realizing that first of all it is upside down. I should have had number 1 at the top.... let's see...
1. Write Christmas poem..... screw that!
2. Make Christmas cards...... screw that!
3. Finish made item for NPSW gift exchange...... hmmm can't screw that one..... I better do that tonight.
4. Make 4 locker hooked rugs..... in my dreams...so screw that!
5. Spin fibre for commission jacket..... I wish I could screw that.... sigh!
6. Purchase gifts to be sent for the 1st of December..... argh..... right got to get on that one especially since the 1st has gone by!
7. Deal with Daughter #1 birthday... yep... that's coming this week.
8. Finish gift for HH gift exchange..... I still have a full week.....
9. Advent.. start decorating one item a day...... yup... that's to save what little sanity I have.
10. Prepare something special for the church pageant..... screw that.... well maybe.
11. Get gifts for Mom and Dad..... right... I'm watching the flyers for a sale.
12. Order gifts for daughters.... well that's partially done.
13. Order something for Hubby.... I'm sort of working on that.
14. Stocking stuffer shopping... well that's something I have to do really close to Christmas or I eat it all.... screw that! Mumf scrumf... yum!
15. Make baked items for friends who live around town..... was I NUTS when I thought up this???!!!!
16. Clean up for Christmas..... don't get me started.... we don't even have a couch yet!!!!
I guess I should add a few....
17. Buy a couch.
18. Find a reason to like Christmas... argh!
OK moving right along here.... let's do the "In The Sudio" list
1. Working on knitted lace gloves..... alright, alright already.... I'm a slow knitter ok?!
2. Started on cute child's poncho..... I ran out of yarn and so decided to use this for the gift exchange for the NPSW.... at least that is the plan.
3. Started to spin for the woven jacket commission.... still at that.
4. Knitting a tote with novelty yarn .... I forgot about that.... I wonder where that is.
5. Waiting on Madder project.... still waiting...
6. Spin ginned cotton.... well not ginned but cotton rovings... going well.
7. Woven shawl on tri loom.... still working on that.
8. The studio..... cleaned up but now the living room is a mess.
Right.... "In The Barnyard"
1. Ipwitch, the new ram..... dream on.... the ewes just kept laughing at him..... they need a real man....
2. Oscar the other ram... screw that.... literally.
3. The male alpacas.... screw that.... they can only dream..... (har har!!!!)
4. Reece... screw that.... I think we missed one of the boy lamb's balls when we ringed them in the spring and he's going around chasing Reece saying "screw that screw that"
So there you have it all the updates in my neck of the woods.... I think I will go do some of the work that I should be doing like the jacket commission.... naaaaww screw that!
I think I will start with the Christmas list. I'm realizing that first of all it is upside down. I should have had number 1 at the top.... let's see...
1. Write Christmas poem..... screw that!
2. Make Christmas cards...... screw that!
3. Finish made item for NPSW gift exchange...... hmmm can't screw that one..... I better do that tonight.
4. Make 4 locker hooked rugs..... in my dreams...so screw that!
5. Spin fibre for commission jacket..... I wish I could screw that.... sigh!
6. Purchase gifts to be sent for the 1st of December..... argh..... right got to get on that one especially since the 1st has gone by!
7. Deal with Daughter #1 birthday... yep... that's coming this week.
8. Finish gift for HH gift exchange..... I still have a full week.....
9. Advent.. start decorating one item a day...... yup... that's to save what little sanity I have.
10. Prepare something special for the church pageant..... screw that.... well maybe.
11. Get gifts for Mom and Dad..... right... I'm watching the flyers for a sale.
12. Order gifts for daughters.... well that's partially done.
13. Order something for Hubby.... I'm sort of working on that.
14. Stocking stuffer shopping... well that's something I have to do really close to Christmas or I eat it all.... screw that! Mumf scrumf... yum!
15. Make baked items for friends who live around town..... was I NUTS when I thought up this???!!!!
16. Clean up for Christmas..... don't get me started.... we don't even have a couch yet!!!!
I guess I should add a few....
17. Buy a couch.
18. Find a reason to like Christmas... argh!
OK moving right along here.... let's do the "In The Sudio" list
1. Working on knitted lace gloves..... alright, alright already.... I'm a slow knitter ok?!
2. Started on cute child's poncho..... I ran out of yarn and so decided to use this for the gift exchange for the NPSW.... at least that is the plan.
3. Started to spin for the woven jacket commission.... still at that.
4. Knitting a tote with novelty yarn .... I forgot about that.... I wonder where that is.
5. Waiting on Madder project.... still waiting...
6. Spin ginned cotton.... well not ginned but cotton rovings... going well.
7. Woven shawl on tri loom.... still working on that.
8. The studio..... cleaned up but now the living room is a mess.
Right.... "In The Barnyard"
1. Ipwitch, the new ram..... dream on.... the ewes just kept laughing at him..... they need a real man....
2. Oscar the other ram... screw that.... literally.
3. The male alpacas.... screw that.... they can only dream..... (har har!!!!)
4. Reece... screw that.... I think we missed one of the boy lamb's balls when we ringed them in the spring and he's going around chasing Reece saying "screw that screw that"
So there you have it all the updates in my neck of the woods.... I think I will go do some of the work that I should be doing like the jacket commission.... naaaaww screw that!
Friday, December 4, 2009
Didn't Work
I tried getting the slide show up but I can only do it if I have an account with a photo website like Flickr or Photobucket which I do not, so I thought I'd post my pictures of the Advent decorating challenge right here.
So the first thing to go up was the picture that I'm using as my header. The next thing that went up was our Nativity scene.... here are some pictures...
Yesterday I cleaned up my pine cone wreath and put that up.... I know I was supposed to put up the Christmas village but I ran into the difficulty of not being able to find the shelves that go with it. So the pine cone wreath was the decoration of the day. I will look for the shelves again today. Maybe the village will go up today.... if not it will be the outdoor lights... I think!
In other news..... Hubby shaved off his beard and mustache. I'm devastated! I feel like I'm cheating on my husband. Hubby has been with me for 22 years.... 4 before we got married. In all those years, he only ever shaved off his mustache once and let it grow back out right away. So for approximately five days in our years together he has been without a mustache. The beard doesn't bother me so much because he has shaved that off at least once a year, but the mustache?!!!!.... I want to cry. You see I love Hubby's mustache. I love the fact that his mustache is turning white. It's cute.... like a white fuzzy caterpillar.... well ok maybe that's a bit weird! The thing is... his mustache is a happy thing.... it made him look like Santa. All jolly.... without the mustache it makes him look upset all the time. Hubby has a funny top lip that sort of makes him look like he is frowning all the time and with the mustache it was covered. But now he looks like he is going to bark orders at you instead of hug you..... I want the happy face back not the growly face! If I want an old bear in the house, I'll just look in the mirror!! Besides... two teenaged daughters are as growly bear as we need these days. Meanwhile kissing Hubby is definitely a weird thing now because I'm not kissing Hubby but some weird freaky looking guy who is acting like my Hubby.... it's like going to bed with an alien..... at least I don't have to look at him when the lights are out.... maybe I should squirt myself in the eye again with Afterbite.... then I wouldn't have to look at him when he hugs me and I'd have an excuse too!!!!
Maybe I should dye my hair blue and see if he likes it! Maybe I should shave my hair... I don't want him to get a complex but he's really freaking me out..... shaving the mustache just doesn't work..... so that's two things today.
Well I'm off to get some breakfast... shower... and head to the shed for a Christmas foraging trip..... have a good Advent decorating... baking... shopping.... parcel wrapping.... day!
So the first thing to go up was the picture that I'm using as my header. The next thing that went up was our Nativity scene.... here are some pictures...
Yesterday I cleaned up my pine cone wreath and put that up.... I know I was supposed to put up the Christmas village but I ran into the difficulty of not being able to find the shelves that go with it. So the pine cone wreath was the decoration of the day. I will look for the shelves again today. Maybe the village will go up today.... if not it will be the outdoor lights... I think!
In other news..... Hubby shaved off his beard and mustache. I'm devastated! I feel like I'm cheating on my husband. Hubby has been with me for 22 years.... 4 before we got married. In all those years, he only ever shaved off his mustache once and let it grow back out right away. So for approximately five days in our years together he has been without a mustache. The beard doesn't bother me so much because he has shaved that off at least once a year, but the mustache?!!!!.... I want to cry. You see I love Hubby's mustache. I love the fact that his mustache is turning white. It's cute.... like a white fuzzy caterpillar.... well ok maybe that's a bit weird! The thing is... his mustache is a happy thing.... it made him look like Santa. All jolly.... without the mustache it makes him look upset all the time. Hubby has a funny top lip that sort of makes him look like he is frowning all the time and with the mustache it was covered. But now he looks like he is going to bark orders at you instead of hug you..... I want the happy face back not the growly face! If I want an old bear in the house, I'll just look in the mirror!! Besides... two teenaged daughters are as growly bear as we need these days. Meanwhile kissing Hubby is definitely a weird thing now because I'm not kissing Hubby but some weird freaky looking guy who is acting like my Hubby.... it's like going to bed with an alien..... at least I don't have to look at him when the lights are out.... maybe I should squirt myself in the eye again with Afterbite.... then I wouldn't have to look at him when he hugs me and I'd have an excuse too!!!!
Maybe I should dye my hair blue and see if he likes it! Maybe I should shave my hair... I don't want him to get a complex but he's really freaking me out..... shaving the mustache just doesn't work..... so that's two things today.
Well I'm off to get some breakfast... shower... and head to the shed for a Christmas foraging trip..... have a good Advent decorating... baking... shopping.... parcel wrapping.... day!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Really Trying
So here you have it... I'm really trying to be a lot more Christmassy and less Scrooge-like. I've changed my look for the Christmas season. The picture in the header is a paper tole (3D Decoupage) that I did back when I first got married. I did a course of Paper Tole back when I first got married almost 18 years ago. I wanted to do more of them but traveling two hours to do a course twice a week was more than I could handle. So unfortunately I only did about 5 or 6 of them. Some of them I gave away as gifts and some I kept for myself and over the years the picture frames have gotten broken unfortunately. I would have liked to keep them but they have gotten thrown away and the two that I did for the girls disappeared when we did the move for the renovation. I think Hubby took them to the dump.
This is the first of my Christmas decorations to go up. I will be doing a slide presentation (to the right) of my Advent decorating as each day I add one new item... That is if I can get this to work! The nativity scene went up yesterday and so I have added that too. Today is my Christmas village that I painted myself. This is a ceramic village that I started the year Hubby and I got married and kept adding a piece until they discontinued it a few years ago. I will try to get a couple of pictures of that since it is quite large.
I hope your Advent Christmas decorating..... baking..... shopping..... etc.... is going well....
This is the first of my Christmas decorations to go up. I will be doing a slide presentation (to the right) of my Advent decorating as each day I add one new item... That is if I can get this to work! The nativity scene went up yesterday and so I have added that too. Today is my Christmas village that I painted myself. This is a ceramic village that I started the year Hubby and I got married and kept adding a piece until they discontinued it a few years ago. I will try to get a couple of pictures of that since it is quite large.
I hope your Advent Christmas decorating..... baking..... shopping..... etc.... is going well....
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Jazz and Books
Hubby went to town yesterday for a meeting and since he was late getting home I decided after the Daughters went to bed that I would sit and read while I listened to some music. My favorite.... (today).... musician is Diana Krall. She is always right up there on my favorites list. Whenever I get in a blue funk I can always be assured that crooning to a few of her cds will put in a good mood. Meanwhile I have been doing a little reading of late. Right now my downstairs book is "Have A Little Faith" by Mitch Albom. My upstairs book is "A Redbird Christmas" by Fanny Flagg who also wrote "Fried Green Tomatoes". A Redbird Christmas" is my favorite Christmas Story. It will give you heart even if you are the worst Scrooge..... which I think I am!
So last night the Daughters headed off to bed and I had a lovely hour of just sitting and enjoying a book and some music. What a wonderful treat. I didn't feel one bit guilty about anything... like not spinning for my jacket commission or spinning cotton for level 3 or finishing Pops' wristlets. Recently I finished a duo of books that are written by a youth writer. They are called "The Summoning" and "The Awakening" by Kelly Armstrong. I like to read what the Daughters are reading so that I know if they are being corrupted. I was surprised actually at the caliber of writing. She writes a good story.... but then as all series seem to be today.... they were cut off shortly at the end. There obviously will be more books of hers in the future to continue the story further.
Everyone headed out the door a little while ago and it looks like winter is definitely rearing its ugly head this morning with severely cold weather. Brrr! I'm glad to be home in the house. There will be a little more Christmas decorating today and listening to Diana Krall.... actually I'm listening to her right now and the wonderful song "Fly Me To The Moon".... so mellow.... how could anyone be in a bad mood when listening to her.
The other job that I have set for today is to get a parcel off in the mail to my partner for the secret Santa gift exchange. I took this one on and totally put it out of my mind till yesterday when I finally got an email to remind me that the deadline for getting it in the mail is tomorrow..... I also have my secret Santa sending me something.... it went in the mail yesterday and so I am looking forward to that. But I do have to get mine in the mail this week at the very latest.
So my day seems to be planned for me and it is not even daylight yet. The nice thing is that I will get a little time to listen to Diana and I might get a chance to pick up my book too. What a better way than to take time for a little jazz and my favorite books.
Here's hoping you have a nice December day.
So last night the Daughters headed off to bed and I had a lovely hour of just sitting and enjoying a book and some music. What a wonderful treat. I didn't feel one bit guilty about anything... like not spinning for my jacket commission or spinning cotton for level 3 or finishing Pops' wristlets. Recently I finished a duo of books that are written by a youth writer. They are called "The Summoning" and "The Awakening" by Kelly Armstrong. I like to read what the Daughters are reading so that I know if they are being corrupted. I was surprised actually at the caliber of writing. She writes a good story.... but then as all series seem to be today.... they were cut off shortly at the end. There obviously will be more books of hers in the future to continue the story further.
Everyone headed out the door a little while ago and it looks like winter is definitely rearing its ugly head this morning with severely cold weather. Brrr! I'm glad to be home in the house. There will be a little more Christmas decorating today and listening to Diana Krall.... actually I'm listening to her right now and the wonderful song "Fly Me To The Moon".... so mellow.... how could anyone be in a bad mood when listening to her.
The other job that I have set for today is to get a parcel off in the mail to my partner for the secret Santa gift exchange. I took this one on and totally put it out of my mind till yesterday when I finally got an email to remind me that the deadline for getting it in the mail is tomorrow..... I also have my secret Santa sending me something.... it went in the mail yesterday and so I am looking forward to that. But I do have to get mine in the mail this week at the very latest.
So my day seems to be planned for me and it is not even daylight yet. The nice thing is that I will get a little time to listen to Diana and I might get a chance to pick up my book too. What a better way than to take time for a little jazz and my favorite books.
Here's hoping you have a nice December day.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Sparkley Day
I'm once again in the driver's seat behind that face of this computer, and once again I can look out on a terrific day.
The trees are covered in hoar frost and the sun is four fingers above the horizon. With the sun shining so beautifully the frost just sparkles brilliantly. Everywhere you look there is hoar frost. There is hoar frost even in the air. It is a sparkley day.
Once again I'm back at my moving furniture. The office/studio/dining room is looking really good and I went to the shed to find a leg for one of the chairs in the living room..... it needed to be fixed. Several years ago Hubby and I bought four leather recliners for our living room. They were on pedestal bases and could swivel as well. Pedestal bases are not good. The wood was a cheap laminate and so they one by one cracked or something until they became a waste of good money. Two of the four are completely out of commission. The other two are in our living room and one has a bum leg. So I went into the shed and dug out a good leg from one of the decommissioned chairs and brought the leg in and attached it to the good chair. So basically we are using the two bad chairs as parts for the good chair.
Advent is here and I had decided some time ago to start putting up one Christmassy thing each day. Yesterday I put up a paper tole picture of Santa Claus in the downstairs bathroom which really is a joke because the bathroom is still under construction. Today I am putting up some shelves to hold a nativity scene. Tomorrow I will put up the outside lights. My goal is to have all the decorating done long before Christmas actually arrives.
One time I loved to decorate the house for Christmas, I'd put on nice music and get the decorations out and just do it. Then as the children came into our lives there came to be more decorations and as they got older they would help. It has become a real horror there are so many decorations and the girls don't seem to want to do anything. Last year they invited their friends over on the day we were supposed to put up and decorate the tree and disappeared upstairs while Hubby and I struggled to get it all done. I swore that it would never happen again. I'm thinking that only a portion of the decorating will be done and I'm thinking that there will be an artificial tree so that it can be done long before the middle of the month. Christmas has become just one more thing to struggle through. No one in our house really enjoys it because we are too busy with other things. About the only thing I liked about Christmas was Christmas Eve Candlelight service and I can't even enjoy that this year as I will have to do it since our minister has retired and I'm it for preacher. By the way I am not an ordained minister. I am just a lay person..... still without a minister I am afraid that the congregation is stuck with me. I do enjoy boxing day.
Anyway I don't meant to bring everyone down.... I think it is great when I find people who do enjoy Christmas. I just wish I knew how to make it fun for us again. If you have suggestions well I'm all ears.
But for today, it is a sparkley day
and I'm going to turn on some nice music.... no not Christmas music.... probably classical though, or maybe I'll get out my Dianna Krall cds and crank her up and get that nativity scene up and move the TV to accommodate the new artificial Christmas tree.
Hi ho,hi ho, it's off to work I go....
The trees are covered in hoar frost and the sun is four fingers above the horizon. With the sun shining so beautifully the frost just sparkles brilliantly. Everywhere you look there is hoar frost. There is hoar frost even in the air. It is a sparkley day.Once again I'm back at my moving furniture. The office/studio/dining room is looking really good and I went to the shed to find a leg for one of the chairs in the living room..... it needed to be fixed. Several years ago Hubby and I bought four leather recliners for our living room. They were on pedestal bases and could swivel as well. Pedestal bases are not good. The wood was a cheap laminate and so they one by one cracked or something until they became a waste of good money. Two of the four are completely out of commission. The other two are in our living room and one has a bum leg. So I went into the shed and dug out a good leg from one of the decommissioned chairs and brought the leg in and attached it to the good chair. So basically we are using the two bad chairs as parts for the good chair.
Advent is here and I had decided some time ago to start putting up one Christmassy thing each day. Yesterday I put up a paper tole picture of Santa Claus in the downstairs bathroom which really is a joke because the bathroom is still under construction. Today I am putting up some shelves to hold a nativity scene. Tomorrow I will put up the outside lights. My goal is to have all the decorating done long before Christmas actually arrives.
One time I loved to decorate the house for Christmas, I'd put on nice music and get the decorations out and just do it. Then as the children came into our lives there came to be more decorations and as they got older they would help. It has become a real horror there are so many decorations and the girls don't seem to want to do anything. Last year they invited their friends over on the day we were supposed to put up and decorate the tree and disappeared upstairs while Hubby and I struggled to get it all done. I swore that it would never happen again. I'm thinking that only a portion of the decorating will be done and I'm thinking that there will be an artificial tree so that it can be done long before the middle of the month. Christmas has become just one more thing to struggle through. No one in our house really enjoys it because we are too busy with other things. About the only thing I liked about Christmas was Christmas Eve Candlelight service and I can't even enjoy that this year as I will have to do it since our minister has retired and I'm it for preacher. By the way I am not an ordained minister. I am just a lay person..... still without a minister I am afraid that the congregation is stuck with me. I do enjoy boxing day.
Anyway I don't meant to bring everyone down.... I think it is great when I find people who do enjoy Christmas. I just wish I knew how to make it fun for us again. If you have suggestions well I'm all ears.
But for today, it is a sparkley day
and I'm going to turn on some nice music.... no not Christmas music.... probably classical though, or maybe I'll get out my Dianna Krall cds and crank her up and get that nativity scene up and move the TV to accommodate the new artificial Christmas tree. Hi ho,hi ho, it's off to work I go....
Monday, November 30, 2009
What Is Wrong With Me!
I'm at it again. Sometimes I think I am a true freak! I looked around me on the weekend and decided that my house was not in a satisfactory situation. So I started moving furniture around. Part of the problem is the almighty holiday coming in the near future. I don't have anywhere to put the Christmas tree. I don't know why this is a problem.... Daughter #2 says we should just hang it from the ceiling.... I think that is what got me. She's making jokes about the tree and I'm frustrated up to the gills. I have space for the new furniture whenever we decide to get that and everything else in the living room will fit nicely except the tree. I could put it under the steps but then we are limited on how big a tree we can have and sometimes when you're out tramping the bush for a Christmas tree you don't always have a choice on the size of the tree. I just like to have all the bases covered. There have been times when we have had to cut off portions of our tree to the point where there's not a whole lot left. So because of a tree I am once again rearranging everything. Sheesh!
In other news.... I slept all night.... without waking up.... like 8 hours of sleep... that's completely unheard of you know!
I think I'd better go chase away a few of those dust bunnies that are threatening my ankles again. I think they are p----d off because I'm moving their hidey holes!
Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go.....
In other news.... I slept all night.... without waking up.... like 8 hours of sleep... that's completely unheard of you know!
I think I'd better go chase away a few of those dust bunnies that are threatening my ankles again. I think they are p----d off because I'm moving their hidey holes!
Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go.....
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Work
I worked hard this weekend and now I am pooped. I got the newsletter finished for the PCSW.... I managed to get a service prepped for today. I prepped an agenda for a meeting. did the service this morning and had the meeting right after. I also painted the door for my bedroom and Hubby hung it and now after 8 years Hubby and I have a truly private room. All along Hubby and I only had a curtain for a door but now we have a real pine door hung up and it slides and it is lovely. (Can you tell I'm excited?) With all the work that has been going on this weekend I have had no time to write here. For that, I apologize to those of you who are wondering what is going on. Anyway I'm so tired tonight that I am going to make this a short blog entry and then I'm heading off to bed at which time I will probably lie there and think about what to write tomorrow.
ZZZZZZ...... oh sorry, I dozed off..... Good night!
ZZZZZZ...... oh sorry, I dozed off..... Good night!
Friday, November 27, 2009
Icicles
We have loads of icicles hanging from the roof of our house. With the slope of our house having changed from a very steep 45 degree angle, to a less steep angle of about 25 degrees, we now have the problem of snow taking its own slow time to making its way to the ground and while that has some drawbacks it also has some interesting positives. One of the drawbacks is of course the added weight of the snow to the roof of the house. I think that the roof is still steep enough that the snow will not hang up too long, but I do watch the load. The interesting thing is the really cool formations of snow as the snow slides down the tin roof and hangs over the edge of the roof sometimes as much as two feet before it finally lets go with a huge "thunk" and drops to the roof below or to the ground. I've been watching the process for a couple of days now because temperatures outside have decided to warm, and while we had a quite warm day yesterday, after dark everything cooled down and froze up. The slow progress of the snow sliding off the roof came to a complete standstill and huge hanging drapes of snow stopped sliding and remained suspended in an effort to reach the ground. As it cooled, the snow that melted, from this drape of snow began to form icicles and we have had some really interesting ones. On the North side of the house as the snow slid down the roof it began to curl under and as it did so the icicles that had formed decided to point in a horizontal manner rather than a vertical manner. It has all been quite fascinating to watch. Here are a few pictures for you to look at....
Looking out the upstairs North side window.
Ice formation with flash
Same ice formation without flash.
Looking out the upstairs North side window.
Ice formation with flash
Same ice formation without flash.
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