Miscellaneous "stuff"

 Odd jobs and "stuff" kept me busy all day long.  The Christmas cards are stamped and sealed and ready to go to the Post Office as are the woodcarvings!   I did some laundry and put some "stuff" away.  Made some phone calls.  Called to see when the new fridge will arrive...not until mid January....at least our old one is still working...sometimes freezing something on the top shelf for no real reason...but I can live with that.  Balanced bank accounts and paid bills.

Thought about decorating for Christmas.  

I did this a few days ago. 

It looks more cheerful at night.

Meanwhile Jinx is up to no good.  Pointing out things that need to be done! 

He will be off to some other area of the house soon. 

It was a real frosty day...very pretty outside...but no sunshine.

Far Side

Tree Decorating 2018

We finally managed to get the downstairs tree decorated.  It was a struggle.

Neither of us looked forward to it.  But we got it done.

We seem to miss Chance more every day instead of less.  How does that work anyways?

This was the test ornament this year, before I learned how to paint plaid.  It was Chance’s ornament.

This is Chance’s carving that has his years on it 2004 – 2018 and a proper plaid.

Someday we might be able to look at all his ornaments and not cry…just not this year.

envelopes and a question

I am messing with the envelopes that will accompany our Christmas cards this year.

As you can see with the blue snowflake I am easily distracted.

The envelopes were stamped with a snowflake on the back flap. They are colored in either silver, gold or that one blue one…it was just a test!

joyful wishes on the front of the envelope will either be plain white, silver or gold…depending on how many I get done.

I have 140 envelopes to do.  We send out many Christmas Cards. How many do you send out?

Now we should be thinking about the marvelous woodcarved  Christmas ornament giveaway.  Please leave a comment telling me how many Christmas Cards you mail every year to be entered into the giveaway…  you can also email me your comment.  I will close the giveaway on Saturday night and draw some winners!

Looking a lot like April

I think that might be a new song.  "It's beginning to look a lot like ...April! the best time of the year."  OR  "Here comes El Nino right down the whole United States! "

Our days have been so nice! 
The snowbanks have melted, water is standing at the snow stick. The grass will be turning green soon. 

December 10 2015

 The photo above was taken looking out the living room window. 

Oh well the soupy wet weather...(it rained) made for some perfect weather to start decorating the house. 

The large wooden angel (she was a garage sale find) and the nativity set I made years ago in a ceramics class and the creche that Far Guy made for me a long time ago found their way to the fireplace mantle.  Never mind the nails in the photo, they are for hanging stockings and we just leave them there year to year.

Did I say I like El Nino winters?  Well I do. Oh I know the below zero weather will come again some day but until then I will be smiling. Well kinda half smiling half frowning... 

Windows Live Writer is on the fritz again.  Those of you that are getting a message not found not found...until blogger fixes it yet again we are stuck with their archaic editor. 

Wistful Wednesday: Christmas Eve 1985

We had a house full of company.  These are all polaroid photos taken with Marvin’s camera.

Jennifer (10) Janice (Far Guy’s sister), Trica (13), Bethany(3), Marvin and Evelyn (Far Guy’s parents they both would have been 71 that year) This is at our home in North Moorhead.  That rocking chair and footstool were handed down to us by Far Guy’s Grandmother Tracie.  It has since been upholstered and is upstairs.   I still have that 1940’s coffee table but it is in the garage awaiting a new home.  I still have the same crèche and nativity set.  The tree looks like a real one!

Now Far Guy and Ronald have joined the girls.

Poor Ronald, we gave him and Janice our waterbed to sleep in….they didn’t sleep a wink.

This was the only year that I recall that Far Guy’s family came to our home for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.

Now I finally got in the photo!  I cooked a lovely meal…got out the China and the special goblets.    Far Guy used to collect coffee cups…and I used to collect Depression Glass…you can see cups and plates on the plate rail. I served supper after Christmas Eve service at Our Redeemer in Moorhead Minnesota…one of the best church homes we ever had.

Christmas 1985 was a sad Christmas for us.  My Dad had just been diagnosed with Bladder Cancer and we were not certain if he would live or die.  He is a Cancer Survivor for 29 years now…going on 30.   Christmas Day in the afternoon we packed up and went to my parents home at the lake.

I feel very sorry for anyone going through a health crisis during the Christmas Holidays.  I recall the carolers all dressed in their finery singing up and down the hospital halls just before Christmas that year.  I wondered at the time…how can they sing such joyful songs…it all seemed so foreign to me…my emotions were raw….and I was a tad angry.  Of course Christmas is a time for hope and joy…and in retrospect I should have been more hopeful and joyful too because no matter what our Savior was born. 

One Tree

One tree is complete.  It only took three days.  It looks pretty much like it has in years past, full of ornaments each with a story.

I picked out special paper to go with the tree. The packages are wrapped in pretty red, white and blue paper.  There was one package that stood out like a sore thumb…but a sweet elf re wrapped it…after I had a hissy fit, bawled and then had a very long nap.  No it probably wasn’t the red paper with holly that was the problem..it was just the one thing that tipped me over the edge.  I am certain I really didn’t mean that next year I am taking a holiday cruise all by myself.    

I don’t do stress well…it makes me very sleepy…so sleepy it is impossible to stay awake.

The baked beans turned out fantastic and are residing in the freezer.  The pumpkin bread was baked yesterday and delivered to neighbors.  I even had time to make some Gluten Free pumpkin bread bites for my Dad..I say bites because I put them in a tiny muffin tin…or maybe it is a tart pan…that way they can go in the freezer and Dad can take one or two out to enjoy with coffee. 

This is the ornament I got the evening of the cookie exchange.

Gift count: Done! Awaiting two deliveries, I think one may be lost in the mail.  Gifts wrapped: Almost done waiting on two gifts.  Cookies made: Complete!  Christmas letters: Complete!  Homemade ornaments: Complete!  Homemade gifts: Two complete and one in progress…it may be done in time for next Christmas.  Decorations… One tree, the snow outside, a pine cone wreath, the Nativity and a flag outdoors. Oh and 3/4 of a Shiny Brite Tree.  Christmas menus: Planned!  5 days and counting.

Cardinals

In town they have Cardinals at their feeders.  I am jealous.  I have the usual..Nuthatches, Chickadees, Woodpeckers and some Finches that should be gone by now but are sticking around.  I keep hoping for a Cardinal, when we lived at the resort I had one at my feeders one year.

I thought putting up my Cardinal flag might help.

My Christmas mood is non existent today…too much to do in too little time.

10 days and counting..gosh time is just flying by.

Grinch Like

Cross one holiday off the list and lets get the other over with soon.  I am not much for holidays…I can become depressed very easily.  Turn the calendar from one month to the next already.

Why?  I don’t like shopping…good thing Far Guy says he will help or I would just write checks.  Much of the shopping I do will be online.  I must ready myself for those early morning phone calls from the Post Office about the delivery of said parcels.  I don’t like the commercialism that accompanies Christmas.  I like homemade…simple..put some candy and some peanuts in a bag with an apple and I am good.  I abhor the Christmas music in the stores that began weeks ago …I may start wearing ear plugs.

Although I am not cold and heartless or wish anyone misfortune I am a little grinchy. 

So much so that my daughter Jen  bought me a new winter hat.

Chance is a marvelous hat model, as you can see he was thrilled.

I will wear it proudly shopping.  I might even wear it whilst decorating the trees.  I will wear it baking cookies.  I  could wear it from now until Christmas Day…whilst I finish up  some of my homemade gifts.

The Christmas Spirit is hard to find some days.  I will be searching for the Christmas Spirit all month long.

Gift count: two.  Gifts wrapped: none.  Cookies made : none. Cards written: none.  Home made ornaments: Complete!  Home made gifts: in progress.  24 days and counting.

December: Christmas Lists

It is the second day of December.  22 more shopping days till Christmas.   We have a skiff of snow..not enough to cover up the grass.  We have had some real frosty mornings.

Usually we have lots of snow by now..It is hard to get into the shopping mood without three feet of snow and the wind blowing and temperatures below zero.

So I am not in the shopping mood yet.  I am not sure when or if the mood will strike me..guess I will just wait around and see what happens.  I have 22 days..that is over three weeks!!  Certainly within the next three weeks I will be in the mood to shop for an hour or two.  Maybe.

I guess everyone has a list someplace on some web site..not sure how to find it..I suppose I should figure that out first. I was there once and couldn’t find anyone's “stuff.”

I never gave my Grandmother a list.  I usually got one gift from Grandma and Grandpa because I was their God Child ( they renounced the devil and all his wicked works and ways for me when I was an infant at my baptism.)  The other grandkids didn’t get anything.  They got a gift when they were born.

Sometimes I got a pair of flannel pajamas from them..warm and cozy for the long winter.  Or a hat and a scarf that matched..or mittens. When I got older, I got Corning Ware..and much later in life..Grandma would say, “Pick out a couple of my pretty dishes to take with you.”

My baby brother and I would mark up the Wish Book that came in the Fall.  We would circle all the treasures we wanted, and dream about what would be under the tree for us.  The Wish Book was good for many hours of entertainment.  We used to save them from one year to the next so we wouldn’t have to share the same book. I suppose the Wish Book was our way of making a list.  We may have made a list of the most important things we wanted and tucked it into the Wish Book.

I suppose Amazon or wherever those lists are must be the equivalent of a Wish Book..however sometimes I would just like to feel the paper between my fingers as I turn the pages.  Of course that makes me “Old Fashioned.”  Sometimes the Grands say  “Grandma, you just have to get with it.” :)

Christmas Activity December 17, 2010

Far Guy has been a real trooper..he doesn’t feel the best..he is getting a cold.  Yesterday we accomplished what sometimes seems impossible..the Christmas Letter.  We worked on it in the car, we threw ideas around..he had rewrites of the rewrites.  Years ago I put Far Guy in charge of the Christmas Letter..it is to be interesting, informative and humorous..and it is. It should not be a Debbie Downer.  It is also stuffed into the envelopes along with a photograph and addressed and stamped and will be mailed tomorrow.   If you read this blog then you already know what the letter says....Chance wrote a paragraph.  I might share the photo with you next week.  

The Nativity joined the tall angel on the fireplace mantle.

The Santa that I carved was wired to the old wreath that I made for Far Guys Mom one year…it hangs on the railing upstairs.

The downstairs tree has lights..no decorations yet…it is a start!

The weather is marvelous..in the teens and twenties during the day..shear bliss!

The list we made the other day is keeping us on track.  Today is another day of odds and ends..today I bake the first batch of pumpkin bread and when the smell permeates the house..I will wander upstairs and add some more Shiny Brites to the TALL tree and listen to some rock and roll oldies.  Sometimes Far Guy can be a smart ass..yesterday he came upstairs and said..just coming up to enjoy all the wonderful Christmas music:)

The Music

Christmas Music..I never much cared for it.  The music that begins in the stores to get me in a Christmas shopping mood in October was a miserable failure.  I can sing rock and roll songs in my head to counteract all those here come santy claus songs. To date the number of gifts purchased..one. 

I have only heard one “Christmas Carol” that I really like and that would be Away in a Manger..and it is rarely sung..except in a  Christmas program that includes small children.  It is not exactly high on the play list at wally world or anyplace else where you throw your money away at this time of year. 

I can walk in a winter wonderland all day long, I can feel jack frost nipping at my nose and my toes.  I don’t need to dream of a white Christmas, I am living that nightmare.  I never saw my mommy kissing santa claus, the halls aren't decked here yet even though It’s beginning to look alot like Christmas other places.  There is no pretty paper or ribbons around here and no chestnuts roasting on any kind of fire and I refuse to watch out for runaway sleighs pulled by reindeer.

Some people think that this is the most wonderful time of the year because all they want for Christmas is their two front teeth.  Merry Christmas Texas You All might have been a big hit a long time ago..frankly I have never heard it.  Sadly or maybe not so sadly we no longer have a record player that will play it. 

Far Guys newest Christmas record.

I don’t listen to Christmas music..Far Guy can listen to it if he wants..he has head phones.  If I hear santa baby or holly jolly Christmas one more time, I will just stick my head in a snow bank till December 26 when all the insanity is over. 

Far Guy says his favorite Christmas song is Silent Night..for me all that conjures up is the time on Christmas eve where we were supposed to sing it as it was originally written in German..:)

**Far Guy wants you to know that Silent Night was originally written for guitar music…back in 1818 the Church organ was broken.

A Christmas Ghost?

We finished up shopping yesterday. I had a special project that I was working on and "The Ghost of Christmas Past" must have taken up residence here this past week. My project has been put on hold, anytime you count on certain pieces of equipment to work as advertised..they don't. It is just a long line of many irritants lately.

First there was a thermostat that wouldn't shut off, It was a balmy 85 degrees in here. Then the "New" one would not turn the furnace blower on. So I froze to near death.

Then there is the water circulating pump that brings the warm water from the wood boiler outside, it began to make funny noises. Some special stuff that only cost one arm was added to the boiler water. A replacement sits at the ready all warm and toasty to be rewired and installed if need be.

Far Guys Bunn coffee maker sprung a leak, not all the time, but intermittently..sometimes it would leak and sometimes not. ( I did not try any stop leak either) Often the counter top was full of clear water. We went to town and since he is the coffee drinker, he chose a different kind of coffee maker, one that dispenses a cup at a time, no carafe to break..and this one does not leak ..yet.

One morning last week the "Ghost" got my computer monitor. It was fine at 2 AM and black at 6AM. We hooked up Far Guys monitor to my computer and it was definitely a monitor problem (Sylvania). I got a new HP 19 inch, it is OK, takes up about the same amount of space as my old 17 inch monitor. Far Guy nearly put out his back trying to load the last one on the shelf into a cart..they are wired down. It seems some people grab them off the shelves and run out of the store.

Far Guys Christmas gift ( the one I wanted him to want), might be coming on time..hooray! At 7:30 this morning the phone rang, it was the mailman "You have a package ! What should I do with it?" Luckily I got to the phone before Far Guy, I replied "Deliver it!" HA! That's what the Postal Service is supposed to do! Our mail man is lazy, he would rather we pick up the offending package at the Post Office. Fooled him!!

Then I checked the email, it was from the company that I ordered the what I want him to want gift. It follows :
Thank you for shopping with us.
Due to a technical error, the wrong item was sent out to your address.
We have since corrected the error and reshipped the item out to you at ***.You will receive it by approximately some time next week, or very latest the week after.
Our sincere apologies again for this error, please let me know if youhave any further questions on this order.

My Reply: What am I supposed to do with the item that YOU sent in error? Is it Like a Merry Christmas thing? The Mail Man just called and he is delivering the wrong package this morning. End of message, nope no Christmas Hugs and Kisses or Wishes from me.

People not doing what they are supposed to do irritates me to no end. Equipment that must be disposable and not working when I want it to work irritates me. If I were a drinker I would be three sheets to the wind today. What kind of throw away, lazy, good for nothing society have we become???

On a lighter note, I am baking, Pumpkin Bread cause my Grands love it, and I will wrap some up for the neighbors and smile this afternoon when it is delivered. Oh yes, It snowed again..another four inches to add to this wonderful winter wonderland we call Minnesota.

Pumpkin Bread : A wonderful recipe from Joyce! 4 eggs, 3 Cups of Sugar, 2/3 Cup Water, 1 Cup Oil, 2Cups Pumpkin or a 15 oz can ( I like Libbys), Mix and add 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1, teaspoon Nutmeg, 1 (plus, I like cinnamon and use about two ) teaspoon Cinnamon, 2 teaspoons Baking Soda, 3 1/3 Cups of Flour..Mix well. Bake 350 degrees for one hour ...will fill two loaf pans. Will also fill 7 small loaf pans..bake time is decreased to about 35 minutes with the smaller pans. Try to remember to spray your pans before you fill them..if you don't then sometimes they stick to the bottom of the pan.. and you are left with half of the loaf in the pan..that's what happened with my first batch..the Grands won't mind..I tried my best to put the bread together like a big ole puzzle.

Now IF I could just get everyone to tell me what time they are coming and going, and for what meals they will be here for..I really could smile and enjoy the rest of the day. Oh ya, I am just the Mom, I am supposed to know this stuff.:)

Christmas Mood

Bottomless Lake December 04, 2008

In an attempt to put me in a more cheerful Christmas mood, Far Guy said "I think these woods are getting to you, lets go look at a different part of the woods." I was game, even though I figured Far Guy was just grasping at straws. This time of year, I am easily distracted. So we went off on an adventure. I love adventures.

We headed south, across the big highway (two lane) into the Smoky Hills Forest. Our mission to become more cheerful and to find an old road..the old Corduroy Road..and from there to find the old CCC camp hidden near Bottomless Lake. Far Guy posted part of our adventure over on his blog I Didn't Do it! He took his camera, and it even had batteries in it!

It was a crisp day, a little snow had fallen. We found the entrance to this very old road. It is in pretty good shape, two other people have gone this way today. Chance is helping Far Guy navigate. Lots of logging has been happening, but some areas are being replanted. I love the flow of the forest, the areas of Pines, giving way to Hardwoods, then areas of the piss Popple. Some parcels that adjoin this State Forest have been sold off, they are heavily posted with NO HUNTING signs. Lots of gates are up, and there are a few more hunting shacks than we remembered.

Then I see it, something that angers me to no end. I was too mad to even photograph it. It was a Christmas Tree Hunter, no, luckily for him he was gone..what remained was the bottom part of a very nice Spruce, it had been beheaded..chopped off at it's feet, then at it's waist..then beheaded. The bottom part of the tree was left lying at the edge of the road. Someone stole a Christmas Tree from the State Forest. I hope that Asshole has a miserable Christmas. Then I think, maybe he has kids, and is unemployed. Maybe he really needed that tree. Maybe when things get better for him he will come back and plant two trees.

Far Guy has pretty good eyes for an old guy. The woods have been silent, no birds, no deer, no deer sign, no tracks of anything in the new fallen snow. We know that one person has been here before us today, one of the other vehicles has stopped at a hunting shack. Far Guy slams on the brakes and says "Would you look at that!" Then I see it! A Mink, I have not seen a Mink in a long time. We watch it scampering around on the forest floor, it goes up a tree and comes down again. Far Guy gets out and takes a few photographs, while I hold Chance by the scruff of his neck in the truck. Minks are normally nocturnal, so seeing one in the daytime is a real treat. It is a rare gift we have witnessed. I feel my bad mood lifting.

We wind our way to Bottomless Lake, low and behold we find the remnants of another tree hunter, of a different sort this time.

One with very sharp teeth building a winter home. A beaver. He is only taking out the piss popple. My mood is greatly improved.
What kind of things improve your Christmas mood?:)

Note: Piss popple is actually Populus deltoides, often called Aspen, or Quakies, or here in Minnesota..Popple. I call it piss popple because when used for firewood it sizzles and weeps, moisture comes out both ends of a log. Hence my nickname..Piss Popple..kinda has a ring to it!