I have no idea what day it is moment....

Woke up to 3 inches of snow.  Lovely.  I also woke up and asked myself what day it was, ha ha!

Daughter K's car is still in the garage on a jack.  Hopefully it will be up and running by tonight.  They kept running into problems, and now she needs a new battery.  

Since we are down one vehicle I had my Daughter K deliver the ornaments to the salon on her way to work.

A hunter knocked on the door and said he shot a deer and wanted permission to walk the woods behind our homestead.  I told him yes.  Later in the day I saw them dragging their deer from way out back.  I locked up the dogs (only way to get out of the house without them getting out), and told them they could drive their truck out there and get the deer.  They are thankful. Their 4-wheeler would not start.  Nice guys, and thankful they were respectful to knock vs. trespass.  I'm glad they found their deer too.  

Mom has been admitted into the hospital.  Her heart doctor is actually inside the hospital, but they could not admit her yesterday due to the hospital completely full.  Hopefully we'll have updates soon.

Happy Homemaker Monday

It was a long, stressful weekend.  My husband and I got Daughter K's car home safely.  He used a trick his nephew taught him (vs. paying a tow or towing the car home).  

The brake line on the front driver's side broke.  He and a friend of ours teamed up to work on it, but after a full day, and replacing both front lines, it was not repaired.  They kept running into more problems.  Now the brakes and rotors are getting replaced.

The girls have no idea how lucky they are.  If she had to go to a garage, the cost of all of this would be well over $1,000.00.

On top of that, Mom's car won't start.  It's the vehicle we transport her in to appointments.  My husband can't go look at it until next weekend.

We are getting snow, and I'm not liking it, but it is November.

I got my hair cut and a pampering hair treatment with Daughter E.  Funny story.  I gifted her a nail polish crocheted ornament and she put it up at her station at the salon.  Her manager came over and ooh'd and aww'd over it and placed an order for 6 ornaments to gift the other employees.  Photo below.

The only "black Friday" shopping I did, was a stop at JoAnn's to get 3 skeins of yarn on sale I wanted.  We were in town, so I just ran in and was happy to find some of what I needed.  The other colors I got ordered online with free shipping.  To be honest, the "deals" are not that great either.

Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

The weather . . .

42°/33°F, cloudy, windy

How I am feeling this morning . . .

Tired.

On my mind . . . 

I just want Daughter K's car fully repaired so I have a vehicle this week. I'm starting to write out our Christmas meal.  

On the breakfast plate . . .

Not sure yet.  Will whip up something.

Right now I am  . . . 

Figuring out what to bake for breakfast.

What I am wearing  . . .

It's a sweatpants day for me.  Can't go anywhere anyway with us down one vehicle.

On my reading pile . . .

Nothing.  I'll probably not be reading anything until I finish the cardigan.

On today's to-do list . . .

Work on the bedroom closet

Bake a breakfast casserole

vacuum

laundry

master bath

On my TV . . .

A Castle for Christmas (netflix), This Christmas (movie we own)

What I am listening to . . .

The radio.

On the menu this week . . .

-Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn
-Turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, etc

not sure on the rest just yet

New Recipe I Tried . . . 

I also tried a new Food Network breakfast casserole (make ahead type).  It was delicious.  I have access to organic "tator tots" and feel it's a crowd pleaser.  I will make this again, but with pre-cooked sliced organic potatoes.  Oh so good!  I may sneak a jalapeno in next time too.

From the camera . . .

Looking around the house . . .

It's looking much better.  I am getting more yarn put upstairs, and more cleaned up.  However, I may need to buy a few more totes, ha ha!

To relax this week, I will . . .

Crochet.

On my prayer list . . .

Mom, a friend's friend Greg in the hospital with covid, my friends with covid and their family

Different Thanksgiving Meal and a Crochet Mishap

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving day.  We literally stayed home the entire day.  It rained and was mostly a cloudy day.

My husband made tacos, I made black bean dip, and he also made queso.  Daughter K had to work, so we did a lunch "thing."  Daughter E came out and watched a movie with us and enjoyed some food.  Daughter T had a meal with her own family, and we never heard from the other 3 kids (yes we have six).

Just for the record, we have never done this on Thanksgiving.  We've either had a meal with family elsewhere or had a traditional meal here.  I actually enjoyed doing this.

While Daughter E was here, my husband changed her light bulb on her car.  One was out.  

We have a busy weekend starting today, but hopefully not so busy it's "stir crazy."

I finished the second sleeve to Daughter K's cardigan.  Guess what.  I put it up to the first one and guess who had to frog the entire first one?

Yep.

Sigh....

The whole sleeve.   What did I do wrong with a rather easy half double crochet repeat pattern?

Well, rows 9-13 were repeated, but row 13 was a decrease.  I am re-doing the sleeve, and using a highlighter over row 13.

Lesson learned.  However, this has been the first "clothing" pattern I have crocheted.  I'm pretty proud of myself for even doing it.  However, Daughter got wind of it, and wants a summer halter top next.  At least it won't take as long, or use as much yarn.

I am glad for colder weather outside, so I can focus on the cardigan and get it done.  I think going back and forth over summer and last winter just messed me up.

Thanks for stopping in.  I do appreciate my blog followers.

A Get-R-Done Day and other chit chat

Wednesday was a day to take back my home.   Well, it was a good start anyway. The morning sunrise was so beautiful, before the sun came out.

Keeping order to the house is tough when you live with an adult kids who (sorry gonna say it) is a slob.  Nicer words to describe her ....horrible housekeeping skills.  

I'm going to have to be a daily enforcer of house rules if she wants to continue living here.  I can't stand messes, junk laying around, and whatnot.

I put 3,000 steps on my fitbit by 10am.  I moved every tote I had downstairs to the upstairs, vacuumed sealed one camper pillow (need more bags for the rest), put away our travel bag, tossed some things out, started a box for donation, and put together two full boxes of stuff to take to Daughter E.  She's having a birthday party next month and I had a ton of stuff leftover from the graduation party we didn't have.  It's save her some money, and free up my space.  I totally forgot I had the stuff, because it was in a tote that was not clear.

I have more to clean in my walk-in closet, re-organize what crafting supplies are still in there, and move the rest upstairs to start purging clothing.

All of my craft show items are all put in storage for another year.  I will need to get more shelving units for upstairs though.  

We had plans to fetch some free firewood from Daughter T, but woke up to rain....sigh.  I guess we'll get it in the rain.  Last night Daughter K called from work.  Her brake line broke.  Today we go fetch her car, and well that can't be worked on today due to rain.  

My brother who is hosting our Thanksgiving this weekend, has a sick daughter.  A gathering may be debatable now.  My good friend from high school?  Who has a family with covid, now has more friends with covid.

My husband picked up ground beef for our tacos today (even though I have some in the freezer).  I guess he wanted fresh meat vs. waiting on it to thaw.  Anyway, he said he couldn't buy our normal organic beef.  It went from $6.99 to $10.99 within the last two weeks.  He's now on board with raising beef and pork.  I mean, how will we all survive over the next two years with these prices?  He is even considering dairy goats again.

Also, Daughter K was alarmed at the lack of canned cat food at the grocery store the other day.  She said it was almost completely empty.

Update on Mom.  Surgery went well.  They got all the cancer.  However, they could not stitch her up due to the swelling in her leg.  The healing process may be much longer than expected.

Something I learned ~ Randomness

Something I learned . . .

You can roast pie pumpkins whole!  I never thought of this until I saw it on the cooking channel.

We have plans to do work over the long weekend.  Although I'll be cooking a few dishes for the family Thanksgiving, there is much to do around here.  Thankfully, the leak under my sink has been fixed.

Our personal Thanksgiving meal will be tacos and black bean dip.  Seriously.  We are taking it easy, and do not want 3 big Thanksgiving meals.

I decided not to bake the delicious rolls this year.  There is less food being brought, so I may be adding a third dish to my list.

The camper is on the to-do list.  We would like to get one barn cleaned out and a cement slab poured, but not sure if we'll have the time.  The camper cover was not given to us.  They are telling us it had a rip in it, but I could have repaired it (so that is frustrating).

My good friend from high school, her husband, one of their daughter's and the daughter's husband all tested positive for covid this week.  It's getting bad again in that town.  I hope I have convinced Mom to allow us to shop for her vs. taking her into store.  Her memory is not good and she forgets what we tell her.

Happy Homemaker Monday

 

We had a long and busy weekend.  One day I took Mom to one of her appointments (and forgot to bring chicken food home), one day Hubby worked and I worked outside, and we had a family Thanksgiving Sunday (my husband's side of the family).  

I still had garden hoses that needed put away, garden stakes to put away, and other stuff.  I just couldn't get it done earlier with everything going on.  I got the camping coolers put away, dug out the leaf blower, because everyone was dragging leaves into the house.

My mind has been a whirlwind lately.  I literally brewed a pot of coffee without putting grounds in the filter.

Sorry for the lack of posts.  It's been a crazy schedule.

I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. 

I will link up when she posts today.

The weather . . .

Sunday it rained all day long. Today it's 38°/25°F, Sunny

How I am feeling this morning . . .

Tired.  Woke up to dirty dishes in the sink and the dishwasher is next to the sink.  My husband hogged the covers, so I couldn't sleep and was up at 5:30am.

On my mind . . .

One list at a time, one task at a time....focus woman, focus.

On the breakfast plate . . .

Not sure.  I have to bake something.  Coffee so far.

Right now I am . . .

Posting this and sipping hot coffee in hopes to gain energy.

What I am wearing this morning . . .

Right now?  PJ's, robe and slippers.

On my TV . . .

Create TV (cooking channel), anything that looks good on netflix.

What I am listening to . . .

Radio station.

On the menu this week . . .

-Ham and navy bean soup
-Chicken Tortilla Soup
-Enchilada Soup

-Spiced Cod or Walleye

(all crockpot meals)

New recipe I tried . . .

Banana cake ( Sally's Baking Addiction).  I, however, swapped out the granulated sugar (cut it in half too) with monkfruit, cut 1/2 cup of the butter and used home canned unsweetened applesauce, used homemade vanilla, and sprinkled mini chocolate chips over the top vs. the cream cheese frosting.  I mainly tried this due to having bananas that needed used up.

It turned out delicious, but if I was gifting it to someone, I would definitely make the cream cheese frosting for it. I'd also add another 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon, walnuts (unless they have a nut allergy), and some nutmeg.

I'm trying new dessert recipes, so I can have good recipes on hand for when a friend or family could use help with meals.  A good friend of ours, suddenly lost her husband (very un-expectantly).  My go-to dessert has been my Mom's Cherry Delight.  However, the price of store bought pie filling is horrible right now.

From the camera . . .

(nothing sadly)

Looking around the house . . .

It's a hot mess.  

To relax this week I will . . .

Probably take a nap, ha ha!

On my prayer list . . .

Mom (her surgery is Tuesday to remove cancer from her leg), our good friend Becky who just lost her husband and has two boys.

Lap Afghan ~ Ramblings

The finished lap afghan for Mom.  Now I can focus on finishing Daughter K's cardigan.  

Speaking of Mom, she has  5 appointments this week.  it's been stressful and a bit of a strain on life at home.  To take her, it's a 50 minute round trip, and some appointments last 1 1/2 hours.

If I ever win the lottery, I'm going to create a charity that has transport vans and give free service to families at least once a week. Including shopping. Yesterday she wanted more boxes of tissues (her closet is bursting with them already).  I'm thankful I have a good friend from high school (who went through the same thing) to talk to, get advice, etc.

It's been touch and go with her as well.  She has refused to be admitted to the hospital 3 times now (when the doctor insisted).  The other issue now is that the local EMS is using a bypass system.  The hospital closest to Mom can refuse EMS patients if the hospital had full capacity of covid patients and lack of staff.  The send patients to other hospitals further away.

I've been so busy, I have been lacking on things that really need done before we are buried in snow outside.  I decided to make yet another list, but keep on it when I am home.

I've been so busy, I finally got around to wash the camper bedding.  Seriously.  I realized I put it to the side in my utility room.  Sheesh.

My husband is frustrated with the lack of time we have to split wood as well.  We need a weekend to say "no" to everything and focus on the homestead work.