Moving into colder days again. . . .

 We did indeed get rain yesterday and during the night.  It will be a few days before I can return to weeding and pulling the last of the last of the garden.  I was glad for the rain though, as our newly planted mums needed it.  We are now moving into cooler days and nights.

So I was sitting on the porch and this decided to hitch a ride on my pants.  They fly fast, so you don't see them until they land.  Man, you never saw someone freak out and grab the fly swatter to get it off then kill it.  Then a few minutes later another one showed up on the side of the house.  We have never seen these at our place, other than a few years ago we saw one.  It was two too many for me in one day.  Not sure why we are getting more of them, but I was told they hitch to semi-tractor trailers.  Ugh.

My main cleaning job was to clean off my night stand.  I put away all the crochet hooks (ha ha!) that collected there, cleaned it with wood cleaner, dusted the framed photos and light etc.

To get some crochet time in, I have been making my make up remover pads (travel size) with black yarn.  I hope to be selling them at the salon along with my other smaller items.

I located one more place to donate lap afghans as well.  The committee on aging creates a basket of items for their monthly trivia contest to elderly that receive meals on wheels.  I believe I have an afghan on the hooks in a bag somewhere too.

Beautiful Weather ~ Christmas Prep

 

That's not all that I put on the clothesline, but I was thankful for good weather and got it out early and back down early.  Beautiful weather!  There was a good wind, so things dried pretty quickly too.

I also took advantage of the weather and put up our minimal Christmas lights.  I don't put many up, but they do make me happy.  It's way better to get them up on a warm day vs. freezing weather.  I had to laugh though.  We took the motorcycle out, as it may be the last best weather day to take it out, and when we got back home, the Christmas lights were on, ha ha ha ha!  I forgot the timer was set the same it was last year.  My husband laughed but quickly said, "Hurry! Turn those off so people don't think we are weirdo's!" Ha ha ha ha!

Not sure what today will bring.  They are calling for rain, thunderstorms, and a lot of wind.  I had plans to pull the last few plants out of the garden, but I may be inside working on the living room.  I have a few more things to pack up and move, and I have to move plants, and more furniture.

Speaking of weather, I planned to grill out tonight, but the weather may change that.

We had a stray cat come around the other night, but it looked to be in bad health.  Not sure if we'll see it again.

I have a long list on the to-do's around here, and realized I need to add some fun on the list, like get my lip balm re-stocked, or maybe get some travel soaps made, or even some Christmas ornaments made.  I am pretty sure, unless we gain speed on the floor in the living room, we won't be putting up a Christmas tree (wahhhhh!).  Hopefully we gain speed on that project.  We found a home for the Armoire in there, but it hasn't been picked up yet.

Good Weather Day

 

There are a few zinnias that I missed and survived the cold nights.  I'll have to make sure I have those too.  Today may be the last best weather day we'll have.  They say it'll get up to around 77°F today.

I am still moving furniture from here to there, cleaning up and getting ideas for hiring help for the living room project.  In order to move some furniture, I have to clear out space in another room.  I decided to let go of my 37 book collection of Janette Oke books.  I put them up for sale, but like I told my husband, everyone is selling and no one has the money to buy.

I just found out that Daughter E's booth rent is not just a whopping $500.00/month, but she has to pay another $100.00/month for the booth to do nails as well.  Horrible rent, so I hope it all works out for her.

Happy Homemaker Monday

 Our weekend was busy, busy, busy, but we did have time to relax later on Sunday.  We had three events to attend, all in different towns, and one being a funeral. We didn't get home until 9pm.

We got one AC unit taken out and put in storage.  The smaller one fritzed out on us (14 years old), and will be scraped at a later date.  

My husband wanted more mums for the flower beds, so we added 6 plants.  

We had to replace the shower head in the camper, as it was leaking, and the RV store told us it was put together (took the old one there) using a home shower head, sigh.  

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

The weather. . .

We will heat up to the mid 70's this week for a few days and then we go back to he 50's during the day.

As I look outside my window. . .

The trees out front of the property are getting trimmed.  We are at a halt as the chainsaw broke down.

Right now I am . . .

Brewing another pot of coffee, waiting on the washing machine.

Thinking and pondering . . .

I'm considering freezing some brussel sprouts.  Has anyone done this?  Wondering if they thaw well for roasted ones or in other recipes?  

We are considering installing an alternative heat source while we are fixing the living room floor.  We are just getting up in years to the point we do not want to mess with splitting wood every year.  We are not eliminating it, but if you heat with wood you'd understand.  We are lucky to have ease is sourcing wood to cut, but have to have the boys come and bring the equipment to bring the dead trees to the house.  Once again, we are way behind on that as well.  We have some wood cut, but needs split.

On the breakfast plate . . .

Egg, cheese and sausage muffin sandwich, coffee.  My husband prepped the sandwiches yesterday thankfully.

On the lunch plate . . .

Have no idea just yet. Probably PB and Jelly.

On the dinner plate . . .

BBQ Western Ribs, Sweet potatoes and possibly another veggie.

What I am wearing . . .

Sweatpants, t-shirt and slippers until I need to do the outside work.

On the reading pile . . .

On my TV this week . . .

We just watched Fried Green Tomatoes, but have been watching all the movies we have with Loretta Lynn in them.

On the menu . . .

-BBQ Western Ribs, Sweet potatoes
-Something grilled on the warmer days
-Beef Stroganoff over noodles and peas
-Leftovers

Looking around the house . . .

My to-do list is long, as we prep to clear out the living room to start ripping up old carpet.  We have 3 people lined up to take the Armoire, and hopefully soon.  We are working on hiring a few people to move a table and treadmill for us as well.

The to-do list . . .

-empty dishwasher and fill it
-wash the other dishes

-wash bedding
-put some things back into storage
-clean more out of the living room

-put outside Christmas lights up (best to do when it's warm out)

-locate place to take more donations

-take other donations already packed up to their new homes

-take down the wind chimes and put in storage

-wash all camper bedding and put back in storage

-muck the coop and add extra straw for the up coming cold weather

-wash a window and put the curtain back up

-take down hanging porch pots, dispose and store hangers

From the camera . . .

Oops....got nothin' today

Devotional . . .

Prayers for Renne's family.  He and his wife were hit head on and Renne did not survive his injuries (funeral we attended).

Last Chance for the Herb Garden ~ Weather and other ramblings

Our weather is now in it's persnickety season, where you put on a thick sweatshirt in the morning, and a t-shirt in the afternoons.  You all know me, and I'm a die hard put-it-on-the-clothesline woman.  Some days are great for drying, and others take much more time.

We got some rain, which is great for my fall garlic, but keeps me from weeding flower beds.

Our weather dropped down to 31°F last night, so I spent the day putting up more green onion and chives.  I also cut all the zinnia heads and brought them in, as well as flowers that were about to bloom.  

We also canceled camping and winterized the camper.

Daughter E is getting bookings, but has had to drop some prices to do that, so I hope she is still earning enough to set sail with her being her own boss.  She asked me to bring in some ear warmer headbands to sell at her chair.

I've been working on some headbands in fall colors.  It's been a while since I pulled the pattern out too.  

Daughter's Advice .....

 

While cleaning off our breakfast bar, I found the jars my Aunt J packaged up for me (later sent by my Uncle after she passed).  They were tucked behind photos.  I kept them all the way packaged them except for the one that had candy in it, which of course I ate.  The other jars have teabags, popcorn and buttons.

In conversation with my daughter K, she advised me that we can't keep everything, and sometimes we need to change things.  

The story about the jar, is that I sent her jars of jam.  She packaged and intended to return my jars filled with goodies.  She was the best snail mail buddy I ever had.

I used to send her the funniest stuff around Halloween for her grand kids. 

So....the jars will be emptied and the buttons saved for something.  The jars will go back into rotation for canning again, but Aunt J will not be forgotten.

Refreshing the Flower Beds

 

It was high time to refresh the flower beds, however I am not done.  We are talking about possibly adding more mums, as some of ours have died over the years.  I just depends on if I can get them all looking spiffy.  The mowing is being done today, so I can't exactly do any weeding, but they do look much better.

We had a beautiful 70 degree day yesterday, but boy did that weather wake up the stink bugs, bees and wasps.

I was so excited to find a craft show in November, only to decide it won't happen.  Instead of the usual $20 a table and $10 for a second one, they want a whopping $30 per table this year.  As of now, it won't happen this year. Paying $60 to participate is outrageous.  I don't have high priced items, and even if I did, they would not sell.  

Gas prices are soaring as well.  Everyone is selling and no one is buying, so there is that too.

I hate mowing days.  It puts me out of outdoor work, putting anything on the clothesline, so hopefully we are nearing the end of mowing season.