Saturday, December 31, 2016

Happy New Year



May your new year be a bright and shining one, full of all your hopes and dreams coming true.

God bless.

Friday, December 30, 2016

Very Quiet

We are in the midst of yet another snow storm. This one however is not supposed to be as bad as the previous two. Good thing as our road finally got cleared by the city today and I would kind of like to see it stay clear for more than a day.

I took the car into the shop today and will probably get it back in about a week because of holidays. I will be glad as the loaner they gave me is just a small car and I found it very hard to maneuver on the snow covered streets. I don't think that I will be driving very much until I get my Terraine back.

Kurt left yesterday afternoon, and Kris left today. The house now seems eerily empty, though I am still finding mugs and glasses in the strangest places. Hopefully they have all been located by now, yet I am sure there will be some in places I have not looked.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Saturday, December 24, 2016

Christmas Eve

Everything is as ready as it can be, and now we are just waiting for Kurt to get here. Hopefully the roads are not too bad and he makes it here before the Colorado low does.

I took the car into the insurance adjustor yesterday afternoon. Total damage to our vehicle is close to 7k and unless the police find the culprit we are liable for $700.00 of the bill. Still not a great deal in the grand scheme of things.

The adjustor even managed to bend the part of the door that was not allowing it to open fully with pry bar type thing. So nice that I will no longer have to resort to acrobatics crawling over the consul, or trying to squeeze my rather rounded body through a very small opening (kind of like trying to get the sausage meat into a casing). It also took care of the Halloween type screech that would occur every time we opened the door.

After the insurance visit we made the trek to the dealers to set up an appointment with the body shop. Amazingly I can get in on Friday of next week. It does mean that the vehicle will be in a bit longer, but I will have a vehicle from them to drive while it is being worked on. I could have driven Harvey's truck, but I really don't like driving it at the best of times, little lone mid winter on icy roads with tires that leave a bit to be desired.

Finished Kris's toque, and have started on the mitts. I love the fact that I am getting to use up bits and partial skeins or balls of yarn while doing so. Once these are done, it will be back to making some hats for the students at the schools (seems like boys and girls in this day and age manage to loose their winter accessories quite often).

Everybody have a wonderful evening, full of the joy of being with your families.

God bless.

Friday, December 23, 2016

Frugal Friday

Good morning everyone.

Early morning posts for the next little while as it will be the only time I can actually depend on being able to use the computer.

Kris made it home yesterday at around 2:30 in the afternoon yesterday and Kurt should be home sometime in the late afternoon tomorrow. Slowly but surely my home is filling up as it was when the boys were much younger. Also as it was when they were much younger I find myself getting ready to pick up after them. Really, I am just not used to glasses or coffee mugs all over the house, and perhaps a gentle reminder that used glasses go in the sink would suffice..

Kris seems to have misplaced all his toques this winter, so I have a new one on my needles. Frugal in that it will be using up a partial skein of yarn that I could not figure out what to do with. He has also informed me that he left all his mittens at home, so those will go on the needles next. If the storm hits us that they are predicting gloves and a toque are definitely necessary. I get to keep my hands busy, use up partial skeins and balls of yarn, and Kris gets something he needs.

I have been busy this week using up the bits and pieces in the fridge as well. We had leftovers for supper last night and tonight I will make the soup that I had planned for yesterday.

I am also making more bread, and what with the boys being home will need to make even more. I plan on getting the bread machine going very soon this morning.

A blogging friend asked me if I would share my caramel recipe with her, so I thought I would post it. The recipe makes about 2 1/4 lbs of candy so a nice big batch.

Old Fashioned Caramels

1 cup margarine or butter (use butter as the candy tastes so much better)
2 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
14 oz can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Line a 9X9 pan with tin foil, grease the foil. In a heavy saucepan (3 qt.) melt the butter, add the brown sugar and mix well. Stir in corn syrup and cook over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves and mixture is well blended. Remove from heat and stir in sweetened condensed milk. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until temperature reaches 244 F on a candy thermometer about 20 to 30 minutes (usually longer I find). Remove from heat, stir in vanilla. Pour into prepared pan. Cool to room temperature. When completely set (I use the fridge to hurry this along) remove from pan using foil overhang to lift. Remove foil. Cut candy and wrap in waxed paper.

Do not make on a really humid day as it will not turn out. For some reason candy making and humidity do not seem to go well together.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

An Early Christmas Present....Not

I got a phone call from my sister early this morning asking if I could pick her up at the optometrists today as she was getting drops in her eyes and of course would not be able to drive. Naturally I said yes.

J had not had lunch yet so we decided to go to a café here in town for lunch. We had a wonderful lunch talked our way throughout and then after paying went to get into my car to head back and pick up hers.

What to my wondering eye did appear???? Well a great big dent, the inability to get into my vehicle through the drivers door (I had to go in the passenger side and climb over the consul, quite an acrobatic feat for an almost 61 year old), no note, no anything to say what had happened.

Here are some pictures of the damage.



Accidents happen and I wouldn't be as angry as I am now if the person involved would have left a note or came back into the café and let me know what had happened. Both my sister and I figure whomever it was had been in the bar portion of the café and had been imbibing in an adult beverage or two and since the city imposed a zero tolerance just did not want to perhaps have their driver's licence revoked or removed for any length of time.

Now we have an appointment to take it to the insurance adjuster on Friday and then the fun of no vehicle while it is in the body shop being repaired. Grrrrrrrrrrr.

On a happier note I finished all the ornaments.

They are now hanging on the tree.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


 

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Thrifty Tuesday

This Thrifty Tuesday I am going to share a new recipe with all of you. One where I got to use leftover roast beef in a new way.

The recipe itself called for thinly sliced steak, but hey being the kind of cook I am, with a bag of frozen leftover roast beef slices to use up I went with that.

Spicy Beef Noodles

12 cups of water
1 1/2 tsp salt
8 oz spaghetti

3 tbsp. brown sugar, packed
3 tbsp. lime juice (I subbed lemon juice as I did not have any lime juice in my pantry)
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp chili paste (sambal oelek)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp pepper

1 tbsp. cooking oil
1 tsp Sesame oil (didn't have so just used a bit more oil)
1 lb top sirloin steak cut into thin strips (this is where I cut my leftover roast beef into thin slices about 2 1/2 to 3 cups)

1/2 cup thinly sliced red pepper (we were having roast veggies that were leftover so I didn't use this in the recipe)
6 green onions cut into 2" pieces
2 cloves garlic minced

Combine water and salt in large pot. Bring to a boil. Add spaghetti. Boil uncovered 10 - 12 minutes (I did my new trick of turning off the burner when the water came back to a boil). Drain, and return to pot. Cover to keep warm.

Meanwhile combine next 6 ingredients in a small bowl.

Heat large frying pan or wok until very hot. Add the oils. Add beef and stir fry for about 6 minutes if using steak until browned. I stir fried my leftover roast beef until just browned about 3 minutes.

Add remaining three ingredients. Stir fry for about 1 minute or until red pepper is tender crisp. Stir in the brown sugar mixture and add the pasta. Toss to coat well.

Nice and spicy. It really hit the spot, and we have enough leftovers for another meal.


I had just started to toss the pasta, sauce and meat together. Believe me there was lots of meat in it, enough to even satisfy my carnivore of a husband.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Monday, December 19, 2016

Menu Monday

I was all set to blog yesterday and then decided to phone one of my Aunts after supper (I had actually hoped to phone both of them) to say Merry Christmas and touch base. Well after a two and a half hour conversation we finally called it quits and said good bye. It was then time for me to crawl into bed so no post.

Today is a new day however, and since my menu is planned a month in advance I can post early this morning and still have the evening free to phone the next Aunt.

We had a few changes last week, a few more leftovers then I thought would be available for using up and so some meals are moved to this week (not many though).

Monday

Leftover chili. I think I just might heat up the leftover potatoes (fridge is getting a bit crowded) to serve the chili over. Along with a salad, this should fill us up nicely and get rid of some containers in the fridge and fridge freezer.

Tuesday

Leftover roast beef. Time to try a new recipe, the beef curry from a few weeks ago went over well so I am sure there is another really good recipe lurking in one of my many cookbooks.

Wednesday

I will be pulling up Cabbage rolls from the freezer downstairs.

Thursday

Using up the last of the chicken stock. I plan on making soup and sandwiches for our meal. Kris should be home as well and he loves my homemade soup.

Friday

German Dumplings with fried eggs, onions and butter. Comfort food, and there will be leftovers for Kurt to nibble on when he gets home.

Saturday (Christmas Eve)

Meatballs in mushroom soup. Served with salad, and egg noodles.

Sunday (Christmas Day)

Our traditional Turkey Dinner. Roast turkey and all that goes with that. No pies though, I have enough sweets and squares baked to see us through the holidays and perhaps beyond.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Saturday Roundup

Once again temperatures plummeted. In fact it was the coldest day of the year today. When I woke up this morning the temperature was -36 C and the wind was blowing, which means the wind chill made it feel like -48 C. Not fit for woman or beast.

The sun did shine however and that helped to heat our house for a few hours.

I  promised you all some pictures of various gifts.

I always make our sons a gift or two and this year is no different.

This is for Kurt, our Lovecraft fanatic.

Kris on the other hand has always loved dragons. I started this a number of years ago and this year in my mad dash to get all those unfinished projects completed got this one done right after my angel (which needs to be washed, press, mounted and framed still...).

 
Pretty sure he will like it.

I also finished up a scarf, headband, cowl and mitts for myself.

Here are the mitts and cowl. I could use another pair of mitts, and I do have a partial ball of yarn that needs using.....

Tomorrow is another day, and it is supposed to be warming up. Sure hope so as I could use a bit of a walk.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Friday, December 16, 2016

Mid Month Update

I am a day behind in updating everyone on how I am doing on this months goals.

1.  Get the tree up and decorated.  Done.

2.  Gifts parcel done and mailed to my brothers and nieces. Done.

3.  Cards/phone calls/and ecards done.  All I have left to do is the phone calls and I will be doing this the beginning of next week.

4.  Wash, iron and frame our sons cross stitch gifts.  Done.

5.  Wrap gifts.  Not done, but will be done by the end of the week.

6.  Finish the Christmas baking.  Done.

7.  Continue with my knitting, sewing and cross stitch projects.  Continuing, each and every day.

8.  Try for as many no spend days as possible this month (I am not going to set a goal, rather I am just going to see how many I can accumulate).  So far this month I have 13 no spend days. I may have to spend a bit tomorrow, but then I should be good for at least 5 days.

9.  My new household calendar pages need to be made.  I am going to try something different here, just not too sure what. I will keep you all informed.

So I am not doing too badly at all. I am hopeful of getting at least another 7 or 8 days of no spend (perhaps more if I am really lucky).

Harvey and I will be going over the budget for next year and both of us are hoping that prices don't rise too much over all. We do know our electric bill will be rising by 3.5% in the new year. Not happy about that at all.

I will update everyone on Project Declutter at the end of the month.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Thursday Tid Bits.

There are only 10 days left before Christmas.... My, oh my is time ever whizzing by.

Got a text from Kris today. He said that something has come up at work and so instead of being home on the 17th, it will probably be the 22nd before he makes it home. I love how he always puts a smiley face or sad face after his texts. This time it was a sad face, I sent a sad face back to him.

Christmas shopping is done!! I have a couple of items to finish knitting (really everything is knitting up so very quickly) I have visions of being done by Saturday and getting to sit and relax for a little bit. Well at least until I cast something on my needles on Christmas Eve. I think an infinity scarf would be a great idea. I can always use a new scarf, or a new shawl, or shrug.

Finished another cross stitch ornament and started the last one. I hope to hit the sewing room to finish them off this weekend (along with the pillowcase I promised to make that bright pink pillow). Fabric is out and ready to be cut.

Pictures of finished gifts and projects will be in an upcoming post.

Yesterday I made and packaged pierogis for the winter (should have done this awhile ago). I now have filled the downstairs chest freezer to capacity. I doubt I could fit anything else in if I tried. Mind you things will be disappearing once everyone is home.

The weather improved greatly today. I even enjoyed being out and about paying bills, mailing gifts/cards, and getting a few necessary groceries for the week. My nose did not feel like it was going to fall off and I could even walk out the door of the various shops without pulling my mittens on as quickly as possible. Today was a good day. Hopefully tomorrow will be as nice. I may even get a bit of a walk in.

I am beginning to wonder what on earth is causing the massive views of my blog from Russia and China. I check for spam comments and have found nothing so far..... I can't be that interesting. Yesterday I got almost 1000 views, ordinarily I only get perhaps 50 at the most.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Thrifty Tuesday

It's been a few weeks since I blogged about thrift.  I finished the one frugal/thrifty living book, even bookmarked the blog the author writes just to see if I can get any more thrifty living ideas.

I have now started to re read another of my frugal living books. This one is by Trent Hamm, founder of the Simple Dollar. The title is 365 Ways to Live Cheap. I don't like the word cheap so instead I am thinking of it as ways to live thriftily.

I love the way he says to buy "modular" clothing. Things that go together and can be worn with lots of other items in your wardrobe.

He says to avoid buying clothing that needs to be washed by themselves. The only things I own along this line now are my bras and I mostly wash those by hand (well at least in the summer, when they can drip dry on the lines outside, winter I do them on delicate in the washer and more than one at a time).

I would love to be able to hit some thrift and second hand stores in upscale neighbourhoods. I have a few friends that live in bigger cities that get wonderful outfits and great gifts when they visit these. Right now most of the "good" stuff disappears very quickly from the two second hand stores here in my small city.

Wearing my old clothing (things that are a bit worn, but still decent) around the house and out in the yard saves on my newer clothing. I patch knees in Harvey's jeans and do the same with mine. I have also been known to cut the sleeves off of long sleeved dress shirts when a bony elbow makes its way through the fabric (ask Kris, he is now the proud owner of three new short sleeved dress shirts for work). This is another one of the authors suggestions. Very much along the line of wearing something out.

By the time I am ready to let an item of clothing go it is ready for the rag bag, or in some cases it will be cut apart to make fabric to be used to make quilts, or perhaps as trim on another garment. I even use pieces as patches!!!

So far this book has some very practical ways of changing to a thrifty, frugal lifestyle one step at a time. I am only up to number 99 and while most of the ideas are things I already do, and some are things I have tried and will not do again, I have found a couple to add to my routine to see if I can make them become habit.

The first one I am adding is using things I already have in the house to remove stains. I always seem to buy Shout and I really don't think it works that well. I have nothing to lose by giving this a try.

I am also going to try and use the microwave (as well as my smaller plug in appliances) rather than the oven more. If it saves on power, it will save us money in the long run.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Monday, December 12, 2016

Menu Monday

Still cold, but not as cold as previously. In fact yesterday could have been considered a lovely day, very little wind, sunny skies, and a high temperature of about -19 C.

Today is starting off a bit colder than yesterday, but I don't hear the wind howling, and the skies seem to be fairly clear. Could be another lovely day.

Bit of a change up to my monthly menu this week.

Monday

Moving what I planned here to another day. Instead the fridge will be cleared of all the bits and pieces of leftovers.

Tuesday

Spaghetti and meat sauce, served with a tossed salad.

Wednesday

Baked spaghetti, using up the leftovers from last night along with the leftover tossed salad.

Thursday

Cabbage Bread from the freezer (quick and easy meal so I can get the remainder of the gifts wrapped and I will be tired after shopping, paying bills and mailing parcels and cards).

Friday

Baked trout, roasted veggies, and rice.

Saturday

Leftover chili served with toast.

Sunday

Roast Beef, roasted potatoes and carrots (or perhaps sprouts if they are on sale this week).

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Warming Up

Today was a bit warmer than the previous couple of days. The high for today was -17 C and the temperature when I got up this morning was a balmy -20 C. Of course there was still a bit of a wind chill, but nothing near the bone chilling gusts we suffered through.

I managed to get a bit of baking (or should I say candy making done).

The caramels are cut and wrapped.

Peanut butter cups made into squares this time around. Don't think I will do them this way again as for some reason they just do not want to come out of the pan in one piece.

I also managed to get two more decorations cross stitched.

This means 4 down and two left to go. Hopefully the stitching will be completed this week, and I can finish them up on the weekend.

The countdown to Christmas has begun. Our youngest son Kris (plus our rather large grandcat  Ray) will be home this coming Saturday. Means I will need to cook bigger meals again.

Kurt won't be home until the 24th as he teaches until the 23rd.

So looking forward to having both of them home for a bit. It will be nice to have all the hub bub of them being here. Kind of miss the noise and all the activity.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Friday, December 9, 2016

Frugal Friday


My frugal five during this cold and snowy week.

1.  Baked bread twice this week as well as make some baking powder biscuits.

2.  Used a $10.00 off coupon to buy our turkey for Christmas dinner.

3.  Got the draught (draft, never know which way to spell that darned word) dodgers out and placed them in front of the doors.

4.  Using up some leftover yarn from other projects to knit myself some new mitts (all my old ones seem to have disappeared).

5.  Doing the regular use it up, wear it out, make it do, and substituting ingredients that I do every day.

It has been so cold and snowy that since the first of the month I have been lucky enough to string together 8 no spend days. I suppose there are advantages to living in a place where temperatures can range from 110 F in the summer, to -42 F (even lower with the wind chill) in the winter.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Thursday Tid Bits

Brrrr, still in the deep freeze here. Kinda like Frozen, but without the princesses, or snow creatures. Really the temperature is not too bad, its the darn wind chill that is causing the problems. I am hopeful that the temperature will go up by next week.

Today I went grocery shopping. Well I guess I should say "we". Yep, I dragged Harvey along. He hasn't been shopping here in years. Yes, I do get him to go with me in Regina Costco or the Great Canadian Warehouse for stock up shopping. Usually the men (Harvey and Kris) disappear for quite awhile, or you could say I send them off to collect various items for me which seems to work well. This time the poor man seemed a bit lost. At the end of our trip, Harvey looked at me and mentioned that he knew where to find things in Costco, but not in our own cities grocery. Do you think that means he will come shopping with me again???? Doubtful.

Stuck to my list, but even sticking to the list I still noticed that prices have risen. The only meat bought was the turkey for Christmas dinner, and I had a $10.00 off coupon for that item. My final bill was $150.00. I dread having to buy meat in the near future.

Tried my first new meal tonight. Swiss steak using ready made hamburger patties. It actually turned out not too badly. A few tweaks and everything should be perfect. I think I have found a new meal to add into the rotation.

I will share a picture the next time I make it as well as the recipe, as usual I forgot to get a picture before we ate.

Off to work on my knitting and enjoy the lights on the tree.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Mixing It Up

While I am not a bad cook, I think I just might have fallen into a rut. As a family we have our favorites, and those old home style recipes serve me well.

However, I have lots and lots of cookbooks and more recipes than I can try with what probably remains of my cooking life.

So today I climbed up and pulled down 6 of my Company's Coming Cookbooks (I already had two down when I was cooking up those leftovers). So I have a new challenge to myself.

I will be going through these 8 cookbooks and searching for new ways to tantalize our taste buds. I am hoping to add some new favorites to our menu and perhaps even find some new ones to share with all of you.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Nasty Weather

Last week we got about 12 inches of snow, and then we were hit once again.

Highways were closed in and out of the city, city roads were blocked by stalled and stuck vehicles. The poor police were constantly on the move helping those foolish enough to be out driving in this mess.

Harvey had done a bit of shoveling before this picture was taken (about an hour before). There is about 12 inches of snow on the car, and it was still coming down. By the end of the storm we had received approximately 15 inches of the white stuff.

Today Harvey spent about 2 1/2 hours digging snow and blowing snow. The snow has stopped, but the wind has risen throughout the day and the temperature is dropping.

I pulled out my draught dodgers and laid them in front of the doors tonight. When the wind comes up it seems like it finds any little crack to come into the house. The hall has been freezing today so hopefully this cuts heat loss a bit and keeps the warmth in the hall.

We have been spoiled the last few years, it has been a very long time since we have had a blizzard or back to back snow storms. While we have had freezing temperatures, we were kind of wishing the real cold would hold off until well after Christmas. I have a feeling we are in for a seriously white and freezing winter season.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Monday, December 5, 2016

Menu Monday

We are in for a snowy, blizzardy week. It may be later than I want before I get my few cards and the parcel mailed out. Just hope to do so by the end of this week, if the weather cooperates at all.

Good, hot and hearty meals this week. We will need them in order to shovel or blow all the snow we have gotten.

Monday

Leftover beef roast made into something wonderful (new recipe book = new recipes to try).

Tuesday

Leftover chicken made into another new casserole.

Wednesday

Fridge smorg, there will be leftovers from the previous two meals and what we don't eat here will be finished for lunches or frozen and pulled out later when I don't want to cook.

Thursday

Hamburgers, baked beans, and raw veggies with dip.

Friday

Salmon patties, rice, and peas, and a salad.

Saturday

Sweet and sour ribs, rice (using up leftovers from Friday) mixed with the leftover peas.

Sunday

Ham, spicy noodles, salad, and pickles.

There you have it. Our meals for the upcoming week.

I am also going to get the chicken bones going and make some soup stock one day very soon. Right now the carcass (as well as a second one) is stored in my freezer.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Sunday Ramblings....It's Beginning To Look Like Christmas

I am slowly getting into the Christmas Spirit. It seems to be taking me much longer this year than any other year, and I can't figure out why. Perhaps it has to do with Kurt and Kris getting older (at 40 and 35) and they no longer have the awe that they had for the holiday season, or perhaps I am just becoming a Grinch. Whatever the reason, things are at least beginning to look and smell like Christmas on the old homestead.

The weather is even cooperating this year. Lots of snow!!

This was just the start of the storm that dumped about 25 cm in one day and night. We have had a bit more since.

I even decorated over the last couple of days.

My Nativities are out, just need some arranging and the Christmasy table cover....

My snowmen are out.

The snowman Santa Claus my sister gave me as a Christmas gift many years ago.

 
My smaller tree is up and decorated. I couldn't use all my decorations as the tree is only 2/3rds its usual size. Harvey could not see the television when the bottom portion was on so we decided to do without it. I have been promised a second tree so that all my décor can be placed on the tree. However I did get all my angels on this one. Christmas just wouldn't be the same without them.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Friday, December 2, 2016

Frugal Friday

Wow, are the weeks ever speeding by this year.

Here are my frugal five for this week.

1.  I am working on some cross stitch ornaments that I inherited from my mother. Free decorations for the tree, just have to spend a little bit of time getting them done.

2.  I managed to save $ 6.00 on the grocery bill this week. While this does not seem like much, it was saved without using coupons at all.

3.  Came in under the total budget for the month, and it looks as if we could be under budget for the year.

4.  Making sure the lights are off in rooms we are not using. Shutting the doors to rooms that are not being heated right now as well.

5.  Using up items in the house to make meals. I love cooking once and eating twice.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thursday, December 1, 2016

New Month, New Goals

First off I was asked if I noticed a difference in the house since I started the on going decluttering project.

Yes and no. Yes in that my closet and drawers are less full, the cupboards are not filled to overflowing, and before the basement flooded the storage rooms were getting straightened up and very well organized.

No in that with the flood things have been moved around and now take up room in other areas of the house or are in storage.

I figure once the basement is back together, bookcases set up, and the walls redone in the storage room I will really notice a difference in other areas of the house.

Until that time, project declutter will continue. It seems like I can always find a few things to donate or recycle.

Another blogger asked how our basement is coming along. Well we are still waiting on the furnace guys to pay us another visit. The venting into the addition has not been done, but once that is completed things will move along quickly. At least I hope things will begin to move quickly.

Harvey does little things, but we are running out of little things for him to complete.


So here are my goals for this month.

1.  Get the tree up and decorated.

2.  Gifts parcel done and mailed to my brothers and nieces.

3.  Cards/phone calls/and ecards done.

4.  Wash, iron and frame our sons cross stitch gifts.

5.  Wrap gifts.

6.  Finish the Christmas baking.

7.  Continue with my knitting, sewing and cross stitch projects.

8.  Try for as many no spend days as possible this month (I am not going to set a goal, rather I am just going to see how many I can accumulate).

9.  My new household calendar pages need to be made.

Sure hope I manage to get these all completed. I do have a good start on many of them, and some will be fairly quick to complete, others, not so much.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.