Sunday Ramblings

 

As another week draws to an end and the month closes down, I am working on getting a few things completed, or started, and trying my best to not feel abused and left out by Harvey's female portion of the extended family. It seems like the females (even the in-law portion other than myself) keep in constant touch. That really makes it tough to feel a part of this family. I do try, but get shot down most of the time. This weekend really showed how much this happens. After the first round of hugs I was either totally ignored or talked down to. Something I should be used to but every so often feels like a kick in the teeth. 

I am so glad that I have nieces, nephews and their spouses that make up for this lack of family feeling. They are just so wonderful to me at all times. 

So I will share a few pictures of the celebration with all of you.

Harvey's two cousins that lived on a farm only a few miles from them are included in this photo.

All the family was there which of course surprised pretty much the entire village. 

These pictures were taken in one of the BIL's yards. 

Now some pictures of old vehicles that paraded around the village. I heard there were close to 100 in the car show.

Just a few of the older vehicles that toured the village in a parade later in the afternoon. 

That first photo is pretty special to me. An old friend has many old vehicles that he has restored over the years. Not too sure what year this Model T (he has three he has restored) is, but I got a ride in it after the parade. I was the only one after his wife (also a friend) who got to go around the town. That was so nice of them. The ride was a bit rough, but my back managed just fine. His wife was pretty disappointed that she didn't get a picture of me in the vehicle. I said that was perfectly okay.

We also attended the polka Mass (not my favourite of Mass types) so as we could use the online Mass this morning.

More pictures of the program and the live concert the Johner Brothers/Boys later that night coming tomorrow or perhaps the next day.

We didn't stay for the whole concert, but came home before it got too dark.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 

After my online attendance at Mass this morning, it was time to get a bit of work done around the house. Nothing really difficult (though one small task turned out to be harder than I thought), I made my list, decluttered the drawers in the kitchen (my goodness those were dusty), decluttered the smaller of my two pantries, and worked on some knitting.

Now what turned out to be harder than I thought was the making of Harvey's cell phone case. I got him to measure his phone a few days ago, made my pattern and made it a bit bigger to take into account the seams. Well, it was still too narrow. So I had to start a new one. Because I was frustrated with my first efforts I have only gotten as far as sewing the denim squares together and enlarging my pattern. I will work on sewing it tomorrow.  Harvey said that perhaps the other can be used for another purpose, which is quite true not going to waste the work that went into making it. Pretty sure it will fit his phone charger and cord.

I was asked about my Sausage Casserole recipe so here it is. Much of it is by look so I would say you could adapt this for any size casserole you choose.

I start off with a layer of thinly sliced potatoes, then add a layer of thinly sliced onion. Sprinkle those with salt and pepper. My next layer is thinly sliced carrots to cover everything, then it is topped with a layer of frozen peas. I place my sausages on top of this in a single layer (for the two of us, one of whom is a major meat eater I usually use 12 sausages). The the whole casserole is covered with a can of tomato soup mixed with 3/4 of a can of water. Put it in the oven at 350*F and bake until potatoes and carrots are tender. This usually makes enough for the two of us to have two meals each, and enough veggies for me to have them for lunch when we have eaten our meals.

Today was our 45th wedding anniversary. I really can't believe we were ever this young. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Out With The Old, In With The New

 Wishing you all a very Happy New Year.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

I am home once again and using my regular laptop computer instead of the tablet. I find it very difficult to edit on the tablet, so hopefully this is a much more readable post.

I went to Costco this morning for a bit of a stock up on the items I usually purchase there (and of course found some others that are way less expensive). Missed a few though as they seem to move things around an awful lot. Still I was in and out in less than an hour and managed to make it home in a decent amount of time. 

I am not going to leave Harvey at home by himself any more. He is easily bored, and will go out and spend money. 

This time it was dealing on a new vehicle (well we do need one). He actually got a fairly good deal on it, and it is one I pointed out to him as something I liked. We head to the dealership tomorrow and do the paperwork. I just hope it does not take too long.

Our oldest son Kurt will be home the beginning of July for a week or so. Hopefully surgery for me will not take place until later in the month. Kris says he will drive home on the weekend and spend a bit of time bonding with his brother, and hopefully setting up a computer on my television. Harvey says perhaps he would like one for Christmas to do the same thing...... Actually a very good idea since we no longer have loads of channels to choose from. I will need to do a bit of saving over the next few months.

Kris and I watched our Archdiocesan online Mass this morning. Special blessings for the fathers in our lives. I really enjoy this as I am staying away from the Masses at the church until after my surgery. I definitely need to stay healthy, I am wearing a mask when out and about. 

Speaking of masks. Kris loves his Minion masks and filters. This week I will work on Kurt's skulls and some superhero type. Then I will move on to more masks for Harvey. I may even get a few more made for me. Preparing for that second wave.

 Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Thursday Tidbits

Just sharing a few pictures of what I have been up to this week so far.

Tree up and decorated. No presents underneath as of yet, but hopefully a few will be under very soon.

Big pot of chili made. I am really trying to get a few meals ahead and this is the first large batch of many I hope.

Shortbread made, I never got a picture of the Almond Bark. That went into the freezer as quickly as possible. I wanted no temptation.

Large pot of split pea soup. I used the ham bone I had been saving to make the stock. The remainder was frozen for another meal or two down the road.

First batch of whipped shortbread cookies. So rich and melt in your mouth good.

A tray of chocolate coconut candy. These will be rolled in icing sugar (powdered sugar) when I serve them.

Chocolate mints. This will be cut tomorrow morning into small squares.

Tomorrow I plan on doing some more baking, crossing a few more items off the baking list. I also want to do some more sewing. Then of course there are all the usual Friday household tasks that need to be done as well.

Saturday, my sister and I will be traveling to Yorkton, a city 3 hours north of us. Our youngest brother suffers from schizophrenia and his meds seem to have stopped working. Our other brother informed me today that Jerry is in the hospital and they are trying to get his meds working again. We'll go up and visit him for a little while and make sure all is going well.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless. 

Happy Easter

Wishing all of you a Happy Easter.

Regular posts will commence again on Monday.

God bless.

Not So Thrifty Tuesday

It actually did start off being a rather thrifty day. I had every intention of making a stir fry and enjoying a quiet winter's day here on the old homestead.

That is until Harvey realized something....

It is our 41st wedding anniversary today and so Harvey slipped out after lunch today and bought me flowers. Not my usual yellow roses, but one can just not help but smile at all the happy colours (and there is some yellow).

I had planned on spending a few hours going through all these knitting magazines.

Plus I have another shelf full after these are done. I am going through them and tearing out those patterns I may just try, and recycling the rest of the magazine to either one of the schools, or if I don't rip any pattern pages out they will be going to the Salvation Army. Guess I can work on this some over the next few days. Hoping to have those shelves cleaned out by the end of the week and have many more items leaving my home as well.

Instead I was whisked out for a Chinese supper (not complaining, the stir fry can easily be made in the near future). The remains of our meal have been brought home and will be used for our supper tomorrow.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Anyone else having trouble getting blogger to upload pictures?

Happy New Year

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

God bless.

Merry Christmas

God bless.

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.

Monthly Update, The Last Day Of The Year

Here it is the final day of 2015. It seems to have crept up on me so very quickly.

This year I went with monthly goals instead of yearly goals which are always so hard for me to achieve. My achievement of the monthly goals on the other hand went wonderfully well. I have decided to continue doing this, even if I fall behind I usually manage to get the goal completed the next month.

So here is my monthly update for December.

1.   Get the tree up and decorated.  Done

2.   Make a quilt for the ladies gift for our family party.  Done

3.   Get the Christmas baking done.  Done

4.   Cut out sewing patterns.  Done

5.   Continue decluttering project.  Done

6.   Make up my monthly calendars and daily to do list pages.  Done

7.   Work on embroidery.  Done

8.   Start some of those unfinished sewing projects.  I have started this, just today. I did manage to finish a skirt.

9.  Get the gifts wrapped.  Done

10.  Try for 18 no spend days.  Done and I actually made 19 days of no spending.

11.  Knit a sweater for me to wear for our family Christmas party. Not done, but just a few more days should see this task completed. I have added it to next months goals.

By the end of the month I had actually removed 755 items from my home. I sure plan on continuing this next year. I did more then the 500 I had hoped to remove. Now I just have to think of how much I want to remove next year.

I will post my new goals tomorrow.

Wishing all of you a very Happy New Year.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

 

Another Year Older

Today we have been under a weather advisory. The wind chill has been extreme and will continue that way for another day.

So, as luck would have it I celebrated my birthday on what turned out to be the coldest day of the year!!! Not really that much of a problem as we usually do not go out to celebrate. I make a meal that is simple to prepare and we stay hunkered down. Being so close to Christmas (and our anniversary next month) money used to be tight and one of the boys was always up for making me a birthday cake.

Now that the boys are living away from home and working I don't get a cake as often, which really is not a bad thing. So imagine my surprise when Harvey announced he had baked me a cake!! He then proceeded to put a cake he had ran out to buy me on this cold day.

Carrot cake, one of my favorites! It even had Cream Cheese Frosting. Mind you it is so huge we will be eating on this for a very long time.

Do I feel older? Nope, after all age is just a number and though I am getting closer to 60 with each year that passes I really don't feel that old.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Happy Thanksgiving

To all of my readers who celebrate the holiday today.

May your Thanksgiving celebration be joyful and full of love and laughter. If you are driving stay safe.

God bless.

Happy Thanksgiving A Day Early

I had planned a blog post last night, but I had forgotten that with Kurt and Kris home, I sometimes lose a bit of computer time. You probably won't see many posts unless I can sneak them in early which I will try to do.

Today I want to wish all my Canadian followers a Happy Thanksgiving. The holiday is really tomorrow, but if your family is anything like mine, tomorrow is the day all the company heads home. Our big celebration will take place tonight, turkey, stuffing and all the other trimmings of a wonderful meal.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

End Of The Week and Getting Ready For The Holiday

It is the end of the work week, but not the end of working for me.

Kurt and Kris will be home tomorrow sometime. Kris well before Kurt (at least we hope). We had expected Kris to be here tonight but his meeting at work was running late, so he said he would be here first thing tomorrow. He plans on leaving around 8 am and so should be here by 10 or so....Providing he doesn't sleep in!!!

Harvey plans on renting the auger and so I think I will be helping make the post holes for awhile, which of course puts my work schedule back a little bit. I will set the alarm so I get up at my regular time and get some of my chores done before he gets up. Then I won't feel as rushed (I hope).

Today was spent baking. I started the day off getting a loaf of bread made and then moved on.

Pumpkin pies for our Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday, made and in the fridge.

Both Kurt and Kris celebrate their birthdays this coming week and we will celebrate with them on Saturday. What's a birthday without cake!

Chocolate layer cake with chocolate frosting. My writing and decorating skills seem to leave a bit to be desired..... Oh well it is the thought that counts.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thirty-third Anniversary and A Whole Lot of Snow

On Friday I woke up to a great deal of snow. We received about 20 cm or close to 10 inches in less than 24 hours. It made going to work an exercise in stamina and following ruts a must. I will say going to work was easier than coming home after work as I could not see what I was driving through in the morning.

Harvey and I shovelled snow this morning so at least I can get in and out of my driveway, and to the major roads. Our road is still pretty bad, covered in ruts and the end of the street is pretty soft, and hard to plow through. I took this picture just before our epic shovelling session. Really think we need a snow blower. According to the weather forecasters, we are supposed to get another 20 cm over the next few days.

Today Harvey and I celebrated our 33rd Wedding Anniversary. He wanted to take me out for supper, but I (being the chicken I am) did not want to travel down the horrible roads. I made a very nice supper of Bacon Wrapped Fillets, Baked Potatoes (with all the trimmings), Caesar Salad and Chocolate Mousse for a fraction of the price we would have paid for the same meal in a restaurant.

Harvey did come home with a surprise, a dozen red roses and a card to say that he loves me more now than when we first married. Good thing, cause I don't know who else would put up with me when I get in one of my grouchy moods.

I want to thank Mary from Mary's Writing Nook for the award. I will post it tomorrow, I promise. I am so honored to have received it.

Well off to visit you all. Have a wonderful evening. God bless.

A New Year is Arriving

It is early morning here in Saskatchewan, the sky is dark and filled with the twinkling lights of many stars. I am taking a break from getting some work done around the house, and Harvey is still sound asleep.

Thought that I would post a picture or two to let everyone know what has been happening around the old homestead the past couple of days.

To show the difference is size between our cat Shania and Kris's cat Ray, I managed to get a picture of her on what has become her favorite perch. Lately, for some unknown reason Shania has taken to sitting on the back of my computer chair while I am working. When she wants some loving attention, I get swatted in the face by her tail. A little annoying to say the least, but after a bit of loving, she removes herself and travels else where. Now imagine an animal four times her size!

I finished one of my winter projects yesterday. I love the way the fuzzy, glitzy wool worked in the project. However I think that it is a bit short. I know it is only a shrug type sweater, but the next one I make is going to be a bit longer (I have already started a blue one). I am going to make it about two inches longer so it reaches just above my waist.

This only took 4 balls of yarn, I still have 5 left so I will have to get started on some scarves to hand over to the school next winter. There are always some children who don't have one when they need one (or perhaps who can not afford one).

Last but not least I want to wish each and everyone of you a very Happy New Year. May all your dreams and wishes for the upcoming year come true.

Now I am off to visit all of you. God bless.