Sunday, November 26, 2017

Transitioning Between Thanksgiving and Christmas - The Last Weekend of November

 My New Butter Dish!  Want one?  I think I can still get more!

Yes, My New Butter Dish is On Display - Not sure When I Will Use it For it's Intended Purpose

Christmas Card for a Swap

Another View
Jake is Home!  Well, until tonight. But it is nice having him 'here'.

Hmm.. I just noticed how tall he is!


Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!

We had a beautiful Thanksgiving with our friends. One of Phil's daughters came to visit from Utah, with her boyfriend, and we took them with us to our 'Red Neck Friendsgiving' celebration.  You have to remember I live in a very rural area, and we celebrate at a friend's ranch.  We eat in the shop, and 'celebrate' by blowing up pumpkins - outdoors.  Serious fun. This year I managed to make my chocolate pumpkin cheesecake, which was a big 'win' for me, personally.  My only 'setback' (health issues related) was I almost fell trying to get it out of the oven.  My balance is not 100% yet. Sometimes I forget I am temporarily 'off' my normal. 


I'm trying my best to not start decorating for Christmas, and just savor these last days of Thanksgiving.

 However, crafting is another story.  This is prime crafty time!

My 'December Daily' group (online) is hosting a Christmas Card swap, so today I made my two cards to get sent off tomorrow.  One is going to Washington, and the other to Australia. 

The other 'Christmas' things I have been doing are uploading all of my favorite 2017 photos to Snapfish for a few gift projects.  This was a two-day project!  I had to download all my camera photos first, sort them by month, then upload the ones I wanted.  Ha. Hours.

And, on Friday, I received my family Christmas Card - also made in Snapfish.  I know, right?   I have my cards!  Last year I didn't get them until December 20th.  This year I wanted to make sure I got them out early!

Right now, I am just taking it easy, recuperating and getting my health back, one day at a time. And, since walking and bending and any 'up and down' movement with my legs takes a lot of effort, it is easy to 'not' decorate.

Speaking of movement, last night I went to church with Phil.  We went up and down the 'back' stairs, because there are less stairs than at the front of the Cathedral.  And, I did it!  I made it up, and I made it down.  Stairs have been my enemy.

 I love our church, St. Francis de Sales Cathedral in Baker City, Oregon. Both of my children were baptized in this church, about 18 years ago.  And, a repose for the soul was said for my mother, Grace, which happened to be on my 55th birthday.  I have cried in this church when my soul ached, and, I have cried in this church with tears of joy when I was thankful for everything in what I consider a full and happy life. 

So, there you have it. 

Here's to savoring all we have to be thankful for. 

xo












Sunday, November 5, 2017

SSS Wednesday Challenge - Christmas Tag


Christmas Tag - Stenciled background (click on image to see close up details)
Supplies Used For Making Tag Backgrounds

The theme for this week's  Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is Christmas Tags.

 Edited:  For the challenge, we are to enter into Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags, and say which day we are entering, and which tag we were inspired by.

This entry is for Day 1.
Inspired by: Gayatri's tag - I loved her vintage look.

First, I inked my kraft tag with Ranger distress ink.  Then, using  a SSS stencil (Stars & Dots) I used white craft ink to 'lay down' the stars and dots.

After that, I embellished with goodies from my Christmas stash:  A Stampin-Up tree, sequins, a sticker, and behind the tree are two strips of washi tape (Ali Edwards).  Finished it off with the silver cord.

Thanks for stopping by!


Working on Christmas Tags - And Sunday Musings


Today's Playtime - ink, stencils, paints
The challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp Blog is to make a Christmas Tag. I am waiting for these babies to dry so I can add more layers and turn them into fun projects. The top two I used paint with the stencil.  It spreads underneath.  the bottom four I used ink instead of paint over the stencils.  

 We had our first snow this morning, so transitioning into Christmas seemed just fine.  However, I will go back to my Thanksgiving projects.  Geeze.  Less than 3 weeks! This is when time zooms by.

Anyway, I meant to have more crafty time but have been sidetracked by so many other things this weekend.

Leaf Patrol
Cooking.  Cooking. Cooking.
More Leaf Patrol
And some funky cleaning. You know, that out of the ordinary stuff that doesn't get done often, like cleaning the kitchen utensil container that sits on the counter, wiping down the entry way door, replacing the scentsy burner wax, putting out Thanksgiving stuff, and taking down Halloween stuff.

Back to the cooking. You would think, with no one else at home, I would give up on the cooking thing, but alas, it is my weekend habit to food prep for the week.

Here is what I made:
Yesterday: Egg, spinach and mushroom casserole.  Yum.  Two breakfasts so far.
Today: Oatmeal - to go with over easy eggs for my breakfast that I take to work. I made the mistake of making a beautiful bowl this am with some of my frozen raspberries and bananas.  Then I ruined it by putting honey (from one of those sticks) on it.  It tasted horrible. A weird flavor.  Darn waste of precious raspberries!
Yesterday: Cooked up two spaghetti squash, cleaned out the goods, and froze most of it.
Yesterday: Cooked up spaghetti sauce with ground turkey to go with the squash.  Which was last night's dinner. Froze most of it.
Today: Cooked up potato and bacon soup - soon to go in the freezer as well. This was today's lunch.

 And, at least there is stuff in the freezer for 'I don't want to cook' nights.
 
Thanks for stopping by. 

2023 December Daily : Monday December 5th

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