Well, 2013 is almost over. It seems to have really zipped by! So many changes...so much has stayed the same. My, my, am I waxing philosophical or what?!?
We had a bit of snow today...for awhile we were in a white out...and I am very glad to have gotten my errands done this morning. Sitting by the fire, knitting and waiting for Jeff was much more enjoyable than driving in a blizzard!
I finished most of my Christmas knitting...just Jeff's socks left to do but that wasn't my fault. The yarn got here on the 26th! A neighbor asked if I'd do a pair of convertible mittens for her husband if she gave me the yarn and I'm almost finished with them. Jeff's socks are about half finished and there's even a pair for me half done! Unfortunately, they will not be done before midnight tonight so my usual resolution to start knitting for the shop right after New Year's will have to wait a few days before going into effect.
Nothing new there! But I have to start building stock on Monday. In 2014 I'd like to expand my area a little by doing more adult knitting. Knitting for babies is nice coz they don't take much time or yarn but adult hats and sweaters bring in a little more $$$'s...good for the shop and me.
I'm planning on doing ham and scalloped potatoes for dinner tomorrow, nothing fancy. And a lemon meringue pie. I think a bit of dieting may be part of my resolution list, too.
The new Berkey water filter is great! Our tap water is finally clear and odor free. We've been making coffee with it since we got it without any complaints. This means, no more gallon jugs of water on the porch and in the back of the car! How nice! I hardly recommend a Berkey Water Filter...if only they made whole house systems.
Oh, and I've got to learn how to use the new digital camera!!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Monday, December 23, 2013
A Little of This, A Little of That
We've been keeping busy these last few weeks... with wood cutting, stacking and burning... but we never got around to putting the plastic on the greenhouse! Jeff got a free turkey and he improvised a vegetable stuffing for it but w/o one of those little plastic things that pop up when the bird is cooked our turkey was a little dry. (And I won't say much about the mess it made in my oven...or how I filled the house with smoke when I turned on the auto-oven cleaner. But it worked!) The turkey carcass is waiting in the freezer to be used for soup. I made Italian cookies yesterday and thought that not frosting them until tomorrow would keep them uneaten longer but that didn't work. Good thing I started out with 10 dozen! The new Berkey water filter arrived today and Jeff set it up in the kitchen. No more hauling water!! And I'm working on my last convertible mitten. I may make it to Christmas yet!
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Twas The Week Before Christmas...
Twas the week before Christmas and I finally found the time to write and post. I've been knitting like crazy (got the sore tendons in both elbows to prove it!) but I'm almost finished with Christmas presents. I hauled out the small artificial tree my mom liked but changed my mind and instead washed the crystal trees on the mantel and moved them to the shelf above the tv (the mantel is in the unused living room...) where they can be seen. Had a little trouble with the lights on the garland but finally figured out what was wrong(it was the timer not the string of lights.)Looks pretty good. Used some of the Christmas teapots to decorate the kitchen,too. If I ever figure out the new cheap...inexpensive...camera I got, I'll post some pics.
Jeff got to use the new snow blower and is pleased with it. I can start it...I think, but haven't tried running it. He got a new camera for his pc and is going to put the old one on mine so we can both use Skype. I need a new mouse for mine.
The stove needs wood and I've got mittens to finish!
Jeff got to use the new snow blower and is pleased with it. I can start it...I think, but haven't tried running it. He got a new camera for his pc and is going to put the old one on mine so we can both use Skype. I need a new mouse for mine.
The stove needs wood and I've got mittens to finish!
Monday, December 2, 2013
When Things Go...
Boy, November flew by! I was just complaining about October and before I knew it, it was over! And it never got posted!! But...
Things have been busy around here in October...not that anything important has gotten done (except knitting) but time has flown by. Today the To Do List has gotten several items checked off:
The white Forester came home Saturday (10/19) night looking better than ever...and below budget, too! (Jeff was back in business with the trailer in no time at all! We had picked out a new snow blower and he was able to pick it up...assembled! And do a test run on Thanksgiving to adjust the deck !) Today (10/22) the windshield was replaced on the Forester by Safelite while it sat in our driveway. Took about 45 minutes and looks perfect. Now that cost a little more than I had expected but the entire restoration of the Forester was $638.78. Not bad for restoring a 'totaled' car, huh?
Jeff had another back treatment yesterday
(11/12)...this one was done by the same doctor but at the clinic in Hartwick Seminary south of Cooperstown. Seemed to take hours to get there and no time at all to get home! He feels a little sore afterwards but that seems to be from the all the injections (one each for pain killer and steroid) he got. Hopefully, these procedures will work and he'll be pain-free.
The funeral home that handled my mother's cremation called just before the end of the month to say that they are able to bury her ashes this fall instead of waiting for spring, so the ashes were placed on top of my father's casket on Saturday(10/26). I am going to have to wait until Spring to have a stone installed. It's just too cold to pour concrete. (I had scheduled and paid for a 'Month's Mind' (11/20) for my mom at St Anthony's but when I went there for that mass there was a note on the church door saying mass was cancelled for that day. Wonder why? )
On the knitting side of my life, I finished a 2nd pair of socks for...ME! Don't know if I want to do another pair or start a pair for Jeff? Or maybe start Christmas presents? One of the adult size baseball hats sold over the weekend so maybe I'll do one of those. And the boy's 50's vintage sweater set in navy and tan sold last week, too, so I could start one of those. There's a skein of pink for another "Pretty in Pink" set sitting by my chair, too, so....
Seems like more happened in October/November than that! Jeff actually had 2 procedures done on his back...(the 2nd was done on 11/26 ...and this time I asked some questions before they started and afterwards Jeff came home and watched TV for 2 days with no work. The doctor actually said he could do whatever he could... at waist level...no bending!!...) both were successful, and I worked in the shop 3 times so that meant 5 trips to Cooperstown...enough to last til Spring, I hope! We have been cutting and stacking wood. The porch has been stacked...and emptied...3 times, and the wood shed finally got it's 2nd hump (hog panel) but is still not quite full. It's not that we don't have the wood...there is a lot to be cut but those back procedures...especially the steroid treatments that go with them...slow Jeff down. Hopefully we'll get some more done this week while the temperature's near 40. And maybe even get the plastic on the greenhouse!
We decided to have ham instead of turkey for Thanksgiving ...I got to cook my first bone-in ham...and Jeff made split-pea soup the next day. Fanny got the ham bone and had a ball! My cousin Ed came over for dinner and we all watched the dog show...even Fanny who growled and whimpered her opinions of the entries. She actually sat in front of the TV and watched! We were all glad the American Foxhound won Best in Show.(It looks like a big beagle to me!!)
Hats have been selling in the shop so I did a couple more yesterday...Downton-inspired vintage ladies' hats. Hope they sell. Next week when we make our regular monthly trip to Chanatry's Market in Utica I think a side trip to JoAnn's Fabric for yarn will be in order. I need sock yarn, something nice for a hat/scarf set and who knows what else will catch my eye for Christmas presents! Just as long as I have yarn to keep me busy!! Maybe winter will go as fast as Oct/Nov did??
Things have been busy around here in October...not that anything important has gotten done (except knitting) but time has flown by. Today the To Do List has gotten several items checked off:
The white Forester came home Saturday (10/19) night looking better than ever...and below budget, too! (Jeff was back in business with the trailer in no time at all! We had picked out a new snow blower and he was able to pick it up...assembled! And do a test run on Thanksgiving to adjust the deck !) Today (10/22) the windshield was replaced on the Forester by Safelite while it sat in our driveway. Took about 45 minutes and looks perfect. Now that cost a little more than I had expected but the entire restoration of the Forester was $638.78. Not bad for restoring a 'totaled' car, huh?
Jeff had another back treatment yesterday
(11/12)...this one was done by the same doctor but at the clinic in Hartwick Seminary south of Cooperstown. Seemed to take hours to get there and no time at all to get home! He feels a little sore afterwards but that seems to be from the all the injections (one each for pain killer and steroid) he got. Hopefully, these procedures will work and he'll be pain-free.
The funeral home that handled my mother's cremation called just before the end of the month to say that they are able to bury her ashes this fall instead of waiting for spring, so the ashes were placed on top of my father's casket on Saturday(10/26). I am going to have to wait until Spring to have a stone installed. It's just too cold to pour concrete. (I had scheduled and paid for a 'Month's Mind' (11/20) for my mom at St Anthony's but when I went there for that mass there was a note on the church door saying mass was cancelled for that day. Wonder why? )
On the knitting side of my life, I finished a 2nd pair of socks for...ME! Don't know if I want to do another pair or start a pair for Jeff? Or maybe start Christmas presents? One of the adult size baseball hats sold over the weekend so maybe I'll do one of those. And the boy's 50's vintage sweater set in navy and tan sold last week, too, so I could start one of those. There's a skein of pink for another "Pretty in Pink" set sitting by my chair, too, so....
Seems like more happened in October/November than that! Jeff actually had 2 procedures done on his back...(the 2nd was done on 11/26 ...and this time I asked some questions before they started and afterwards Jeff came home and watched TV for 2 days with no work. The doctor actually said he could do whatever he could... at waist level...no bending!!...) both were successful, and I worked in the shop 3 times so that meant 5 trips to Cooperstown...enough to last til Spring, I hope! We have been cutting and stacking wood. The porch has been stacked...and emptied...3 times, and the wood shed finally got it's 2nd hump (hog panel) but is still not quite full. It's not that we don't have the wood...there is a lot to be cut but those back procedures...especially the steroid treatments that go with them...slow Jeff down. Hopefully we'll get some more done this week while the temperature's near 40. And maybe even get the plastic on the greenhouse!
We decided to have ham instead of turkey for Thanksgiving ...I got to cook my first bone-in ham...and Jeff made split-pea soup the next day. Fanny got the ham bone and had a ball! My cousin Ed came over for dinner and we all watched the dog show...even Fanny who growled and whimpered her opinions of the entries. She actually sat in front of the TV and watched! We were all glad the American Foxhound won Best in Show.(It looks like a big beagle to me!!)
Hats have been selling in the shop so I did a couple more yesterday...Downton-inspired vintage ladies' hats. Hope they sell. Next week when we make our regular monthly trip to Chanatry's Market in Utica I think a side trip to JoAnn's Fabric for yarn will be in order. I need sock yarn, something nice for a hat/scarf set and who knows what else will catch my eye for Christmas presents! Just as long as I have yarn to keep me busy!! Maybe winter will go as fast as Oct/Nov did??
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