Christmas Eve Day

Here it is 9:45 AM and I just finished a batch of Spritz cookies. I'm on a "break" and then will make pineapple squares, a recipe from my mother-in-law. B requested it.

The weather has turned cold so it feels rather wintry - Makes it seem more like Christmas. We are ready - and the decorations are minimal and high - so Honey doesn't get to them. While she is improving with age, she still gets into things - toilet paper is her "thing" this week! She also loves B's shoes and you know when you hear her run from one room to another, she has something she shouldn't!

Last night I made soup from a bit of leftover chuck roast. There was some pan sauce that I started with and added a can of beef broth and then some beef base and water. Added the diced roast. The pan sauce had onions, carrots and fire roasted canned tomatoes so we were good to go! I then added some frozen cut up cabbage I had frozen after making pigs (stuffed cabbage). There is always the inner leaves that are, for us, too small to stuff. Rather than throw it out or have it sit in the refrigerator in hopes I would do something with it (which means wait until it turns green and THEN throw it out) I chopped it and froze it. So I added a few handfuls of that and let it simmer one glass of wine in length. I drink my wine slowly and don't fill the glass up, so that would be about 20 minutes. I then checked the soup, added a bit more water, salt and pepper and then added pasta - a mixture of small pastas that were mixed together in a jar. And then, in about 15 minutes we ate. Now B is not a soup fan but he liked this. I served it with rolls - Hawaiian bread - that we had purchased at Sam's for Christmas dinner. The meal was very good and we both enjoyed it!

The brown blanket is a new one - A Christmas present from Aunt Mary. She loves it. She is next to B's chair. Honey is asleep and B is on the iPad - a favorite pass time for both of them!

And while at Sam's the other day we picked up some flowers. I put them on the breakfast area table and with the red table cloth it really looks nice. Of course, if we go out, the flowers get moved 'cause "the girl" would love to check them out!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

First Day of Winter

It was rather warn for what you would expect for December. Busy day doing a list of tasks including laundry errands and cleaning. Wrapped some gifts but didn't get to the spritz cookies. Honey is zonked out on the floor by B as its been a busy day for here supervising all that we do.
I'd like to thank those of you who mentioned in your Christmas cards how you like the blog and the pictures. it's nice to know I'm not talking to just Walt! An email comment is nice or a blog comment.
Dinner was baked chicken thighs breaded with crumbs seasoned with herbs and garlic powder. Salad and veggies on the side. I made a second batch of cranberry conserve and found some other things I want to try next week. It's good to be busy.
Honey is making noises a cross between a snore and a hum. Guess she is having a good dream!

December Snow

Well, the rain turned to snow last night around 10 PM. We awoke to a beautiful winter wonderland! Since the temperature was 32 it's starting to melt but is still quite lovely. We got about 3.5 inches. Pictures follow....

The sky was just starting to clear - very lovely morning

As you can see, the plow was out and our roads are clear. Right now, it's 35 and the wind, while light, is causing the snow to fall from the tree branches.

And of course, Miss Honey was out on the deck to supervise though you can't see her clearly.

Snow???

It's been raining all day - damp and dreary. We have been watching the weather forecast and are expecting snow maybe up to 6 inches! We took a quick run to Walmart for some tree decorations. We have cut back on decorations thanks to Miss Honey who eats or chews many things left out and about. We put a 4 ft tree on the microwave located above Honey level but visible. I needed small balls and it now looks rather nice. A ceramic tree I got from Carol many years ago (maybe Doris too) is on the bar in the lower level. A wreath is on the door and the stockings are hung by the fireplace in the bedroom. I'm still working on a stocking for Honey. So we are set

I really don't need snow to feel the Christmas spirt. But I guess we will get some!

A busy weekend

Here is is, the first weekend in December! The weather, except for that crazy snow storm in October, has been relatively mild. We have had to scrape the windows of the car in the morning, but generally, it's been mild. While we have taken advantage of "Black Friday" cyber sales, I'm still not thinking Christmas! Not Bah Humbug, just not Ho Ho Ho.

I get on these clean up the mess kicks, but I also get complacent to what I see and overlook messes that should be shouting to me. On Saturday, as we sat in the breakfast area, talk turned to the mess of lap tops, boxes and "stuff" on the shelves below the window in the breakfast area. Wow, it was a jumble of stuff and I never saw it! So, I attacked the mess! What did we have??? In a brown box canning lids and things related to canning. In another box place mats and in a third box, napkins. Now these boxes were decorator boxes but still, they really didn't belong on the shelf. Then there were several tiered plates that were rather dusty showing that I don't use them. And finally, our 2 laptops (his and hers) were on the top of the shelves (a bit less than 3 feet high) along with wires. So I cleaned! And after moving the canning stuff to the storage where the canning jar stuff is, it looked better. I removed the 2 boxes with napkins and place mats and found a better location for the lap tops. So the breakfast area looks much better. We also moved a larger TV to that area. Today I dealt with the place mats and napkins which caused me to go through three drawers in my large china cabinet in the dining room. Some stuff went to storage, some to "fall" and "summer" areas and some to get rid of. And now that area looks better!  Talk about one thing leading to another!

So now I need to check out the Christmas stuff and see what we can put up. With a dog who still gets into things, we are limited to what can be put out on the main level as when we leave, she has access to several rooms. Maybe a tree down in the lower level? That's the next project to work on.

Dinner is in the oven. We went to Costco earlier this week and have been enjoying the meat we purchased as I've been serving some and freezing the rest. Last night was pot roast from the chuck roasts and tonight is chicken thighs baked in the oven after they were breaded. With that we will have potatoes - baked for B and sweet potato for me. Some veggie for a side and pumpkin pie from Costco - they really have good pie!

Like I said, busy weekend!!!