Pokey Peas Challenge for December 2020

knutschen , I understand about your parents not wanting to be at risk. It seems that's the first thing I think of when I hear that there are activities planned. I choose to continue to isolate as much as possible. I am sorry that Covid has increased so much at your hospital. We are over capacity at the big local hospital. There are beds, but not enough staff. Please take care of yourself. I am glad you have your friends and husband and pets to lift your spirits!

LisaDV , it's so nice to hear from you. I am glad that the work situation is good for your DH. I hope this becomes even better than his last job. It's hard to believe that your DS is graduating. They grow up so fast. Does he want to stay close to home next year, or adventure out to a distant college? I hope your DD gets through this winter OK. She has had a long road and it seems it's her turn for good health. Em's DD had the surgery for MALS and has done so well. She is a different girl. I wish you could find a magic answer for DD. BTW, congrats on the weight loss. I have just put all mine back on through Covid. I'm a nervous eater. Please drop by once in a while to let us know how you are doing. Take all the time you need. I'm sure the scrapping bug will come back sometime when things feel more normal.

kitbop , I didn't realize your DD would graduate this year. What are her plans? Does she plan to make a career of Dance? I hope that we have enough people vaccinated by Fall so these kids can do the things they want in planning their futures. We have a DGD who will graduate this year too.

kellyr21 , I missed your giveaway. I kept thinking I need to check out 2peas, but I just haven't had a minute to sit down. Mondays are "in the car all day" days. I did get to step into Hobby Lobby for about 5 minutes. That's a first in many many months. I love reading your posts and watching your videos. You give me such an uplift.

joyfulnana , has your work slowed down now that it has turned cold? I'm so glad you have your new kitty to keep you company, and glad that she and Rudy are friends again. I got to see Alex for about 5 minutes yesterday. He came in and stowed all my Christmas Village boxes under the Village setup. It's so hard for us to get down on our knees and he did it in just a few minutes. Em dropped off a wedding invitation and saw all the boxes in the living room. She took it on herself to have him come in and quickly stow them. Aren't grandchildren a blessing! (and children too)

I started this post hours ago, but didn't hit send. In the meantime I read your blog, kellyr21 , and cried. I had to go read it to DH who cried too. He's even more emotional than I am! What a beautiful, tender, touching story. I call those sweet times "tender mercies" when I know that a blessing comes in answer to prayer. We have had a lot of tender mercies this year along with all the discouraging times. Thank you for sharing that kellyr21 .

Hello, all!

shinyhappytina , it's always nice to see your pretty smile popping up. I don't know if you saw the note I left on scrapbook.com about reading Olivia's book. I was very impressed with her writing and her description of all the "behind the scenes" manipulations at the camp. I went back and reread the foreword after reading the book. I'm glad she and Anjay remain friends. Very insightful. I'm with grammadee , I'd love to import you for a day to whip this house into shape! How's the foot healing?

kellyr21 , it has been a tradition in our home for years to read a Christmas story every night in Dec. I hope you don't mind, but I added your story to our Christmas stories. It may not have been in Dec, but the story and feeling fit right in. You are a great writer. Thank you for sharing your experience.

msliz , I thought of you last night as I watched the menorah being lighted on TV. I hope you have a wonderful Hanakkah season. I look forward to seeing you again on Hangouts.

grammadee , thank you so much for all the work and stress getting ready for Team Challenges next year. I am happy with whatever. I participate when I can, and ignore it when I am swamped with other things. We all love you for what you have done for this site.

kitbop , I miss seeing you at hangouts! I really enjoyed those. I think I have given up trying to work into a Sunday schedule, but a week night or Sat. usually can work for me. I look forward to seeing you in the new year. How are you healing? I hope it is doing better. Please take good care of yourself. Covid is so rampant here that I hate leaving the house at all. When I read that your cat has no sense of smell I immediately thought Covid! I'm glad he's feeling better.

joyfulnana , glad your busy, busy job has slowed down and that you don't hate it. Are you all ready for Christmas? My village is completed and my tree is in the middle of the room waiting for lights and garlands and will then be put in the corner for decorating.

DH loves my mom's recipe for fruitcake. I have made him some each year since mom passed.(she always made one for him) He asked yesterday when I would get the supplies. I had some grocery shopping to do at 2 different stores, so added the ingredients to my lists. The first store had most of the supplies, but no candied cherries or pineapple. I went to the 2nd store and asked where I would find them. I got the run around from 2 different clerks and finally got a manager who let me know that they didn't order "any of that stuff this year". The look on her face said, "Only an old fuddy-duddy grandma wants that old stuff." I came home and called around to stores who said they had it. When I got there, they didn't! I decided calling was useless because I couldn't be sure they knew what they were talking about. I decided DH would have to do without, when we remembered a little store at the other end of the county, that was a mom & pop type grocery. We drove out and sure enough, they had everything. So tonight I will be baking fruitcakes. They are actually applesauce cake with some candied fruit and nuts added.

Linda, what a blessing to be able to spend some time with DS. I'm sure he was glad to see you. It sounds like you had a great visit. Was the weather ok? It must have been if you had a picnic. Your baking sounds more ambitious that I am. What a sweet husband to help you with the cookies. Congrats on being ready to close on your home this week. Yeah! I have never heard of jarred onions. You will have to explain to me.

grammadee, you reminded me of my mom's rich Christmas pudding/bread she baked in tin cans. It was stored in the basement and then heated, can and all in boiling water to warm it up. She made a rich sauce for it. I'd love to have that recipe just to put over cake. We never could find it in mom's stuff. It must have been just in her memory.

DH has been helping an old high school friend with all kinds of woodworking. About every week he calls and comes over (masked up) to have some help with something. This has gone on for months and it has been good for DH to have him around. The 3 of us have been lifelong friends. Today he came with a big gift for DH. He told him if it didn't help him, he could return it. It was a big magnifying lamp on a wheeled base. He put it together and thought it would really help him see in the shop, but it really didn't. His blindness is such that magnifying doesn't help much. Light does help, but the whole thing seemed to get in his way. He debated for a long time, but finally called his friend and had him come over to see if he could see something we were missing. Together they decided it wasn't going to work and he will return it. What a thoughtful gift! DH was so touched by his kindness. I know he appreciates all the time DH has spend with him, but they have both enjoyed it. How I wish that there was something like that that could extend his vision.