Pokey Peas Challenge for November 2021

grammadee I hope you have a great time at the craft fair. I think I will check it out Sunday because I have Crop & Create Holiday Saturday. kitbop here is the Jennifer McGuire video.

I had a quiet day at work. Between shut downs for Covid back in October, elders' funerals, and snow days, my students haven't gotten in a rhythm of attending classes. 

I don't know if I mentioned it, but Dean and I put our outdoor Christmas lights up on Sunday, just before we got all the snow. We probably won't turn them on until December, but it's nice to have something checked off the list.

Sending hugs to nylene, kellyr21, and anyone else who wants or needs one.

I wanted to pop in and say hi! I have one more day off before having to work my 3 12 hour shifts. I have been a little more awake today but been dragging a bit. My husband has been wanting to organize things better. I am for it but it seems we never have the same energy on the same day! I had been wanting a Nintendo Switch and got one a couple of weeks ago. I have been addicted to Animal Crossing. That hasn’t helped in me getting things done around the house! LOL! I was excited today that I was able to get coconuts on a mystery island and bring them back to plant them on my island. I have the companion book from the library to help me along.

A friend found a crop not very far that is the end of January. I was able to get time off work and we are all signed up! I have been making a list pages to do. I definitely need to get an album started about Zoe. I hope to have layouts planned so I am can be productive!

Zoe is fitting in good! Her and Phoebe have been taking naps together. The kitties are doing a little better and we have some moments of all 4 of us on the bed. Sophia, one of my cats, really likes the bed I made her in my closet. Lola has always loved the cat perch in the extra bedroom that she sleeps on. I still will hear occasional hissing but it is getting less. I am taking Phoebe and Zoe to see Santa next Saturday. I usually bring my cats too but with Zoe being new to the family, I wasn’t sure how the kitties would act. I thought I would spare Santa any extra drama!

I am relaxing at the coffee shop and need to figure out about dinner. I get tired of being asked what is for dinner. We usually have pizza on Sunday’s.

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving this week!

Happy Thanksgiving to my American counterparts!!! Hope you have a lovely day!

Happy THANKSGIVING! I hope all of you who are celebrating have had and continue to have a wonderful day.

Glad you are having a houseful, nylene and joyfulnana. I LOVE having our home filled with family and friends, and am quite willing to do some cooking to make that happen. House cleaning, not so much...

Thoughts are with you, gramma as your family absorbs the reality of your brother's illness. Hoping this weekend gives people a chance to share the burden, and maybe share some laughs as well as you remember all the past family holidays.

Please excuse me, Linda, if I smile--after I grimace of course--reading about your cooking woes. It's always fun to watch the sitcom episodes this time of year, and some of the dramatic series that use cooking disasters as comedy relief, but it is never fun when it is happening in your kitchen! I am glad you got to visit with your ds and virtually share your holiday meal. And I hope you have a day of left overs and relaxation tomorrow.

Our family's turkey disaster story happened at least a couple of decades ago at Christmas. Our base family for a holiday was a dozen, including us and our four kis, dh's sister and her two, plus his parents. Then there were often extra neighbours invited, sometimes a girlfriend or two, so we were usually feeding at least 16 people. That year I expected even more--somewhere around 20 people. And the oven element died right after I put the bird in!!! I didn't realize until a few hours later. My sil and mil always contributed to the meal, but I dispatched my dh with a 30 lb turkey to his sister's house. She then sent him to their mom's with a couple of casserole dishes, which arrived just after my mil pulled out the apple pies from HER oven. The turkey ended up cooking of course, but it was four hours later than planned, so we made a meal of everything else at supper time, and then had hot turkey buns with gravy at 10:00PM!

I had in-store pick-up for a couple of orders in the next town today, so I got to do a little Christmas shopping. Some of the stores had some good Black Friday deals, so I was able to get some nicer gifts than I had planned for the same price I budgeted for a few people on my list. Also picked up my Christmas letter all printed and tickets for dh and me to attend a couple of holiday brunches over the next couple of weeks. Oh and I got my B12 shot. Was home by 2:00PM but felt like I had put in a full day, so spent the rest of the afternoon watching Curling on TV. Most of my purchases are still in the vehicle, but I can bring them in tomorrow.

Hope this works. Wanted to send you a giggle:

((((Hugs)))) nylene - glad it all worked out in the end

I'm starting to feel behind. I had wanted to get packages and cards mailed today but the packages aren't quite ready and I'm still writing out cards. Tomorrow is the start of Advent so I need to take down fall/Thanksgiving and pull out the Advent stuff - I did move all the boxes that were blocking the door to the Christmas closet in the garage yesterday. We mostly worked on sorting out DH's boxes in teh garages again - getting closer to done with I think. DD mowed most of the yard before the mower dropped a belt - that's on next Saturday's to do list.

oh knutschen - I'm so sorry. 59 is too young

joyfulnana - sounds like a good long weekend between Rudy time, online cropping, and Black Friday shopping. I'm so sorry about your Aunt - prayers for a peaceful passing and for comfort for your mum and all the family.


Busy and productive day today. Took down the fall/Thanksgiving decor and packed it up. Pulled out the Advent boxes from the Christmas closet - of course they were behind the Christmas ones so had to pull those out as well and then stack them back inside. Washed all the holiday linens and got them put away. Pulled out the advent wreath and books. Set up a Nativity in the kitchen nook and one on the mantel. I need to find spots for the rest - one will go in my bedroom. Baked peanut butter blossum cookies for our Advent Sunday celebration.

We had turkey curry for dinner followed by our Advent celebration - we blessed the wreath, lit the first candle, said some prayers, did a Bible reading and hung the first ornament on our Jesse tree, read some stories and poem, sang some songs, ate the cookies, and enjoyed hot cocoa. DS joined us by phone - it was great to hear his voice chiming in on the songs.

My Christmas cards were dropped in the blue postbox today so they'll go in tomorrow's mail.

Good things and bad things seem quite balanced here this month?

gramma - trying to hold you up in my thoughts. Selfishly, I find myself hoping you are able to join a crop this weekend so we can see you, but I understand if that isn't to be. Maybe I can bribe you with msliz...she has signed up to host the Saturday crops? But mostly...just thinking of you...

Linda - we have an important advent calendar. It is homemade and old. I made it last minute realizing we hadn't purchased one, and only intended it to be used that 1 year. 18 years later, we just keep pulling off the numbers and using it again! It's tradition!

We don't have any other Christmas set up yet, but are going to buy a tree today. And DD has decorated her room - taped fairy lights across her ceiling and cut some snowflakes to hang from her ceiling. It's a bit like walking into a blizzard, and was a shock when i walked into her room this morning. I'm glad she's still my artsy fartsy kiddo, even when she's pretending to be all grown up

I will have my cards in the mail Friday. Just haven't had time to sit down with them yet.

Today was supposed to be my Dad's surgery. Which was already rescheduled from November.
Supposed - yup.
Short story: cancelled due to first a time mix-up, and then due to my Dad's panic attack which caused his retirement home to call the paramedics...