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Post by grammadee on Dec 12, 2021 15:47:00 GMT
Happy Sunday! Today's photo prompt is BUSY. Sounds like the Pokeys have lots on the go less than two weeks before Christmas. Will love seeing pic's of your village, nylene. Congrats on making so many preparations ahead of time! When that happens around here I immediately start to wonder... hmmmm... what did I forget THIS time...? Do you have a photo of the mega cookie production, Linda? Yesterday, we had a visit from justjac and her hubby. Had supper, justjac & my annual Christmas gift exchange, and then played Rummoli. Will share a pic from TapaTalk below. Today Dh and I have tickets to the annual Seniors' Club Christmas dinner in town. It is held mid day and dh hopes to be home in time to watch some of the Grey Cub (Canadian football final). I have a hair appointment on Wednesday and hope to also make a run into a nearby town to pick up the seafood we usually eat at the holidays. On Friday I am booked to pick up my poinsettia. They are open by appointment only this year. Hoping some of you got to crop with friends, yesterday, msliz. I had tried to pop in to say HI! before justjac arrived, but never did get back later. Sunday would be my day, but we are heading out to lunch at the Seniors' today. I am itching to start gluing photos to paper. I sorted through my completed sb pages and got them all into albums yesterday. Hoping to complete a few pages this next week. Wish me luck!
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Post by grammadee on Dec 12, 2021 15:55:18 GMT
Here is a pic of us “party girls” I love this pic of Jac by my Christmas tree. And here I am with my “crafters’ companion “craftmas countdown calendar”. So exciting to be able to wake up every morning to a new crafty goodie. Yesterday’s cubby had two stamps each with a coordinating die!
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joyfulnana
Pearl Clutcher
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May 28, 2017 23:43:26 GMT
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Post by joyfulnana on Dec 12, 2021 16:16:35 GMT
Good Morning everyone! I love seeing all the trees and hearing about all the preparations! nylene your Alex story makes me laugh! I love that he adjusted everything lol. How cute! And how wonderful that DH has someone helping him to continue woodworking! What a gift! Abby hides at first when the kids all get here, but eventually she comes out and watches everything carefully from a distance lol. kitbop Ugh. How frustrating this has been! I'm glad you are letting the world know about the shoddy service! I hope your dad has his furniture by now too. Linda and kitbop good luck to the girls on their finals! grammadee I'm glad to hear you are pacing yourself and those kits sounds so pretty! I know I would set them aside because I would worry I would mess them up lol. Sugar cookies are done, we watched Elf. That is such a cute movie. Today I'll have Rudy during his dad's practice. I think we will be having a dinner pizza instead of lunch since practice is later today. I worked my last full week for the year! Long weekends now until New Year. I'll take it! The cards are coming, and they really brighten up my day!
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Post by Linda on Dec 12, 2021 18:43:41 GMT
grammadee - busy is a great prompt for right now. Love the pictures of your tree and you and justjac - I love that you guys get together in person. joyfulnana - yay for sugar cookies - do you do shapes or just round? sprinkles or frosting or both? DD15 and I will make some once she's out of school - this is the last week before Christmas. Have fun with Rudy today! Made chocolate chocolate chip cookies with DD15 this morning - didn't get any pictures though. The girls just left for horse riding. I need to make a loaf of bread for dinner, another batch of cookies, and sew a skirt. Thankfully tonight's dinner is super easy - homemade bread with cheese
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nylene
Drama Llama
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Jun 28, 2014 14:59:59 GMT
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Post by nylene on Dec 13, 2021 17:17:59 GMT
I don't know where the weekend went, but it seemed to be so short! I wanted to join the online chat but couldn't make it work. We spent most of the day Sat. with our DS and DDil. It was a great visit. We avoided controversial subject and just had a wonderful time together like we did before all the Trump and Covid hoopla. Yesterday we had visitors in and out most of the time after church. Friends and neighbors bringing little treats and visiting for a while. It seemed like old times again before Covid. All wore masks and we don't know the vaccination status of many of them, but it was a great day. DH is working on a project in the basement to store the leftover wood from some of DS's homes. I plan to ride to SLC with Em this afternoon to pick up a few things. I feel like I need to get out of the house. Is it just the time for problems with appliances with the Pokeys?. Our washer went out Sat. night and wouldn't spin out the water. Of course it was my last batch and had big fluffy towels that are impossible to wring out. I called Em who was spending the weekend with her family in a cabin in the mountains and she ok'ed us going over to use her washer to spin the towels. We have an appt for Wed to have it fixed. grammadee and justjac , I love the photos of you and am envious of your living close enough to visit. I am so glad you two can get together with your husbands, have a good meal and some games. The tree looks so pretty! joyfulnana , I had forgotten about Elf. We have that movie. That would be fun to watch if we get to have a mini-Cousin Camp after Christmas. I'm sure you had a great time with the sugar cookies. I should get that ambitious, but probably won't! LOL I'm glad your full weeks' working have ended for the year. You have had a busy couple of years. I hope you get some relaxing and scrapping time. Linda , 10 dozen cookies from one batch. Wow, that's a lot of cookies you can pull out of the freezer later in the year. What fun. My back begins to ache after about 5 times getting cookie sheets into and out of the oven. This getting old is for the birds. I'm sure you will miss your DD when she leaves. Are you getting nostalgic as you help her pack? Sending hugs to all the Pokeys this last busy week before Christmas. Here is my Christmas Village. Christmas Village 2021
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Post by Linda on Dec 13, 2021 20:00:00 GMT
((((Hugs)))) nylene - washers are the worst to have break down because they always seem to do with a heavy load of laundry and water. Glad you were able to borrow Em's and get a repair appointment. Your village is lovely - mine isn't going up this year I don't think. I've been helping DD pack and moving books - so many books. So many more to move. Taking a break now. I'm definitely going to miss her - especially after having her home fulltime for almost 2 years. But she's ready for a new adventure. I was making cinnamon rolls for dinner tonight for St Lucia's Day - put the dough in the bread machine and went upstairs. Heard a loud crash...and found the bread machine had jumped off the counter to its death on the floor. Hopefully DH can pick up some cinnamon rolls in a tin on his way home. Still need to make cookies today (dark cocoa crinkles) and weed and laundry and sewing and moving more books and more boxes...I don't think there are enough hours...
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kitbop
Pearl Clutcher
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Jun 28, 2014 21:14:36 GMT
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Post by kitbop on Dec 13, 2021 21:31:28 GMT
I was making cinnamon rolls for dinner tonight for St Lucia's Day - put the dough in the bread machine and went upstairs. Heard a loud crash...and found the bread machine had jumped off the counter to its death on the floor. Hopefully DH can pick up some cinnamon rolls in a tin on his way home. Wow Linda, you are in full baking mode now! I'm way behind where I normally would be, but I don't think we'll make as much this year either. Our favourite thing, and usually the first thing made, is peanut butter balls. You know - the ones with the RICE KRISPIES in them? Rice Krispies might as well be toilet paper this year for all the empty spots on store shelves. Hopefull stores get Rice Krispies back before Christmas so we can make them! I had to chuckle about the bread maker. DH works at Canada Post, and yesterday a brand new KitchenAid mixer flung itself off a tall sorting machine and shattered across the floor. "Exploded" was the word Dh used. nylene - aren't appliances dreadful? They REALLY don't last anymore. When our washer broke after 15 years, my Mom asked, "what did you do to it? I've had mine for 40 years". Yeah... 1. They were better made back then and 2. hers washed laundry for 2 people for 10 years, and then only 1 person for 30 years. That's 50 "people years" of laundry. Mine has taken care of 5 people for 15 years, 5x15 = 60 "people years" of laundry. She hadn't thought of it like that! I didn't mention the additional burden that PETS have on laundry either. Your village is sweet! I love it with the lights off; I would just want to sit in the dark with music and a candle and that twinkling. Had supper, justjac & my annual Christmas gift exchange, and then played Rummoli. OK - do our American Peas know what Rummoli is? I only just discovered this week that Rummoli was a CANADIAN Game developed in the 1940s! We always played it using dried beans as counters growing up. The way my family talked, it was a "classic" game, and I assumed it was played worldwide, and European in origin
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Post by grammadee on Dec 13, 2021 22:37:18 GMT
Talk about wrinkles in our twinkle! Why are all those appliances self destructing? You are right, kitbop : they don’t make em like they used to! My first washer lasted 25 years. It’s successors? Not so much! Hope you can get yours fixed quickly, nylene . The only good thing about laundromatmats is you can wash and dry everything in a couple of hours. And Bam! Done! LOVE the village, nylene : lights on or off! And Linda , you didn’t need another kitchen appliance to crater! I haven’t used my bread maker for a couple of years, but dd wants to make cinnamon rolls Christmas Eve, in homage to her dMil, who made them every year. She even made them the Christmas she spent at our home. But she passed away in February, so we need to find a way to keep the tradition going. Speaking of kitchen disasters, I needed to pitch a whole batch of cookie icing last week. It is a baked on icing which I usually pipe onto the freshly cut cookies. But for some reason I could NOT get it to flow through the decorator tips. In the end I baked the cookies, then bought coloured icing in tubes and decorated them next day. Sorry you are so busy, Linda . My holiday prep is actually slowing down. Wrapped a few gifts today, but not many more to wrap. Have most of my cookies done. Need to make a couple of gluten free recipes next week. Have plans to pick up the seafood on Wednesday and the poinsettia on Friday, and will combine those trips with a couple of other errands. Starting to relax a bit. I even actually scrapped a few pages today! Posted them in the Sketchy Saturday thread.
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joyfulnana
Pearl Clutcher
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May 28, 2017 23:43:26 GMT
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Post by joyfulnana on Dec 14, 2021 14:24:42 GMT
Wow busy is right! You are all soooo busy! I've scaled back quite a bit this year, with the baking and the gifts. This coming weekend I'll be making 4 batches of cookies though, so I'm not sure how scaled back that really is lol kitbop YES!! I make those same peanut butter balls! And those are the ingredients I buy first so I know I'll have them. I always worry I won't be able to find the giant Hershey bar needed for the chocolate coating. I got that recipe in high school Home Ec and they have been a holiday staple. I'm sorry everyone is having appliance problems. *knocking on wood*. grammadee and justjac I love seeing the pictures of you guys spending time together. It makes me smile every time. Linda I hope DH found some cinnamon rolls. I gave my bread machine up years ago. During the height of the lockdowns when everyone was baking bread, I wished I still had it lol. I do the shaped cookies with powder sugared glaze icing and sprinkles and decors. I think we may be coming to the end of those. We didn't finish decorating them all, and I only made one batch. (that's a little sad, but also ok. I hate the mess of making them lol) It's doubtful I'll be scrapping this weekend, no matter that that is the thing I would most love to be doing. My mom, niece and I will be online scrapping together new years day - I guess it's a tradition now. This is our third year lol. BUT another niece who was married during the pandemic has also started scrapping and she is going to join us as well!
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Post by justjac on Dec 14, 2021 17:50:49 GMT
Good morning it is snowing here. Possibly six inches or more before it stops. I hope they send us home from work early. Everyone’s baking sounds delicious. I have one more batch of peanut brittle and a couple batches of haystacks ( or whatever you call them), the stove top chocolate coconut cookies, to make. So far my appliances are okay. So far. My washer is getting older. Every now and then it doesn’t drain, but I reset it for spin and then it does. I finished another stained glass piece yesterday. Here are the three I’ve made.
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Post by grammadee on Dec 14, 2021 18:12:35 GMT
justjac , your stained glass ornaments are gorgeous! Everyone is so much into holiday prep mode... I am cycling back into the scrapping I had hoped to do last month. Finished three pages yesterday and a two pager today. Telling fall stories. Using supplies from the November SCT box and some from my stash. Just another FARM
adventure by Gramma Dee, on Flickr Don't have a holiday photo yet for today's prompt--HOME--but as I was scrapping these pages, I found a cute cutapart I might just photograph and stick in that thread, even if it is not Christmassy. It has a drawing of a farmhouse and field and the statement "Home is where my HERD is". MARIBETHR I hope you soon have some time to give us a glimpse of your Christmas house!
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Post by grammadee on Dec 15, 2021 15:13:41 GMT
Happy hump day, Pokeys! Today is a busy one for me. Have a hair appointment, and was planning to drive to a nearby town to pick up some items for our Christmas menu from a specialty market there. Yesterday evening, dh asked if I would also go to a DIFFERENT town to pick up an on line order to be picked up in store.
I was feeling so relaxed thinking I had lots of time to do everything, but our ds who was contemplating coming here between Christmas and New Years now plans to bring the boys from the 20th to the 23rd. I am excited to see them of course. Just need to shift a bunch of prep from next week to this...
Talk to you later...
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Post by Linda on Dec 15, 2021 15:13:54 GMT
kitbop - nope - that's a new one to me yay for scrapping grammadeejoyfulnana - no cinnamon rolls at the grocery store, just a big empty space. But he picked up some orange rolls and cinnamon sticks and the girls were just as happy with those. I love your New Year's Scrapping tradition justjac - those ornaments are gorgeous! grammadee - love the sunflower layout! Today is bake all the teacher gifts day (and a day I'm grateful to only have one kid in school). I'm making mini loaves of pumpkin gingerbread and cranberry bread for all of DD15's teachers, her academic team coach, and the bus driver. Friday is the last day of school but she wanted to bring in on Thursday (when she has her last practise before break). She has 6 teachers (7 classes but the same teacher for 2) so that's 8 mini loaves of each. Plus I'll bake a full size loaf of each for a local friend and one of each for the freezer to give the older kids when they leave and of course, we'll need a loaf of each also...
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Post by justjac on Dec 15, 2021 16:36:18 GMT
It is cold and sunny here today (-24C or -11 F) but we didn't get nearly as much snow yesterday as forecast. Maybe three inches instead of six. My drive home from work was no big deal. Beautiful fall pages grammadee. If I had company from the 20 to the 23rd I would be toast! I'm glad you can make it work. Thanks for the compliments on my glass Linda. I think two are actually a little big for tree ornaments and might have to be sun catchers instead. I might try shrinking the patterns a bit if I make them again. My book club's Christmas party is tonight, so it is supper out followed by a random gift exchange. You put the first line of the book on the wrapping and then people decide which one sounds good to them. I picked book called In a Holidaze partially because the first line is "Call me harlot." I think that will pique someone's interest. If it doesn't I can pick my own gift because I haven't read it (although I doubt I would actually do that.)
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Post by Linda on Dec 15, 2021 18:37:17 GMT
Taking a quick lunch break from baking. 9 mini loaves of pumpkin gingerbread and 1 full size loaf are cooling. Will switch gears to cranberry after lunch. I'm definitely feeling behind - but DH is tentatively off the next two days and we should be able to get the Christmas shopping finished. And we tentatively have movers scheduled for Saturday so -yay! justjac- that book exchange sounds fun!
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nylene
Drama Llama
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Jun 28, 2014 14:59:59 GMT
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Post by nylene on Dec 15, 2021 18:48:37 GMT
justjac , I am so amazed at your beautiful stained glass. That takes talent! Whether they are ornaments or sun catchers, they will be beautiful when the sun hits them. They are gorgeous. I hope you get a good book at the Book Club party. We got 8" of snow last week and I think we have about 5 now. It's supposed to snow again later in the day and tonight. I'm glad I don't have to be on the roads. I would never leave the house if it were as cold as you are! Brrr grammadee , you handle unexpected company so much better than I do. Remember they come to be with you, not to critique the meals, cleanliness etc. (I'm telling myself the same thing before Anj and gang arrives! LOL) I love your sunflower page. I couldn't read the writing, but did you determine how tall those are? Such cute photos. No question that you have a green thumb. I hope you get the things done that you need before they arrive. I hope your hair appt goes well. I have to wait until after the 1st and I am looking shaggy. How dare my hairdresser take a vacation! kitbop , I have never heard of your Canadian game. I will have to check with Anj. I think they own every game invented. Em just bought a bunch to have while they are here since they don't really have room to bring any on the plane. I have lots of questions to ask you about your Christmas card, but will wait 'til we are online together. It is gorgeous. My washer is over 20 years old and the last repairman told me not to ever get rid of it, but if I did, he'd buy it. He said that make and model Kenmore just needs small repairs and it will run forever. I hope that's what he says today when he comes. My laundry is piling up. Linda , your baking makes me tired to think about it. How kind of you and DD to treat the teachers and bus driver. I am so sorry about your bread machine. I have a bosch mixer that walked off the counter twice while mixing bread, but it is still ticking. I would hate to replace the old thing. It has aged and turned a yellowish, but it still makes bread, cookies, etc. Will you try to repair yours or will it have to be replaced? Darned appliances! joyfulnana , I so wanted to be on the crops last weekend, but just couldn't work it out. I am happy for you to be scrapping on New Year's Day with your mother and nieces. That's a nice tradition. Maybe when Covid settles down we can have actual crops again. These have been strange years. Is Rudy excited for Christmas? Alex is so excited. They have the big red Giving Machines set up in our mall and he was going with his mom to make a purchase. He has been saving his money and wants to buy a goat for a family in another country. He may not have enough saved and if not, he plans to buy 3 chickens. Last year (or the year before) he bought a ball and all the way home he talked about how happy some little boy will be. How is your aunt? I cleaned my fridge this morning from top to bottom and came across the chemo drops that the Dr. told us to tuck deep in our fridge and never throw out in case the cancerous spot on DH's eye comes back. It just made me so thankful that it worked and that he didn't lose his good eye. I find it gets harder and harder to get down low to clean under the lower shelves and drawers. I feel like I have done a day's work. Boy do I feel old! LOL ETA: gramma, kellyr21, I hope you are doing ok.
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Post by Linda on Dec 15, 2021 19:52:00 GMT
nylene - the breads for the teachers is a tradition now - my oldest graduated in 2010 after two Christmases in this high school (we moved early in his 11th grade year) and when DD21 started as 9th grader in 2014 and Christmas rolled around and she was handing out the breads, a couople of her teachers had had my oldest and remembered the bread and were visibly excited according to DD to get some more. And several of DD15's teachers had DD21 so hopefully they'll pleased this year too. I know lots of places, homemade goodies aren't really a thing any longer but we're rural and most of the teachers know us and I know for a fact that some eat the bread because DD21 had a couple of teachers who snacked on it in class. It'll be strange come 2025 when DD15 graduates to no longer make the big batches of bread - I've been making them since Christmas 1996 when DS was in preK. unfortunately the bread machine is not fixable - not only did the plastic casing break but the interior is cracked badly. I did save the bread pan and paddle because DD21 is getting an identical one for Christmas and a spare bread pan never goes amiss. I'm a bit younger than you, I think, nylene and I, too, find those lower shelves and cabinets challenging...it's not so much the bending over as the straightening back up afterwards. That's so awesome that Alex is buying for others like that. What a great lesson in charity and thoughtfulness he's been taught. almost time to pull the first batch of cranberry bread out of the oven...
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kitbop
Pearl Clutcher
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Jun 28, 2014 21:14:36 GMT
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Post by kitbop on Dec 15, 2021 22:26:25 GMT
Well, I caved and mailed my Mom's christmas package without her calendar - I'm only halfway done, and would rather get her box to her on time, than save the shipping. I feel a huge sense of relief that it's in the mail! I also mailed my MILs, which includes her calendar (as she is so very very grateful for it and excited to get it, and I just cannot make her wait so I always do hers first!). I have 3 types of cookie dough in the fridge for baking when I get around to it. I'd love your recipes Linda, for the cranberry, and pumpkin gingerbread. I'd seriously love to try them - can you share? justjac - those are beautiful pieces of stained glass! I only have 1 stained glass ornament on my tree - a cat - because it's small. My other 2 pieces are hung in windows and are 2 of my favourite pieces at Christmas! A Pointsettia, and a cardinal. nylene - ugh, my fridge really needs cleaning too! My whole house is NOT in good shape right now and it stresses me out. I sent all my pea friends different cards...I should have written down which cards I sent to whom! grammadee - beautiful layout accentuating the size of those sunflowers! I hope you feel happy about the change in visiting schedule and can enjoy them as much as you were anticipating. Your holiday has already had a twist, wrinkle and hiccup with your surgery!!!
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Post by grammadee on Dec 16, 2021 5:01:18 GMT
nylene the tallest sunflower measured 132 inches high. The biggest one was 13 inches in diameter.
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joyfulnana
Pearl Clutcher
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May 28, 2017 23:43:26 GMT
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Post by joyfulnana on Dec 16, 2021 14:31:16 GMT
justjac your ornaments are beautiful! And the book club book exchange sounds fun. I should find a book club here, maybe I will start reading again. I never find the time for that anymore. grammadee you sure roll with the changes better than I would lol. And for you and nylene, my mom is the same way when she knows her kids are coming - getting in a tizzy to have everything sparkling. WE don't care! We are coming to see YOU! Not your housekeeping! That is a lovely LO, so fun and I love that pic of everyone on the ladder! Linda your bread sounds delicious! How are you feeling energy wise? I hope you are doing better. Did you add a new bread machine to your Christmas list? lol We had so much wind yesterday! 75 degrees too! It felt like Spring, and now the colder air is here. This weekend will be the big push to get everything done that I can. Finish the shopping, wrapping, baking, then hopefully I can relax until the actual day. I have to figure out when I'm going to see Mom, and when my little family is getting together still. With Rudy having separate Christmas time with each parent, I wait until I know what those plans are and work around it. And I'm so happy that Rudy's school district is administering the vaccines for those that want them. Rudy is excited about getting his. Right now. I'm sure he won't be as excited for the second dose after he deals with the spicy arm lol. Well off to get a few things done before work. Thankfully I didn't lose power yesterday like a lot of folks did. It was pretty crazy here for a few hours last night. I'm stuck on all things Beatles right now and watching the documentaries. They are very interesting to me.
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Post by grammadee on Dec 16, 2021 16:02:51 GMT
Good Thursday morning, Pokeys! Had a busy day yesterday what with running around to three different towns--plus an extra trip home to retrieve my PURSE after the first trip. Ha ha, nylene, I think my brothers have conditioned me to "going with the flow" as far as company is concerned. I had just arrived back into our town later afternoon yesterday and had picked up the mail and stopped at the pizza place to order a small pizza for our supper when dh texted to say "We have company!" One of my brothers had called a couple of weeks ago to say he would be driving out here "one day before Christmas" to exchange gifts. Guess he decided yesterday was the day. But no one knew until he (aged 85) with his buddy (almost 90) drove into the driveway. I had gone over to the Co-op grocery store to pick up a few things while waiting for our pizza. I called them and doubled the order, then threw a frozen apple pie into my grocery cart. Had a quick visit over supper before they left for their 3 hour drive home. They had "made the rounds", picking up our gifts from two other siblings to deliver along with my brother's. I had meant to take a photo, but with the flurry of getting here after they did and dealing with supper and heating the pie, I forgot until they were already on their way. In the saga of appliances going on strike this holiday season, our coffee pot is staging a strong protest, slowing down more each day. I looked for one quickly yesterday, but they had nothing like I wanted. Dh found one on Amazon that was promised to arrive December 24th. Not sure if he ordered it, and in the excitement after my arrival home I didn't ask. Right now he has the one we replaced up from the basement and is trying to figure out how to get at least one of them working efficiently. Oh, and I found a TURKEY! Turkey shortages have been all over the news, and prices in stores have been going price happy. Supplies have been limited around here, and in two different stores I have seen 18lb size selling for about $60. At the Co-op, they had small ones for $15 and medium ones (up to 15 lb) for $25. In the bin they had a small group of smallest sizes in each flat price range, and none of the large turkeys. I asked the butcher in the back and he brought out a 15 lb one (biggest of their order) for me, so I grabbed it. If I find a larger one at a decent price I may pick it up, but at least I don't have to worry about being turkey-less. Taking a slow day today. Need to start bedding laundry, but hoping to play with paper in between loads.
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nylene
Drama Llama
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Jun 28, 2014 14:59:59 GMT
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Post by nylene on Dec 16, 2021 21:41:00 GMT
joyfulnana , we have had the big winds too. More semis tipped over. I huddle under the covers at night worrying when we have winds like that. DH says I have "wind PTSD". How much as the temperature dropped there? We had warm weather and then a sudden drop. It's snowing now and will snow on and off through the weekend. Your family get together sounds like fun and you know that Rudy will be delighted with everything you do. Good wishes on your last minute wrapping and baking and prep. grammadee , you must be related to me. I have left both my phone and my purse at a store in the past few months. I'm glad you got a good visit with your brother. Are all your siblings living? Glad you lucked into a turkey. We voted to have soups and cheese balls for Christmas since everyone comes and goes on Christmas Day. Sometimes they are hungry and will eat and sometimes they prefer to visit, play games and leave. It will be very casual. That's going to be much easier for me, not making a turkey with all the trimmings. My repairman said my washer was hopeless. It would cost $600 to repair it. So today we went washer shopping after Alex's school party. Em was in charge of the party and she had some really fun things planned. I just had to supervise "thumbprint" art. They did Christmas light strings on a card and then made little animals or people with their thumbprints on the inside. Only one child was rude and put her hands all over the ink pads. The rest had such a great time and wanted to stay to make more. Baby wipes cleaned up all the mess and the teacher seemed pleased with the party. We found a washer at Home Depot that can be delivered on Wed. Our son is having a hard time getting appliances for his new constructions so we were afraid we would be waiting a while. I think what his clients want are fancier than what I need. LOL. Sometimes it pays to be frugal. I'm off to do some work in my kitchen. I need to do a bit of organizing. Hugs to all.
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Post by grammadee on Dec 17, 2021 15:45:16 GMT
75 degrees, joyfulnana! You must be joking! It is about 100 degrees colder than that around here this morning! Brrr! Your New Years on line scrapping tradition sounds wonderful! I have been missing my virtual peeps. Have signed up to host Sunday's crop here. Dd's family has decided to stay closer to their home this weekend, and ds's family does not plan to come until Monday, so I am free to play with my friends. I hope you can find a washing machine that is in stock, nylene. So often these days, they have only one model on display and need to ship your order in from somewhere else. And everything is moving pretty slowly right now. Glad you got to spend time with the kids' class. Sounds like great fun! Glad you got the one calendar out, kitbop. I just make one set of photo pages, then copy to put on all the calendars. Love hearing about everyone's baking. The boys want to bake with me next week, so we will probably do another batch of sugar cookies. But I also promised dd I would make a couple of her fav gluten free treats. Off to the greenhouse today to pick up my poinsettia. They are open only by appointment this year, and I chose my time a couple of weeks ago before I realized how cold it was going to be. Oh well. Roads are good and my vehicle is reliable. Dh tells me that the local bakery will be closed for the next two weeks, so I need to swing by there and stock up on bread and buns, too. I have a list of other items I like to have on hand over Christmas, so will probably pick those up today as well. Then, with any luck, I won't have to leave home until NEXT YEAR!
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Post by Linda on Dec 17, 2021 22:31:07 GMT
kitbop Cranberry Bread christmas, quick bread Cook Time: 20 min Total Time: 1hr 30 min Servings: 2 loaves Ingredients 2 C. chopped cranberries - I use a whole bag and never bother chopping, sometimes I thaw them first, sometimes they are still frozen 1 2/3 C. sugar 2/3 C. vegetable oil 1/2 C. milk 2 tsp grated lemon or orange peel (optional) 2 tsp. Vanilla 4 eggs 3 C. flour 1/2 C. chopped nuts (optional) - I usually skip these 4 tsp. Baking powder Directions Heat oven to 350. Grease bottoms only of 2 loaf pans. Mix cranberries, sugar, oil, milk, lemon peel, vanilla and eggs in a large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into pans. Bake 50-60 min. or until toothpick inserted into centre comes out clean. Cool 10 min. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire racks. Store well wrapped in fridge for up to one week or freeze.
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Post by Linda on Dec 17, 2021 22:31:49 GMT
kitbopPumpkin Gingerbread autumn, mum, quick bread Cook Time: 15 min Total Time: 1 hr Servings: 2 loaves or 6 mini loaves Ingredients • 3 C. sugar • 1 C. vegetable oil • 4 eggs • 2/3 C. water • 1 (16-oz) tin of pumpkin • 2 tsp. Ground ginger • 1 tsp. Allspice • 1 tsp cinnamon • 1 tsp. Cloves • 1 tsp. Nutmeg • 3 1/2 C. flour • 2 tsp. Baking soda • 1 1/2 tsp. Salt • 1/2 tsp. baking powder Directions Preheat oven to 350º. Grease two 5x9” loaf pans or six 5 3/4 x 3 1/4” loaf pans. In a large bowl, combine sugar, oil and eggs. Beat until smooth. Add water and beat until well blended. Beat in pumpkin and spices. In a medium bowl, combine flour, soda, salt and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and blend JUST until all ingredients are incorporated. Divide batter appropriately and bake about 1 hour for large pans or 45 min. for small pans.
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Post by Linda on Dec 17, 2021 22:52:16 GMT
joyfulnana - no new bread machine right away - I didn't use it as much as I had intended so... Energywise -not back to normal but a little more energy, I think Glad Rudy will be getting the vaccine grammadee - sorry about the coffee pot. How nice to see your brother - you roll with unexpected company much better than I do. Yay for a turkey. We don't do turkey at Christmas but I've been keeping my eye out for one for the freezer. nylene - sorry the washer wasn't repairable but glad you don't have too long a wait. We've been lucky to find appliances in stock this year - we've bought an upright freezer, a side by side fridge, and now a dishwasher. But we were hoping to replace the sofa and loveseat - everyplace is saying at least a 4-6 month wait Yesterday was long and tiring. We worked over at the other house clearing out the carport and the small shed (it's not done but one more trip will take care of it) -we filled the trailer and after 5 hours of work there - took it home and unloaded it. Then had to pick up DD21 from camping and then DD15 from practise. Today we went into the city to finish Christmas shopping and then we picked up my new glasses. Now I'm moving stuff around so there is space for the movers to bring over the rest of our furniture tomorrow - yay! The rest of the weekend will be unpacking, grocery shopping, and hopefully sewing.
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kitbop
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,623
Jun 28, 2014 21:14:36 GMT
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Post by kitbop on Dec 18, 2021 2:40:24 GMT
Thanks Linda! I'm going to try the cranberry tomorrow - I have frozen cranberries galore!
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Post by Linda on Dec 19, 2021 0:41:25 GMT
kitbop - I hope you like it - it's a favourite here. I'm beat but this was a very productive day. We were up until midnight last night mostly moving stuff in Dh's space to make room for his desk and tables. Up early to drive over and meet the movers and then back here for them to unload. But I have the rest of my furniture finally. Then I've been working the rest of the day on unpacking the dining room boxes - handwashing the china, drying it, and putting it away. Not finished but made good progress. I set up the living room now we have the couches and recliner. I got my clothes folded and into the dressing and reorganised my side of the closet. Taking a break and then getting back to the dining room boxes. I would like to have them finished or close to it tonight so I can bake and wrap tomorrow.
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kitbop
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,623
Jun 28, 2014 21:14:36 GMT
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Post by kitbop on Dec 19, 2021 17:17:08 GMT
Cranberry bread by kirstendrew, on Flickr Linda: My loaf pans are huge. I probably should have used my old smaller tin ones, but you know how you always have to scrub the rust off them first? So I went with the new/big/good ones.
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Post by Linda on Dec 19, 2021 20:00:51 GMT
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