Today I Was Dana

Today I helped Ella May clean up her basement for a few hours.  I decided if I did for her what Dana does for me (I miss you, Dana), it would be perfect.  So she called and I told her to have garbage bags ready and markers.  We had a huge pile for giving to one person, another for giving to another group, and several smaller piles for other recipients.  But frequently I said, "Throw it away; it's garbage."  Now, strictly speaking it may not have actually been garbage, but my thought is if you don't use it, don't imagine your daughter wants to throw it away later.  Keeping trash because it belonged to someone you loved doesn't keep it from being trash.
Her loved ones will have enough to worry with without throwing away old fortune cookies and gum.

Gourds

The gourd on the left is the first one I did.  The one on the right I just finished today.

I used a wood burner on the first one.  I just used paint on the second one.

Soup

My husband made a soup yesterday.  He used some of the ham he'd smoked for Christmas.  He said, "You didn't like the soup as much as I did."
I said that I had liked it and had eaten a bowl of it.
He said he'd eaten two bowls and two coffee cups of it.
I pointed out that I liked it as much as he did, I just wasn't as hungry as he was!
I'm trying to lose weight.  I don't need to eat until I'm full.

Next Christmas

Next Christmas should be easier for decorating as I'm paying attention to where I'm putting what I so painstakingly hunted down this year.  Taking down the decorations is  another trip down memory lane as I put away the ornaments I've bought, made, and received over the years.
A hint for you if you give ornaments...instead of putting the recipient's name on it, try putting yours on.  I already know my name, but I don't always remember which student gave it to me.  In fact, first and last names along with the year would be helpful.  I've had more than one Shane, Ryan, Brandon, etc.

Practice Wooden Egg

I painted a wooden egg with red watercolor.  It took several coats, but it was soaking into the wooden egg nicely.  Then I used white acrylic to paint a design on.  It looked like I wanted it to look at that point.  But when I put a coat of varnish on it, the red watercolor smeared over the white acrylic.  It doesn't look as smeary in the picture as it does in real life. That was not the effect I was aiming for.  I didn't want to waste an egg (the practice egg was one that an i screw had broken off in), so I painted a wooden egg cup with red watercolor.  Then I put a coat of varnish on.  Then I painted the decoration with white acrylic.  Then I painted a coat of varnish over it.  The red was sealed so it didn't smear.  Also, the acrylic went on smoothly.  I had thought it might bead up on it.  Success.  I think I will do another egg cup with a red acrylic base coat, then a white acrylic decoration, then a coat of varnish to see how that does.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good:  I was at a new low on the doctor's scales.
The Bad: I was at the doctor's office for two and a half hours because it was so crowded with sick people.
The Ugly: The patients and the staff all sounded as if they were dying of whatever is in those books like The Stand.  I should get a Free Visit card if I come down with what they all have and have to go BACK to the doctor for treatment for THAT!

Pie

Ok, I made a healthy-food lemon meringue pie.  I didn't use arrowroot instead of cornstarch, I used xanthum gum.  Next time I won't use as much.  The recipe called for 1/3 c cornstarch and so I used 1/3 cup xanthum gum.  I think half that much would have been plenty.  I had to keep adding water to get it to the right consistency.  I used Splend instead of sugar and hazelnut meal instead of flour for the crust.  I had hoped because it was nut meal it would stay crunchy.  It was mushy though.  Also, the filling wasn't lemony enough.  I think in addition to a lemon's juice and the zest from half of the lemon, I should use the zest from both halves and maybe some lemon flavoring.  It was pretty; it cut nicely, but it was not tart enough.  I used sugar for the meringue instead of splenda, though.

  All in all, I'm considering it a success because Larry didn't just eat the first piece, he ate another piece today...and didn't suggest throwing it away.

I made shortbread cookies using the real recipe.  It only called for 1/4 cup of sugar so I didn't think that was awful.  Next time, I may use half the flour and the other half nut meal.  I got several kinds from the King Arthur flour catalog.

Sibling Rivalry

Sibling rivalry is odd.  Larry's Aunt Cine is 90 and her sister, Aunt Annie, is 97.  Aunt Annie was in the hospital for pneumonia, bronchitis, and dehydration.  Aunt Cine called to tell us that Aunt Annie had responded well to treatment and was out of the hospital.  Larry asked if she had checked herself out or had the doctor released her.  Aunt Cine immediately jumped on Aunt Annie always did what she wanted to even as a kid and had gotten away with things that would have gotten the rest of them in trouble.  She sounded just as irate about it at 90 as she probably did at the time.
The idea of sibling rivalry is entertaining.  I used to enjoy the Smothers Brothers routine, Mother Always Liked You Best.
In reality it isn't as funny.  People end up resenting the very people who should be the strongest members of their support group. 

The Upside to Getting Older

This is an essay prompted by another by the same title: http://simplerich.blogspot.com/
I am a fan of getting older for many reasons.  When I was young, I wanted a lot of things.  Now, I can look back and see that I did some of them.
I wanted to graduate from college.  My uncle did.  But I really didn't know anybody else in my family who did.  Nobody in my family said I should go.  In fact, my dad said I didn't need to go to college.  So I took college prep classes and business classes in high school because I thought that meant he wasn't going to pay.  He did, but I didn't know he was going to until I had saved enough to pay for the first year.  
Check.
I wanted to get married and stay married to the same person.  I wanted the person to share some of my interests and want to grow old with me.
Check.
I wanted to have kids.  I wanted the kids to grow up to be responsible people who could rip a place for themselves that they wanted, using tooth and nail, education, determination, whatever it took.  I wanted the kids to be able to develop relationships that last.  Having kids is scary.  I did the best I could, but it was difficult to know if I was doing it right.  I'm not the smartest person I know...but I'm one of the most determined.
Check.
I wanted to travel and see places I'd read about.
Check.
I wanted to have a job to go to that I enjoyed.
Check.
I wanted to have flowers.
Check.
I wanted to not be homeless when I got old.
Check...so far.
Yeah, I'm a fan of getting older.  When I was younger, all of that was in the I want category.  I like knowing that I got a lot of what I wanted:)

Comments

I posted that I had deleted a comment and felt bad about it.  I used the same title as the initial one to see if I would get another off the wall comment.  I did.  So I deduced that somebody enters a search for that word and then sends a factual sentence that has to do with the topic but not what I said.
So the comments are either spam or from a communication-impaired person.  Either way, I didn't post the comment.  I didn't feel bad about it because I didn't delete it.  I just didn't publish it.

Snacks

Roasted pecans, stuffed eggs, slaw, strawberry jello salad, and sausage balls are the snacks I've made so far.  I realize they aren't all on my diet, but way closer than holiday candy.  I still haven't made the pie...maybe tomorrow.

Fake Stuff

I am a fan of fake stuff for decorating.  I don't mean plastic stuff; silk is the way to go.  I like after-Christmas sales, going-out-of-business sales, inventory sales, whatever.  Real stuff is sometimes something I'm allergic to, plus just getting the stuff out and refurbishing it yearly is enough of a challenge.  I really don't want to make it from scratch every year and watch needles and leaves fall off before I'm through wanting it out.  So a live poinsettia is a nice gift to take somebody during the Christmas season, but I try really hard not to buy one for myself.  I'm not always successful, but it is really hard to toss it after Christmas and really hard to just give it greenhouse space because it is alive.

sodastream

Well, Leigh got a sodastream, too, and pointed out that if I put the flavoring in after the carbonation, it wouldn't be a mess.  She was right.  It wasn't exciting at all, which is a good thing.

I found my 22 gauge floral wire so I was able to attach the ribbon and garland stuff to the French doors between the dining room and my sunroom/office.

I made the garland thing about 15 years ago by buying the fake greenery and adding ornaments, fake poinsettias, and glitzy ribbons.  I didn't have the fat, red ribbon at the time, but I had white lights to put in it.  The lights were for 220 so I just took them out.

I LOVE Christmas!

To attach the stuff to the woodwork with damaging it, I had to do an Amazon order as all the hangers I could find in the stores weren't what I wanted.  Yea, Amazon!

Camellias

Camellias are amazing.  It is December 21 and we have blooms:)

Some Days I'm Tired of Being Me

Over the years I would see something and think, "I know what I can do with that."  So I would buy up a bunch of it.  I've moved a lot of times.  So I can't always lay hands on stuff.  This week and last week I spent a lot of time looking for wooden eggs.  While I was looking but not finding them, I saw lots of other stuff.  So then I decided I wanted the three pieces that so with a simmering pot a parent made for me about twenty years ago.  I had seen all three pieces.  But finding all three of them again was a long, drawn out operation because all I knew was that I'd seen all the pieces.  They weren't together and I hadn't picked any on of the pieces up and taken it to a reasonable location because I was looking for wooden eggs.  I eventually found all three pieces.
Now I'm looking for small floral wire.  I want to take the huge ribbon and twist it gently, then fasten it with floral wire so I can drape it over my French door.  I can fasten the floral wire to the hangers.  Last year I fastened the ribbon to the hangers and they just unwrapped and looked odd.  I saw the floral wire while I was looking for the miserable wooden eggs.  I need to tidy things as I go, not just look through the clutter.  If I actually did that, I would obviously be somebody else, not me, because I just leave a mess behind me!
I want to be somebody else...somebody neat!  If I make that my New's Year's Resolution, I'll probably need medication to live with myself.

Pie Idea

I've been thinking about how to make a pie that isn't a plea for immediate death.  The need for low carb food consumption is because no matter how much I like chocolate pie, I like my feet, too.
So here is my plan:
I intend to make a pie crust using nut meal.  Actually that sounds good to me.  I'm going to substitute Splenda for sugar.  I'm going to use arrowroot instead of cornstarch.  Those changes should make it reasonable for my low-carb, low-sugar diet.  I have no idea if it will be tasty, but I won 't be putting anything in it that I hate.  For example, if I put squash in it, it might be good, but it would be a total surprise because it doesn't sound good to me.  Oh, I'm planning on a lemon meringue pie and a chocolate pie.  If I make both, neither of us should have to share.  It's better to give than receive does not include my pie.

Advent Candles

I didn't have a good place to put an Advent Wreath, so I just strung the stuff out and made it a centerpiece for the table.  Today is the third Sunday in December, so I lit three candles today.  Since Christmas is on a Sunday this year, we'll light the fourth and fifth candles next Sunday.

Wow!  It's almost Christmas!

sodastream and Sherlock Holmes

Note:  If you decide you can't live without carbonation on demand, be sure you screw the bottle in before you depress the button to deliver the carbonation.
2nd Note:  Unscrew the bottle carefully.  I mopped and wiped down everything in the kitchen twice.  I'm wearing diet root beer.  At least it isn't sticky.  This may be an outside toy.
The movie we saw was the Sherlock Holmes one.  I didn't like the way the photography was on fast forward, zoom, and pause...I suppose to be sure we noticed what Sherlock was observing but still pretty annoying.  Sherlock reminded me of House and Dr. Watson of Wilson in the television series.

Mementos

Many people give food gifts to neighbors and friends.  So many people are on so many kinds or diets (besides, if I cook something, I'm probably going to eat it), I usually make a little memento.  The picture is really cluttered, but the ornaments are what I'm trying to show here.  I paint something on two of them, personalize them, and tie them together with ribbon or cord.  That way, they are stuck with thinking of me every Christmas when they decorate:)  Sometimes I like what I do better than other times.  These turn out nicely even if I'm not very good at it.  White on silver is good, and white on clear...a little red or green is also nice.  I tend to put the year and Merry Christmas from and to (if I know their names...not always).  For us I also include things that we did that year...I retired, we went to Oregon, Yellowstone, Iowa, Grand Bay, Chelsea...etc.  So when I hang the ornaments, it makes me smile to remember the good stuff.  I plan to connect this year's ornament to 2000's ornament:)  It isn't expensive, but I like it.

Greenhouse Update Dec.

 My cuttings are doing well.  The last time I posted pictures of my greenhouse, the impatiens and angelwing begonias didn't have roots.  Now they've established roots and grown nicely.  I can imagine how great they'll look when I move them outside in the spring.

The baskets have dichondra trailing out (I had cut it short when I moved them inside).  I've draped it toward other places so it will root while still attached:)  Then I'll just snip it between the places where it is rooted and have it in more than one location.  It makes seeds, but it's like peeling mosquitoes to get the seeds out.

Pharmacy Revisited

Well, I feel odd about this.  I had a comment on the pharmacy post.  I didn't know who it was from and I deleted it.  As soon as I did, I realized that was just wrong.  The comment explained the wait time for the prescription.  I went back and reread my post as I wasn't commenting on wait time although I did mention it.  The reason I mentioned it is because she walked off before I could identify myself and I thought I'd have to hang out while she did the whole thing with my name and I'd still have wait time.   I have a wonderful pharmacy with wonderful workers.  The interesting thing to me was that a person who sees a lot of people each day, was able to fill my prescription without saying, "Have you been here before?  or Under what name is that listed?"  I didn't know her (and I do know two of them by name), so it surprised me that she recognized me and could put a last name with me.  I'm sorry I deleted the other comment.  If I had known I'd hate it later, I certainly wouldn't have!

Outside Decorations

I wanted lights and a wreath outside, but Larry wanted stuff...noisy stuff.  He didn't intend to have noisy stuff, but a fairly large plywood snowman attached to the porch rails in a strong wind sounds like somebody has taken a ball bat to the outside of the house.

Pharmacy

Well, that was interesting.  I need one prescription filled once a month.  Since Larry goes every ten minutes, I rarely have to pick up my prescription.  When I'm with him, we're in his vehicle.  Today I drove to the window and explained I'd changed phones and didn't have their number so I hadn't called it in, but I needed my blah-blah refilled.  She said ok, it would be ready in 20 to 30 minutes and walked away as I was about to tell her my name.  When I went back, she picked up my little bag and said my prescription and name.  How in the world did she know me?  I have no idea.

Numb Toes

Larry told the doctor he has numb toes and asked if it had to do with diabetes or pinched nerve.  He referred Larry to a podiatrist.  Today he went for that appointment.  The doctor said he has what is called "victory toes."  The toes spread apart in a "v" shape.  Larry said it had been a problem off and on for about 20 years.  But more of the toes had started feeling numb lately.  He said he could give him a shot and in about three weeks he would be fine.  He said it is sort of like a stone bruise at first but scar tissue builds up and starts forcing the toes apart.  Without the shot, it would continue to get worse.  He said planning tennis could have caused it as he would have been on his toes a lot.
We're really glad it was that instead of nerve damage due to diabetes!  And it is such an easy cure...one shot.

Christmas Cards

Since I enjoy getting Christmas cards, it seems right that I should send some.  Well.  I'm really bad at it.  So I tried to narrow it down to what is required.  Card, envelope, address, return address, signature, stamp.  I deleted the "personal message" from that list because I had a stack of cards that only got to that part and I found them when I got ready to do the card thing the next year.  I couldn't just send those out, picking up where I'd left off in the list because the "personal message" part wasn't true any more.  Life needs to be simple for me.  Also, I don't always have addresses. It's still harder than it seems.

Mysteries

I like to read fiction.  I am a fairly recent fan of nonfiction and mysteries.  Mysteries fall into the category of fantasy for me a lot of the time because I can't even solve the mystery of where I put something.  I think moving a lot has caused some of that.  If I stay in one place and kept the same furniture, I would have a prayer of putting things back in the same place.
But that is a big "if."  I have managed to find one piece of paper ten years after I got it.  I filed it in the year I got it.  It saved me several hundred dollars because I didn't have to have it redone.  One would think the county would keep good records and know they had given me that piece of paper proving that I had had that inspection done.  One would be wrong. 
But stuff is a challenge.  I've been looking for wooden eggs for a while now.  I bought 100 wooden hens eggs from Lee Valley.  I can find 12 of them, and the wooden egg cups I bought at the same time and some wooden balls.  They are all in my art room.  I remember the rest of the eggs being there.  But they aren't there now and it is the right place for them.  I've looked everywhere I can think of.  Larry said I will find them when the new ones arrive and I start to stash them.
I have especially enjoyed the J.D. Robb (pseudonym for Nora Roberts) series.  She and her husband both had awful childhoods.  Her personality has her bewildered by friendship, relationships, and an accumulation of possessions.  His personality has him wanting to own everything, probably as a contrast to having had nothing when he was young.  The mysteries solved are interesting to me, and the character development is the cherry on top. 

Misc. Update

 My husband said he wanted to make a snowman for outside.  I said ok.  Then he brought me a square piece of exterior plywood and said to draw it for him.  I said I couldn't draw it if I didn't have something to look at.  So he found a snowman on a popcorn tin.  I drew it.  Then he said I needed to paint it.  So I tried; the first effort looked as if it had a Beetle haircut.  I was trying to shade it.  I repainted the head.  He made blocks of wood for features on the head and buttons.  I painted them.  Then I added mittens and a real muffler.  It looked pretty good.  I didn't realize when he said he wanted to make one that he meant "we."

I think I'd like to add Victorian carolers for next year.  But I'd like a pattern and directions.  I started looking last night and found some, but I'd prefer affluent carolers rather than middle class.  Or even David Copperfield poor would be all right.

 I added icicles this morning.  I can't be the only person in the world who thinks icicles make it look even more spectacular.  But I may be the only person in my family who thinks that.

 More about jalapeno peppers: We stopped by the farmers' market yesterday on our way home.  Larry got a box of oranges and a box of apples to go with the the box of satsumas, a bunch of really huge lemons, a bag of kumquats and a gallon of oysters we got in Grand Bay.  All of the fruit is Larry's idea.  The oysters, rutabagas, and peppers were my idea.  I'm cooking the peppers with olive oil.  That is a large pot of large jalapeno peppers.  They cost $10:)  They will bring me a lot of pleasure.

The Christmas ornaments are stored in large popcorn tins.  This was Larry's idea and was a wonderful one. (See the snowman on the tin?).  Our ornaments have safely moved many times, packed away in these tins.  The larger sterilite bins hold the ribbons and bows so they don't get dirty or squashed.  The side of the box that holds our tree is barely visible to the left in that same closet. I don't leave all the stuff there all the time (just the tree).  But I didn't want to put the tins back in basement until Christmas is over.  I wrote on the lid in black marker what goes in each one.
Eating that much popcorn was a chore that Larry assumed for me so that I could have the tins.  Isn't he a helpful guy?

Pump Problem

The pump was making funny sounds and running nonstop.  We had the check valve replaced.  Still a problem.  Replaced a pipe.  It helped, and the pressure improved, but still a problem.  Today they are replacing more pipe.  So we don't have water right now, but I'm hoping this fixes it.  Ho Ho Ho  Merry Christmas!

Decorating is Coming Along...Continued

 I made the Nativity set.  I bought the greenware at 50% off after Christmas one year and shared the expense of the paint with a friend who made the same set.  I went together with another friend and taught a ceramics class for an adult education class so I could use the art department's kiln to fire all of our stuff.  I've had it for over 30 years now and I still love it.  I've moved it every time we moved and haven't broken anything...yet.

This is an artificial tree but I'm not allergic to it.  In Germany we could get a Nordheim (maybe that is spelled right) tree, real, and I wasn't allergic to that kind.  I love big trees.  The kids and I would pick out a tree and Larry would always have to cut it off to get it to fit inside...even when we lived in an old house with a really high ceiling. One year Larry said he was going to go with us to pick it out because he was tired of having to cut it off to get it inside.  We were all upset.  Our youngest said if we were going to get a small tree, we might as well decorate a lampshade.  Anyway, he picked out one.  When he went to get the station wagon, I gave the man more money and got a bigger one.  When we got it home, he was very bewildered.  He kept saying, "I thought sure I wouldn't have to cut it off."  I said, "It happens to me every year.  It looks short with the sky above it."  It was several years before I told him I'd changed trees.

 Our pyramid is lovely.  We don't always light all the candles because it spins really fast.  I also like the hand-blown glass balls we got in Germany.  In a couple of houses we lived in, we had glass walls...the thick kind that let in light but nothing else.  We'd hang a bunch of these in front of that...really pretty.  We don't have a good place to hang them here.

 I made this ceramic Christmas village, too.  I scratched through the windows so I can put tea candles or lights inside.  I haven't done it so far this year.  But I enjoyed doing it and have enjoyed having it.

 This little house is one of the first things we bought for Christmas.  We could not afford it and bought it anyway.

 We got our gorgeous door wreath twi years ago at an after Christmas sale at a florist.

More glass balls, more ceramic stuff I did.  Notice the candy striped candle.

I'm not through decorating, but I like how it's coming. It seems like a waste of time to decorate when nobody is going to be here for Christmas.  But if I don't decorate, it feels like we don't have Christmas.  Ho Ho Ho

Decorating is Coming Along

The tree has ornaments on it now.  The Christmas Village is out...I still need to put snow out, but it is in a bag next to it.  Nativity scene is out.  Advent Candles are out and decorated, but I haven't taken the plastic off yet.  It's coming along:)  I'll post pictures when I don't still have the packing material out.  I bought a train to put under the tree, but I don't think I'll be able to see it if it is under the tree.
I like putting the ornaments on the tree.  I have ornaments from our first Christmas, ornaments from students through the years, ornaments the kids made for us...it's a trip down memory lane.

Mud

I went to several outbuildings looking for wooden eggs this morning.  I stepped on a mole tunnel, and sank in up to my ankle. The mud sucked my shoe off so I was stepping in cold water, mud, etc., while I yanked my shoe out of the mud.  Then I put it back on and walked through running water hoping it would clean some of the mud off as I finished my tour of buildings.  I still haven't found the eggs. 

Precipitation Map

Before we moved to Tennessee, I checked a precipitation map because I didn't want to spend all my time watering my plants.  I knew I would want plants in the ground and container plants...I always do.  On the precipitation map, Tennessee is green which meant around 52 inches of rain per year.
It would have been good if I had tried to check for monthly distribution of precipitation.  As it turns out, it's more like a drought season and monsoon season.  We are currently in the monsoon period.
I like rain, but I'm not wild about mud.  It has taken a long time to even get enough weeds to prevent the gator from sliding sideways down inclines.  We've put out a lot of sod and have been trying to let weeds grow until the sod takes over.  But the drought makes even weeds struggle in this clay.  Well, we aren't worrying about drought at the moment.  But with so much rain all at once and spotty grass/weed coverage, we have erosion.  It is interesting to try to deal with it.  A couple of years ago we had 13 inches of rain all at once.  It washed out sections of roads so it sounds pitiful to complain about erosion runnels in my "yard."
The farmer who plants some of our fields came by yesterday and said he got 20 bushels of beans per acre on our fields.  I said that didn't sound like a good yield.  He said it wasn't, but it was the best he got because of the drought.  Some of his fields only yielded 7 bushels per acre.  And of course others were in between.

Rutabagas

While we were at Aunt Annie's (98 yrs. old), she cooked rutabagas.  I like them and they're on my diet.  But they are really hard to peel, kind of like I think peeling rocks might be.  She is pretty frail.  I asked how she peeled and cut them.  She pulled a large, homemade knife out of the drawer.  It had a knife blade on one side and a saw blade on the other.  She said Uncle Floyd had made the knife for her out of a saw.  Then she pulled a hammer out of the drawer and said she set the blade on top of the rutabaga and tapped on it with the hammer until it was in two pieces.  Then she did it across the other way so it was in four pieces.  She said she could peel the quarters.
I did say she is amazing.

Dodge Durango

We have rented various vehicles when we've traveled.  This time we rented a Dodge Durango.  It had a lot of room, got 32 mpg, and was very comfortable.  It had buttons and levers to arrange the seats so that the lumbar region, leg room, and the back of the seat exactly met one's desires.  It also had enough places to plug in my toys: Garmin, iPod, Kindle,and two phones. I didn't need them all plugged in at once, but I could have.  One was in the extreme back, one in the back seat, one in the console, one in the dash, and the little round plug for the iPod in the entertainment part. 
When we backed up, it showed what was behind us, marked into car lengths, on a small monitor on the dash.
Another feature I liked was "eco" when it was driving in a gas-efficient manner.  I think one reason we did so well with gas consumption was the cruise control, but the other reason was the "eco" prompt. I had a BMW 320i for about ten years.  It showed gas consumption as I was driving.  So when I was accelerating, I wasn't getting good mileage, but maintaining speed, I did pretty well.  Having that feature on my car for so long acquainted me with driving economically.  I liked seeing that feature on this car.

Away From My Computer

Holidays are a time for visiting and we visited my husband's home town this week.  We stayed with his aunt.  She is 97 or 98 and still works on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  She made homemade biscuits and other goodies while we were there.  I tried to do some of the cleaning up, but she is a better cook than I am.  She had made a pineapple upside down cake and a pound cake for our visit.  We visited other people, too, but she is amazing.