Christmas Week 2015

  It's Christmas week here at Honeysuckle Hill.  The decorations (minimal as they are) are up, the few gifts we buy are bought, and the both of us are down with  the crud. lol Here's Santa at the dining room table, overseeing the festivities. This table cloth will be  changed out soon for the holiday one and the candles will be it for Christmas supper. I've been digging out the holiday music cd's too.

 We're appreciating all the blessings as we wind down another year together. We've made new friends and  lost old friends as they transitioned from this place to the next. We are blessed to have lots of love at our house and all our needs are met well enough.

 The gifting stags are in their place of honor at the front door in front of the great mirror on the antique book trough table.  The little tree is up and the holiday linens are out. I am baking cookies and breads and making gift baskets. 

The Santas have collected at the top of the entertainment center, which is covered in a soft red and green plaid wool scarf with strands of gold through it. 






In short, except for deciding what exactly I making for Christmas supper, I am as ready as I will ever be to usher out the old year and in the new one soon enough. And for now, I will sit around looking at the baubles-each with it's own special memory- listening to my favorite cd of Christmas songs by Nat King Cole, and generally basking in the love and warmth of the season. I still get Christmas cards from a few people, even though I have not sent them out myself for a few years now.  And it's all so lovely, isn't it ?




Happiest of Holidays to you all...whatever you celebrate.  And all of life should be a celebration, don't you think ??




 Namaste.

"Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, please come around: Something is lost and needs to be found!!"

  After an emotional and traumatic Friday morning of having to put our little angel to sleep, I somehow managed to lose my car keys. Well, they weren't actually lost until Monday, because I had no intention of going anywhere all weekend.  I was feeling punky and oh-so-sad ...my plan was to just lay low and rest.  After all, I had a big party coming up on the 22nd. And my house is a mess. Blah blah blah  Anyway Monday morning came and I decided to go grocery shopping and then come home and make that gorgeous pot pie for the potluck.  Got dressed, got my coat on and... couldn't find my car keys. I drove home from the veterinary hospital, so I knew I had them here. I turned this place upside sown, after completely emptying my purse. Twice. I looked on the pockets of every coat and pair of pants that I own. I looked under cabinets, under sofas and chairs and tables. I looked under the refrigerator.  I traced my path back to the car and looked all around outside it and then inside it.  I looked in the fridge. I looked in the oven. I looked in both bathrooms. I walked out to the burn pit and then to Caylees's grave. 

  No keys. Nada. Zip. Nuttin'.

  Thinking that when I hit big roadblocks, I change where I'm going...I went in the bedroom and changed clothes and thought, well...I'll make something different for the potluck out of whatever I have in the pantry. I'll start some house cleaning. Surely they'll show up...they have to be here somewhere.

  I took a rake to the burn pile...you may remember that a few years ago I hauled the Irishman's truck keys out in a handful of paper and advertisers and burned them up. The replacement cost was...more  than I care to spend, shall we say. So I was really afraid I had done that again. There was no sign of them.

  Might I mention here that, when I couldn't find them at first, I thought I'll just get the spare key that I keep hidden in the sewing machine table/altar in my office. The spare key is not there either. I ALWAYS keep it there. So, I called husbandman to ask him if he  A) had taken my keys accidently and B) had he used the spare key and not put it back...when I was in the hospital maybe?  As the phone started to ring, I could hear it in the living room.  Grrr...

  Several people told me to pray to St Anthony, the patron saint of lost things. I'm not always a big fan of the saints, but hey...well, he must have been on vacation on Monday, because the day came and went and no keys.

  Tuesday morning came and went. Most of Tuesday afternoon. I took a long nap, really not feeling good today. Have decided to cancel the party because we are sick and don't want to spread this bug around.  :(   When I woke up from my nap, one more time I said

"Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, please come around:

Something is lost and needs to be found!!"

  I went into my closet where the last pair of jeans I had on Friday was laying across the back of a chair. I had checked the pants and had the thought about what a mess the closet was. Then I wondered if the keys could have fallen out of the pocket when I tossed them on the chair and voila ! there were my keys. Hiding and cozy in the floor. Behind the chair. 

 Sigh... the spare key is still on the lam. But I can drive again. Tomorrow I will go out and pick up some groceries and come back home, because tonight I really feel crappy. But there are some good sales going on and I need a few basics.


  Feeling bad about cancelling the party, but I'm sure that the WHO and the CDC would applaud my actions. lol  I was really looking forward to it.

   And now I'm tired and the bed is calling me and I think I will  be able to get some sleep.  Hope you all stay well. I'm blaming the coumadin  that won't let me eat any green vegetables because they contain Vitamin K which plays a major role in clotting.  Vitamin K is also essential for a healthy immune system. Grrr...


  Blessings and love to you all...tomorrow will be a brighter day. 



  Namaste
 

Dance of the Ladybug Faeries...

...and here we have one of about 200 gazillion ladybugs that have chosen to infest my house this spring-like winter.Yesterday I must have vacuumed up about a hundred, and soon as I put the cannister vac with the closed bag system (yes--I learned an important lesson the year I used the wand on the bagless and emptied it into the garbage only to have them all crawling up out of the garbage can like a Wes Craven film and re-infesting my entire house) away, 20 more came out of nowhere.
  
Our first encounter with this seasonal phenomenon came the second year we lived here and the Irishman was getting the kerosene heater out of storage in the garage and found almost 5 pounds of the little beggars inside it around the wick.  since then  it's a battle we fight almost every late fall and winter. They drive me crazy, they stink and I feel like they're crawling on me all the time. Little terrorists.

 So I am on countdown to the party. Cleaning and de-cluttering (as much as I can). And now I have to get beets today and try to fit that in to everything else. Had an opportunity to get a bunch of small beets that I will can whole, mostly pickled, some plain. Can't pass it up. My pantry is so bare....lol


  I have a daily list of things to do, and in between I have things like tonight's holiday potluck with the La Vista gang. Was thinking of making the roasted vegetable pot pie (remember the one with the little biscuit angels dancing on the crust ?

 Then I thought maybe a pasta dish would be easier...a porcini mushroom tortellini with a pumpkin butternut squash sauce. Not entirely home made stuff, but even I can only do so much... I am feeling better, but still running a little slow. Woke up to rain that has been going on all night and yesterday, but supposed to stop. And now it has and the sun is out and streaming through the window. Thank goodness. Got the chickens loosed and fed and the critters all taken care of.  Have a grocery list made and will head to town in a bit.. Yesterday the Irishman helped me take down all the light fixtures and clean them and put them back up (he's much better on a ladder than I am).  They were all full of ladybugs and dust. I got more napkin rings made, but only a few. I put a couple of small pork tenderloins in the crockpot with some taters and carrots and that cooked while we cleaned, napped and watched a couple of movies. He slept on the couch for over 2 hours about an hour after we got up (late) and I think it made him feel a little better, although last night he was a coughing fool again...


  Alright. I have a grocery trip on my  Monday list, then back home to clean the spare room and get it ready for potential guests from out of town. That and the aquarium are on today's list. That's probably all I can manage. We'll see.  lol


  Have a wonderful Monday. The weather is cooling off here starting today (last few days have been in the high 60's) and I am hoping it will stay sunny at least. And maybe dry up some of the mud. 




  Namaste...

ZZZZZzzzzzzzzziiiiiiipppppp...and it's 2 weeks til Christmas

 As you can see...I have done some minimalist decorating. I have the little fiber optic tree on the side table in the living room and some wreaths and what-not. The Gifting Stags are in their place of honor.  The other day I was at Goodwill (looking for work sweatshirts for my honey who runs a burn table and tears up clothes like you wouldn't believe) and they were having 50% off all housewares. I got a beautiful never used table cloth that will fit my big table with the leaf in it and 8 napkins for about 6 dollars. It's a Christmas cloth with poinsettias and holly and is just gorgeous.  I have washed it and will put it on the table the day of the party. 

 Am having my annual Winter Soup Party on Friday, starting at 6.  So far, 24 people have rsvp'd they're coming. Holy crowds, Batman !!  With spouses that will be 48 people.  Oh well...I can handle it.  And they won't all show anyway.  Right ?  ****  lol   Have decided that this year will be all eco-groovy, using no disposables. Will be hitting the thrift stores for a few extra bowls and spoons and if need be, use pint canning jars for extra glasses.  All cloth napkins ( have a million of them).  In my moment of insanity, I started making festive napkin rings...

I save the rolls from paper towels and toilet paper for starting seedlings in. I just cut them to size and wrapped in glitter tape and put a mini bow on. Both from Dollar General. Unfortunately, the bows won't stick to the glitter. I have to get glue sticks for my gun tomorrow and attach them with that. I have gold and silver glitter tape and multi-color bows. And there is glitter everywhere, including all over my face. lol

  All the invitees will bring everything except the soups and coffee and spiced cider and hot chocolate. And I have a new friend who's in culinary school who has offered to bring her black bean soup. I might just let her.  lol  All the soups I make will be made with stuff that's in my pantry. I may put out some pickled items for snacks too. But maybe not. We'll see.

  The tentative menu is  Cream of Potato Soup (with an array of toppings on the side)
                                        Indian Spiced Lentil Soup  (made with coconut milk)
                                        Vegetable Beef Soup made from all dehydrated and grown here vegetables
                                        Carrot and Butternut Squash Soup


 What do you think ? If Caylee brings her black bean soup, that should feed the multitudes...with people bringing breads and cookies and crackers of all sorts and who knows what else, I think we'll be set.

^^^^^^********************

  I'm especially grateful to be so busy with all this..to keep my mind off things a little.  We had to euthanize our beloved pup Caylee this week...she had a malignant tumor that had filled her belly. She couldn't eat, barely drink and was basically starving to death.  You know me and my babies...it has been really hard, and the other two dogs are going around to all her favorite places to sleep and looking for her. We are all laden with grief at this loss, and though it was the kindest thing to do, it was extremely difficult to let go of my best buddy of 7 years. 

*************************

  Are you all ready for the holidays ? I am lucky--don't buy much in the way of gifts, though I did find a couple of really good deals for a couple of things for the boy and the Irishman.  And I never do much shopping usually til the week of Christmas.  Will have a nice dinner that day...not sure what yet, but something spectacular  (Hah! Cornish Game hens maybe)  Will do a little baking this week as well... 


 And with that, I am signing off and heading for bed. The dreaded nasty cold that has been making the rounds has hit me too the past few days, but today I felt better.  Hopeful that is a good omen...not a good time to be sick.

  Blessings of love and Peace, from our house on Honeysuckle Hill to yours....




Namaste.

...and let the games begin...

All the little towns around here have put up their Christmas decorations this past week.  Lots of yards are decorated with grizzly ropes of lights and inflatable santas and reindeer and Disney characters. (All of which look particularly gruesome in the daytime when nothing is lit and the inflatables  become partially deflatables.) Today is the craziest shopping day of the year I understand, although I have never once in my 62 years on the planet taken part in it. Today will be no different.

I don't have to buy a lot of gifts anyway, so generally any shopping I do is around 2-3 days before the big day itself.  There might be a couple of things I buy online before that, but not much. I love to cook around the holidays (of course I do) and we usually host a big party at our house sometime in the middle of the month for all the misfits like me who are members of the same tribe. I should probably start planning that soon. God--I am the queen of the last minute planners...

I woke up to a rainy day here on the prairie. It was supposed to rain yesterday, but didn't. The cloud cover kept last night's temperatures warm and the furnace hasn't kicked on for quite a while.  I was gone about half the day yesterday (maybe not quite that much). Came home and laid around and read and then had supper with my son. It was nice and we watched a movie and I  was amazed at how much I enjoyed the solitude after he left. The Irishman is in Wisconsin visiting his father, so all the dogs and half the cats are sleeping with me at night.  The youngest dog, Bella, keeps sitting on the couch looking out the window waiting for him to come home from work. lol He'll be back on Sunday. He called yesterday and said he had just come back from a walk in the snow.  Most of his siblings didn't come for the dinner and he was a little saddened that he might not get the chance to see them too. Our Thanksgiving here was a little fractured and unusual as well. We didn't get together as a family. Sister-in-law too ill to tolerate a lot of noise and chaos, baby sister's kids both with their in-laws (they are having a family dinner today--I might stop by since I'll be down that way for PT this afternoon).  I spent the noon meal with a group of sober alcoholics at a club where they always put on a big Thanksgiving meal for the people who have nowhere to go. It was fun. I took a crockpot corn dish and a pumpkin crunch dessert. Stayed for the meeting afterwards and then came home and hit the couch and heating pad. My right shoulder/neck is hurting...not sure if I slept crooked or pulled something, but it's a bugger. I may just skip PT ... it is really hurting. Last night I put alternating ice and heat on it, used my TENS unit on it and even slathered it with Cryoderm (like Biofreeze). It still hurts this morning...maybe not quite as bad as last night. 

I do need some coffee.  I made the last pot of my Starbucks Sumatran beans this morning, but there is no way I am going to brave the rain and traffic to go to the college town 20 miles from here to get some. lol I'll have some leftover in the morning and drink it cold...and will go pick beans up tomorrow.  lol

I never put out my Christmas decorations until the second week of  December. And by decorations, I mean all the mish mash of stuff I have that does NOT include outside lights or inflatable Santas. I do have evergreens that hang on my front porch railings and a few pieces of outside wooden art that people have given me over the years. I do have a collection of porcelain  Santas,  shelf size and one big one. I have several pieces of  Odd other culture decorations ...I have my beloved Gifting Stags,,,lots of greenery and pinecones and bird nests and sea shells --you know--nature stuff.  Winter Solstice stuff.  One older Nativity set.   And of course, my little fiber optic tree that cats can't climb on and tear down and break ornaments. That reminds me of a lava lamp. lol

Just went out and loosed the chickens. They had 3 eggs for me. We have a heat lamp in the coop that is on a thermal cube, so that when the weather gets cold it comes on. It's too warm today (damp and chilly, but not heat lamp chilly). lol So it's really dark and gloomy out there. Especially inside the coop.  I have a leak in my front bathroom where the exhaust fan never was...there's a new leak in my bedroom closet, but it isn't too bad. We need a new roof but can't afford it, so we patch and re-patch and hope for the best. And keep small tubs and pails under the drips. Such is life...

 Alright ... I am going to a meeting at noon (unless I change my mind) and will spend some time with a friend later today then I'm home and into my snuggle fleece pants and sweatshirt to hunker down for the evening. I started re-reading A Yellow Raft on Blue Water by Micheal Dorris last night. He was such a talented man and wrote several pieces and a book on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. He was married to author  Louise Erdrich and they even co-wrote a couple of books. 

**Michael Dorris graduated from Georgetown University in 1967 and earned a Masters Degree in anthropology from Yale. His Native American ancestry (he was part Modoc Indian) led him to found a Native American Studies Program at Dartmouth College, where he began teaching in 1972. He also adopted three Native American children suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). He later married novelist Louise Erdrich and had three biological children. He published 14 books, including 'A Yellow Raft in Blue Water' (1987) and 'The Broken Cord' (1989). The latter book was an account of the family's struggles with FAS, and won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Dorris won great respect for having adopted three FAS children; at that time, little was known about the condition, or what to expect when parenting a FAS child, and Dorris' work put FAS on the map. However, Dorris suffered from severe depression, and he and Erdrich separated in 1996. In 1997, he committed suicide.**

Off into the day I go...time for breakfast.

Namaste

There once was a girl from Nantuckett...

(Well...there probably was, but it wasn't me...)

 It's a jazzy kind of Friday.  I'm doing laundry, and have a list of stuff to do because my brother and sister-in-law and niece are coming up tomorrow from southern Illinois for a visit.  I haven't seen them for a while, so that will be nice. My house, on the other hand, is still in various stages of recovery from not doing any housework for the past months when I was either a) in so much pain I couldn't walk) or b) recovering from a total knee replacement. Believe me...even though I have doing little things of late trying to find some kind of order in the chaos...you can barely tell. I have to go out and sweep the front porch again because I vacuumed yesterday but the dogs (and their man) keep tracking so much back in every time they go out you can't tell.  Sigh...that's my life.  lol


  The weather is turning cooler and they are predicting snow on Saturday. Probably just too much milk and bread piling up on the store shelves. It is getting down to something crazy like 19 tonight, so I guess anythings possible. But 2 days ago it was 75. Go figure. Whatever happens, I don't care. The only reason I have to go out is to physical therapy and that will only be another week or so.


  The Irishman is going to spend Thanksgiving with his family in Wisconsin. I am staying home. My sister-in-law is feeling very badly and might be nearing the final stages of brain cancer. They are trying the last hurrah on her and have said that after this, there is nothing else to try. She cannot tolerate a lot of noise and chaos, so there won't be a big get together this year.  I'll probably stay home and have a nice quiet day with my son and we will eat until we die. lol  One of my nieces may come with her children, but that isn't a sure thing. Apparently "everyone hates her" and she isn't doing anything for the holidays. People hate me too, but that doesn't stop me. lol

   My friends husband died a couple of days ago of another cancer. I am so sad and relieved for her...she has lost the love of her life, but his suffering is finally over. This is how I will grieve with my brother too, when that time comes.  Cancer seems to be everywhere these days...


    Well, I have done some cleaning...different slipcovers for the chair and loveseat. Swept the porch (this is the only time of year I am not absolutely in love wth my yard and all the trees). Cleaned the windows behind the couch where the big dog leaves a mess with her nosiness., Got a couple of loads of laundry finished and one more to go. Started clearing up the island and getting ready to slice mushrooms for dehydrating. (Sonny boy brought me in a gorgeous 7 lb. half of a hen of the woods he found.) and we can't eat all of it quick enough, so I always dehydrate some to use in winter soups and stews.

  Gotta leave in about an hour for my reschedules physical therapy session. Try to get at least one more thing done before then...


  Hope your day is fun too !!  



Namaste.

Mid- November and the butterflies and small snakes are everywhere

 Today's temps were in the low seventies. Sunny and beautiful. Tonight the rains are coming in for a 2 day visit. The night time temps will stay in the low 50's.  Daytime temps around 60.  We are about to be swallowed up by all the leaves, I sweep and sweep and they come back like magic. The beautiful dance of falling leaves of gold and red and orange is something that never fails to enchant me. 


  I had 2 business meetings today, one that started at noon and the other at 2 that lasted until 4. So ready to retreat home to my sanctuary when it was over !  Before I left the house I had washed dried and put away one load of laundry, washed the second load and put in the dryer, and started the 3rd load. I also made a batch of granola bars for the Irishman's lunches, and got the bars all cut and wrapped. Felt like a productive day. Tomorrow I have to go early to the doc for my INR monitoring blood draw then come back home and start baking french bread (2 loaves) and soft garlic breadsticks (probably about 2 dozen). We are having a pasta potluck and I am also making a couple of pasta dishes. Gonna make a simple chili-mac because it's a local favorite and I just happen to have a lot of leftover chili (on purpose) in the fridge. Not sure about the other dish...either Aglio y Olio  OR  Porcini stuffed tortellini with a butternut squash sauce.  Or perhaps an Alfredo, but that is almost a little too rich. I'll decide once I start cooking. lol  A rainy day will be good cooking weather.


  My chickens have gone insane. If I didn't know better, I' think they were taking LSD.  They repeatedly kick over the waterer that sits inside the coop (it's a gallon size and very heavy when full) and make a complete mess of the floor. They kick all the straw out of the nesting box and insist on laying eggs  willy-nilly all over the place. Then they turn the box upside down . They will lay only one or two eggs a day for a week and suddenly lay 6 every day for 2 weeks. I am seriously considering therapy. For them or me--not sure. lol

  We are considering raising a pig next spring. It would be in a small enclosure back of the property near the pond (but not too near). It sounds like a good idea, but we'll see. 


  The Irishman is going to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving again this year and I am staying here with my family.  Not sure what we are doing, but it may not include my sister in law. She is becoming increasingly sensitive to noise and chaos, and we are a big loud bunch. I have invited my brothers daughter and her kids to come here, as they are basically alone since my brother moved to Georgia. Add to that strained family relations and well...they are still my family and she seems so sad sometimes... There is lots of love to go around. May invite a couple of other friends that have no family nearby...we'll see.  Hard to believe that Thanksgiving is right around the corner--I'd better get a move on !  I have lost track of this thing you call time...

  No matter what or who--I am cooking a turkey. and that is that.  lol

  The midnight hour beckons and I am tired. Sleeping earlier these days since the knee replacement I started going to bed around 10, but am slowly staying up later and later.Hmmm...good or bad ?  Who knows. 



  Sleep well dear ones...   Namaste.