Arrrgh!!!

We had just TWO trick-or-treaters! I'm actually excited about it, because that brings our total to nine over the past seventeen years!

We live a little off the beaten path. We have a very long, unpaved driveway that is not lighted. On a dark night, it's a spooky place for younger kids. The older kids are more pragmatic about their candy collection. Why go up this long dark driveway, when you could hit four or five nearby houses in the same amount of time?

We did some decorating for Halloween, but I didn't go all out this year. I had spiderwebs, and a black cat (or two....Edward Scissorhands wouldn't want me to forget him!), garlands, and a ghost with noisy tin cans at the door. One of the things I like the best about this season is the return to candle light. I collect hurricanes and candle holders, and I tend to use them during the fall and winter. I bought scented pillar candles that smell like cinnamon or pumpkin pie or sandalwood, and I've been lighting them in the evening

I'm going to have to do one more scarecrow before we leave this house. I'll set him on a bale of hay, and put a bunch of cornstalks behind him, and pumpkins at his feet. The squirrels and chipmunks will be thrilled! *G*

Today, I need to collect some of the Halloween stuff to be boxed up, and distribute Fall and Thanksgiving things. I need to change the outfit on Elegante Mother's cement goose. Right now, she looks like a witch. She gets a dress with fall colored leaves for the next two weeks, followed by a Pilgrim outfit for Thanksgiving. We must be appropriately dressed for the holiday!

And with that, I must be on my way. It's time for Exercise!

My bookshelves are overwhelmed! My mother buys books and then puts them on my bookshelves. Periodically , I have to cull books to be given to the library, or shared with friends. We give the ladies of our exercise group first choice, and what remains goes to the library.

I realized that I need to cull some of the books we have had since we were in our twenties. I'm sure they have not been opened while we have lived in this house, but they provide ties to another part of our lives, and we're loathe to let them go. I need to get several packing boxes and line them with garbage bags, and then empty the top shelf.

We have hardbacks pushed all the way to the back of the shelves, with paperbacks stacked on their sides taking up the edge of the shelf. In places we have paperbacks stacked two deep. I have three shelves filled with quilting and gardening books, and I need one more to be able to put all those books away!

In the kitchen, I have a floor to ceiling shelf that is filled with just cookbooks. I almost ordered one more....the Ultimate Soup Cookbook. But, I restrained myself!

I plan to pack up the books from two shelves, and then rearrange the books that are left. I have to decide what to put on the highest shelf because I'll be the only one who can reach those books without a step stool.

When I have the books reorganized, I need to work on the problem of magazines and Christmas catalogs. We are drowning under a sea of paper. I send any catalog I know I'm not going to use right to the recycling bin. Unfortunately, that chore needs to be done daily, and I'm a twice-a-week kind of gal.

Thank goodness people come to visit us through out the Holidays, or this might never get done! I find impending visits great motivation for putting my house in order. Can't you imagine the books and catalogs falling in slow motion, filling up the hallway and the kitchen, if I don't get this chore done?? Timberrrrrrr!!

If we haven't used it this year.....it's OUTTA HERE!

Bogie is my almost sister. We could be twins! Our bookshelves have the same problems. She knows about double layers of books, and paperbacks stacked up in front of the hardbacks! She knows about textbooks from years ago taking up valuable space. I feel we've bonded, sis! *G*

When we built this house, we realized that the architect (who had designed the house for himself), had omitted bookshelves of any kind. Who can live without bookshelves?? Actually, I wish someone would invent magazine shelves, too. I've got some of my magazines in binders, but I need more space for them.

At any rate, we sat down and talked with him about putting in some built-in shelves. He nixed the idea of the long wall in the living room. He apparently didn't think I could fill 35 feet of book shelves, but he suggested that a wall of shelves would distract from the focal points of the room, and would make it difficult to organize seating in the room. I had a better reason, after we moved into the house. I wouldn't have had a long wall for the display of quilts.if we'd made that wall into bookcase. I'd be better organized, but unhappy about the lack of display room.

We finally resolved the issue in two ways. First, in designing the cabinetry in the kitchen, we added the column of shelves just for books that goes floor to ceiling. Yes, that needs to be culled, too. Elegante Mother has filled the shelves with the little monthly cookbooks you get at the grocery store. She's not the only one at fault. I have a lot of trouble passing up a cookbook, especially if it's about soup or bread. We have TWO garlic cookbooks! *G* No werewolves here!

The second solution was to give up one foot of the length of our bedroom. The loss to the bedroom is minimal, but the gain for books was immense. I'm guessing that we added shelves roughly 10 to 12 feet wide and floor to ceiling in the hallway leading to the bedrooms. And those shelves are full to the brim.

Bogie, the books I'm planning to move are textbooks, and clock repair references, and odds and ends of books that we just haven't been ready to give away. I think it's going to be my chore for first thing tomorrow. We'll have about 25 guests here on Friday, and I better get things squared away now.

It's reassuring to know that someone else has the same bookshelf situation. *G*

Yesterday, Dear Husband began clearing the boat of anything that might freeze or mildew. He carried in bags of food and began emptying them out onto the island in the kitchen. The food is still sitting there, minus a couple of Rice Krispies bars.

What is it about a cleared off counter that draws JUNK to it like a magnet?? We will be hosting a brunch on Friday morning. Knowing that I work more slowly now than I used to, I started cleaning off counters and tables and end tables. Every time I get something cleared away, someone comes along to fill it up again! It almost isn't worth trying to do this particular chore ahead of time, since it seems to make more work for me.

Salt and pepper, tea bags and other staples can be saved for next year. Some of the food can go into my pantry, but some of it just won't fit! In the past, we've stored some of the items in the basement, but we found that mice will eat through the metal packets to get to condiments like ketchup and mustard. Can you imagine what that must have done to their digestive systems??

So, one of my chores today will be figuring out how and where to store the Arr!!'s leftovers. Maybe I'll let them sit there for a while longer while I go out and play in the gardens. It's a beautiful day, MUCH too nice to waste on inside chores!

Hmmmmmmm...maybe I could store it all in a sail bag, wrapped in plastic, in the basement. Or maybe a plastic storage box! I think I've just had an "A HAAAAA!" moment!

If you garden in the Midwest, there is something going on nine months of the year. During those three months when things are not growing outside, you're likely to be planning the gardens for the coming year, making seed and plant orders, starting seeds, or wintering plants over in several different ways.

I was outside this morning, emptying out the last of the containers. Those that still have plants will most likely be wintered over in the garage. I have several mints in huge pots, five or six large chrysanthemums, a pot of lilies, and one poor lavender that didn't get planted. Those plants will be brought into the garage once the mower has been used for the final time this year. I'll be able to get to them to water them periodically, and they will be shielded from the worst of the cold weather.

I sieved the soil from the pots, breaking it up and removing the superstructures of the plants. I caught all the potatoes from the ornamental sweet potato vines to show Elegante Mother. The pots are ready to be stored. The dirt from the pots will be put around the ferns in the back yard, and then I'll cover the fern bed with straw for the winter.

I want to cut back the chives, and the basil this afternoon, and remove the cherry tomatoes and the cages we used to support the vines. I may also cut back the clematis.

The garden magazines are touting the practice of leaving perennials as they are for the winter, removing just the annuals. There are pros and cons to that idea. If you cut things back in the fall, you have a better idea of the health of the plant, and may be able to removed diseased parts. On the other hand, the experts feel that the superstructure of the plant may protect the root system from winter weather. Personally, I like to prune back and mulch anything that might need a little protection. I'm going to try the expert's version this year, with the exception of the peonies and roses. Those will be cut back, mulched, and the roses will have a ring a leaves over them.

It's VERY satisfying to see the garden ready for winter. I have a sense of completion for this year, and preparation for the coming growing year. I like going into winter having things tidied and neat, and I spend the winter thinking of the blooms to come.

This is a little late for Halloween, but fun, nevertheless. I thought I might be an earth witch, but this is what the quiz has to say about me:

What kind of 'witch' are you?

You are a fiery witch. Your charisma and sensual beauty draw many to you. You are creative and full of vitality and inspiration. Never one to blend in, you're appearance is bold, bright and..er.. fiery :) You draw your power from fire and may be a bit of a pyro.. for pretty sented candles at least.
Take this quiz!

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Found at Why Rush.

I have a laundry list of things I wish I had time to blog about:

Fall colors,
Winter temperatures coming in,
Soup and Salad Brunch for the exercise class, here, on Friday,
EM being under the weather,
binding for seven projects, complete with pictures,
highway robbery at the gas pumps,
even MORE highway robbery by the township assessor
George Ryan going to prison
Soup recipes
Trying to bring the shine back to my oak table (Or, buying a Craftsman buffer)
Preparations for Thanksgiving (including the window washer's outrageous charge!)
Four family members in the hospital
Gardens looking good, but my back could be better
Beginning Christmas shopping
Quilting projects that HAVE to be finished!

I'm sure there are more things that I'd like to write about, but you get the drift. It's been crazy here. We have a cocktail party to attend tomorrow night to welcome two new members to our lawyer's practice, we're hosting a brunch on Friday, going to a Red Hat Lady luncheon on Saturday, and on Sunday, we have a family christening to attend.

Maybe I can tackle some of those subjects next week, if we get a lull. I hope you're all having a good November. Stay well!

And thank God for that! IT was an absolutely wonderful day, but it's time to rest now.

This morning, roughly half of our exercise class came to a pot luck Soup and Salad brunch at our house. We go out to breakfast once a month to celebrate the birthdays in that month, and this time we decided to try the concept of sharing soup and bread ( and salad, crackers, and DESSERT!!)

For the past two weeks (or more), I've been working to get the house into order so that we could host the event. I spent two weekends working outside to clean up the gardens (It wasn't enough...it's NEVER enough, but we made do.) Something I do when I work on the gardens in the fall always hurts my back, and I've been limping around, wincing when I hit just the right position and pinched the nerves in my back. Since the doctors tell you that you should keep moving through something like this, I've kept moving, but moving slower. I regret that I don't run at the same speed as I did when I was twenty.

I rose at 5:00 and started cooking. I made minestrone, a butternut squash and granny smith apple soup, and Golden Cheddar Chowder. There were at least four other soups: Ham and Bean, Hamburger, Broccoli Cheese and something with Farina dumplings. Added to that were half a dozen salads, every conceivable kind of cracker, bread bowls and incredible desserts. I NEED that coconut cake recipe, and I don't usually eat cake!

It was like having family come to dinner. People began streaming in at 9:30, just after class, and all the early birds helped to set up chairs, arrange a beverage station, and lay things out on the counter. Others answered the door and helped people deal with coats. I finished the cheese chowder and it was time to eat! I set tables in the dining room, and the area off the kitchen we call the Green Room. I also set up a ten foot Samsonite table in the foyer. You could hear conversation throughout the house. This group really enjoys chatting!

After everyone was filled to the brim, and had eaten dessert and had a cup of coffee, they gravitated back to the kitchen and washed the dishes for me. I would have been very happy to do that chore on my own, but they had it done in no time. One washed, one rinsed, and two dried, while I kept them in dry towels, and put things away. The last guest left about a quarter to three.

One of the nice things about hosting a day like this is that there is so much food left over you don't have to cook that evening! Of course, we had soup, and then I went to my chair and napped for a bit. Dear Husband was smarter, he went to bed early. I should have done the same, but I wanted to remember what a great day it had been.

We were blessed with great sunny weather that wasn't too cool, and the pleasure of each other's company. I'm SO glad I know these people....just so glad.

Joy, at The Joy of Six, asked how things were going for my family, because I mentioned that four of them had been hospitalized in the past two weeks. It's been a very difficult time.

One of my nephews has clots in his lungs, and he's likely to be on disability for some time while they work to improve the situation. On of my nieces has been diagnosed with herniated disks in her upper back, one of my sisters had surgery for two hernias, and my brother-in-law had a foot amputated.

I've been afraid to answer the phone because the news has been so grim. Another of my nephews cut his hand at work, and required stitches. Elegante Mother was ill over the weekend, and is just now beginning to feel better.

I'm gathering prayers for my family, and hoping that things will get better, SOON! It's simply not possible to think of loosing any of them.

Sooooo.....we're hanging in there, and hope you are, too!

My mother has joined the Empty Nester's group at church. A group of the ladies who belong to the Empty Nester's meet here once a month to do charitable sewing. For the past few months, they have devoted their time to making things for the church bazaar. I've offered my help with a few of the projects that needed to be quilted.

At the same time, I've been working on three bed-sized quilts of my own. When you have finished the quilting the last two steps in your project are sewing on a label and binding the edges. Binding is simply a method of enclosing the raw edges of a quilt. I happen to prefer bias binding, and I make it the old fashioned way, cutting one strip of bias fabric at a time. This is what the project looks like when I start:

I made the bindings for four projects one morning, and for three more the following day. This is what the first batch of binding looked like when it was ready to be applied to the quilts:

I've finished the bindings on two of the three large quilts. I'll have to bind four large lap quilts before the end of the month. I took the time to measure the binding I had made, and there is 145 FEET of it! I'll have to work fast to get those four lap quilts done!

We're all still alive here, just in the holiday preparation weeds. I love hosting Thanksgiving. It gives me the incentive to get cleaning done as we're closing up the house for winter, and I find that I tend to change over decorations and quilts this time of year, too.

Of course, all of this takes time, and it means that I disappear from the blog scene. Most of the world doesn't even know I'm away from my blog, but for those of you who come to read now and then, we're all fine.

I find as I work I'm composing blog entries in my head. I really need to take a page from Blue Witch and get a voice recognition program. Then, I could multitask! For now, all those entries are lost, like smoke in the air. Early next year, I'll be back to more regular posting AND reading.

I saw the doc today. I was working in the gardens a month ago, trying to do some cleanup and get the perennials ready to deal with the coming cold. I worked two weekends in a row, putting in roughly five hours on several of the days. I was having fun, and wasn't uncomfortable at all. A couple of days later it hurt to walk, to sit and to rise from a chair or bed.

I thought that the herniated disk in the small of my back had been hurt. I could function, even go to exercise, but I was getting jabbed in the back with pain on a regular basis. I put up with it for a month before I finally called the doc, and as soon as I made the appointment, I began to feel better.

Doc. G asked me several questions, walked around behind me, and pressed on four or five places across my hips that HURT! He knew exactly where to push to identify what was hurting. He said that if he were to take an MRI of my back, it would show that there were microscopic tears where the muscles attach to my pelvis. He showed me some stretching exercises to do, and gave me three prescriptions. Based on my ability to move, he thought I'd be well in a week.

Heavenly relief! I can sit without being afraid of that awful jab of pain. I can get a decent night's sleep!

The next time I see Doc, I'll have to ask him what to do to prevent this from happening again. Meanwhile, I should be in good shape to host my family on Thursday. YEA!

Traditionally, my family comes to my house for Thanksgiving. My brother has a bigger house, but he doesn't have the time to organize the gathering. We have celebrated at other homes, but I can seat most of the family here, and it's now second nature to pull the menu, seating and decorations together.

This year, my second sister announced that she was holding Thanksgiving. She didn't discuss it with any of us to see how we felt about it, she simply staked her claim. Her sons will be coming in from out of state, and she wanted to host them in her own home. Unfortunately, she just had surgery last week for two hernias. We invited her to participate in our celebration, but she was adamant about doing Thanksgiving at home. I really hope this turns out all right. She thinks her boys will cook the dinner....

Dear Husband's kids have decided to share Thanksgiving with us, so I opened my home to any of my family that also wished to participate. We seem to be hovering at roughly 24 people at the moment, but there could possibly be four more. I plan to set three tables of eight, and I have enough room to seat the four guests who have been invited.

I'm excited about having my family here. I love it when they come together for a meal.. The food will be wonderful, but even better is all the chatter and interaction. My youngest sister will bring her family to us Wednesday night, and they will help with the early morning chores, like making dressing and setting the tables. The rest of our visitors will begin to arrive between 1:00 and 2:30 in the afternoon.

Of course, we do all the traditional parts of a Thanksgiving meal, but we're adding a few things this year. DH requested either cold corn salad (in a vinaigrette dressing), or corn with crackers casserole. I think he's getting them both. I found a mashed potato with Gouda cheese casserole, and a cornbread dressing that I want to try. We're also going to ask my nieces to assemble a torte-like dessert made with brownies, chocolate pudding, Cool Whip and Heath bar chips.

I began grocery shopping today, and I already have a list for tomorrow. I'll do some of the baking on Tuesday, and DH will make the lasagna that is traditional in his family. Wednesday, we'll pick up the linens, the rental chairs, flowers, and any last minute things that we've forgotten.

I'm REALLY looking forward to this. I wish you could all share it with us. Adding guests to family is the perfect finishing touch....and I keep saying "They don't bite!"

If I don't make it back....I wish you the Happiest of Thanksgivings!

Day is done, Gone the sun.....

Thanksgiving Dinner was a rousing success. As usual, we had enough food left over to send full dinners home with four families, and more than enough so that I don't have to cook tomorrow.

We had most of my oldest sister's family, and all my youngest sister's family with us. Two of Dear Husband's children joined us, and my stepdaughter and her husband brought their daughters for everyone to coo over. I think almost all the ladies had a chance to hold the two month old.

I'm not going to list all the items that made up our buffet. There wasn't a single dish left untried. Even the new dressing that I tried seems to have been a hit.

There was one very sad note to the day. We were in the middle of meal preparation when the phone rang. Dear Husband answered it, to learn that his only brother had just passed away. He is now the only one of four children left in his family. DH is very stoic. Let me rephrase that......DH is VERY STOIC. He doesn't want me to commiserate. He chose not to tell my family what had happened. After dinner, I asked if I could share it with my family. They were very empathetic, and seemed to realize that he didn't want them to go overboard with their response. I'm sure they will find ways to tell him that they are there for him.

Sooooooo.....The good and the bad. I'm glad that my brother-in-law lived to see his granddaughter born. I'm sorry that he won't have a hand in raising her, but I'm sure his son and daughter-in-law will do a good job, and share stories of Grampa Dan.

I hope that you all had a good celebration, with family or friends, and I hope you will remember how fragile and fleeting life can be.

As those of you who read here know, my mother lives with us. She has been hosting the Empty Nester's Sewing Circle for several years. The ladies decided this year that they would contribute to the Church bazaar, and have been feverishly sewing for the past six months or so. I've contributed four quilt tops to be quilted by another woman. Two of them came back to me just this week to be bound, and we're hoping to have the other two by Sunday.

The ladies have also volunteered to host the monthly Empty Nester's luncheon this month. Elegante Mother and I are committed to providing dinner rolls and an appetizer. I have been pouring over my holiday cook books, trying to settle on an appetizer for tomorrow morning, and simply haven't been able to make a decision. I can see that I'll have to make a dash to the store tonight.

We have spent a very quiet day here today. I SHOULD have put up the Christmas decorations, but I used my time to snooze and bind quilts instead. Hopefully, the guys will bring the fake Christmas trees up from the basement, and EM and I will work on getting them decorated during the coming week. This will be the earliest that we have been ready for the Holidays in years. I'm loathe to give up my fall decorations, but once the Christmas things are in place, it will be okay.

Dear Husband worked for half a day today, and spent half a day snoozing. We had planned to work on the leaves tomorrow, but we'll be going to an open house for his brother, instead. The leaves will hold.

Are you ready to leave Thanksgiving behind and move on? I have just two presents ordered, I'll have to make up my mind and get a move on!