I have thought about blogging for the entire past month.  As we traveled through the south, when we played with our granddaughters,  when we were almost T-boned just an hour from home as we returned, as Fred began PT and we both came down with a miserable bug that I just can’t seem to shake.  But, I just thought about it.  All those thoughts are still bouncing around in my head, so you’ll get those thoughts in strange order, or maybe even not at all.  Most of those thoughts are centered in November, but there’s Halloween, too.  So, I’ll talk about Halloween here.

This is our second year in our ‘new’ home.  Our first Halloween we had roughly 106 trick-or-treaters.  This year we had closer to 160.  While it was cold, the rain held off just enough for the kids to get in their visits.  Dear Husband did the door duty this year, so I didn’t get to see the clever costumes and exclaim over them.  I really enjoy Halloween, especially since I know that the trick-or-treating is limited to between 4:00 and 8:00 p.m.

We’ve been very lucky not to be TP’d, and none of the kids have done any tricks.  We gave out Rice Krispy Treats and one little girl said, “Oooo, I LOVE Rice Krispy Treats!”  I guess DH chose our treats well.  🙂

It’s been a difficult week.  Dear Husband had trouble sleeping Monday night and ended up sleeping in a recliner in the living room.  He’d had “some discomfort” in his chest and sitting up made him feel better.  Tuesday night I went off to do that darned sleep test, so we were apart.  When I saw him Wednesday morning, he said he’d had another tough night.  We went to exercise, and when we came home, I reminded him to call the doc to make an appointment.

When he described to them what was bothering him, the doc said, “GO TO THE ER!!”  We had lunch and I drove him to the ER.

After six hours in the Emergency Room, DH was admitted to the hospital.  Thursday  they did a phalanx of tests, one of which was an angiogram.  In the midst of that test they decided to insert a stent.  One of the arteries was 90% closed, and the other was 80% closed.  His kidneys are not very tolerant of the dye, so the second stent will be done on Tuesday

The docs are using the three day holiday weekend to observe DH, and to continue collecting test results, so he’s cooling his heels and everything else in a very expensive hospital bed.

I’m confident the doctors are going to make a huge difference in his life.  I’m confident that he is going to feel MUCH better, and that I will have him around  for a while longer, but I’m not kidding myself that we are out of the woods yet.  Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers this coming Tuesday.

Well, I managed to stay awake until midnight to usher in the New Year.  Dear Husband crashed around 10:15.  I was astonished that I was able to keep going, and was just thinking about going to bed, when the neighbors set off fireworks at midnight!   I thought DH might bound out of bed at the noise, but he was sleeping so soundly that it barely disturbed him.

I had planned to make a nice dinner, but DH wanted to finish off leftovers.  He did the same thing to me Christmas Eve.  I had a lovely dinner for two planned, with a beautiful setting, and we ended up eating in our bedroom, watching a PBS show of Gershwin music.  I guess I’m lucky to have a husband who is so easy to please.

I didn’t go out to bang a pan to drive away the bad spirits for the year.  I think the last time I did that, we received a call telling us that DH’s oldest son had died from a massive heart attack.  I’m not generally superstitious, but I don’t care to risk any of the other kids.

I hope that we will all be blessed with good health this year, and a Congress that is willing to work to pass bills to help the majority of the population.  Stay safe, and have a great 2015!

It’s not supposed to be this cold in the middle of November!

Yesterday they said it would be 22 degrees in our area at the peak heat for the day, but with wind gusts up to 30 mph, it was going to feel more like 1 degree.  Just 1 degree due to windchill.

We’re bundled up, but I need to search for gloves and scarves.  I don’t usually wear a hat, but if it’s really bad, I’ll loop my scarf up over my head, and pull up the hood on my coat.

I know that there is more reasonable weather coming, but we’ve already had measurable snow (on Sunday), so I think we need to begin hunkering in.  I think I may add some things to our pantry, so that we can make meals without having to brave the icy fang to shop.

It takes time when you try to squeeze belongings meant for one house, into a house half the size.  I thought I was doing a good job last spring and summer, sorting and giving away books.  Of course, I knew, even though I didn’t want to admit it, that the fifty boxes of books in the basement were going to be a problem, especially as there were another thirty or so boxes left to pack.  We begged ale boxes from Binney’s, to be sure we would be able to lift those boxes, and still some of them were almost too heavy for me to lift.  What has really surprised me is the number of boxes of yarn I have.  Where did all THOSE come from???

We can finally see the floor in the living room, and can seat visitors.  The new blinds have been installed in the kitchen and dining room.  The sitting room off our bedroom has been set up, with bookcases, a flat screen TV and a love seat.  The shelving for toys and DVDs has been installed in the basement, and TOMORROW…..they will begin putting up the acoustic ceiling in the basement!

It will take us a while to learn about our house, a full year, I’d guess.  I’m sure it will have personality changes as we change seasons.  I just realized that we have a problem at the window in the dining room.  I think we have to do something about a seal, because there was water (condensation) on one side that will damage the blinds and sill if we ignore it.  And, our favorite appliance repairman is coming on Thursday to check out the broiler and teach us how to use this strange equipment.

I find it easier to decide what to do next now that we  are so far into our unpacking.  When we first moved in, it was difficult to decide just where to begin, and it seemed like an impossible task.  Buying shelving was a huge help, allowing us to unpack the kitchen boxes.  Books came next, and everything that says “Personal Papers,” or “LLC” has now been moved to the office.  I have a quilt to finish for Scraps on a Mission, and then the office will claim my attention for a week or so.

We’re almost there!

Dear Husband has been invited to attend the Girl Scout Dad and Grand Dad Masquerade Dance.  Two of our three granddaughters are in scouting, so both Dad and DH are going.

Dear Husband went out yesterday to Party CIty.  All on his own he decided that he is going as Gumby, the tall green character in a children’s stop-action Claymation series.  He tried the  costume on and immediately discovered that it’s made for someone seven feet tall!  I need to do a little hemming.

P.S.      The link doesn’t work, but if you go to Google and type in   ” Gumby ”  it will lead you to several You Tube entries.  Click on the one from 1967 called “Gumby and Pokey Intro.”

P.P.S.  Pictures to follow!

Progress!  we’re making progress!

The electricians came yesterday and today, and have a bit more to do tomorrow.  My quilting workshop is now bathed in light!  Dear Husband has the plugs he wanted in the basement.  We have more light in our closet and a fan in our sitting room.  Tomorrow they will determine why a closet fixture is not lighting, and they will add lighting in the garage.

Thursday, the painter will return to finish our bedroom, the bathroom and the laundry room.

I HOPE the carpet will come next week, before the bookcases are ready to be installed.  At that point all but the living room will be complete, and we plan to take some time choosing furnishings for the living room.

Dear Husband has been very eager to get my cookbooks set up.  The shelves arrived last week, and he’s been unpacking boxes of books.  I thought I’d given away more of them. According to a blog entry by Helen Fletcher, my kitchen is still fairly well equipped, despite downsizing.

We’re using family antiques and favorite items to decorate.  I think our home is going to be very comfortable!

We have a tiny pocket lawn, with a narrow strip of garden in the back that has a variety of trees, grasses, shrubs and perennials.  One of the maples has a tiny bit of color here and there.

At our last home we raked up leaves and saved them to use as mulch or compost.  Here, there’s very little room to compost.  I was happy to receive an information page with my water bill that told me how we will be dealing with our leaves.  It seems that we will rake the leaves toward the street, mounding them up on the lawn side of the curb.  We are warned NOT to rake them into the street, as they will clog the gutters.  Apparently the city workers make the rounds, sucking up the leaves and carting them away.  I don’t know where they go.  Yet.

The good thing about this is that the leaf pickup is free.  The bad thing is that we work on the village schedule, not on nature’s.  Still, it’s a good deal.  I better go double check on those pickup dates!

Last Thursday, I spent the better part of the day on my hands and knees planting iris from our previous home, as well as three plants my sister gave us as a house-warming gift.  I discovered that the dirt here is the pits.  It’s heavy clay filled with pebbles from house construction.  I pulled the heavy layer of mulch back, and dug holes large enough to accommodate three chunks of iris, added bonemeal and a little potting soil and nestled them into their new homes.

We left for a wedding in Cleveland the following day.  I hoped the weather would be kind to the plants because I really want to have this bit of my previous gardens follow us to the new house.

Monday night, Dear Husband was grilling our dinner and commented that some of the plants had been disrupted.  I said I’d take a look at it, and forgot about it.  The next morning, my sister was here to help unload the POD, and she said, “Look at that squirrel!  He just pulled that plant out and is rolling around with it!”   Sure enough.  It had pulled the plant right out of the ground, and when it realized it wasn’t tasty, ran off to do some more damage.

Every single plant that I had put into the ground had been ripped out!  I’ve re-planted them, but I think I need  to spray them with a red pepper spray to discourage visitors.  A friend on Facebook suggested scattering mothballs.

There was an old tennis ball in the back yard.  I thought it might have been a dog toy that came over the fence.  Now, I think it might have been for squirrel re-training.  If I’d had it nearby when I saw that miserable rodent, I would have winged it right at it!