Elegante Mother’s birthday is Sunday. She will be 92 years old. Last January, a month after her birthday, she began telling people she was 92. She was really eager to hit that next goal!
My oldest sister is gathering some of the family to attend church and then go out to breakfast with EM. I need to order a corsage for her to wear, and we plan to take her shopping at her favorite store for some new duds. If we are lucky with the weather, we will also go hat shopping. The pastor at EM’s church loves that she wears hats to church, and he always compliments her on her hats, which are very elegante (what else?)
A nursery about ten miles west of us is having a free picture day on Sunday. I thought it would be cool to drive out there after breakfast and have her picture taken among the poinsettias. We could pick up a couple of plants to decorate the house while we were at it.
I hope the day turns out to be fun for her. We haven’t had a lot of fun this week. She really enjoyed Thanksgiving, but the aftermath has been hard on us all. We’ll do a little bit each day to extend the celebration of her birthday, rather than trying to do it all in one short span. Thursday, she has hair and nail appointments. Friday afternoon, a good friend is coming for a short visit. Our quilting bee is going to go to dinner Friday night. I thought I’d get a little rosebud boutonnière for her to wear. Saturday, we’re going to shop for an hour early in the day, and then Sunday we’ll do church (with a gardenia corsage, her favorite), breakfast, and the pictures.
We’ll see how she is doing, and if she is still raring to go, there’s the opportunity for dinner out, and a ride through our community’s light show. Everything has been planned so that there is the least amount of walking required, and long spaces between the need to walk. I hope it all goes well.

The refrigerator is still full of food, and the floor needs to be swept. I’ve washed almost all the linens, and we are in the process of swapping the oranges and golds and browns for the reds and greens of Christmas. The rented tables and chairs have been returned.
My youngest sister and her youngest daughter came to visit yesterday. We had planned to start decorating Elegante Mother’s rooms for the holidays. They could only stay overnight one night before they had to return home. Unfortunately, around noon, EM started complaining of pain. She has an inguinal hernia that has been bothering her off and on for the past few months. The doc has advised waiting this out as long as possible, rather than doing surgery now.
We helped EM to walk a bit. We had her try sitting on a firmer chair. I gave her some over the counter pain meds. We helped her to bed, thinking that she would be more comfortable stretched out. She slept, soundly for three hours, and when she woke, was still in pain. When we decided that we would drive her to the ER, we couldn’t get her on her feet.
We’re getting to know the paramedics here. I know some of those faces, even if I haven’t learned their names yet. They did a nice job of getting EM to the hospital, where they did a CT scan. There’s nothing serious going on that requires being admitted to a hospital. We are supposed to maintain her on prescription pain killers for the time being, in the hope that the pain will ease without surgery.
I don’t know about you, but waiting at the hospital for test results wears me out. We were only away from home about five hours across the dinner hour. We were lucky she got to the test fairly quickly, and the results were available within 30 minutes, but by the time we all got home, and had something to eat. I was dead on my feet. To make matters worse, all the standing the past five days has been very hard on my feet and ankles. I needed to spend this afternoon with my legs elevated.
We have added a second caregiver to our entourage. I need more time in the office, so EM needs to have someone care for her. We have one care giver who is with us four days a week. We had arranged for a young woman to be here two more days a week, and EM seems to like her. We’ve asked her to come tomorrow, so that I can finish getting the house cleared and back to normal.
I hope the medication does the trick. It’s really tough to see your parent in pain. She’s gone off to bed for the night, and I’ll check in on her before we close down the house for the night.
I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. My thanks for your cards and notes.

I bought gas for $1.729 today! I seriously doubted that we would ever see gas that cost less than two dollars, but we’ve made it. Of that, seventy cents a gallon goes to taxes.
My U.K. friends tell me that we have it easy, but a country this size can’t function without inexpensive gas. Cop Car reminded me that had the gas prices remain elevated, it would have given us more incentive to develop new sources of energy, and she has a good point. It’s too bad that we are so short-sighted that we can’t work at developing inexpensive fuel despite having inexpensive gas.

Ya know, I really should be in bed. I should have gone to bed an hour ago, but I was laying in wait for my stepson to come home. I had three little chores for him.
First, I was moving pictures onto the zip drive for Mother’s digital picture frame when I managed to make one of them my desktop picture, three times. I love my niece, and this picture is a keeper, but it’s not a good backdrop for the icons. He showed me how to right click, choose properties and go to desktop to make changes! Now, if only I can remember that lesson when I do this mysterious goof again.
Next I asked him to figure out why some pictures just wouldn’t transfer to the zip drive. He spent about 45 minutes working at it, before he admitted defeat. I’ll try the new zip drive in the picture frame to see if those pictures will display. I’d like to have all the pictures on one drive, if I could, but I can live with it if we have to swap them periodically.
His last chore was to carry a couple of things downstairs for me. He was two for three, and I can’t complain, given the time and effort he put in on my behalf.
We’re getting close to Thanksgiving. I was ironing linens today. I still have a few to do, but the lion’s share are finished. I’ve counted glasses and silverware, and just about decided what will be used for centerpieces. My oldest sis is bringing some garland, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few other things in her bottomless bags. I’m sure the tables will be lovely.
Early tomorrow morning, I’ll work on clearing my office desk. After Elegante Mother’s salon appointment, and a trip to the grocery to pick up the turkey, I’ll clear out the guest bedroom, and then organize my sewing table and bedroom. At that point we will be ready to begin cooking.
I’m going to make a pot of pasta e fagiole for dinner. Dear Husband will put together two large pans of lasagna, and I’ll bake dozens of rolls. We need to wash romaine for Caesar salad. I’d put together the broccoli casserole tomorrow night, but I think the turkey is going to take most of the room in refrigerator.
Soooooooo…maybe I need to hit the hay so I’ll be ready to face a busy day. I hope you’re all ready for the holiday. If I don’t make it back to the computer before Thursday, we wish you a happy Thanksgiving, filled with loved ones and joy.

As Thanksgiving nears, my time is at a premium, and it seems that blogging is the first pleasure to get cut. It’s nigh on bed time, but I thought I would post just a few more tidbits before hitting the hay.
The house I mourned is now gone. They didn’t burn it to the ground, they tore it apart with bulldozers. I drove past last week to see the chimney on the east side of the house standing free, and about a quarter of the west side of the house waiting for the axe. Wednesday night as we drove bye there was just a chimney, and Thursday even the chimney was gone. As you all guessed, the land is being combined with other plots to make a 50 acre development. In this economy, I don’t see how they got the funding. I don’t know yet how it’s going to be developed. I just know that a wonderful house is gone so that someone can line their pockets.
On a happier note… on Wednesday night we bought the first gas for less than $2.00!!! I didn’t think we were going to see it, when prices stalled out at $2.13 or so, but there was a quick slide downhill this week. We bought half a tank at $1.989, and as I gloated a station nearer to us dropped their prices to $1.949! I heard someone from Marathon on the radio this morning state that we have about $.70 in taxes per gallon on our gas in the Chicago area, as opposed to $.55/per gallon downstate. I’d be really happy to see the price drop some more after this past year.
Yesterday I spent the day keeping busy to keep my mind off the fact that I was preparing for a colonoscopy this morning. Actually the day was not a hardship, other than the absolutely rank salty solution you have to drink. This time I was to add 1.5 fluid ounces of “Stuff” to four ounces of water and drink it. I had to chug it, and then gulp water to cut the terrible taste. It sure works. You want to be home for the evening!
The test, when it finally got underway, went well, and the doc gave me a clean bill of health. We arrived at the surgery center at the appointed time, and were told that I was not on their schedule. Then, they said, “Well, Dr. XXX thought he had a test scheduled…but he JUST LEFT!” I was going to go ballistic, but they said they would call his office (when it opened in 15 minutes) and have them page him. It all worked out. Doc returned and was very calm, which calmed me. Dear Husband was my designated driver. He held my wedding rings and waited for me, then drove me home. I went back to bed and slept until 2:30. Thank God they didn’t have to postpone the test!!!
And the last tidbit for the day..Ed got to visit with the vet. He started favoring a paw on Wednesday. Or, perhaps he had been favoring it, and we just noticed it. I called and got an appointment with our favorite vet and she saw him Thursday afternoon. It turns out that since he has not been going outside, his claws are not getting worn down as they used to. A claw on his left front foot had curled around and was pressing on the pad. He’s all trimmed now, and digging on the furniture. I think he’s going to get a scratching post for Christmas, maybe even a little early! lol
I hope you are all enjoying November. Those of you who are hosting guests for Thanksgiving, I hope you are organized and ready. Those of you who are guests, HELP WITH THE DISHES! *G* Stay safe!

Thursday, as I sat at the computer, I looked up and out the window in time to see a heron fly by. I suspect that will be my last glimpse of a heron for six months or so. I haven’t seen an egret since late in October.
The window washer came last week. We’ve hired a new company, and for just $15 more, they do both inside AND outside windows, and the chandelier. Such a deal! He even washed the screens for me! The landscape men came and put the gardens to bed for the winter. I still need to do some raking, and I need to remove the tags from the new shrubs. Dear Husband moved the container garden pots into the garage for the winter. I’m going to try to winter over three geraniums I particularly liked. We had our first snow today. I don’t think anything has accumulated.
The cookies have been baked and sent off to four college students. I started working on the cookies very early on Thursday so that they would be ready to be mailed off at mid-day. I’m not sure what I was thinking. Had I made the cookies 2″ as the recipe calls for, I would have had TWENTY DOZEN COOKIES! I tend to make them over-sized, roughly three or three and a half inches across, so I ended up with 13 dozen. One of the kids e-mailed to say the package had arrived.
I’ve swapped the wreath on the fireplace for one more seasonal. I have silk flowers ready to go for a new arrangement for Elegante Mother’s room in rusts and golds. I have a neutral ceramic container that is about 24″ tall, and I plan to create a bouquet for the front entry way of dried teasel and milkweed pod. Once I start the bouquet, I’ll know if I need to add cat tails or eucalyptus. I think I have seasonal wire-edged ribbon, but I’d better check. One more thing to add to my shopping list.
One of my nieces has been organizing my life, specifically, my closets. She has a rule. If you haven’t used it in the last year, you don’t need it. When I obsessed over a pair of gorgeous dress flats that I may not be able to wear any longer, she let me keep them. But everything else went. My clothing closet, the linen closet, the kitchen pantry, the Tupperware drawer and the mudroom pantry are all gorgeous! I was working in the kitchen, trying to take the gum from labels off canning jars. When I went looking for the Skin So Soft, it was gone. I asked her about it a day later, and she said the container “looked old.” I’ll have to get another. Goo Gone smells worse than Skin So Soft!
Elegante Mother saw her doc on Friday and was given a clean bill of health. On Saturday she was ill. I suspect that she may have picked up a bug from the temporary care-giver, whose one year old daughter was under the weather. The care-giver called this weekend to tell me that she had been called for jury duty. It’s just as well. This will give EM more time to recuperate.
Saturday, I made “Vernice Kastman Swedish Refrigerator Rolls” for the church bake sale. Don’t tell My-Sister-The-Nurse. She adores those rolls and doesn’t seem to be able to make them for herself. I was talking with one of my nieces about Thanksgiving, and mentioned those rolls. She said, “I’m 40 and I’ve only managed to snag five of them!” MSTN steals bags of them, and hides them in her bedroom. Her children know better than to ask for one.
Thanksgiving…..I think there will be about 40 people here. So, now you know what all the preparation is about! *G*
I hope you’ve all been enjoying the Fall, and are ready for the holidays. They’re almost upon us.

I’m having a terrible time staying awake! I’ve only had six or so hours of sleep, and that’s about two, perhaps two and a half, too few. If I stay at the computer, I’m going to nod off. I have a number of things to do that will keep me on my feet, so that is the game plan for the day.
I need to collect the decorations for the Thanksgiving tables all in one place, out of the way. I have a few things that need to go to the basement to be stored while we have guests here. I have a Fall themed wreath to put up in the living room. I need to make gazillions of chocolate chip cookies for four kids in college. I want to send off some care packages for the last week before Thanksgiving. The boxes are ready to go except for the cookies and name tags.
We are collecting things for the troops for Christmas. I’ve started the tubes for neck coolers in camouflage materials. We still have to insert the crystals that swell and hold water, and sew the ends shut. I also need to sew binding for the last two quits, and stitch it to the fronts of the quilts. Then I could sit with D.H. and hand sew at night.
I still need to put together the head count for Thanksgiving at our house, but if I sit to do that, I’ll be a goner. It will have to wait until I’ve had a nap.
So…..I better get myself in gear, or I will STILL be here hours from now, sawing logs. I hope you’re all having good fall!

Dear Husband, Elegante Mother and I made a long weekend trip to visit my youngest sis and her family, in Indiana, this weekend. I wasn’t sure at first that we would get to go. D.H. called me at mid-day to warn me that the job he was on was not moving forward well, and he might have to work on Friday. I was capable of driving E. M. and myself to Nan’s but I really didn’t want to go without him. We are only two weeks into the non-boating season, too early to be apart. Besides, I enjoy these trips with D.H.
At any rate, he was able to move things through, but we didn’t leave for Indiana until sometime past 5:30. We make a stop halfway through this trip, so it takes us easily five hours to get there. We could make it in three and a half, if we took the tollways, and if we risked flying low part of the way, but that’s not what this trip was about. It felt rather like being in a cocoon, as we drove through the dark fields. It took us an hour to get out of the suburban area that surrounds Chicago. At that point, we saw the lights on harvesters where farmers were out combining the corn in the dark, and there were lights on the farmhouses that were scattered through the fields. Otherwise, the dark closed in around the car. I used my brights to illuminate the sides of the road, so that I’d be aware of any deer getting ready to cross the roads.
The trip went smoothly, We arrived a little earlier than I expected, but we crossed a time zone line, so we got in about 11:30 Indiana time. Normally, I would have slept in my own bed on Thursday night, and made the trip on Friday morning, but we really wanted to have as many hours as possible to share with family. I was surprised that E.M. was awake a great deal of the way.
Gas……when we left the far west suburbs of Chicago, gas was in a range of $2.69 to $2.79. When we left central Indiana, we purchased gas for $2.11 a gallon, and that was the rock bottom price for the trip. By the time we got home, gas had dropped to $2.55. I want to know WHY I have to pay $.44 a gallon more? I know…the answer is “because they can charge it, and get away with it.” Not a good answer!
The color…..was STUNNING! We had missed the peak by a few days, but there were sharp reds, and oranges and yellows, and more muted golds and apricots and greens. There were trees that hadn’t begun to change, and trees that had no leaves! Everywhere you looked, it was just beautiful.
Nan and I gathered Osage oranges to use in our homes to deter the insects which want to take up housekeeping. She has made the acquaintance of a farmer who has a line of Osage orange trees along his field. She swaps him a home made apple crisp for the chance to pick up the windfalls. Dear Husband and I helped in the endeavor. Nan and her hubby have an apple tree just past their deck that is heavy with apples. DH pared, and I cored and sliced enough apples to make two pies and the apple crisp. IT was well worth the effort!
Nan enjoys cooking, especially when there is someone to share the bounty. She and her family eat more simply, as we do, during the week, but it’s fun to try recipes that you don’t normally have time to try. The first night they stuffed us with steak, baked potatoes (or sweet potatoes), sourdough bread, and a stir-fry of onions, red cabbage, Brussels sprouts and broccoli. The contrast of the green and purple was eye candy!
Nan had intended to do cioppino for lunch, but we got a late start. We went antiquing and shopping and were on our way home when hunger hit. We stopped at the “Apple Dumpling Inn.” I had a tuna salad sandwich that had small chunks of apple and walnuts that was incredibly good. Unfortunately, we were too full to have the baked apple dumplings for dessert. Duh! We could have brought some home with us! Too bad. We’ll just have to go back! *G*
Nan cooked the cioppino for dinner, and it was just right, with more of the sourdough bread. I’ve only cooked cioppino once, and that was after our trip to Alaska. I’d enjoyed it so much on the cruise that they gave me the recipe….for 60! As a Midwesterner, ciopinno is something new and fresh to experience. For those of you who live on or near the coasts, it’s old hat, something taken for granted. We really enjoyed it, and you can bet that should I ever get to travel through the coast areas of the US, I’ll be looking for more chances to sample it.
We were busy all day long Friday and Saturday. Saturday evening we all ended up in the sun-room, with the dog. My brother-in-law popped popcorn for us. I had the chance to work on a binding while we watched Mike Rowe, and his Dirty Jobs program, which is an odd way to end a day, but interesting. (More on that another day.)
Sunday, we ATE AGAIN!!! And sat and chatted for a little bit, before heading home. I hate to leave Nan’s home. We are always so comfortable there, and it’s nice to have the chance to catch up on each other’s lives.
So, it’s back to our regular chores. I need to have the car looked at (a mysterious clanging sound when we corner….swaybars, maybe), and I need to stock up on birdseed, return some items we bought for EM that don’t fit, work on Thanksgiving, and VOTE!!! I hope you’re all registered, and have been able to make up your minds. Go Vote! And have a great week!

I can’t believe I’ve missed blogging for so many days. Last week we sent ELegante Mother’s caregiver home with what sounded like a horrible cold. I cared for Mother, put in hours in the office, and managed the house. Our care-giver returned on Monday sounding much better, but this morning she called, and she’d been in an accident, and needed the day off. It was no hardship, since we planned to be home. Luckily she wasn’t hurt, and it sounds like it might have been just a fender bender.
One of my nieces came to give me a hand cleaning out closets. We brought up winter clothes for Elegante Mother, and my niece swapped the seasonal clothing, and reorganized Elegante Mother’s closet. We need to shop for cold weather slacks, long sleeved T-shirts, and long underwear for EM.
We stripped my closet, moving everything out to a sheet-covered bed, the floor, the bathroom counter, and the top of the dresser. I created a pile of things to throw away, a pile of things to give away, and a pile of seasonal things to be taken to the basement. As we went through stacks of things, she made me throw out anything that I hadn’t used in a year. She checked expiration dates on things from the pharmacy,and pitched anything that wasn’t from 2008. When we returned things to the closet I was astonished by the amount of space, and how bright it was. We actually had three empty shelves. She had even cleaned the light bulbs! During the next week, I plan to go through the drawers in the vanity. Next visit, we will work on the linen closet and the mudroom pantry. I love the feeling of being organized AND CLEAN!
Thursday, Dear Husband, Elegante Mother and I are going to Indiana to visit with my sis and her family. Nan has a three-day weekend beginning on Halloween, and we want to visit with them through Sunday morning. My stepson is willing to cat sit with Edward Scissorhands, so that he won’t be left alone.
Speaking of Edward….he’s still with us. I thought we might loose him early this year to kidney disease, but he’s still here. He does sleep more these days, and is going out less now that the weather has gotten cooler, but he’s eager to be among us, and comes to cuddle with me in the early morning and evenings. He was quite the champion hunter this summer!
I think the herons and egrets have gone south for the year. I haven’t seen either of them for about two weeks now. At an Empty Nester luncheon on Sunday, I learned that our goldfinches stick around for the winter, simply going to a duller color of plumage for the winter. All this time I thought they left for the south! We were also told that chickadees were harmed by the West Nile Virus. I knew the crows and blue jay population had suffered, but I thought only the larger birds were affected. We’ve seen a parent hawk showing a junior hawk how to sit on the lamp posts and survey the area for prey.
Sunday was Dear Husband’s birthday. Elegante Mother and I went to church, and then attended the Empty Nester’s luncheon. We went home, and I stole the opportunity to work on the lawn for a few hours, before the kids arrived. One of DH’s sons, and his daughter and her family joined us for dinner. We ordered from Magianno’s and there seemed to be something to satisfy everyone.
Wednesday is the birthday brunch for those at exercise who had birthdays in October. That includes me, so I’m glad they scheduled the breakfast on a day when we could attend. I hope to get Elegante Mother going early, so that we can make it to exercise first. After breakfast, we might do a little shopping if EM is up for it. Then, it’s home to get ready for our trip.
I hope you are all well, and that you are enjoying the fall weather and what’s left of the color. Even if the golds and reds are gone, I’ll enjoy the sights on our trip to Indiana. I’m looking forward to a little time away. Take care, all!