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.
Lists
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!
What kind of witch are you?
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.
Fall Garden Work
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.
Moving In
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!
Bookshelves
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*
Timberrrrrrrrrrrrr
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!
TWO!!
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!
Busy, Busy!
I think this has been the busiest October in the past 20 years! Mother and I have the usual standing appointments at the salon. We go to exercise three mornings a week, shop for groceries at least twice a week, visit the library, the bank, and the post office. We’re normally pretty busy, and that doesn’t take into account the office work I do.
October is one of the busiest birthday months for my family. Dear Husband and I both have birthdays in October, as well as one of my sisters, his brother, and a slew of nieces and nephews.
We traveled to Indiana to see one of my nieces compete in Marching Band. Elegante Mother and I watched one of her great grandsons act a role in a “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” We visited the Farmer’s Market, and ate out five or six times. We traveled to the far North side of Chicago to have dinner with one of my nieces and her husband last night.
We’ve shopped, and gardened. I shared my quilts with the ladies of My-Sister-The-Nurse’s church, and the Empty Nester’s from EM’s church came for their monthly visit. We visited with a church member who is going to machine quilt four quilts that we’ve made for the church bazaar.
We’ve enjoyed amazingly warm weather for most of the month and we’re hoping it lasts through tomorrow night, when kids will be out celebrating Halloween. We don’t expect to have visitors, but we’re prepared, just in case they should come. Our drive is too long, and too dark to make it profitable for kids to trick or treat at our house, but a lot of visitors would bring this month to an appropriate end.
I enjoyed everything we did, but I could use one day of calm a week. It would be nice to be able to build up reserves so that I could go full tilt the rest of the week. Oddly, Tuesday seems to be the only candidate at the moment, and it looks like it could be swallowed up, too!
We’re just busy people!
Hearing, or Not…
It appears that hearing is becoming an issue for more than just Elegante Mother. Now, if I want to talk with Dear Husband, I need his attention. I’d LIKE to say that I’m fine, but it’s possible that I’ve lost some of my hearing as well.
It occurred to me that we should be learning sign language. (To Dear Husband: NO, not THAT kind of sign language!) If our hearing continues to deteriorate, we may need to be able to sign to communicate.
I hear a high pitched electrical white noise, especially when the house is quiet, or when I’m drifting off to sleep. At one time in my life, I was a grade school band director, so I’m not surprised to find that I may be loosing my hearing. Dear Husband has worked on construction sites for most of his life, around all sorts of saws and mixers. I’m sure the noise has hurt his hearing.
It’s time we both had our hearing tested.
Then, when he leads me astray, and I ask,”What!?” I can smack him for his awful puns!