Hello 4am......Ugh

Spent the weekend crafting, painting, sewing, and creating. Last night finished up a pile of rocks. Must have been overly stimulated as couldn't fall asleep until midnight. Then, woke up at 4am!  What the heck!!!  Got up this morning and sealed the rocks so they will be ready to hide today.

Turned in some more DVD's for credit on Saturday. Grabbed a variety of older movies including For Whom the Bell Tolls. Ingrid Bergman and Gary Cooper so figured it would be great.

Well not so much. Long, slow and I just couldn't get through it. Gary Cooper aka Mr. Deeds playing a guerilla fighter and Swedish Ingrid playing a Spanish  revolutionary.  C'mon.  At one point thought it was coming to an end then the Intermission screen comes up. At that point it was time for a new movie!

Here's to making it a good week.  I actually have a test for a job this coming Wednesday. Think positive!!

Haul Out the Holly!

Welcomed in the holiday season by hauling in the Christmas tree this morning.  Easy task as it's already decorated - just had to remove the cling wrap.

Brought in a few wreaths, Christmas quilts, and snowmen. Still need to lug my huge porch snowman in from the garage. Also hung up my holiday shoe from sis Eilene and Santa Baby created by sis Erin, which means the yuletide has begun!!

Watched Miracle on 34th Street this morning and now I'm starting Starman. Love them both!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone!

Put the turkey in at 10am and it was done about 12:30. We ended up eating at 1:30 and the food was yummy. So nice when the turkey turned out juicy - nothing worse than dry turkey breast!

Was able to enjoy the dinner with Steve, Sam, Jordan and Candy, and Jimmy. Nice to catch up with everyone!

Steve hit the road about 4pm to enjoy another meal at his sister's house. It's the first holiday without his mom so I knew he wanted to be with his dad. Holidays can be so hard when you've experienced a loss, especially of your mother.

Now it's evening and all are gone so I'm watching Pride and Prejudice.  Is it too soon for a turkey sandwich? 😆

Frustrations of Pie

Made a peach pie this summer; fruit was too ripe so turned out mushy and promptly went into the trash. Last month tried to make a huckleberry pie. Taste seemed off to me so that one was also round filed. This morning just put an apple pie in the oven for Thanksgiving. I have high hopes that this one will turn out just right. Cross your fingers for me!!

A Waste of Time

Sis Julie gave me a Pampered Chef cookie press a few years ago that she didn't care to use. It's been hanging around and I finally tested it out tonight and understand her point completely!

The shooting press works but it doesn't cling to the cookie sheet. Granted, I was using a Silpat pad not an untreated sheet so perhaps the dough wasn't gripping correctly. Reading through the materials, it referenced using their stone baking wear, which has much more grip.

I gave up and hand formed the cookies. I'll tackle the press another day but have to agree that for tonight I'm with Julie's thoughts on the press as she so eloquently wrote on the instructions.

From Hepburn to Pasta

Been watching a lot of Katherine Hepburn movies, including a set that includes Spencer Tracy. She was quite the interesting character. Looked up her biography - she came from a very liberal background with educated parents and a mother who was an early feminist. In her youth she kept her hair short and asked to be called Jimmy.  So enlightening to be able to easily find background data on everything as I'm watching these classic movies.

Along with rocks, I've been playing around with driftwood painting.  Wandering Willow Grove, some of the driftwood just screams out to me what it needs to become.  Found this piece that looked like a stack of books so that's what it has become.

Made a nice pasta salad today. Pasta salads are one of the easiest dishes to create and you can use just about anything in them.  Today I made a bacon ranch shell salad. Didn't have ranch dressing on hand so found an Ina Garten recipe on line for it as shown below. Threw in peas, cheese, celery, and olives along with crispy bacon. My little Stubbs stayed underfoot hoping to snag a wayward piece of pork.

Tomorrow I begin preparing for Thanksgiving by whipping up an apple pie. I'm going to try and get as much done the day before so it will make the day easy. 

Lazy Thursday

Oh it was an out and out lazy day today!  Just didn't feel like doing a darn thing!

Although I'm not a night owl, have been staying up later. Went to bed at 1am, woke at 7 am and crawled out of bed about 8:30. Made my way downstairs for coffee then vegged on the couch watching classic movies. All. Day. Long.

Okay, I did get up to paint rocks, lacquer driftwood, and begin creating a mermaid. And this evening I actually cleaned the kitchen. Other than that, I hung out in last night's pajamas all day.

They say it's good to take a break now and then from life so that was my Thursday. 😊