Cookie & Elsie a trois, Phil & Gale, Thanksgiving

Michael & Phil tried to golf Wednesday (11/27) morning, but only got in 7 holes before the temperature dropped too much.  So we spent a couple of hours in the kitchen, making carrot/potato mash and stuffing.  We both relaxed in the afternoon and no matter where we were working….we had company:

 

I finally finished GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn….WHAT a book…I know it has been on the best seller lists, but my friend Nancy read it and urged me to read it.  The writing was excellent, the story was totally new and it was a real page turner.  I would HIGHLY recommend this book.  Since we are having guests for Thanksgiving day, we decided to do puffy things and champagne for dinner Wednesday night.  Then it was snuggling on the couch until bedtime…heaven!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!  It was a very relaxing day with Phil & Gale:

 

You know, my hubby told me long, long ago that his tummy didn’t like apples, so I gave up my good apple pie recipe.  But then it seemed that every time we went anywhere and apple pie was available, he would eat it!  So…I decided to make one for Thanksgiving (since none of us likes pumpkin):

before baking (good thing I put it on a cookie sheet,
because it definitely leaked)

and after....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course we had our stuffing and carrot/potatoes keeping warm in crockpots:

 

 

along with the turkey and veggies.  We were all pleasantly full by the end of dinner and had a good time just sitting and talking.

Michael took the dog for a walk first thing Friday morning, and by the time he returned, Eric was here to install our grab bars in the bathroom.  We had one put in the shower and one on the side of the tub to make it easier to get out.  As he was leaving, Sally called and when she found out he was here, she asked him to come right over and install them in their house as well.  I put together sandwich bread dough, but when I went to bake it, I found out the oven quit working!!!  The good news is…thank goodness it didn’t happen on Thanksgiving…but the bad news is…no repair until next WEDNESDAY!!!!  Can you imagine me without an oven for 5 days???  So much for getting a jump on my Christmas baking.  Oh well, guess I’ll have to spend my time sewing  J.  We were going to visit with Sally & Jimmy anyway, so I took the dough over there to bake it.  Anyway, dinner was heated on the stovetop, and we watched “Julie & Julia” in the evening (which totally made me want to make something from Julia Child, so I ordered MASTERING THE ART OF FRENCH COOKING from the library.

Michael left super early on Tuesday (11/26) to hit WALMART for our Angel Tree gifts, then to his dentist for a checkup, then out to breakfast before heading home.  I finally got rid of all papers on my sewing table and started mapping out what I want to sew on next.  Joanne picked me up at 1 for S&C…after our meeting I have to say that I am disappointed in the number of people in this group who don’t seem to care if anyone new ever has a chance to join us.  It seems like most people just want to go and sit in their little groups, talking only to their specific friends.  One friend of mine said ‘if they feel that way, why don’t they just meet in one of their homes’.  Anyway, I left feeing vaguely down, but luckily Joanne always makes me laugh, so we had a good ride home.  Michael and I were supposed to go to the movies, but it was raining/sleeting all day, so we decided to stay home and watch a movie instead.  We had a terrific dinner….Michael peeled and cubed up a butternut squash, which I tossed with olive oil and sage and roasted in the oven.  When it was done, I tossed it with some sage butter and spaghetti, and I also made a loaf of artisan bread to go with it.  I have made artisan bread in over a year and it was INCREDIBLE!!!  Michael made popcorn to eat during the movie, but I had a dish of ice cream instead.

I spent a lot of Monday (11/25) trying to get through more papers and magazines while my wonderful husband did a lot of grocery shopping.  He said everywhere was a ZOO….and I’m not sure I have everything for Thanksgiving, but it will have to do!  Jan picked me up at 1 and we headed to the Verizon store.  She has a bunch of things she had to get set up on her new phone, and I got a lot of knitting done on my baby sweater while I was waiting (that’s the new baby sweater that I was 1/2 way done with, and had to rip out because I thought I was going to run out of yarn L).  Anyway, after that we made a quick stop at Joann’s, at Chik-fil-a to split one of their peppermint/chocolate milk shakes, yet another grocery store, and then finally home around 5 PM.  Michael and I had hamburgers for dinner and watched TV and knit the rest of the night.

Michael had a very late tee time on Saturday (11/23) so didn’t get home until 3 PM.  I knit for most of the day, except for a short visit from Jan to joyfully show off her completed patriotic lap robe, and taking time out to make butter bun dough for dinner.  We both got cleaned up and left at 5 for dinner with Lisa and Dean.  And what a fabulous dinner it was…a standing rib roast, both white and sweet potatoes, salad, green beans and the afore mentioned buns.  She made blackberry bars for dessert and everything was just wonderful.  We played PASSWORD after dinner and it was a hoot!  Their home was also a real treat for me…quilts EVERYWHERE!!!  We were both sad to leave at the end of the night.

Sunday morning (11/24)  we were up early and left before 9 for our zip line adventure in Rock Hill.  Now we’ve been zip lining at least 4 times before, so I didn’t think anything of it.  Even though it was a freezing cold day, we dressed warmly and were mostly all right except for our frozen fingers.  To start off zip lining, you climb a high tower…which I correctly (and totally luckily guessed) was 105 steps up.  Michael went across first, and I was next.  I cannot tell you how frightened I was when I looked down at the ground, which was FAR FAR away!  I was sitting on the egde of the tower, ready to drop off and all I wanted to do was to tell the guy to unhook me and let me walk back down.  It was just sheer force of will that got me to go off of that tower.  I never thought I had a fear of heights, but I guess I do a tiny bit because I thought my heart was going to jump right out of my chest, it was beating so hard and so loud.  There were 3,472 feet of zip lines and I think I was nervous on most of them.  As we got lower and lower, most of the nervousness came from the fact that I was having a hard time using my right hand on the line to slow down as I came to the next platform.  I have no idea what that was all about, luckily I only slammed my knee on one platform.  There were 9 of us doing it and they were all a great bunch of people.  About 1/2 way through I got so warm that I wanted to take my coat off, but knew I wouldn’t be able to carry it and zip along at the same time.  One of the guys in the group was freezing, so he wore my jacket the rest of the way…win, win!  We got home after 1 PM and both of us just sat in the living room, with the fire on and ice on our knees (Michael also slammed one of his knees into a tree).  We were both just beat!!!  We finally roused ourselves and headed over to Susan’s for dinner (I brought soup and cornbread, she made a fruit salad and Evelyn and Phil brought ginger cookies) and to play FARKLE.  FARKLE is a new dice game that Susan learned to play and she wanted to teach us.  We modified the rules just a bit and had a great time.  We came home around 9 and watched TV for just a bit before heading for bed.

living room, fall wall hanging

Michael made a quick stop at the grocery store on Friday night and bought us bagels for Saturday morning (11/22) breakfast.  They were yummy and I spent a bit of time afterwards trying to put our living room back in order from the art crawl (pile on left chair is what I’m keeping, pile on right is what I’m donating):

 

and purging masses of papers, magazines and books under my side table.  Many years ago, Leila made me a pinwheel block out of stained glass.  For several years it hung on our front door…until the command hook finally let go (by some miracle, the block didn’t break and it now resides safely sitting on a living room window).  Anyway, I’ve always wanted to put something else up on the door, and as I was putting away the craft stuff, I noticed a Christmas wall hanging that would do.  But since it’s not yet Thanksgiving, I ran downstairs to get this:

 

 

 

 

I figure I’ll put up the Christmas one next week!  At 1 PM I left and dropped off things at 3 houses on my way to Marilyn’s to fill out the ornaments for our Angel Tree which will start next Sunday.  That took several hours, then I hit the bank and delivered something else on the way home.  I took a nap once I got there (my plantar fasciitis has flared up over the past couple of weeks and sometimes the pain just makes me tired) and finally got up in time to see Michael putting up our Christmas lights.  We won’t light them yet, but Michael tries to get them up on a warm-ish day.  We were supposed to go to the theatre in the evening, but both of us were beat, so we cancelled out tickets and stayed home to eat leftover soup, snuggle and knit and watch TV.

Christmas cactus

Thursday morning (11/19) my terrific honey packed all of my quilting stuff in the car and away I went J, but not before checking out his Christmas cactus in the laundry room.  He has 2 of them in there now and one has flowers in the most gorgeous shades of deep pink:

I had a wonderful time at quilting…Jan and I continued to work on our newest charity quilts.  I finally got home around 1 and spent a lot of the afternoon doing paperwork.  I didn’t have to make dinner tonight because my honey made halushki’s (cabbage and noodles) for dinner, so I sat and relaxed and read my latest book.  I am on the 4^th book of the Someday Quilts Mystery Books by Clare O’Donohue and I LOVE them….murder mysteries with a bit of quilting thrown in.  After dinner we settled in to watch TV and knit.

another baby sweater

Wednesday morning (11/20) Michael grilled chicken breasts for me so that I could get Mexican Chicken Soup in the crockpot.  I continued to divide up my craft items between what I’m keeping and what I’m donating, when Jan called me at 12:!5.  Wednesday was the day to get tables for the craft sale in December, and they were starting to assign them at 2 PM….but by NOON people were already lining up.  So, Willa picked me up and we headed up there.  I read my book until it was my turn, got a table and we were home by 3.  I got corn bread put together and baked and at 6 PM, Anne came over for a quart of soup and some corn bread and as she left, she met Donna coming to get the same thing.  Michael and I finally got to sit down and have our dinner (and simple though it was, it was YUMMY…my favorite dinner in the winter…soup and bread) and watch TV.  I got another baby sweater done and started on a 4^th one before bed:

Michael had an early morning doctor’s appointment on Tuesday (11/19) giving me a chance to finally get caught up on the blog.  He swung by to pick me up afterwards and take me out for breakfast.  We read the paper and had a leisurely breakfast at IHOP, then stopped to visit with Sally & Jimmy on the way home.  Michael took Cookie out for a walk and I got a bit of paperwork done before heading to Stitch & Chat at the Lake House.  There were lots of people to talk to there, and I stayed a bit late to talk to the head of the choral club before getting home at 4.  I called Jan and we both made a quick trip to the grocery store.  By the time I got home, Michael had eaten a PB&J sandwich for dinner and was ready to leave for the movies with Larry.  Donna stopped by to check out a display stand I have to use at a craft fair on Dec 7^th, and I spent the rest of the night knitting.  My newest baby sweater is all put together….I’m just working on the I-cord tie right now.

art crawl pics

I was up early Thursday (11/14) to bake the croissants and head off to quilting.  There was a huge sale at a local fabric manufacturer’s, so I thought there would only be a few people at quilting…boy, was I wrong….there were 17 people at quilting.  I didn’t even take enough croissants to feed 1/2 of them, so I didn’t put them out…just shared them with a few people.  When I got up in the morning, I felt like the reflective aluminum was already working, it didn’t seem like our furnace was cycling on nearly as much as before, even though the outside temp was 21 degrees….brr_r_r_r.  Michael didn’t leave until 11 for golf, so at least it had a chance to warm up.  I read a bit in the afternoon and took a nap, and when Michael got home (with an 85) and got cleaned up, we left for dinner at Ruby Tuesday’s.  We had a very leisurely meal and watched TV and knit once we got home.

Friday (11/15) was all about setting up for the Art Crawl during the day,

kitchen table

island display

dry bar

front of living room

coffee table

Michael's reading chair

me knitting away....

Lynne knitting away....

Beth knitting away.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and watching TV and knitting in the evening.

 

We were up early Saturday (11/16) to complete a bunch of tasks before the hoard descended.  No, that is not a typo, no hoard(S), just hoard….about a dozen people….all of that work…what a bust!  The good part was, Lynne & Beth came to help me and we spent a good bit of time sitting in the front hall way, knitting and talking and having a good time  J.  The crawl was over at 3, and we had a quick dinner before picking up Jan & Walt and heading into Charlotte for a Paul McCartney tribute singer & band.  They played many of Paul’s wonderful songs, and a few Beatles songs to round out the night.

Sunday (11/17) we had a  leisurely breakfast and once again got ready for the hoard to descend.  Surprisingly, Sunday was a much better attended day than Saturday and as an example, Michael completely sold out of his alcohol ink note cards J.  The crawl was over at 4 Pm, and at 4:01 Michael popped the cork on a bottle of champagne.  We had flounder with crab stuffing and a potato side dish for dinner and celebrated for the rest of the evening.

Monday (11/18) started out with Michael leaving for golf, and me heading off to a Volunteer meeting.  There was a luncheon after the meeting, put on by our insurance agent (our homeowners and auto policies are up for renewal) and after a quick trip to the library, I finally got home around 2.  Jan came for a visit around 2:30 and we had a lovely chat, after which we visited with Willa and Beth before getting back around 4:30.  I read a bit of my new library book and at 5:45 we left to pick up Joanne and Larry to head to the movies.  The 4 of us (along with 200 other SCCL residents) scored free passes to see an advanced screening of SAVING MR. BANKS.  What a FABULOUS movie!!!!!  It will be out in December and EVERYONE should go see it…Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks are wonderful…the story is heartwarming without being schmaltzy in the least.  We were home by 9:30 and read for a bit before bed.

orange pound cake, almond croissants

I made a quick trip to the library Wednesday morning (11/13) but was back in time for Michael to make me oatmeal for breakfast and then to settle in for my long talk with Janice.  Michael finally took off for golf (there was a 1 hour frost delay) and he eventually came home with an 86.  I spent the morning mending 2 pairs of his jeans, and around NOON the guys showed up to work on our attic.  They are sealing all of the ceiling fixtures to prevent air loss from the house, and then covering the entire attic with this reflective aluminum.  When I found out they hadn’t had any lunch, I made 3 PB & J sandwiches with chips and gave them each a piece of chocolate for dessert J.  Before they left, they asked me if I had made the jam (the only thing I had open was my homemade peach jam).  One of the young men told me it reminded him of the jam his great gamma made…high praise indeed!  I made an orange flavored pound cake just after dinner (still searching for the perfect pound cake): 

 Although Michael gave it an 8-1/2 out of 10, it didn’t have the dense texture I was looking for (and when I said it should get better tasting after a couple of days, he said it wouldn't be around that long!!!)  We watched a bit of TV, then I put together almond croissants and slid them into the fridge

 

 

so that I could bake them Thursday morning and take some to quilting.

bread & cookies, soap, Elsie & Cookie a cinq

I made bread dough on Monday, but never got it baked, so that was the first order of business Tuesday (11/12) morning (as well as a few white chocolate/craisen/nut cookies for Michael's cookie jar).  We also had an 8 AM meeting with the energy people from the night before, and Matthew really enjoyed the fresh bread as well J. 

 

 We haven’t seen Susan in forever, so I ran 1/2 a loaf over to her (and later in the afternoon she brought us some yummy beef veggie soup she had been making in her crockpot).  Once the energy guy left, Michael took off for BJ’s and I headed out to unmold, cut and shave my soap:

my bowl of shavings...I'm really going to have to make it into
new soap one of these days....

All boxed up and ready to cure for 4 weeks

Nancy came by around 12:45 to buy one of my trendy totes as a gift, and then gave me a lift to Stitch & Chat.  I got home around 3:30 and had a nice phone call with Ginny, she’s recently taken up alcohol ink painting and so she had a nice long talk with Michael as well.  Michael ran to FIGARO’s for pizza for dinner, then he and Larry left for the movies (12 years a slave), while I stayed home to knit.  We’ve had a recent cold snap and I don’t know if they’re huddling together for warmth or what but here’s the progression of the evening:

charity hats, Elsie & Cookie a duex, new shawls

Even though we got up very late, I made pecan pancakes for breakfast on Sunday (11/10).  Michael felt like he barely had an hour to relax before Sandy picked him up at 12:30 and they headed off for the last performance.  By then the day had warmed up a bit, and I spent an hour or so in the garage, mixing up another batch of lavender soap.  It is incubating and I hope to unveil it on Tuesday morning.  I read the paper a bit, then got cleaned up and went over to pick up Jan.  We went to the wake for our fellow quilter, who died last Friday.  There were TONS of people there (she was one of 11 siblings) and we didn’t get home until after 6.  I made a plate of cheese and crackers and sat down to watch a movie, convinced that Michael and Sandy wouldn’t be home until 9 (the actors had to strike the set after the last performance), but they called at 6:45 and said they were on their way home and were starving!!!  I heated up tortellinis and sauce, along with a couple of meatballs I found in the freezer.  We sat and talked for a bit once they got home, then Sandy headed for home, and Michael jumped in the whirlpool tub to relax and read his book a bit, and then get right into bed.  I took a whirlpool when he was done, but didn’t let the water out when I finished.  In the first place…it makes lots of gurgle-y slurpy sounds when it is emptying (and I wanted to get to sleep) and in the second place, since Michael didn’t use any bubble bath, I figured I could water my plants with it J.  You know what they say….waste not, want not!

 It was only 36 degrees when Michael left for golf on Monday (11/11)….brrr_r_r_r!  Barrie arrived at 9:30 and we headed out to stuff mailboxes with flyers for our art crawl this weekend.  We spent a couple of hours doing that, then Barrie had to leave (taking most of my charity hats with her for donation to the local elementary school.  She left 2 behind that she said were newborn size.  I have added them to the box of baby sweaters I hope to have done for winter 2014 and eventual donation to the Pregnancy Care Center in a local town):

 

Jan picked up the gauntlet of delivering flyers and went around with me for a couple of hours.  By the time Michael got home, there were only a few more streets that had to be done, and we were finished by 3:30.  He left to get a haircut (his hair is SO LONG because the director didn’t want him to cut it before the play was done) and was home by 4:30.  He hopped in the shower (with his faithful companions waiting nearby on the fainting couch in the bedroom):

 

 

 

And FINALLY…..before we left for dinner at THE BIG VIEW…..2 new shawls finished:

this picture really doesn't do the fabric justice

 

Thank goodness…I don’t know what my problem has been (oh..new library books may have been part of it J), but I finally finished those shawls.  Our dinner was with 50 other people, talking with an energy conservation group.  They have a lot of energy saving technology for your home and we are considering implementing some of it.

Elsie & Cookie, soap, rice krispy treats

Michael had a 1 hour frost delay on Saturday (11/9) so he had time to make an omelet for breakfast before leaving at 9.  I spent about 2 hours in the morning working on a Christmas present, then it was back to slaving over the newest shawls.  I had company while I worked:

When Michael came home (with an 82!!!!) he helped me to unmold and shave the eucalyptus soap:

 

Then he had a quick nap and a quicker dinner and got ready to leave for the play.  I made chocolate topped rice krispy treats for him to take:

 

(a change from the peanut butter brownie cups I made for him to take on Friday night) and after he left I read a new book for a bit and then watched TV and knit until he got home at 11:30.

I got an early morning call on Friday (11/8) from Willa (friend and president of Scrap Happy Quilters) telling me that one of our Thursday quilters had passed away quite unexpectedly….very sobering news for so early in the morning.  I spent a bit of time in the morning working on my shawls, and most of the afternoon reading the first in a new series of books combining quilting and murder…what could be better (except cooking and murder where they give you recipes as well  J).  Ann Mary and Jim picked me up at 5 AM and 8 more of us went out to dinner at BONEFISH before heading to the theatre to see Michael.  He didn’t know I was coming…and I saw his face change when he heard my signature ‘woo, woo’ while applauding J.  He rushed out as soon as he changed his costume and gave me a big hug and asked what I was doing there.  I told him Ann Mary had an extra ticket and I decided to come along and surprise him.  I rode home with Michael and Sandra and we discussed the play and the cast the entire way home.  This play has been jinxed almost from the beginning, and when they finally finish Sunday night (and we’re sure nothing else can go wrong) I’m going to list everything they’ve been through.

fat halves for Debra, baby sweater

I was up early on Thursday (11/7) to pull together the rest of my stuff to take to quilting (it seems I always look like a pack mule when I go….just call me Sherpa).  One of the things I took was a stack of 1/2 yard pieces of fabric for one of the newer ladies that doesn’t have any stash (how tragic!!)  Someone suggested we throw her a fabric shower, and little by little people have been bringing stuff in.  BG sent down several pieces from CT, so I finally got those folded and tied together and took them in for Debra:

 

Jan and I got everything ironed and cut out for 2 charity quilts that we are going to work on.  I got home around 1, and ended up taking a nap on the couch with my honey & Cookie!  Oh well, so much for lots to do J.  I finally got moving in the late afternoon and did errands at the bank, library and grocery store before heading home.  By then Michael was eating dinner and he took off at 5:30 for another performance.  I spent the evening sewing on shawls for a bit, and then working on the baby sweater, which I managed to finish before he got home:

 

soap making, Cookie & Elsie a duex, challah

Michael left for golf on Wednesday (11/6) and I got bread dough put together before my 9 AM talk with Janice.  I think we talked at warp speed to get everything in, ion 45 minutes!  After that I had a long talk with a venue where I might be displaying/selling some of my crafts.  I got all of my questions answered and Michael and I might take a ride to look at the place later this week or next.  By then it was after 1 and Michael was home (with an 87) and able to take some ‘action shots’ of me making eucalyptus soap:

checking the temperature of my lye mixture

adding in the olive oil (note convenient whiskey containers!

adding in castor oil

I ran downstairs at one point to start to pack up my stuff for quilting on Thursday and saw this:

hey!  I was already here.

Oh well, I guess you don't take up THAT much room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We both had leftovers for dinner and by then the bread dough had risen and was ready for baking:

brushing with egg wash

a little sprinkle of poppy seeds

viola!

I made 2 loaves, one as a gift for Evelyn (woman who had her Bat Mitzvah last Saturday) and the other as a thank you for Linda at Thursday quilting.  I took Evelyn’s down to her house while it was still warm and she called about 45 minutes later to tell me it was heavenly!!