1st Christmas Post of the Season

This is the year that I will send Christmas cards and I will not be wrapping Christmas gifts on Christmas eve!

That’s right, I’m thinking about all that has to be done before the holidays and I’m getting it organized in my head and on paper and have actually begun to check some items off the “to do” list already.

Yesterday I purchased this picture that I have already hung in the kitchen to replace one that I had of autumn pumpkins. I’ve decided that in an effort to make this easier I am putting away all signs of fall so I will be ready to decorate the day after Thanksgiving (after I get home from shopping). I have always kept all my fall decorations out until after Thanksgiving because I have the Thanksgiving meal at my house. However, Thanksgiving seems to be late this year and so I may go with a different plan.

Ok fellow bloggers, when do you all get out your Christmas decorations? Would the Thanksgiving dinner be ruined by a few signs of Christmas? I’m getting anxious to get the Christmas stuff out, are you?

New Contacts

I've worn contact lenses since 1970, I started out with hard lenses and then after many years moved onto gas permeable which I have worn until Friday! This past Friday was my introduction to soft lenses. They are so comfortable and I can see much better at night to drive, no glare, so they sound just about perfect and I'm almost wondering why it has taken me so long to get them. There is one small hitch, one big difference between gas perm and soft lenses and that is that I have to put my fingers in my eyes to take them out and I'm having a really hard time with that.

I have acrylic fingernails and that may be part of the problem, I'm afraid I'll tear them, or I don't know, I'm afraid if I get the tips of my fingers in to pull out the lenses that my nails will scratch my eye... I'm not sure what my problem is. Tonight I decided to take them out about 8 p.m. and somehow I managed to move the contact off my eyeball and I lost it in my eye.... of course my first reaction was to panic.....which was not productive at all. Then I called my daughter who works at Lenscrafters and surely has dealt with other uncoordinated customers....her advice was to keep trying and add a bit of saline solution. So I kept at it, and prayed, and finally got it out. My husband suggested that maybe I should have gotten a new pair of glasses instead of soft lenses!

So wish me luck... I'm going to give it another shot tomorrow!

Blogger Block

I haven’t been blogging lately, but I’ve continued to read all of the blogs I enjoy. I just wasn't feeling the need to blog or didn't have anything to blog about! Last week, or was it the week before? I made soap. I used to make it and sell it but when I got a real job with regular hours and a regular paycheck I stopped making soap. Now I make about 4 pounds about once a year so I have it to give as Christmas gifts. As I was smelling the various fragrance oils that I use for soap making I was thinking I really should do it more often….but my weekends are usually busy and it takes me about 5 hours to make a batch of soap from start to finish so I need a whole day and I don’t usually have a whole day.

Today is the first day of November already and I am hoping that this is the year I am ready for Christmas in time to sit down and enjoy it. I am off to a good start, Molly and I did some Christmas shopping yesterday and I was able to check a couple names off my list. Of course most of what I bought was for her! But she promises to forget about everything she picked out and be surprised come Christmas morning.

Anyone else planning to be organized and ready for Christmas this year and not have to be wrapping gifts on Christmas Eve?

Snowing in October!!!

Last week before the leaves even have had a chance to turn colors and fall off the trees, we had a winter storm....I'm calling it that because we got a couple inches of snow along with some rain and cold weather. Because the leaves were still on the trees there was a lot of damage to trees everywhere with the heavy snowfall we received. Here is what our front yard looked like after the snow... and tomorrow it is supposed to be in the mid-60's.... Welcome to fall in Central Pennsylvania!

Halloween Cat

Yesterday I met Molly at the mall for dinner and since I got there early I had time to look around a bit and I found this cute ole black cat dressed up for Halloween, and since they were only $1 (what a great buy!) each, I bought one for Molly's apartment, my neice's apartment and one for me to bring to work. This morning I put my cat on my desk at work. I love the lavender feather!

This weekend my neice and my sister will be spending the weekend with us, more or less....so I'm looking forward to that and since it is the Oktoberfest here in our town, I haven't cooked a thing and don't plan to!

Finished Projects

Last weekend I posted a couple wall hangings that I finally finshed and listed in my etsy shop. I have quite a few partially finished projects around here! I'm working on getting them listed on my "to do" list. And from there its only a matter of time till I actually get working on them!

Anyone else with projects that aren't completed?

Mosaic Monday

Today's mosaic is mostly photos from my kitchen.... I like white and I like white pitchers... my collection started with a couple small pitchers. Check out the rest of the mosaics at the Little Red House

Beautiful weather today here in Central PA... I hope you are having beautiful weather where you are too!

Ocean Blue Round Robin

­­­­­­­­­Six months ago I sent out an empty block to the women in my Ocean Blue Round Robin. Each month the block went to a different home and the woman there worked on the block adding some stitching. My little block traveled from the United States all the way to Australia and New Zealand, it even spent time in Paris! Last week finally the block was returned to me and this is the result. This was my first round robin and I must say I really enjoyed it. I couldn’t wait for a new block to arrive each month to see the stitching on it and now I looking forward to another new round robin to be starting up soon.

More Projects

I forgot to post my projects from two weeks ago…I painted Molly’s high chair for my nephew Tucker to use when he comes to visit….after he’s done with it, his brother Evan will probably sit in it. I forgot to take the “before” photo so picture a high chair with the finish baked off from being stored in the attic for about 15 years.

The second photo is a sign I made for Molly to put above her laundry area. She has been wanting a sign and every time we went someplace where they might have a “laundry” sign we looked but never found one, so I decided to make her one and she is happy with it….just a simple sign that I painted and then added glitter to. She isn’t much about a shabby look, she is much more into glitter!

Ready for Fall?

Today it has been cold and damp and miserable all day.... It feels like fall and I am not ready for that at all!!!! I came home from work and made corn bread (with the same recipe they used at Beaver Adams, my elementary school) and chili. That's one of the things I get hungry for when it gets cool...

Is anyone else feeling fall in the air? I stopped by the mall earlier this week and all I saw were dark fall colors and I was looking for summer sales. I think I'll hang on to summer for a while longer, bring on the salads and flip flops!

What signs are you seeing that tells you fall is just around the corner?