Good-Bye, November

 I can't lie.  I did not have a good November for many reasons, the worst of which is this little problem called a pandemic.  Then there was the election which should have given me more hope than it actually does after watching a deranged person try to destroy what's left of our country's democracy and lead his sheep down the path of an alternative world.  Sad that this can be happening in this time when people should know better.  Grownups.  People in leadership positions.  The former president not only wreaked havoc on democracy for four years, but he's now working on sabotaging the only chance to come together and heal our country.  Hopefully, a few people with integrity will get through to him and stop the persistent lying and misinformation being tolerated and actually encouraged on Fox and those other propaganda media outlets.

November just wasn't a good month weather-wise either, although we did find a few nice days.  Not having a sunny porch to have coffee with Noreen and not being able to pop over and see my babies are two things I've missed the most.  

Thanksgiving was just okay.  Good food, a quick hug from the girls, and that was about it.  

There are some things that stand out as pluses in the past few days, and I'll try to dwell on the happiness.

On Friday, I could tell it was going to be a less gloomy day with no rain, so I decided to walk over to Steller and deliver the empty containers that our dinner came in the day before.  

It was a nice walk, and I was so glad to be outside in the fresh air.  

I went the garden route and noticed all the mostly empty gardens.  Emily and Ryan still have a good bit of kale that looks pretty but not much else.  Some Brussel's sprouts also.  I'm not sure what's with the yellow leaves.  It's not from lack of rain for sure.  Maybe that's how Brussel's sprouts do.  I wouldn't know personally.

When I arrived at the house, I found Ryan blowing leaves in the front yard, so I walked around back to peek in the window before the girls saw me.

I think they were expecting me because I heard, "Mimi, Mimi," from inside.  They were playing with balloons with sprinkles inside, and I had to learn all about how that was done.  I had not planned to go inside or stay, even though we had our masks on, but I did sneak in some quick backwards hugs and all the snuggling we could manage.  

Graysen came running up with a deck of Old Maid cards in her hands and a wistful look on her face.  Emily thought it was warm enough to maybe play a game or two on the table outside.  I was plenty warm since I had walked over with maybe one too many layers on, so I just took off my jacket, and it was perfect. 

Katherine needed a warm blanket to wrap up in.  It's hard to look at them in those masks without smiling.

With the way I've been moving lately, I need to get one of those sloth masks.

Emily asked if I wanted a cup of coffee, and, of course I did.  I enjoyed a brief phone conversation with a friend checking on me while I waited for them to get settled.

There were a few rounds of musical chairs while Katherine made sure she could sit beside Mimi AND Mama.  Graysen was just glad to be there.  Sweet girls.  So lovely.  I could hardly keep from looking at them constantly.

Ryan turned on the heater to make it a little more comfortable.  Look at those blue skies.  I wonder how long it will be before Ryan is clearing off the snow up there.  I hope Christmas!

No secret where the Old Maid is.

But I started out with it and ended up with it.  I asked the girls what they thought about my growing out my hair and wearing it in a bun.  I just got two very dubious looks over those masks.  I have the quilt, the cat(s), the rocking chair, and the slippers.  I need one of those little shoulder things maybe.

After only one game, it was getting toward lunch time, so I said my good-byes, got more hugs from the girls, and they ran upstairs to play.  Emily and I actually had a few minutes of our own to talk before I headed back with my empty dishes.

Saturday was just a not-good day, and I just decided to be grumpy and not decorate this apartment for Christmas.  Elise is not here a lot, and no one else is going to come here.  I did decide to clean though and spent a lot of time on it.  Luna is finally acclimated enough to us that I could move her feeding stuff to the kitchen and out of my bathroom, and she had already found Bowie's litter box, so I reclaimed and cleaned my bathroom and then vacuumed my bedroom, moving chairs and going through piles of papers and books that had accumulated beside my chair.  After the sheets were all washed and back on the bed, I was feeling better.  Still not good enough to think about getting any decorations brought up from the garage.

Then I looked out and saw Jamie's wreath.  She has a plan anyway, and she lives by herself.

I had a few thoughts of changing my mind but came back in and did more cleaning.  Cleaning like drawers and looking under chairs and couches and in boxes.  I'm so glad I did, because after being sure I had looked everywhere possible for my big recipe book, I accidentally opened this little container, and there it was.  Every recipe I've wanted to save are consolidated there.  Maybe a little behind on the consolidating but still all the old favorites.  I was getting tired of asking other people for my recipes.

Spoiler:  I took this picture after I un-decided not to decorate a little.  I was moving the box, and it opened.  I usually keep the girls' library books and other books in here, and I remember Graysen saying the last time she came over that it was full of "only grown-up things."

Yesterday afternoon after feeling so good about a more organized apartment, I went to the garage and stood around a few minutes.  I opened the trunk of the car and put a big box in there.  I then filled it with kids' clothing and toys.  Then I put another box in there and filled it up.  By the time I finished, I had filled the back of the car and made a little path in the garage.

I had a bonus too.  As I was putting the last box in the car, I saw Noreen's car pull out of her garage, and there was a lot of waving and grinning.  She was on the way to an outdoor meeting with her son's family and told me about a new thrift shop that was opening in Downtown Snoqualmie.  I remembered reading about it and was going to try to find the info, but she texted me a few minutes later telling me where it was and the hours.  So I have a PLAN now for a place to take my stuff.  I'm not sure this pounding rain and wind will be conducive to getting out and delivering something, but I'm going to try.

Since I could see the back of the garage better, I eyed the Christmas boxes.  Ryan had said he would come over the take them down from the top shelves, but I just had to try one of them.  I had that feeling as I had the container halfway off the shelf - above my head - that I might have made a bad error in judgement.  Luckily, it wasn't a catastrophe, and I poked through it until I found a bag or two of things to bring up.  Not full-fledged decorating, of course, just setting out a few things.  The decision will come later about the little tree. 

Just this little bit made me happy.

This is the desk where I usually just put out all the interesting things for the girls to look at, so I'll still do that when I find them.  I hope they'll get to come over at least once or twice in December.  I even said, "Hey, Google.  Play Christmas carols."  I was then sorry because immediately Brenda Lee was singing Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree at full volume, terrifying the cats and me too.

I'm being ruthless this year and donating a lot of things.  There's no reason to pack and unpack napkins and things I don't hate but don't love year after year.  Some of these are going away, and some will be used once I decide if I want to tackle another area.

I do want to put the nutcrackers up here and straighten it up, but I don't mind the clutter right now.  Because I'm out of my Bah, Humbug mood.

Speaking of Scrooge, the girls watched A Christmas Carol this weekend, and Katherine said she was a "sthpirit.'  I asked Emily which version they watched, because it can get a little scary, and she said, "The Muppet version."

There's that dress again.  I'm still not sure where it came from unless it was from a bag of donations from friends, but it is the one both girls have chosen for festive occasions.  Here's Graysen in the same dress last Christmas Eve.  So funny.  It does look like a celebration!  Or an old-fashioned majorette outfit.

A few more pictures from that exciting night.

I was expecting a small package from Amazon Saturday, but when I opened the door, there was a larger one there.

I saw it was from Debby, and when I unwrapped it, the package was just beautiful, and I decided to wait until Christmas to open it.

Just after I made that decision, Debby texted and asked if I had gotten it and that I could not wait to open it because it would be too late then.

I didn't have to be asked twice, so I got it and opened it then. 

Just the most perfect thing!  A beautiful big Lenox "cocoa mug" just for me.  

She always knows just what will make me happy, and just talking and texting over many hours yesterday helped change my attitude to calmer and more hopeful.  I was going to have a cup of coffee to celebrate it, but since it said cocoa, I decided to have that, and it was exactly right.

Tomorrow is the first day of December, and I have Christmas music now - a little more subdued than Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree but still some lively songs.  If one comes on that makes me remember and be sad, I'll yell at Google to stop it and play another one.  Lamps are on, house is warm and clean, cats are curled up in various places.  The rain can pour and the wind blow.  I'm okay for now.

Turkey Thoughts

 I'm hearing progress from my Thanksgiving dinner, but it won't be

ready until 6 PM.  I was told to Eat Pesa.

I'll just see how little I can eat between now and 6.  It will be worth waiting for.  I just took out the brown rice casserole, and it passes the taste test, so that was easy.  

-------

It's 7:30, and I'm pretty full.

Our nice meal was delivered by a happy group of girls, and I got some good backward hugs in before they left.  

I've seen a prettier presentation but none more beautiful than when someone else does all the cooking.

Every single thing was delicious, and we have leftovers now for several days.  

Emily knew the girls would love the lime salad but was not going to let them see it first.  When I got the picture of the festive celebration, I mentioned that I didn't see any lime green on their plates.  Emily said, "Oh, you mean the ice cream?  That's all they ate."

This is the only picture I got, and some of them are having a good time.  Ryan looks like he'd rather be elsewhere.

I sure miss being around all the noise and fun.  We're going to aim for a little gathering Christmas if we're all healthy.  It would be hard to see the girls open their gifts on Zoom.  

Last update:  I got a video of the girls talking about their favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner, and they both chose the "green ice cream."  Looks like I'll be making them some more without nuts and some with nuts for Mom.

This appears to be a late snack after a dip in the hot tub.

Thanksgiving 2020

 It won't be like any other ones we've had, but surely we can find some good food and fun pictures and lots to be thankful for.

Pictures can't get much prettier than this!  Emily is old enough to have made a pie before, but she swears she has not.  We're just not pie people.  We like to eat them but not to make them.  I'm so glad she picked this year to try an apple one.

I once made pie crusts from scratch back when I had time and something to prove.  We hosted Mama and Daddy one Thanksgiving in our little pink trailer in Pennville, GA, when we'd been married a little over a year.  The kitchen was pink too, but everything worked just fine, and I made a pecan pie and a red velvet cake for dessert.  Daddy was so impressed that I made the pie crust myself that he bragged about it almost every time we had pie for the rest of his life, and I let him!  Mama probably brought or cooked the rest of that meal since I can't remember anything but the desserts.

Now I get to say, "Emily makes her own pie crusts, you know."  "And bakes bread too."

They think it looks angry.  When I saw that, I started getting a little nervous that there wasn't going to be dressing this year, so I asked, and OF COURSE there's going to be dressing.

My two contributions are so easy the children could make them easily, but nowadays when something works for me, I'm pretty proud of it.  I haven't made the brown rice yet, but it's one of those recipes where you open some cans and a bag of rice and put everything in a baking dish and cook it.  It seems to be the one thing that everyone asks for a lot, so I'm glad to oblige.  Once again, I won't mention how much butter goes in it.

I did make the lime congealed salad, and we don't live in congealed salad country.  Also Ryan doesn't come from a place that appreciates the art of the Jello, marshmallow, cream cheese, pineapple, pecan bowl of goodness that's like getting dessert on your plate - before the apple pie.  I'm keeping a bowl for Elise and me and sending over one bowl with pecans for Emily and one bowl without pecans for the girls.  She's not going to let them see it before they taste it, because while she knows they'll love it, they probably won't like the way it looks.

I'll keep checking my texts to see if there's anything else good being cooked over there.  

She sent me this picture that she found on their bedroom door last night when she went to bed.  I was a little concerned that Santa had a leering spider on his bag, but when I enlarged it, I found out it was the gift bag cord.

The girls don't usually include Santa Claus in their Christmas art work or discussions.  Graysen called him Old Sick Nick one year, and that's stuck.  They don't really want him in their house but will leave the milk and cookies, I guess so he won't go upstairs.  Maybe they're making their peace with him this year.  He leaves only one gift and fills the stockings, so he's not a major player.  

I've done very little all day except talk with some friends and text with Emily.  I did start to try to figure out how I'm going to quilt those princess quilts.  I sat down with a good light and a thimble and tried hand quilting and just no, not with that needle - or something.  It may be the batting, but every stitch was a struggle.  I'm going to try to figure out a better needle to use, get that, and try it once more.  I did do one line of stitching on the machine without my walking foot on, and it wasn't horrible.  

If I can get the sides rolled up to fit under the throat plate of the machine, I think I can do a decent job of straight-line quilting.  I found this pattern I like.  I don't know how it will look on "en pointe" blocks, but we'll soon see!  They just need to get those quilts before they get tired of princesses.

I finished listening to East of Eden last night but fell asleep four chapters from the end, so I finished that this morning, and now I miss the people.  I've downloaded another long one.  This is part of one review.

The review I tried to copy didn't work, but it's set during the Spanish Civil War.  The main character has worked her way up from dressmaker to premier couturier and rubs elbows with the rich and famous.  She is asked by the British Army to spy for them as World War II begins.  She agrees and stitches secret messages into the hems of dresses.

I have Middlemarch by George Elliot on hold at the library, but I hope it doesn't come in before I finish this.  It will take me the whole 3 weeks to listen to this - nearly 22 hours.

I'll have to come back and record how our first (and hopefully last) virtual Thanksgiving dinner went.

Strange Holiday

 This will be a Thanksgiving that most people will remember and not because of anything good but for the unique and special ways people have for "getting together."  

I'm lucky enough to have a daughter and son-in-law whose favorite cooking day is Thanksgiving, so all I have to do is open my door for my plate!  I'm sure I can observe all the preparations from the Duo on the counter if I want to, but it might get a little intense.  I know there will be a big turkey and dressing and an apple pie with piecrust from scratch, unless those plans have changed.  Homemade cranberry sauce, I'm sure.  Sparkling water with pomegranates.  A side dish, maybe mashed potatoes, and my only contribution, the congealed lime salad - if someone finds the recipe in the next couple of days.  

Here are a few pictures from Thanksgivings past.

The girls spend so much time making table decorations and place cards.

From 2017.  I see Alabama peas.  It's been awhile since we've had those or sippy cups.

We didn't do Thanksgiving in 2016 probably.  We did have a wonderful celebration in 2015 though, right before we moved to Washington.

Katherine's first Christmas.  And PopPop's last.  It was also Jack's last one too.  Here he's keeping his eye on every morsel of food, and I imagine Griff is under the table.

We had Thanksgiving in Montgomery in 2014 but no turkey except from the deli at Publix.  The dressing was the real deal though, and I see that lime salad there.  

I have no idea about Thanksgiving of 2013.  I know we were in Montgomery, and the Win-Bins were in Snoqualmie.  This is the only Thanksgiving picture on the blog - a shirt ready to mail to Graysen.

Thanksgiving 2012 was when Mike and I traveled across the country to get to celebrate with the Emily and Ryan and their friends.  Going through Snoqualmie Pass in a blizzard just about did me in, but we ended up having a fun time.

Getting ready to take Eleanor's sewing machine - and many, many more things - to Washington.

This was not just beautiful snow.  It was howling blizzard.  At night.  No snow tires.  We were just passing through from Alabama.  I was never so glad to get off that mountain.

We ate and partied with friends.  It was a ginger snap ham that year.

Put together a crib.

And knew that the next time we were there, they would be a family of three.

Thanksgiving of 2011.  Seems like Mike, Mama, and I put together a few traditional dishes like dressing, brown rice, sweet potato casserole and, again, Publix turkey.

In 2010, I don't even mention Thanksgiving.  I think I was already thinking ahead to everyone being home for Christmas.

2009 is the year Mike spent in Issaquah with Emily, Ryan, and Karen.  They had just moved there and were renting a house on Squak Mountain.  I haven't found any pictures.

In the meantime, Debby, Bobby, and I were having a cousins Thanksgiving at her house in Gantt.  So much food.  So much fun.  Hunter and Clark came, and I took Darby and Mama.

That's all I find on the blog, although there are lots more Thanksgivings that we've celebrated through the years.  That would take scanning of pictures though, and I don't have time for that.

Yesterday Emily called and said they are all going to the clinic for them to do some work and maybe I should take my quilt there to take advantage of the large tables.  I didn't have to be asked twice.  It was so good to see the girls.  They were happily munching popcorn and "working out" on the treadmills.  

Arranging the little snowflake, penguin, and polar bear erasers I took them.

We did get one quilt sandwich together and glue basted, but it wasn't ideal.  The tables were wide enough but maybe a little too soft, so I'm not sure we stretched them enough.

Once I got home and ironed it well, most of the little wrinkles came out.  

We're going to do the other one on her hardwood floor and/or big dining table, so it should be better, and I'll probably take the first one apart and redo it.  It was a learning experience for us.  We've done a lap quilt but not a twin size one.

The Christmas pajamas are here, and now it's time to decide what to embroider on them.  I can't believe I'm seeing a size 6 and size 8!

I only planned on posting 2 or 3 pictures and got carried away remembering, but I guess that's what this blog is all about.