Out With The Old

As I sit here dipping the last Christmas cookie into my coffee, Im thinking about the past year. I can’t say it was the the best year, but what exactly is a “best” year? Was it the year I got my first car? Was the year I got married? Was it the year my daughter was born? We all have something good that happens to us every year that seems to make it the “best”, but we also have that one thing every year that seems to have made it the “worst”. A loved one or friend passes, we have health issues, etc.. But we made it. I lost a Sister-in-law but I also gained a new Nephew who was born a week before Christmas. It doesn't quiet equal things out but you see how God works. 

Looking back at my own health this past year, It was ok. I have been able to avoid any sickness. However, I went a few months through the summer where I had chest pains but nothing ever came of it except a mention of costocondritis. (Just google it) Its not a big deal. I had every other test imaginable. This left us with a lot hospital bills but we have managed to pay those off.  

I also had lots of inner ear problems followed by vertigo attacks. Those issues seemed to have resoloved the past couple months after I was diaognosed with a vitamin D deficincy. I have followed doctors orders on my Vitamins and my problems have deminished quite a bit. Funny that was the last thing they checked huh. “Just write me a prescription for beach please”

Health wise? They say im perfect. Im just getting achy with age. Yes I’m getting old. Ill be 49 next year. Yikes! 

Today I’m letting go of the year as I prepare my home for my annual New Years Dinner. We will have about 15 people in the house (if they all show up). Thats a lot of collards! 

This past week I have spent it preparing my home for a fresh look. Me and my husband (I plan to give him a blog name) went shopping for new mini blinds and curtains to brighten things up. We had some dark curtains in the den. I wanted some white ones lighter ones but he was not sure about that. We ended up with off white and it looks lovely. It gives the room a brighter and cleaner look. Win!

We have been doing some major cleaning too. He has been cleaning the ceiling fans and walls while I work on the floors and cabinates. Our home is old and consist of lots of paneling which I hate. But we make the best of it. Nothing that a few swipes of paint wont fix but we just never get around to it. 

Tonight we plan to go to the steak house for dinner and bring the new year in from home. We do not like to get out in the mobs of people. It feels safer and cozier right here in the living room with my pjs on.

This will be my last blog entry for the year. I have enjoyed my year in blogging. I have made some new blogging friends and cant wait to continue following their stories as I bring new stories to mine. 

I am excited for a new year. It’s time for a fresh start. 

I wish you all a happy and safe new year.

CHEERS!

Goodbye Christmas

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. 

I had a wonderful Christmas. 

I am just now getting time to sit down and blog a little. Boy has it been busy around here. I did a lot of cooking. I wanted to do a figgy pudding but it just wasn’t going to happen. I managed to make a fig bread instead. 

I made many chocolate sweets and cookies, but what went over with everyone the best was dill pickle eggrolls. They were a hit and have been requested for next year. If you like fried pickles, you would like these. 

Christmas eve, my brother in law and his family stopped by for a little while and enjoyed the spread of sweets and goodies I had lined up. Later that night, we drove over the river and through the woods to mom and dads. We left with full bellies, blessed hearts and a sugar rush. 

Christmas morning we sat down for some sausage balls and coffee while we waited on our girl to wake up and run into the livingroom to see what Santa left her under the tree. (Did I mention shes 26?) She got pretty much everything she wanted. I never want that child like joy to ever go away, but I know one day she will be married with kids of her own. 

Me and Nick agree not to get each other Christmas gifts anymore. We wait and buy something for the house or something we both can use instead. But he always breaks the rules and something shows up for me from Santa. This year, as I walked over to the coffee bar, I see a brand new Yeti coffee mug waiting for me. I had mentioned wanting one of these and there it was. That little stinker!

My daughter got some handy tools and gadgets for Nick and got me some nice little gifts too. One of those gifts was a doughnut pan. She knew I wanted one. Her boyfriend got me a cute bacon plate from Mud Pie. It was all so nice. 

Later on Christmas day, we all headed over to my brother in laws for a nice Christmas dinner. There was a nine month old, a 3 year old and a 7 year old in the house. Boy was that fun. I learned how slime was made and all about Batman and Spiderman. I love to see excitement in children at Christmas. 

Today I had to head back to work. I missed being away from my family after all the fun times. 

Now our house shows no signs of Christmas as the tree and decorations are all put away until next year. I have to get the house ready for my New Years dinner now. 

Do you take your decorations down the day after Christmas or do you wait til January?

Dill pickle Egg Rolls.

1- 8 oz block - cream cheese

chopped dill pickles (a little or a lot)

1 tablespoon chopped onion

1 tablespoon Dill weed

bacon bits (optional)

Mix all together

Fill egg roll wrappers 

Bake 400 for 15 minutes (flipping once if desired but not neccesarry) 

Gifts For Neighbors

My daughter came in yesterday and will hang around until after Christmas. I mentioned baking cookies, so she arrived a little early. However, we did not get to the cookie part. She helped me make some other goodies to deliver out to the neighbors. I usually wait until Christmas Eve to deliver, but because of the nature of their gift, I wanted them to have it early. 

This year for the neighbors, I chose to make “Christmas Potpourri” and then I added a tin of chocolate peanut butter cookies and a slice of my home made fudge. We made our rounds and delivered. I wanted them to have time to enjoy the aroma of Christmas a couple days before Christmas.  I hope they enjoy it.

Today we will bake my favorite Pecan snowball cookies.. We will also make some sausage balls. 

Sausage balls have become a traditional Christmas eve late night snack or Christmas morning breakfast as they are quick to grab with a cup of coffee before the gift unwrapping frenzy begins. Christmas Day is usually a busy one for us. 

Do you have a favorite treat you always make at Christmas? 

Fudge Recipe

Christmas Potpourri Recipe 

Pecan SnowBall Cookies

Grinches

Boy am I glad this week is coming to an end. It’s been slow in the office so that makes my days longer. 

This morning at work I set out some cookies and had coffee brewing for the employees to start their morning. 

Last night I finally got busy making my Christmas goodies. I made fudge and peanut butter balls so far. Tonight I will be making a couple different kinds of cookies. My daughter likes to help so I have put the cookie baking off until she gets home tonight. Then we will pack Christmas tins for the neighbors and make deliveries. 

Luckily we got our Christmas shopping done before December but every day it seems like there is that one little thing I forgot to get or some kind of ingredient I needed for a recipe. So we head back out to the stores. It’s not so bad when your not rushed to find gifts. 

But sadly I can not do it alone. It’s just too dangerous to even go to a fast food restaurant anymore. We have pan handlers that will approach your windows while your in line at the drive through. Sorry, But I can’t stand a pan handler.

And then we have Grinches!!

I hate to write about bad news, but im tellin ya, it’s been crazy around my town this week. The bad guys want to put a damper on everyones Christmas shopping. I mean, everytime we settled in for the night we would hear on the news the things that are going on. We would look at each other and say “we just missed that” or “we got out of the store just in time”. For example, Our local Walmart was evauated an hour after we had been shopping there. The police came in with guns drawn and asked everyone to leave their merchandise and get out of the store . There was a possible shooter in the store. It ended up being two men quirling. 

That was just the beginning of the week.

The rest of the week there was something every day. Here is some to name a few. 

Armed Robbery at the Family Dollar Store- I mean “its a dollar store for heaven sake” how much you think you gonna get?

Armed Robbery at Wendys- Really?

Armed Robbery at Bojangles- Ok, so their BoBerry biscuits ARE that good.

Lowes caught fire.

And just today, up the road at Big Lots, two employees were attacked. 

I think it’s best I stay in for the weekend and keep on baking. I will be spending quality time with my daughter and we have church and some family get togethers to attend. It’s gonna be alright.

I refuse to let the grinches steal my joy. 

Tis the Season.

Easy Cranberry Jam

Ok readers, hold on to your aprons. Your gonna love this one. Its easy peasy and will make a great little quick gift for your neighbor, teacher, family, secret pal, mail carrier, ....well, you get the idea.

I have been looking for a recipe to use up the bags of cranberries I have stashed away in my refrigerator. I have never made anything good from cranberries unless they were from a can. I have been in search of a recipe to make with my fresh cranberries, I thought about muffins until I found a recipe for Cramberry jam that only called for three ingredients. 

Oh yea, I can do that!

So I made a trial run.

 WIN!

Cranberry Jam

1 cup of Cranberries

1 cup of Sugar

1/8 cup water

Tiny drop of vanilla (optional)

(I was worried this was not enough liquid but just wait.. It will be enough)

~Boil and stir all together until the cranberries start popping and soften. 

~Use an emerssion blender and blend until smooth and replace back on the stove. 

~cook on medium heat and stir until the jam makes a sticky coating on back of the spoon. 

~Pour into small mason jar. 

THATS IT! REALLY!

If you plan to store your jam or give as a gift, place the lids on them and leave on counter until sealed. 

The jam will thicken more as it cools. 

*Incase your wondering: No extra pectin is needed for the recipe as cranberries produce their own. 

We had to try out a small bit on a slice of buttered toast. My husband gave it a thumbs up and litterally scraped the jar clean. 

We liked it! It was really sweet with just the right amount of tart to make this a new breakfast favorite. 

The hardest part of making this is finding small Mason or Ball jars. Walmart has them in sets of 12. I only need about 6 so I didnt buy any. I’m in search of a smaller bulk of jars, but for now, we will enjoy ours from our own reused jars. I do not need to worry about sealing the jars because this yum yum will not last that long in my kitchen. 

The original recipe and many more can be found at Kleinworthco.com.

Gingham

My little Etsy shop has been busy here at Christmas time. During the summer I was beginning to think people were not finding my products as my sales were slow. The past few months I have been loaded with custom orders to complete. I had to turn the “Custom order” option off for a while so I could get caught up. I finally finished and shipped all the orders requested. I have decided not to take anymore custom orders until after Christmas. I need a break so I can get my Christmas goodies cooking.

This season I have been in love with Gingham Check. If I knew it would have been so popular this year, I would have done more decorating with it. 

I just love it.

While taking a break from crocheting for others, I decided to crochet myself something. 

I made myself a Gingham check cup cozy. I can carry it in my car or purse and when I’m not drinking coffee from my Yeti, I can slip this sleeve over a starbucks cup to keep my hands from buring off. 

Besides I thought it was just so darn cute and it matches a shirt and ear warmers I have. 

Gingham was originated in Europe in the 17th century. 

It was actually considered a striped fabric and was made mostly in blue and white. Later in the years it became distinguished as checks.

Gingham check became popular in the 60s.

Brigitte Bardot wore a pink gingham dress when she got married. At the time, she started a trend that caused a shortage in this fabric.

You will find Gingham check in the Wizard of Oz movie. Dorothy wore a blue and white Gingham dress.

Gilligans Island’s MaryAnn, wore a gingham crop top.

You can see this design in a lot of the old classic shows.  

I always associated Gingham check with Fall and Winter. I think of cozy cabins and bear skin rugs. 

I think of a flannel shirt worn by a wooly lumberjack. 

Summer Picnic napkins and table covers are usually in this pattern.

Today you can find it on everything from jewelry to baby blankets.  

I bet if you look around your house or in your closet you will see something with this pattern fabric. 

I bet your looking now, arent you? Ha.

I have had some request for this pattern.

Im not a pattern writer but I will share with you the basics instructions. If you crochet you might be able to figure it out.

Gingham Check Cup Cozy.

(I used a G hook.)

Chain 13

Single crochet across changing color at every 4th stitch. (You will have 3 color squares.) chain 1, turn.

Repeat for 4 rows carrying your color.

Change color combination for the next 4 rows. (You will drop one color and pick up another)

Continue this until you have 36 rows (9 block rows).

Single crochet around (This will hid the carried yarn) 

Stitch ends together. Tie off and weave ends. 

Now excuse me. My new cup cozy and I are going shopping. 

You can find more of my handmade crochet cozys in my Etsy shop. 

Christmas Wasn’t Feeling It

I was feeling pretty blahh the past couple days. I feel like all I ever do is work. 

I go into work every morning at 8:30 and work til 5:00. When I get home, the sun has already set. I can’t get in a good walk and I’m tired.

We have dinner. I straighten the house up some and do a little laundry. I take a shower and set down in my recliner to relax and do some crochet. I have been loaded with bun beanies to create for customers to receive before Christmas. I have finally finished the last stash! All packages are on their way across the state to fill Christmas presents. Kind of like Santa huh? 

My daughter and her boyfriend had asked us to go to Christmas Town with them. My husband didn't want to, so we didn't. I was a little down by that and pouted somewhat like a two year old but I’ll get over it. 

Well, yesterday I went into work. As I was sitting at my desk, I looked around. I realized there was no Christmas anywhere. This just added to my feelings. We do not have customers that come into our office and it’s me in one office and two dispatchers in the back. They could care less if we decorate for Christmas. 

There is no Christmas tree, no bows or manger scenes. There is no holiday cheer. Just a lot of complaining. I’m doing my best to get out of this funk. 

Well today, I decided to not let it bother me. I put on a red shirt and drove to work to my radio blarring with Christmas music. I look around, It seems more people are decorating their homes this year. That’s good. Then the boss handed me a small bonus, so that was good too. I turned on my Christmas radio, lit a holiday scented candle and added a Christmas themed screen saver. I just have to get through my eight hour days. 

I have started a Christmas study plan on my Bible app that will put me back into the swing of things. You will be surprised how reading a little scripture each morning will make you feel good.

This weekend I will be going shopping with my daughter at the outlet malls. Those are always fun. I am actually finished with my shopping besides a few stocking stuffers, so it’s gonna be more of a stress free trip. We will look for some bargins and sip hot chocolate. 

Starting next week, my afternoons will be filled with baking. I can’t wait. I plan to make cookies, breads, rolled cake, candies and other good stuff. 

I may even invite some friends over. 

I’m going to be ok. 

Santa Mug

I am happy to say, it’s looked a lot like Christmas in my house since the day before Thanksgiving. Yes, I said I’d never decorate until Thanksgiving night but when the mood strikes, ya gotta go with it. So we did. Really, I had to take advanatge of it while my daughter was home visiting. 

Ooooops did any one else just get a preview of my post? Yikes. I dropped my ipad and hit the publish button on the way to the floor. Sorry about that. If you follow by email....sorry. 

Ok back to Christmas. While reading BJ’s blog over at “SweetNothings”, She mentioned how fun it was to drink from a Christmas cup at Christmas. She is correct. I looked at my breakfast muffin and then at my Santa mug. Yes. There is something about drinking from a Christmas mug.

A few weeks ago I mentioned to my Husband that I am in search of one of those vintage Santa mugs. You know, the ones that had a face and are usually worn and faded due to years of use? He said, “Oh I know where one is, maybe two”. When I came in from work. There it was. The mug I had asked for. It was his when he was little. Where does he come up with this stuff? He is my very own “St. Nick”. 

It snowed all day yesterday though it did not stick around. It was a beautiful and every where we went, I felt like I was inside a snow globe. 

It’s Sunday morning and the grass is covered in frost and the sun is shining bright. There is no more snow is in the forecast. I will head off to church as soon as I finish my muffin and coffee. 

We have our church Christmas dinner today. I made a sugar free banana pudding to take. This is specially made for those that can’t have any sweets off the dessert table. My dad is and some others are diabetic and will get to enjoy the full flavor of sweetness without the sugar. 

Happy Sunday.

Snow Sort Of

All last week everyone was in a frenzy, saying the weatherman says it’s gonna snow a little around here. 

“What? No”.

It’s too warm here to snow. The low is the high 40’s. 

So I look at the weather app on my smart phone. 

No snow in the forcast.  

Then later on Thursday night. The weather app shows a little snow flake sign for Friday. 

“Oh great”. 

So Friday, sure enough, its snowed. “Sort of”. 

Jobs were cancellling and the crews were heading in. 

For the record. I work for a carpet cleaning service. We service several counties between North and South Carolina. Our mountain area customers were all cancelled. For the foot hills, they were iffy. They got a lot of work done, but half of what a they would expect on a clear day. 

When snow falls around here. People panic. Schools close and the grocery store shelves are empty. A single snow flake will cause this furry. It’s crazy but we do not get to see snow often. 

Some of the guys came into my office and said I may want to go ahead and go home for the day. The roads are getting slick.

It was 4:00 and I left.

The roads appeared to be getting a little slushy. 

Two miles down the road..... Nothing. No snow, clear roads and green grass.

My husband could not understand why I came home early. 

“Well, it was snowing and laying on the roads at my work!” I said.

I work only 10 minutes from my house.

It’s Saturday morning and 45 degrees. I’m sipping coffee and watching the snow fall outside. Yes, It’s snowing here now. 

Sort Of.

I’m Faster Now

I used to blog from my desk top computer. Now it just sits in the home office being used as what we call the brain computer. It’s where we have our router and modem attached. We have learned that with WiFi and a wireless printer, we really do not need it anymore, but since it has a lot of documents and pictures loaded on it, we keep it going. 

Later, I purchased a little cheap Netbook. I’ts all I could afford at the time but it was my favorite blogging tool.....Until I tripped and fell resulting in the screen breaking. It would cost more to have it fixed than I purchased it for. I was so upest. I could not find another one like it in the stores so I opt for a small computer. It had Windows 8 and I never liked that but learned to work around it (Windows 10 is great though). I enjoyed using it for blogging too but....

Then the iPad happend. 

My husband seen a great deal on an ipad pro from our Verizon account and purchase me one. I really wanted one but never thought I could afford it. But here I am. I have been blogging from my iPad over a year now. I did pretty good using the “on screen key board”. But it was so easy to make mistakes and its very sensitive. It would post sometimes when I wasn't ready. 

Well, guess what? My dear husband did it again. This time, he purchased me a bluetooth keyboard to use for typing on my iPad. So here I am, typing from a key board and using my ipad. I’m loving it. It all came natural to type ( I type all day at work on a desk top). Now I can blog and comment faster from my ever so loved iPad. Yes, I love love love my ipad even thought blogger does not support it. But I have found away around that too. 

My husband is over there right now giggling at me beacuse he can now hear me typing. The keys are really snappy. I sound like a telephone operator over here. He said It sounds like im talking my fingers off and saying “new toy, new toy, new toy”. Haha. It may be cute right now, but give it a day or two and he will be over there hushing me. 

Ok thats enought for now. Thanks for reading my jibber jabber but I needed to try this thing out. 

I give it five stars. 

Gift Tagging

Guess what? I think I'm done with my Christmas shopping. This is a first for me. I usually have it done a week before Christmas, but not three weeks before Christmas. I actually had most of it finished before December 1st.

I knew what I was going to buy and went for it. Some things I purchased from the comfort of my home by shopping on line. This is always scary to me. I get anxious for my items to show up at the door. In fact there are three items currently on a shipping truck right now and are late getting to me. The sellers have assured me not to worry. 

Sunday I had some time on my hands so I decided to wrap some of the presents. I grabbed my dollar store wrapping paper, scissors....

Wait..I do not have any gift tags. 

I was getting frustrated because I was ready to begin the dreaded wrapping. Yes I hate wrapping presents. At this point I was ready to cut little strips of paper for name tags. Then the idea hit me.

I have some card stock paper, a desktop computer and a printer. I’ll just find some templates and print my own. 

It took me all of 10 minutes to search, print and cut. Now I have some cute tags for my gifts. I opt for the larger kind that will hang instead of laying flat on the paper hidden under the bow. 

Bows.... crap, I need bows. 

I found a few smashed to peices in the craft closet. Those will have to do.

I’m pretty sure my little three year old nephew and a six year old neice could care less how a bow looks. 

I like how my homemade tags turned out. The natural look goes well with my choice of wrapping paper. 

Speaking of wrapping paper. I chose some with a cabin like feel to them. The gingham check print is my favorite.

 

Now I can sit back and enjoy the Christmas season without worrying about the rush. We can watch Christmas movies while sipping hot chocolate, take a trip through Christmas lights, attend Christmas gatherings and do some baking. 

Heck, We may go to the mall just to get in other peoples way. Ha. 

Thrifty Finds

Ok guys I’m trying something different here after reading a post on Jimmys blog Here. 

I’m typing from my iPad notepad and then I’m gonna copy and paste to my blogger once it’s edited. However, I still will not guarantee there will not be lots of mistakes. I failed that class in school. Every year!  Yep, I’m no English major, journalist, writer, teacher or genius. Just a random low educated blogger writing about stuff as it comes along.

Today I’m going to share with you some my latest thrifty finds. I’m so excited about them all. I love finding a bargain. I’m not ashamed to shop at thrift stores, yard sales and clearance racks.  

Ok here goes..Me and my husband were looking around a local church thrift store just for fun when I came across this cute little Hausenware creamer for fifty cent.

 

I do not know its value or if it even has any but I loved the white farmhouse look. I could not find the matching sugar bowl, but hey that gives me something else to search for. I also grabbed an adorable, new with tags, Christmas print tea towel for a nickel. I’m a tea towel junkie. 

My husband went out for an early morning walk while I stayed in drinking my hot coffee in fuzzy slippers. I get a text with a photo of a set of adorable night stands he seen at a yard sale.

We needed a pair. 

I probably would have never chose these from the Target store for 80.00 each but he asked if i’d like to buy them as these were only 5.00 each? I could not jump in my car fast enough. I was there before he got his phone back into his pocket. They are light powder blue, never used and less than a year old. I washed them down and they now sit on each side of our bed. We will paint them later. And I'm still in my slippers. 

The other night we were were bored so we went to look around the Goodwill store since I had a couple dollars in my pocket. My husband pointed out a pair of camo pants to me. I snarled my nose as I never wished for a pair of camo pants. Then He showed me the original price tag still on them. 

What? 

“Let me try those on!” I said. They were too big, but for 3.99, I bought them anyways and will have my mom take them up. Thats not a sale, thats an investment! Now the most expensive pants I’ve ever owned came from the Goodwill. And who knows? I might want to hide in the woods sometime. 

 

Do you shop thrifty or do you choose upscale stores with premium prices? 

What are odd things you look for in bargin shops? I like searching for Pyrex and Fire king pieces but my husband has to tie my hands to keep me from grabbing them. Just kidding, but he does give me that look of “no more”.