Let's Wrap up Christmas 2017

Scott and I enjoyed a quiet Christmas Eve and day together... no driving... no crowd.... no stress... no anxiety. We just piddled around this little cottage and ate non-traditional foods... Shrimp and grits with asparagus on the side for one meal and another meal was a spinach and brussel sprout salad, corn on the cob and meatloaf. Christmas we stayed in our PJ's nearly all day and leisurely exchanged gifts between the two of us. He gave me some wonderful books and crafting supplies. He also bought us a new printer so I can print of photos and art work and it won't cost us a fortune in ink!

I was lucky and had a wish list of items he wanted from Harbor Freight.

Some additional gifts from Greg - a 10 pack of board canvases and a gardening book.
Greg is also glad I have a wish list on Amazon.

My brother, Charles, wife Alina and their twins - Aiden and Anastasia

On the 23rd we went over to my folks' for Christmas with them and some of my siblings and their families...

Madeline - not feeling well with a double ear infection... poor thing.

Aiden - one of the twins - soon to be 2 years old.

Anastasia and Aiden enjoying their chocolate from us.

My fellas - Scott and Greg ("Perhaps not the best shirt to wear to Grandma's for Christmas son")

Phoenix - counting his loot with his new bank

Abby talking with my sister, Ronda about the new banks.

Greg... a bit overwhelmed by so many kids.

Four Days til Christmas

Every year flies by faster and faster... I wish it would slow down just a little bit.

Greg's "BIG" Gift - his very own KitchenAid

 Scott and I went down to our house in Cayce last weekend and took Greg's gifts down there and let him open them as we weren't sure how this weekend was going to work out as Scott wasn't sure if he would have to go into work or not. This weekend we will go to my folks on Saturday for a dinner with them and Greg is going to try to go as well and then may come back to  the cottage here and spend the night with us so we can spend Christmas Eve together.

We went ahead and opened the gifts that Greg gave to us as well while we were down there and he gave us both a HUGE SILLY MUG!

Honestly I don't know where he gets it from!

Well we DID buy him two t-shirts as well and perhaps you will see exactly where he gets it from...

Of course Piper had to get right in the middle of everything!

I sure do miss seeing this kid daily but his job is down there and Scott's is up here. And life goes on.

I went in for a re-check and some blood work this morning and will get the results in a day or two. The Nurse Practitioner said we can go 6 months between labs now since I seem to be getting a handle on the diabetes. So I won't go back until June now and I am so hoping and planning to be about 30 to 50 pounds thinner by then.

I had found a couple potholder looms at thrift stores and just keep finding the loops in thrift shops as well and decided I would make potholders until I ran out of loops... so I did...

15 sets - 30 potholders

All I have left are a few orange loops and a bag of some weird nylon like loops that I hate the feel of and don't think they would make very good potholders at all.

I hope you all have a wonderful Holiday Season!

November Cats

Apparently our November was nearly all about CATS! 

TIPPY

CALLIE

HOWIE

 And the DEMON MOTHER CAT - Prissy that we attempted to catch and take to the shelter as she is quite vicious to our three. She lit into Scott so bad we ended up at the ER and Scott had to go through the rabies vaccination process just to be safe. The cat is not acting ill but DHEC insists on the shots. Scott had the last booster on the 12th of December. My Mom brought us a trap to catch the demon but so far she has managed to avoid closing it's door... I keep trying to add enough weight to the triggering mechanism so that when she steps on it the door closes. I really want her out of here.

 Handyman Scott before the cat fiasco building cabinet doors at our house in Cayce. Scott is so talented and can build just about anything. Here he was using some recycled paneling to create new doors for  the cabinets he made as well as for the cabinet over the refrigerator.

And of course we have been thrifting once again. Office supplies are always available at a deep discount in the thrift shops around here. And we enjoy just plundering through stuff and talking about memories items bring to mind. Not everything we see and talk about comes home with us.

Well I hope everyone has a fabulous Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

Rough Month

It has been quite a rough month this month. The day after my Mother-in-Laws 90th birthday party (October 22) I started to get ill and it was really bad for about a week and a half then it seemed to clear up and then over this past weekend I developed a  headache that simply would not let up. So Monday I went to the Nurse Practioner and she put me on an antibiotic and I am now feeling so much better. This bug has really been awful and I am so hoping that it is the only illness I have this winter.

I have made a few things this month to "feed"  my creative side.

ATC's - Artist Trading Cards that I gave away during a live session on You Tube last week.

Some cards utilizing some of the leftover 1 inch tiles from the larger piece of mixed media work that I cut up. The above ATC's were also from that same sheet of mixed media work.

These cards were the larger parts of the original mixed media sheet. 

 Then I needed to create a couple things for a challenge I entered on You Tube with Chelle Ratcliffe at Little Acres Creations. So I made a box from scratch ( built the box and lid myself out of chip board) and then I decorated it with some papers. I also created an ATC and a card for her . I forgot to photograph the card and the ATC.

Friday Scott had a Colonoscopy and thankfully it was clear, no polyps or inflammation so now he is clear for 10 years... YEAH! 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

No Costume... No Candy... No kids... No Jack-o-lantern! YEP A BORING HALLOWEEN!

I spent the evening adding a border to the latest Round Robin that found it's way to my mail box. I am really enjoying these quilts and can hardly wait to hear what the owners thinks when their quilts return home. I am hoping to get my kitty back this coming month. Here is Kathy's after I added my border ("before" photo in previous post).

Graphic 45 - Secret Garden border fabric

Scott had blood drawn today for his 6 month check-up and he has a consulting appointment with the Dr that will do his colonoscopy. I guess he figured he ought to get one since he has been putting it off for awhile now. 

We did a little thrifty shopping at the Goodwill in Easley on the way back home. I think we spent $8... watch out BIG SPENDERS HERE! It's always fun to stop and see what treasures await.

I am feeling a lot better; still have a bit of residual crud to cough up or blow out but  am doing so much better than I was last week. I am hoping thats the only illness I get for this Winter... knock on wood.

Lets catch up!

So here it is the day before "All Hallow's Eve" /HALLOWEEN and October will be gone. Months just fly by anymore and soon it will be Christmas and a New Year will begin. Last night we had our first frost and Scott's silver car was all glistening like it was covered in diamonds this morning.  

Scott broke down and put the heat on mid-week last week as I was so sick and he didn't want me to get chilled. Thankfully the crud is leaving and I am nearly 100% again. Still a little congestion but nothing like a few days ago. I was living on Tylenol severe sinus during the day and Robitussin CF at night just so I could breath. I still have a slight barky cough too but it is productive so my lungs are clearing... thank goodness.

Tippy loves to walk into any photo opt he can find these days and goes all cute and adorable. Callie is nearly as bad.

Art Journalling prompt cards for a You Tube challenge. I love how these turned out. I laminated them for her too so they won't get messed up while she is "arting".

A delightful bit of Happy Mail from a fellow You Tube Artist.

 Scott and I decided to get our power line drop clear and created this huge brush pile that is STILL there. I guess the city isn't going to pick it up  for us. I will start loading it up into the truck when I am feeling a bit better and will drive it to the landfill myself. We still have a little work left to do but need the pole saw from the house to get it done. Next weekend we will take the truck down so that we can get the saw; it is just too greasy to haul in the car.

 Another Round Robin has arrived for me to add a border and mail it on to the next person. Saturday I was feeling well enough that I wanted OUT of the cottage so Scott and I went up to Hendersonville, NC so that I could go to Foam and Fabric. It's actually in Fletcher, NC and I just adore going in there.

 October 21rst was my Mother-in-laws 90th Birthday and there was a bash for her at her church. Scott was ill with the crud so he was miserable that day but pressed on and we were able to attend. Of course the next day is when I started getting ill and he was nearly over it by Monday. The men that caught that crud were ill for just about 36 hours but any women that have caught it have been ill for a week.

 I was put in charge of cutting the cake and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I had a small piece and it was very good.

Birthday Girl in black.

 While we were still dressed up I got Greg to take a few pictures of us together in front of the cedar tree I planted some years ago as a 1 foot sappling.

 Greg's stray "Buddy" came to be part of the photos. He is quite the handsome cat and quite vocal.

 I have taken to making "Loaded Oatmeal" some mornings and we really love it. I cook up some apples with a bit of butter and cinnamon (NO SUGAR) ahead of time and then I cook the oatmeal in Almond milk instead of water.  Once the oatmeal is cooked I put it into our bowls and top it with the cooked apples, either raisins or crazins and a bit of flax seed.

On our Saturday (Oct. 28th) adventure we saw this boarded up house and thought the window combination and roof detail were quite interesting. And one of  the road side antique markets had a couple very interesting old buildings next to it that I could not resist photographing.

 A bit of treasure came home with us... a thrifted toothbrush holder and a couple cigar boxes I can alter. And from one of the Antique shops I found the jar of thread on wooden spools and the interesting buttons.

We also had lunch at a favorite Restaurant - Iannucci's and as always it was DELICIOUS!

 My sweet boys laying next to me on the couch trying their best to make me feel better.

 And Callie just looking beautiful as always.

 Scott was showing off a couple of his refurbs for the camera. The table say was bought for $80 and he has completely restored and refinished it and has added a mobile base out of reclaimed lumber.

 And he cleaned up this old grinder and reworked the hand made base that he believes his Grandfather had originally created years ago. He gave it a nice coat of paint so it looks like it was manufactured professionally. Of course his Grandfather WAS a Professional... mechanic/ handyman. I am pretty sure that is where Scott got his talents.