Random thoughts

Christmas is really on my mind! Good thing tomorrow is December 1st. My calender is filling up with many wonderful activities. I have to get some shopping done too! But first, I have a project that needs to get done asap! Walker's 1st year at Hillsdale album. It is almost finished. I made it out of an old record album holder. I've posted photos of some of the earlier pages, and now I've finished it up, and decorated the outside. The front has a map of the Michigan area on it, and the written journal I kept from things W told us over the phone during the 2009-2010 school year...

February and March

April and May.

I still have some finishing touches to add, but this is basically it.

Its like a kid's interactive storybook - lots of pull outs, pockets, and hidden secrets...

Tonight I cooked one of my stand-by recipes. Salmon patties. I was going to take a photo of the whole plate of food with rice and stir fry vegetables. It was very colorful and delicious looking. So delicious I only thought of eating it and not taking a pictures.

Are you thinking Christmassy thoughts tonight?

My 400th Post!

I cannot believe that this is my 400th post! But computers don't lie! I started this blog as soon as we got back from dropping Walker at Michigan, September 2009. My granddaughter showed me how to do it when we visited them in Minnesota on our way back. I had lots of great photos from our road trip that I wanted to post, and I could see it might be a good way to keep in touch with the Minnesota family, with photos. I know I never would have written 400 letters!

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The above three boxes are things my dad gave me at Thanksgiving. Their house is a treasure chest of amazing things they have picked up on their travels! The teeny tiny camera is about a half inch high and 3/4 inch tall! The rustic box in the middle has a surprise when you open it!

Surprise! a snake jumps out and bites your finger! hand hewn in Mexico! Tonight is the end of our nice long week (nine days!) of vacation! I can see retirement would be easy for me too!

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I am working on the below project, with 14 other ladies. We each made 15 - two page spreads with an "easy dinner recipe". Then we exchange, and each of us ends up with a little artsy cookbook with 15 easy dinner recipes for the holidays! We exchange them on December 11th. This is my spread, almost done except for some glitter, snowflakes, and ribbons....

Side 1

Side 2 -

We talked to W tonight. He is back on campus now. He'll be home in less than three weeks. He had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving break with his friend Jacob, but now he has to hit the ground running to prepare for tests and essays coming up.

A nice surprise was the dorm had a Christmas Tree all set up when he got back.

Saturday November 28

I got out for some holiday shopping today. The stores were pretty busy. I don't think I've ever started so early (is this early?) but I do enjoy looking at the new ornaments in the stores.
We had two nice turkey leftover dinners since Thanksgiving. The first night I made a layered casserole with mashed potatoes on the bottom, then peas, then turkey, then stuffing. After it baked together, we poured gravy over the top and had it with vegetables. Very yummy! And not quite as overwhelming as Thanksgiving dinner! Tonight I made turkey cakes, kind of like salmon patties, but with turkey and sweet potatoes, cheese, onions, a little oatmeal. Fried in olive oil and more gravy on top, with the last of the leftover carrots and green beans. Very delicious.
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W. called us from Washington Illinois on Thanksgiving day, and the day after from Grand Rapids, Iowa. He is getting around! They are headed back to campus now. I think he has eaten a lot of good food and seen a lot of the country.
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I lived in Mason City, Iowa for 6 months when I was about Walker's age. I don't remember it as being so pleasant, but maybe that's because I was there during the summer months.
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Slowly the Fall decorations are getting put away, and the Christmassy ones taking their place. There is Christmas music playing on the cd player right now.

It feels like a lovely long vacation with the days at home due to the snow and ice, then the holiday, then the weekend. Very nice. I hope your long weekend has been nice too.

Thanksgiving - a timely thaw!

The Johnston Clan had a lovely Thanksgiving. The weather changed just in time - every time I looked at the thermometer it was one degree warmer ! All the way up to 37 by the time we left our house! And the roads were pretty much all thawed. So, it was still chilly enough to appreciate a hot drink when we got to Grandmother's House - made for us by Grandfather.

They had apples on their coffee table and I took this picture to show the relative size. That coffee mug is a normal size mug! The apple is HUGE!

Victoria and her great-grandma! Grandma is scrunching down, so don't think she is very short or Tori is very very tall! We had special family visitors too - our cousin from Iowa recently moved to the area and he and his wife and daughter came to spend Thanksgiving with us. That was really fun to get to know them. I wonder how our traditional Thanksgiving compares with what their family usually does.

This is MY personal plate of food. I ate every bite! Afterwards, more talking, desserts (pies, cookies, cupcakes)...the girls played Apples to Apples. Quite a few of the adults joined in and it was very fun! Sam is 12.

I took a few more pictures but I don't like to use the flash so they came out kind of fuzzy: Alan holding a football and watching a game with Uncle John; The top of Claudia's fuzzy head, finally exposed to the world after all these months; the girls playing apples to apples; Sara and Susie at dinner. It was a very lovely time.

Thanksgiving Eve 2010

We finally ventured out on the roads today. They weren't bad once we got to Steamboat Island Road. But between our house and Steamboat Island was pretty scary. Phil drove though and nothing scares him. I plugged in my zune and listened to soothing music til we got off the compact snow and ice roads... I am very thankful for my cheerful hubby. He always brings in wood and keeps the nice fire going, with a smile on his face.

This is what the area looks like from HWY 101. Doesn't look too bad does it?

And this was the scary part -- the road to our house. We saw one big truck in a ditch on our way out.

And home at last.

I just have a few things to do tonight and tomorrow for Thanksgiving.

The whole family is busy and each making part of the dinner.

I am looking forward to it all.

Still frozen here...

Here we are two days from now! I've always enjoyed Thanksgiving, as a great time for families to get together. But, I especially enjoy how it means Christmas is right around the corner. Time to get serious! I will try not to think about Christmas until Friday morning though!

We stayed home all day today again. It was nice, I got a lot done and there was definitely a holiday atmosphere in the air! I only went outside once, to take these photos. As you can see, it was a beautiful sunny day! and twenty-four degrees...

My poor bunny in the herb garden.

Kit Kat feels like this about the snow too.

She only goes out when absolutely necessary!

A beautiful view towards our neighbor's property. See the blue sky?

Our Mugho pines look right at home in the snow. It was like it was a snowball tree - all those snowballs just for the picking and no kids around to start a snowball fight!

And we are still eating those CSA vegetables. I had a gallon zip loc bag in the freezer with the cooked leftover vegetables thrown in, along with some cooked hamburger and who knows what all else. I heated it up with some chicken broth and we had a hot and hearty soup for lunch. Aren't those purple potatoes beautiful?

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Tomorrow we will drive into town (carefully) and do some grocery shopping and run a few errands. We will pick Tori up after school if we are needed.

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I will be baking rolls and preparing vegetables and cranberry sauce tomorrow.

More Snow! and a Black Friday Idea

I never expected it to keep snowing! It is only November 22! But it snowed all day, off and on (mostly on). I think we might have 3 inches. I called my office as "chicken little" and said I couldn't make it. AJ's play, that I was planning to go to, was cancelled because of snow...so, we had a real snow day. We went out for a walk. The roads actually weren't that bad, and it wasn't that cold, but by the time we were heading home, it got colder and the wind started blowing and we were huddling under our hoods hurrying back home to our nice fire!

The kitty liked staying inside and looking out at the snow.

So, I did some laundry and housework and then started thinking about fun projects! I sold all my journals at the bazaar, but I still had a couple of unfinished ones at home. I finished up this one for my personal use. Last year's journal is so full of wonderful memories. I want to do the same again. This time I'll decorate as I go more, rather than having a somewhat finished book to just insert pictures into. It will be much larger by December 25.

My Black Friday idea - is this: I plan to stay home all day! I will plan a crock-pot dinner. I will get up early, and spend the day getting organized for the holidays. Menu plans, dig out the recipes I need, make shopping lists (groceries and gifts), make gift tags (I always run out of time to do the cute ones I have in mind) and lots more things. It will all be organized into this book (below), which I just made today out of an ice cream bar box.

The inside is filled with scrap paper: maps, music paper, magazine pages, ledger pages, etc. I finished off the edges with fancy scissor cuts just for fun. This book was an experiment and I am satisfied with my first effort.

I will have to write my lists over the lines and decorations on the pages, or type up a list and glue it into the book.

Its still snowing but I can HEAR it so I think it might be freezing rain instead. Wednesday is supposed to warm up so thankfully, we won't have to worry about family traveling in the snow.

I am thankful we can stay home and enjoy a day like today.

SNOW DAY!

I can't believe it actually snowed! It is very pretty. I liked this photo with the leaves still on the maple tree and snow on the branches...

I hope this is our total accumulation. Its getting very fine now so maybe the storm is over. We have a cozy fire going and we are toasty.

To get my mind off the snow... here is a picture of an item I bought at yesterday's bazaar!

Its a dusting cap for my broom! sweep a little, grab a cobweb. I even used it to dust the baseboards. It can go in the wash. Cute huh? I paid $2 for it.

And this bowl of silk flowers is from the $1 Estate sale yesterday. A whole bag of flowers. I am thinking of using them on paper teacups. Some of you will know what that means...

And I couldn't resist sharing the snow coming down this afternoon. I have a love-hate relationship with snow!

I am thankful that W is back at school after his St. Cloud Minnesota adventure; and that his friend Jacob invited him to grandma's house for Thanksgiving.

Bazaar, an emotional moment (or two), an Estate Sale

Today Claudia and I went to the Elma Fairgrounds Holiday Bazaar. She has a friend with a table there and she offered to let us sell our few things from her table. Her friend is a seasoned salesperson (this is her 9th bazaar) and she shared lots of information and observations with us. I wandered around with my camera, not planning to photograph anyone's art work (I know better!) but every time I got my camera out I got a lecture from someone nearby that I must ask permission first! Finally I got the hint and put my camera away. There was so much great stuff going on, but apparently the vendors are afraid of copyright infringement!

This was our part of the table. Nothing sold for the first hour! Ugh. But later, lots of our stuff sold. It was fun. There was so much competition! But not for the same exact products luckily.

There were three rooms full of vendors, it was well publicized, and lots and lots of buyers!

When we were getting ready to leave, I took Claudia over to show her something spectacular I saw earlier (hand made purses for $115), we admired those, and were heading out when another vendor called us over. She wanted to talk to Claudia. You know Claudia is still waiting for her hair to grow in, so she was wearing a bandana and her "Fight Like a Girl" t-shirt. This vendor called her over and asked "are you in treatment?" Claudia said "just finished" and the vendor said "I want you to have this" gave her a pink "dream catcher" from her wares. A total stranger! Claudia accepted graciously. I choked back tears! Then we went to another spot, and the lady there asked if she was in treatment, same thing, and she pulled out two fuzzy hats and said "One of these is for you!". More gulping back emotions. So nice. Total strangers. Claudia said "lets get out of here"... She said that happens to her a lot. There are some very thoughtful people out there! It was heartwarming to see total strangers reach out to my sister. And I am thankful for that.

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Then on our way home we saw an estate sale and we visited that. Nothing hugely exciting, but everything in the Estate sale was $1. I spent $2, so did Claudia. We came home and had a cup of coffee before she had to head home.

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A nice day.
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Oh and I checked the Hillsdale site and the Chargers lost their football game so the season is ended just like that. It's been pretty intensive for Walker this year and I think he will appreciate the break now.

Another outstanding Thursday.

Time to start making shopping lists and thinking of vegetables and pies. I think these old fashioned Thanksgiving cards are hilarious! They would be fun to send to your vegetarian friends.

Vicki and I attended a Henderson House lunchtime lecture today. We used to drag poor Walker and Spencer to these as part of our homeschool program (local history!). We all enjoyed them and then did something afterwards together. Today's lecture was promoting a new book about the history of Tumwater. It was very interesting to me, having grown up in this area. Afterwards, we went to the Mason Jar for lunch. That is a pretty vintage spot as well. I haven't been there in years (at least ten). But, I remembered my favorite lunch: Mushroom soup and garden sandwich. We also had dessert! We spent 2 1/2 hours in there. Its remodeled and pretty nice.

Before I knew it it was 3:00 and time to pick Tori up. Today we did more wii bowling, and tennis and baseball and golf! Bowling was the ONLY thing I was any good at (just like real life!). I did hit two home runs, but the rest of my swings at bat were "too late" "too early". It was very fun and Tori is such a patient teacher!

Home to a cozy fire. Lots to be thankful for.

A Happy Birthday!

Today is my youngest grandson Jonathan's birthday! He is 3 years old.

I hope he has a wonderful day and remembers it even when he is 93!

I spent time with Tori today too. I picked her up after school. She wanted to play UNO Attack! Very fun! Every time we would lay down a bad card, we would say to each other "I love you very much..." and then ack! Then she asked if I wanted to (play?) (go?) bowling on her wii. I tried to talk her out of it, but she convinced me to try. It was FUN! I want to do it again!

I am so thankful for all my wonderful grandchildren.

They are going to keep me young!

Phil is still putting together a cowboy outfit - here's his hat! Very cool. Wait 'til you see the whole outfit! I think I might wear jeans and Walker's cowboy hat. (shh don't tell). We had such a storm last night! The wind blew and blew. The lights blinked on and off. We never totally lost power though. Here is the calm after the storm. It was a beautiful sunny day!

...plus there was an earthquake this morning! I didn't feel it, but Phil did.

And today I put together a box of FOOD to send to Walker in case he is stuck at school for Thanksgiving weekend. He will love all this stuff! M&M's, cashews, wasabi peas, rice, Indian sauces, cheese, beef jerky, turkey chili, some other stuff. All packed into a very very heavy flat rate priority box. What he is really craving is well cooked vegetables! He'll have to wait for Christmas break for that.

A typical Sunday afternoon

These are the pretty little maple leaves stuck to my car, and all over inside the house, tracked in on our feet. This little maple is the last tree to lose its green and then lose its leaves. Its nice that way because it is near the house and pretty. We decided to use our Sunday and go to a movie today. But first there was time to work on projects. This is one of the projects I'm making for the craft fair. I got these backwards, but these are a couple of the interior pages...

...and the cover. I am thinking about putting a high price on it so it doesn't sell and I can keep it. I had fun making it and its so pretty.

A few more of my pincushions...the sale is next weekend. I guess its a good thing if I don't want to let them go...

And the movie we saw was "Unstoppable". A train movie. A runaway train movie. It was very good, but kind of high stress for my taste. Phil is going to try to find someone to go with him so he can see it a second time. Really good, no terrorists, no bad language, just a runaway train!

W called and his football team is "going to the playoffs"! He is excited and gets to fly to St. Cloud Minnesota next weekend! At the football banquet, he started counting the football players that gave speeches and cried - six of them! They introduced and thanked Walker Skylark videographer. I thought it was because he was always in the lift, but he says they just don't know his name. I like it though.