THE FIRST FIVE DAYS OF DECEMBER

 

Hello, friends!  And welcome to December.  It's hard to believe that this is the fifth day already.  To me the time just whizzes by.

I am doing my Vlogmas again this year over on my YouTube channel Kathy's Happy Home.  I know some of you also view me there and I hope you are enjoying them.  I think it is a little lame because not much is going on around here.  It is so cold that I haven't been going out.  I have cold induced asthma and I don't want to get an attack.  But I have to go sometime because i have to finish my Christmas shopping.  Next week it is supposed to be warmer so I will probably go then.

I have been fighting a stomach bug of some kind.  My stomach has been feeling as if it is doing the limbo.  Ha, ha!  I haven't wanted to eat much, of course, and have been drinking a lot of tea.  Today I was feeling some better, but after I ate lunch, it started up again.  *sigh*  Joe's veterans group is having a Christmas dinner this Saturday night and we are supposed to go.  I sure hope I feel better by then!

I can't find hardly any of my Christmas decorations.  And I have boxes full of them.  When I do find them, I will have to put them in totes and mark on the outside what they are.  I have enough fall decor for three or four totes, but nothing for Christmas.  Well, this is a strange year and I am working with what I have.  Next year will be better.

I have to get off of here and get some things done.  Or take a nap.  I think the latter.  See you all soon.  Hope you are enjoying the Advent season.

Kathy

THANKSGIVING

 Hello, friends!  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.  For those of you who are outside of the U.S., I hope your day was wonderful too.

It was a busy day for sure.  I didn't get to bed and to sleep until about 3:00 a.m.  And I got up around 7:00 a.m.  Not much sleep, but I had so much to do.

I spent the morning cleaning, doing dishes, and preparing some of the food ahead of time.  I got the turkey breast ready.  I tried a new recipe that sounded good.  I mixed several seasonings with some butter and put it under and over the skin before putting it into the oven.  Well, I was not impressed.  I think I will be throwing that recipe out and not using it again.  I don't think it added any flavor to the bird.  I will go back to my tried and true recipe of poultry seasoning and butter.  But if you don't try something new, you don't know if you will like it or not.

I was very tired by the mid afternoon, but went and picked up our friend Rosemary anyway.  She was going to be alone and we didn't want to see that happen.  She was very glad to be able to spend the day with us and have dinner with us.

I persevered through the next hour or so but my eyes started closing and I was TIRED!  So with the urging of Rosemary and Joe I went to bed for a couple of hours.  I felt so much better afterwards.  Joe went ahead and prepared the veggies for me which was so nice of him.  I took some pictures of the table and my plate, so let me show them to you.

We put out some snacks at first.  Cheddar and Monterrey Jack cheeses.

Grapes, pepperoni, celery and Mediterranean pita crackers.

See the fall plates I have?  They were from Dollar Tree several years ago.  I think they are so pretty.  We had Brussels sprouts, gravy, turkey (sort of hard to see, but it's behind the butter) and applesauce.

Here's a better view of the plates.  Mashed potatoes have been added to the table.

Stuffing and cranberry sauce too.

Here's my plate.  A bit of everything.

I made a pumpkin pie, but forgot to take a picture of it.  It turned out really good this year.  Rosemary had given us a bag of "Cherries and Berries."  I didn't want them to go bad, so I made a pie with them also.

We sat at the table after we ate for the longest time and finally around 9:00 p.m. Rosemary left for home.  Joe drove her and I cleaned some things up.  But a lot was left to do the next day.  I was beat.  It was a really great day, though.

I'm still working on cleaning out the living room so that I can put up the sofa.  Life will be so much easier when that is done.

I'm going to go for now.  But I will be back soon.  Can you believe tomorrow is December?

Take care,

Kathy

GEORGE IS BACK!

 

Hello, friends!  He is back.  The little stinker George has returned to his home.  Where was he?  Who knows?  Not us, anyway.

I had put a notice up on facebook's neighborhood page.  Then my realtor saw it and posted it all over.  Lots of people were looking for him.  A few people said they had seen a cat matching his description at an intersection about 1/2 mile from my home.  I thought, "How would he get over there?" but went and looked for him three times.  On the last time I had my friend, Donna, in the car with me.  She saw a gray cat run across the street.  We were too far away to make a positive identification, and by the time we got to the intersection the cat was nowhere to be seen.

A lot of people were praying that I'd find him.  Thank you all so much!  I dropped Donna off at her house and then headed home praying that George would be around our neighborhood.  I looked the whole way.  (It's hard to drive and look for a cat too!)

When I got home everything was still the same.  I went in the door to the enclosed porch and then through the door into the house.  I thought I felt something brush against me.  And then I heard "footsteps".  Since the neighbors next door are redoing their house, it's hard to tell if the footsteps are in our house or theirs.  But I looked up and there was George on the steps.  I called his name and he stopped and turned around.  I called him again and he came downstairs.  I was so happy!

So where was George?  We had opened every closet and room in the house with no cat.  We looked under beds and behind furniture.  Nothing.  Was George outside and came in with me without me noticing him?  Was he in the house the entire time?  I guess we'll never know where he was those 24 plus hours he was missing.  But he is back now and I am so happy.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and this is one thing I am giving thanks for.  See you all soon.

Kathy