Hello, friends! Can you believe a week of this new year of 2019 is already over? I am still watching the 8 hour parade from New Year's Day! I watch a bit of it each day because who has 8 hours to sit and watch a parade?
I am still cleaning out my magazines and going through them as fast as possible. I have so many Martha Stewart Living ones and thought I would share the cover of this one with you. This is from December 2016. There really aren't any good pages to choose from for this blog so covers are good too.
Do you like bottle brush trees? Do you have any? I didn't used to like them, but they are growing on me. I now have six of them in three different colors. But... I can't find them! I know I did not throw them out so they will show up sooner or later. I like them so much that I leave them out all year and I will show them to you as soon as I find them. I can't find anything in this house anymore. *sigh*
On Saturday Joe and I met my brother Larry and sister-in-law Kim to celebrate Larry's and my birthdays. I am December 29 and Larry is January 3. We always go out for lunch for our joint birthday celebration. They still had all of their Christmas decorations up and their house was so pretty. They actually won third place in their neighborhood contest for outdoor decorations.
I never got pictures of Larry and Kim but I got pictures of the important ones. Bandit...
… and Schnitzel.
I got two amaryllis for Christmas. A pink one from Joe (called Apple Blossom)…
And a red one from Elaine (Ferrari)…
As you can see the one from Joe is a little farther along. I got it earlier. I am going to take a picture every Saturday so you can see along with me how they are doing. Sometimes my amaryllis do well and other times... Well... Let's just say they are not as beautiful as one might have hoped. I'm still waiting for a stem to appear on either one of them. I really like amaryllis so I am hoping they do well. It is nice to have a pretty flower in the middle of winter.
The last few days have not had a pretty sunrise. In fact for the last three days this is what the morning sky looked like.
The sun came out today for a short time during the late morning and I was hopeful but now it is gray and dreary again. Here's hoping for better weather tomorrow.
And with that I am going to end. I have so much to do and I'm so tired. I will try to clean some during the commercials. I am watching, yes, the end of the Hallmark Christmas movies. They are still good even in January. Hope you are all having a good day too.
Until later...
Kathy
Hello, friends! Hope your 2019 has been wonderful for you. I've been having a hard time of it so far, but hope it will change really soon. Today would be nice.
But enough of that. Let me tell you about the New Year's holiday. On New Year's Eve I got up early and by 7:30 a.m. I was on my way to Shoprite. I needed some things for the holiday dinners and I was not going to fight the crowds later in the day. I have found that going at 7:30 is the perfect time. There are some people there so the parking lot isn't deserted, but not so many that it is crowded. The cashiers and other store people are just starting their day, so they are rested and happy. Most of the time I even get a bagger because the person at the next register will come over to help if there is no one in their line. I'm going to try to go there 7:30 every Tuesday (Senior Citizen discount day) to do my shopping.
After that I spent much of the day sleeping. For some reason I've been really tired all the time. I'm thinking the doctor may need to change my thyroid medication. I just couldn't stay awake.
But I did get up to make a typical New Year's Eve dinner -- poached salmon and asparagus. It was so good.
We didn't eat a lot because right after dinner we headed to our Pastor's house. He and his wife have an open house each New Year's Eve and invite the whole church. Only four of us showed up and there was so much food! Tons of it. Carolyn had even made a Yule Log. Then there was all kinds of chips and dips and crackers and cheese. Believe me if you went away hungry it was your own fault! We were the last ones to leave and we left around 9:30 p.m. so it wasn't a late night.
We recently got a smart TV and have been enjoying watching YouTube on it rather than regular TV channels. So after looking around for something decent to watch on TV, I ended up putting on YouTube and watching "New Year's Eve with Guy Lombardo" from 1957-58. I was 4 years old when this was first broadcast. What a blast from the past! Right before this we had watched an old "What's My Line?" from December 31, 1950 where the mystery guest was Guy Lombardo and that's what gave me the idea to look it up. It was fun seeing it. How the world has changed and not always for the better! (Although I do like my modern conveniences.)
On New Year's Day I just took it easy again. I watched all of the Rose Parade and began to watch the Mummer's Parade from here in Philly. I really enjoyed it, but it's 7 hours long and I still haven't finished watching it. But what is New Year's Day in Philadelphia without the Mummers? Nothing!
For dinner I made a pork roast, mashed potatoes and Brussels sprouts. We had left over birthday cake for dessert and finally finished it up. Everything turned out good.
Now it's a new year with so much promise before us. We have been very fortunate with our weather. It got up to 61*F (16*C). Although it has gone down to the 40s (4-6C), it is not like last year when it was below freezing. I'll take this kind of winter any time.
My brother Larry started a webpage yesterday to show his photography. It is fantastic and I am not just saying that because he's my brother. I told him I would share it with all of you. Click HERE to check it out. If you like beautiful photos you won't be sorry.
I finished my temperature blanket yesterday. I am just putting the border on now and then I will show it to you. It has been hard with the torn tendon in my hand (and very painful) to finish but I wanted it done. I have a plan for this year's blanket and am just waiting for the rest of the yarn to show up in the mail for me to begin.
Now it is time for me to start my day. I got up at 7:00 a.m. and took this picture of the sunrise. I am going to try to take a sunrise picture each day this month to show you. Let's see if I can. But here is today's.
Have a good day, everyone! Until later...
Kathy
Happy New Year! I hope that 2019 will be a wonderful year for all of us.
I am so behind with catching you up on what is going on. I am going to try to be up to date by the end of the week. Let's see how I do.
Basically I am very tired. I think everything I've been doing for the last few weeks is catching up with me. All I want to do is sleep. And so on my birthday that is just what I did. I stayed in my nightgown until 2:00 p.m. Elaine gave me a beautiful warm and soft winter nightgown for Christmas and that is what I wore. It backfired on me though when I had to answer the door and that was what I was wearing.
There was a delivery man at the door with a beautiful bouquet. The card said they were from Joe and he wished me a happy birthday and said he loved me. Aww. They are so pretty. I love winter bouquets. Red roses, red carnations, pine cones and fir branches.
Little silver balls and branches sprayed with white paint to look like snow.
It came in a cute snowman coffee pot. The lid is stuck in with the flowers. This will be so cute to use in the future. You can see Joe's Marine Corp nutcrackers there too.
After that I decided I had better get dressed. So I hopped into the shower and then picked out my clothes for the day. It was an easy choice since I had another new outfit from Joe. I wore a purple plaid top and black pants. He also gave me another earrings, necklace and ring set. This time the center stone was purple to match the top.
I had no sooner come downstairs when there was another knock on the door. Another delivery. This time from Elaine. She sent me a fruit and snack basket with a balloon attached to it.
I opened it today and Joe and I had some of it for lunch. Look what was in this pretty basket.
Apples, pears and oranges.
Cookies, spring onion crackers, summer sausage with garlic, lemon drops, swiss cheese spread, dill mustard, strawberry preserves and a chocolate bar.
Everything was so yummy.
The evening of my birthday we headed for the Country Club for dinner. Pastor and Carolyn, Rick, and Walt and Carole met us. Well, Walt and Carole picked us up and the others went on their own. We had such a good time at dinner. I had my favorite -- chicken francaise over angel hair pasta. I was so full that I took a piece of cake for home instead of eating it there.
So now I am 65. And it's a new year. I am feeling very positive about this year. I will be back later with more to tell you and show you. It's going to be a great year for us to go through together.
Until later...
Kathy
