What Have I Been Up To?

Lots of things.

Luna went lame on her left rear leg, her hock was swollen, one emergency vet trip later and she probably jut wrenched it. Ten days of pills and she seemed to be doing fine, then she is limping again, then fine, and yesterday limping on that leg and the usual front leg. No walkies for her for a bit. I tried to leave her home yesterday afternoon but halfway around the trail I hear her usual heavy panting that sounds like a steam locomotive behind me and here she comes. (I had left her in the house but forgot about the jury-rigged doggie door I had set up!) We get back home and this is when she is limping on the 2 legs. *sigh*

My sewing projects got waylaid for a bit, but I did cut out one item before my brother left, hopefully I'll get back to it soon. I started a small knitting project that will also hopefully be done soon, did at least 4 inches of it the first day but haven't gotten back to it. Then I have to finish the shawl I started in spring for Hal's favorite sister. Plus Hal wants a terry cloth bathrobe since his old one failed a while back. Only mannish color I could get in enough quantity in either of the Joann stores I tried was brown. He's going to look like a monk as he wants a hood.

After I dropped off my brother at the airport I hung around with aforementioned SIL and we went shopping. I got some things I really didn't need, but the sales were so good, and there were coupons! (I did donate some clothes to St Vincent de Paul when I got home, (something in, something out, must be my new motto!) Though while at SVdP, aka the Mikado Mall around here, I acquired a cork screw, the kind with the lever arms, a Christmas music cd and a purple embroidered jacket (Coldwater Creek) for the huge cost of $3.19 including tax. But the money is for a good cause.

I also ended up at Kohl's and got a pair of sandals and short boots and a wallet that were on sale, the sandals on clearance, and then I opened a charge account because there was an additional 25% off so I scored. And yes I needed the boots, been looking for a short pair for a few years now, my old wallet was shedding plastic, and the sandals fit my narrow feet. Narrow shoes are hard to find without paying through the nose. Including going out to lunch and dinner in the 2 days I stayed with SIL, we had a pretty good time.

I only gained a couple of pounds while brother was visiting, and those are gone again, I seem to be stuck at a loss of 21 pounds still. I've been having motivation troubles and I've been tired. Don't know if it's the shorter, darker days, the low temps in the 40s, the non-stop stuff I've been doing since last week, or a combination. Probably the latter.

I've taken Mrs Butch shopping, taken my MIL shopping a day or two later, then there was the cutting up of 96 ears of corn for making "Sinful Corn", a homemade artery busting concoction of corn, butter and half and half that tastes so much better than the store bought canned creamed corn but is so much work, even with FIL shucking all the ears and MIL doing the first 22 of them before I got there. And all that work for only about 18 quarts of finished product stuffed into 30 baggies. It may sound like a lot but it really isn't.

I also had located and dug up the septic tank which I decided really needed to be cleaned as it hadn't been in the 15 years we've lived here. The cleaner guy came out within 45 minutes of calling for a quote, either he had nothing else to do, obviously, or feared for our safety. He exclaimed that ours was buried way deeper than normal. Lucky me. I got to rebury it the next day, too. And of course, it seemed most of the dirt wouldn't go back into the hole, should have dumped it onto a tarp when I first dug it out. However, in case we ever do want to pump it out again, this time we put a plastic barrel over the hatch, put rocks on top of that and stuck the bird feeder next to it. Many years ago when we found it the first time I put rocks on top and planted flowers, but the flowers spread and the rocks disappeared under the soil. I reused those rocks and some bigger ones. It isn't disappearing any more.

The septic cleaning happened on Hal's birthday. However, he got other presents than that one and lo and behold, he liked them/they fit! Nothing like a nice new pair of camouflage sweat pants, socks and coffee. I also made him his favorite dinner of a roast chicken with sage and onion stuffing and an apple pie. His birthday will also be the only time he gets an apple pie as I don't particularly care for them. He had the majority of it and seemed quite pleased.

We picked the apples for that pie the previous week at his parent's farm. A good year for apples it seems, much less wormy than last year. (they don't spray for bugs). I cut some up the other day to can some for future pies. Took 3 hours for only 5 quarts, and I think it will take more than 1 quart per pie. I can see why buying apple pie filling is so popular. I also made 6 pints of pickled zucchini as I finally had a year where my zucchini did not fail. (can't say the same for the cucumbers again!). I have more very large zukes but those I think will be shredded for bread. I don't need lots and lots of zuke pickles. I do have an older sister who will enjoy these pickles, however.

I mowed the lawn finally, too the other day. Had a lot of rain for a few days and it was either too wet or I was too busy. Had to mow it twice it had gotten so long.

I suppose I should take Ziggy out for the morning walk now. Poor Luna will be so disappointed but she has to rest.

Toodles.

Not One Word...

...did I post here in August, but I was very busy. We had a mini family reunion for Hal's immediate family the weekend of the 8th and then my brother visited for 3 weeks. I picked him up at Detroit Metro about 1:15 on the 12th and dropped him off at 5 am on September 1st. We didn't really go anywhere except for a couple dinners out and grocery shopping, plus a trip to Joann's Fabric store so he could buy some jewelry supplies for his wife. Otherwise there was a lot of dog walking, eating and smoking salmon. It was fun though.

I spent yesterday and today hanging out with Hal's sister before I head back north tomorrow morning. Yesterday we did a bit of shopping, ate lunch at Amigo's a little hole in the wall Mexican restaurant, did more shopping, picked up a Hawaiian pizza from Hungry Howie's, rented a movie, The Second Best Marigold Hotel (which was very enjoyable) and had a bottle of white wine, Leelanau Cellars, Winter White.

Today we went out to T.V.'s dinner on Fort St where we both had the biscuits and gravy with poached eggs for breakfast. Right now SIL is taking an on line class required for her nursing job while I work on the shawl I started for her this past spring. We are having a good time though.

Didn't take many photos as my brother and I didn't really go anywhere, but I did take a couple of dog photos, (imagine that!) just for grins.

yes, they are still digging!

Hal is Still Working on the Deck (and other things)

He does a few hours almost every day unless it's raining or something else takes precedence. He's gotten the entire deck removed behind the sliding doors now and had to remove the rotten outer rim joist under the door and replace it with pressure treated wood. He's doing that part right now. This photo is a few days old after he'd taken out the joists. The girder will be replaced after he replaces some other pieces here and there including the posts for the stairs. We certainly don't want that falling down at the wrong time.

Luna is standing on the last of the old deck that has yet to be replaced. It doesn't seem to be in as bad a shape as everything else. We think it was added later as the hot tub is set into it. It's a lot of work Hal has ahead of him. I'm keeping him supplied in Gatorade and water. Occasionally I get him things and hold other things in place.

I used to do more of this kind of work when I was younger (heck, we did an entire addition to our house in CA back in the 80s!) but I think I just get in his way now. So I stick to growing the veggies and cooking dinner. How utterly domestic. When did I turn into a housewife? ACK! At least I still mow the lawn (and it took 2 hours yesterday, but I mowed the driveway and a couple of trails, too). I also sprayed some weed killer between the veggie gardens after Hal mixed the ingredients and showed me how. Didn't need it all for the garden area so I used the remainder on those noxious thistle weeds the county doesn't like.

I finally planted a second set of green beans today, this one is an old variety called Slenderette. I also planted the Celebrity tomato I picked up at Wal-Mart last Thursday when I took Mrs J into Alpena for shopping and lunch. I also went to Tractor Supply and got a new battery for the riding mower we bought there several years ago. They happened to be on sale which was nice and I got the one with 280 cold cranking amps though the sales woman encouraged me to get the bigger one "for only $5 more because it would start anything"! But as I only needed it for a summer mower 280 was all I needed and I kept the $5.

While at WM I was also able to pick up the skein of gray yarn I needed to finish the gray and red Lagniappe shawl I started last month. I had to order one since the local Joann's didn't stock it anymore and they don't have free shipping to the store whic WM does, (it turned out to be cheaper, too). It is a pretty good match for being bought a year apart and I was able to add 3 rows to the shawl last night.

I suppose I had better get back to work now. I still have more tomatoes and one more package of green beans to plant.

Haunted by Weight Gain - But Now There's a Plan

It's warm out again, 66 already today whereas yesterday didn't quite make 49. I went for a dog walk with my usual corduroy pants, a long sleeve cotton shirt (at least major sweater season has been over) and a wool shawl. Too warm! I had to come home and find a t-shirt, jeans and drop the shawl entirely. Have plenty of short sleeved shirts, the problem is jeans. At the end of summer last year I bought a few pairs of jeans and some capris all in size 12. I can't fit in them. Those 15 pounds of holiday fun have made it impossible. Plus some of my size 14s sit too far below the waist so I have the dreaded muffin top look. Crap.

I've got one pair of 14s on now that fit pretty well and minimize the muffin top look as much as possible for a waist band that sits below the navel, and found a couple of other pair that I hope will work when I try them on later. It seems impossible, around here anyway, to buy jeans any more that don't sit low on the hips. It's one of the reasons I had to stop buying my favorite corduroy pants from JCPenney, they made the rise even lower and seem to want to fall off. I bought 2 pair about the time JCP went nuts with their "new plan" (since failed, people love their coupons) and returned the one I didn't wear because they felt ridiculous. Haven't worn that other pair more than twice.

These past few weeks I've been trying to lose weight, as has Hal, but we seem to have better luck talking each other into having one more scoop of ice cream or opening that bag of chips. I had lost 3 pounds but know I probably gained those and more back in the last month. Guess my heart just wasn't in it. But a few days ago things changed. I do not know exactly what but it's almost as though my brain had a sea change. I'm tackling portion control. I was cooking a cup of rice with dinner. That's a cup of cooked rice per person. I had dropped it to 7/8 cup, then 3/4. Technically, that's still a lot of white rice and it's full of starch, carbs and calories.

When I was downstate visiting Hal's sister a few weeks ago I ordered fish and rice at a restaurant. I did not get more than probably 1/2 a cup of rice, and it was enough. Had one of those cartoon light bulbs go off over my head. So about a week ago when I made fish I cooked only 1/2 a cup, so we each only got 1/2 a cup. Dinner was good and filling anyway. I actually cooked 12 oz of fish that we split instead of 1 each, sure a few more calories, but less than the rice we would have before. Those fish were only 70 calories each.

Another day I made meat and rice burritos. We were eating 2 each and feeling bloated at the end. Instead I made one each. We were satisfied and happy. A couple days ago I made a Mexican bean, rice and duck casserole. We ate less than we normally would, maybe a little more than we should have though. It's not easy changing bad habits. But this is the way it's going to go from now on, I hope, less food especially of the carbohydrate kind.

It also means no ice cream, fewer cookies, one or two biscotti with tea rather than 3, that sort of thing. And we are eating lots of fruit. Raisins, tangerines, oranges, pineapple. We've probably been doing this faithfully about 5 days now. I don't see a difference yet (I do plan on weighing myself this week to see where I am starting, oh boy) and I am going downstate for Memorial Day weekend and that will undoubtedly throw a wrench into things, but if I try harder (and now it feels like I can) maybe a couple months from now at least the muffin top will be gone.

My New Pressure Cooker

While I was growing up my mom used a large Mirro pressure cooker to make dinners for our family of six. I remember being fascinated by the jiggly round piece that danced on top. It was the kind that had separate holes labeled with numbers denoting which pressure was being used; 5, 10 or 15 pounds.

You can buy this as a replacement part for older cookers

The 2 meals I remember coming from the cooker were pork chops and rice. I believe she spread mustard on the chops and browned them first. The other meal was pot roast which would then be served over baked noodles. It is highly probable there were other meals but these are the ones I remember.

I've canned many foods in the past with my 17 quart Presto canner including venison and tomatoes though I have since used a water bath canner for the tomatoes. I received it as a gift from my mother-in-law back when we lived in Virginia, but I never owned a smaller pressure cooker to be used only for meals till this week.

For years I'd been telling Hal I should probably buy one but had been putting it off because I really wondered how much use it would get. Then a couple weeks ago I made chili using dry beans. I'd done it in the past, soaking beans over night, boiling for a few minutes, rinsing, etc., but this time the beans just did not want to get soft.

Now maybe the problem was caused by using my new crockpot which doesn't seem to get as hot as my older ones, but it was still frustrating as I had to pour the beans into a pot on the stove, boil them and then return them to the crockpot. Or the beans may have been older than I thought since I've mainly been making chili with store bought canned beans. Whatever the reason I figured there must be an easier way because I'd like to use dried beans more often. They are more economical and there aren't those cans to dispose of. So of course I searched on line and discovered that I could use a pressure cooker.

So next I had to decide what size, 6 or 8 quart and aluminum or stainless steel. Though being much less expensive I decided against aluminum simply because acidic foods like tomatoes will stain the interior. Plus there are those who say the aluminum will oxidize and leach into the food. I don't know how scientifically accurate that is, but why not just avoid the possibility all together? As for size, I was leaning toward the 8 quart because I read that beans foam a lot and could plug the vent hole in a smaller pot that could lead to all sorts of problems, primarily over-pressure and the disastrous consequences. But the one I had my eye on at Amazon suddenly jumped in price $16 and that bugged me. I was not going to pay more for something that could drop in price again tomorrow. But I didn't want to wait (it has since dropped $6, but still!)

Plus, do I really need to have 4 quarts of cooked beans to make a pot of chili for 2 people? (pressure cooking beans means filling the pan only half full, but 4 quarts of dried beans would be a lot of beans when cooked.) So I went with the 6 quart and I went with Presto because they've been around for decades, parts are sold everywhere and they are still cheaper than most other brands. Turns out that very same cooker had been on my Amazon wish list since August of 2009 and it had dropped $5 since then.

Unassembled

My cooker arrived this week in a huge box that felt empty but inside there was my cooker which weighed a lot less than I expected for being made of stainless steel. Heck, my stainless steel pots and pans seem to weigh more. The box was square which means the handles could not have been attached and sure enough, it was up to me to put it all together.

All together now

Note the weight on top is not the interesting round one but one that is designed for 15 pounds of pressure. Fancier pricier ones apparently have 2 pressure options, the other being around 8 pounds and used for more delicate foods (I assume). The 15 is for foods like meat and beans.

 After a thorough washing and drying to remove the manufacturing oils (particularly on the rubber gasket)I was ready to cook. But let me put that in my next post.

Area Rugs

Though I am still in love with my gorgeous vinyl floor we had installed last July, I decided it needed some area rugs for warmth and keeping the pups from slipping and sliding all over. I probably mentioned this last month when I picked up that big rug laying in front of our recliners. Since I couldn't find any I liked locally or when I was downstate last month I looked online and found some nice ones at Overstock.com that happened to be on sale and shipping was free. I ordered them last Monday and though they were out for delivery by UPS last Friday but UPS took exception to the weather and didn't even leave them at the general store in town as they've done before. But they came yesterday, left at the store unbeknownst to me till I checked the tracking number that said "Delivered to woman customer".  Uh, yeah. I called the store and the girl who answered checked with someone in the back and yeah, 2 packages were there.

The 3rd rug, the smallest one, did not arrive and its tracking number seemed to be stuck in limbo, UPS claiming they had a shipping label and number but no item to ship. Making a long story short I contacted Overstock with their online chat help system and a nice person called Felix said he would look into it. A couple hours later I received an email stating things were fixed and I should get my rug Wednesday. Sure enough the tracking number began working and as of this afternoon it has made it to Maumee, Ohio.

In the meantime have a look at my new rugs.

This one is 5'3" in diameter and made from synthetic fibers. I can wash this one with my carpet cleaner when necessary. The color was exactly what I wanted and goes really well with my faded burgundy/green wing chairs. I put the ottoman to one side for a better photo.

My other rug is made of hand-tufted (they claim though for the low price I wouldn't be surprised if machines were really involved) wool and is 2'6" by 10' long and is in the bedroom hall. I was really pleased to be able to get runners longer than the 8' ones usually found in the stores. It was a little pricier because it is wool and will require professional cleaning when needed but hopefully being in the bedroom hall where it won't be walked on with boots or shoes it will stay relatively clean.

Her's a closeup view of the center or the runner. I really love the colors and it brightens up the hall nicely. It's the same pattern as the 3rd rug and I chose it for the other stuffed chair in the living room. When I get it I'll post another photo. I am very pleased.

Recycling Day

Every second Saturday of the month (except August because of the county fair) the county has a drop-off for recyclables at the county fair grounds. I've been wanting to go for months but I've either forgotten, had company, there's been bad weather, etc. The cans and plastic and bottles have been stacking up in the basement to the point of over flowing. But finally today, I was able to take my car to the fair grounds filled with crushed aluminum cans, plastics # 1 and 2, and numerous glass bottles. I paid my $5 and the volunteers emptied my car out in less than 5 minutes. It felt good to have it all gone. I also learned that they now also accept plastics 3-7. I wish I'd known that before I pulled out all the 5's but that's okay, next time. I also don't have to keep everything separated. YAY!

After I got home I took Mrs J to Alpena for a small shopping trip, we had lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant. It was a lovely sunny day, bright blue skies and better yet, it unexpectedly hit 24 degrees, Fahrenheit! With there being almost no wind it actually felt warm! After eating, I picked up some take out for Hal and we headed home. Got home while it was still daylight and was able to take the pups for a nice walk twice around the swamp trails. A pretty good day all in all.

Flat Tire

I went downstate last Friday to hang out with a few sisters-in-law and just have a good time. Did some shopping, a lot of eating, actually went out for ice cream in this super cold weather. Bought a few things, a pair of brown shoes, a bathroom rug, an omelette pan, some lovely, tasty pistachios. The drive down was a little hairy. Though it was sunny when I got onto the I-75 the wind was so strong it was blowing snow onto the freeway that made it hard to see at times. Suddenly one had to drop from 70 mph (yes that is the speed limit on Michigan highways) very quickly. But I got there safely and as I said, had a very good time.

I came home today, another sunny and blustery day, but after I got onto US-23 after getting off I-75 in Standish some sort of board was in the road that I could not avoid. There was a car to my right, and ones in the lanes approaching me so I could not swerve. Hit it dead on with my left front tire, it smacked the undercarriage and flew out behind me. About a minute later I heard the dreaded "helicopter overhead" sound informing me one of my tires was flat and I pulled over as quickly as I could. Left rear was deader than a door nail. I called USAA, and a tow truck was sent out and arrived about 20 minutes later. As it was about 17 degrees Fahrenheit I had no desire to attempt putting on the spare myself, besides, it turned out that the guy had to whack the rim with a sledge hammer to get it off anyway. I don't carry a sledge hammer in my car. And as I have road side assistance on my insurance policy, I may as well get what I pay for.

When I got home, I emptied the car before I pulled into the garage. Later I noticed some frozen yellowish green spots in the snow where Rory was idling for 10 minutes. Now I have to wonder if something else was damaged by that chunk of debris. Hal will be crawling underneath and taking a look. The tire itself is salvageable, the sidewall on the inside has an L-shaped slice in it. So unless I can find the same tire to replace it with (it had a fairly deep tread) I will have to buy 2 to replace it. Plus possibly have to get some sort of leak fixed. Bummer all around.

An Area Rug

I've been wanting some area rugs since we replaced all the living room carpet with vinyl. Besides being cool on the feet in winter, Luna has been slipping and sliding now and then even though it does have a texture. The store Big Lots had a sale this week and this is what I found among the meager offerings they had. It's sort of a purple blending into burgundy alternating with beige. I think Luna and Ziggy both like it. It's 6 x 9 feet and essentially is just a bound piece of wall to wall carpet. But I got it for $50 which is a pretty good deal. It's also washable, even better. The photos make it look more purple than it really is but even if it was that purple I still like it. The first photo was taken  shortly after unrolling it. Doggies everywhere!

The second photo was taken yesterday morning. The color is more accurate though a bit washed out, but the doggies still seem to like it.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! (this post is for you big brother!)

Today my brother took the bus from Harrisville, MI to Toledo, OH to be able to board an Amtrak train to Boston tomorrow morning around 3 am. He'd been visiting us since December 11th when he arrived with Hal who had spent the previous week hunting in MA and NH with my younger sister's boy friend. I'd say we had a pretty good time. Walked the dogs a lot, watched a lot of movies, ate too much food, and talked a lot. We hadn't seen each other in the 3.5 years since our mother passed away.

A few days later my younger sister and her boy friend arrived with Lyra and much chaos and merriment ensued. (YAY!) More shopping, movie watching and of course, on Christmas day the opening of a few gifts which actually didn't happen till about 7:30 pm, the day was total chaos which seems odd for 5 adults and 3 dogs.

Christmas Morning

Dinner was a roast duck and a chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, creamed corn, hot rolls, stuffing and gravy, wine, and pumpkin pie. I swear my sister and I spent all day in the kitchen though. Next year I'd like not to do that so I'm thinking a ham and side dishes instead, quite a departure for us, I think I've always had some kind of bird for Christmas dinner.

We had quite the cold snap here, too. One night the low temperature was -11.6 degrees. Now it's been colder than that here but not in a few years. And we have had lots and lots of snow! It seemed we'd get 3-4 inches, then an inch a couple nights, then another 4-6, it just kept adding up and not melting due to the cold weather. There was eventually over a foot of fluffy snow till yesterday when it hit close to 40 degrees. But it's back to cold weather and wind tonight and probably more snow in the near future.

Home on Christmas Evening

My 2 siblings and I went to Alpena to see the second Hobbit movie. It was very enjoyable. We ate 2 big buckets of popcorn, the first before the movie had even started. What can I say? We didn't have lunch and it was a 4:30 matinee.

But I am tired now, went back to Alpena with my sister and Hal's sister. Bought an artificial tree, a crock pot, a shower curtain rod and miscellaneous Christmas stuff at half price. A couple future Christmas gifts for some lucky person, too. Time for bed and a good book.

edited to add photos

Black Friday 2013 and a New Laptop

I went shopping in Alpena, with Hal's sister but not until after 10 am. We shopped a lot. Peebles, JC Penney, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Tractor Supply. We went to a few places to return items or just run errands that needed doing. We had lunch at our favorite all you can eat Chinese restaurant. And we went to Staples where I bought a new laptop that I am using right now. Normally, I wouldn't be up at 3 am but I couldn't sleep. A combination of indigestion and insomnia. So I am downloading updates and writing in this blog while that happens.

I bought another Dell. I liked my old Dell desktop and my last laptop even though the laptop has been misbehaving these last few months, random crashes, the battery is toast, I can't close the lid or it crashes the operating system, using the SD card reader results in the dreaded Blue Screen of Death. So it was time and I waited for Black Friday to find something. I bought a touch screen. Most of the machines out there are running windows 8 (there are a few 7 machines left but I wanted to go with the newer tech.) and a lot of them are not touch screens which I find ridiculous as windows 8 was designed for the touch interface. That interface adds to the cost of the machine though so it was tough getting one cheap. I found one at Staples for $399 plus tax. I had it on my wish list at Amazon with a number of others and they actually had it for the same price with no tax but by the time I got around to ordering it jumped above $400. Then I saw the staples add though in the store itself it still listed for $499, they had to honor their own online price.

It's different, and a little frustrating trying to navigate. It doesn't help that I am tired. But I am finally getting the OS to update and then I can download the 8.1 version which is supposed to be less buggy than 8.0. Later I will discuss my experience with this machine. Incidentally the model is the Inspiron i15RV-6143. Not the fastest processor they sell but it's got to be faster than the 4 year old machine I've been using. But that's enough for now, I think the initial download is almost done. I'd like to finish that up and see if I can finally fall asleep.

Off to Alpena

I'm taking my neighbor and friend to Alpena today to one of her doctors. After that we'll be going grocery shopping and having lunch at the all you can eat China Buffet. We eat there almost every time we go shopping.

I was also in Alpena yesterday with Hal. Two months ago we bought a mattress set, one of those memory foam sets from Young Appliances, now an Art Van franchise. It was a Serta iComfort and those things are NOT cheap. But our old Sealy Posturpedic pillow top was almost 20 years old and sagging badly. Since we had taken out a first mortgage on the house to make essential repairs, (new roof being one of them) and had some extra cash we figured why not, with both of us having bad lower backs it seemed like a good idea.

So we've been sleeping on it for 8 weeks, about 3 weeks into it Hal determined he didn't care for it, so called our salesperson who said we had to actually sleep on it for a whole month so we did, he got used to it eventually but never really fell in love with it (on the other hand, his sister bought a new King Koil from them downstate and LOVES hers, it was a lot cheaper, too.) During the final 5 weeks I also woke up a few times with aching hips. We had picked the firmest one of the series, the Prodigy. We actually waffled between it and the softer Savant. I preferred the Savant at the time but Hal thought it might be too soft. Well, we obviously picked wrong. So we called Art Van a few times, finally talked to the rep and we went back to Alpena yesterday and made an exchange after trying out the 2 beds once more.

Immediately we both felt we preferred the Savant, which is actually $200 cheaper, but we won't get a refund because their policy is to exchange for the same or higher price set. We didn't realize in the fine print that was the case. We did know we'd have to pay for delivery this time. I'm sure the salesman could have made us a deal for something but we are lousy negotiators and just wanted to get this over and done with. So the new bed will be here Friday. With the original mattress and therefore this one costing close to $3000, including fancy pillows and a mattress protector (required for the possible exchange guarantee), I feel it's only right we LOVE our bed. Hopefully, this will be the case.

Bought a BIG TV and a few Other Things

At least it's big for me. A 42" LG high definition television. Looks nice, I've seen other LG's in person but not this one. Bought it from Amazon. It's supposed to be here by the end of the week. Bought it for $300 off list price. I was planning to stand outside a store on Black Friday hoping to get something similar, but Amazon has been having some pretty good pre-Black Friday sales. Can't wait for it to get here, our current TV is only a couple years old, and isn't a bad little TV, but it's only 24" and is not high def so can't take advantage of the HD signal we're getting from DirecTV. We'll have to pull the old stand out of the loft to set it on but that's no problem though a little awkward to maneuver down the stairs. The current stand will look very nice at Hal's hunting camp with the little 24" one.

Tonight I'm heading to his camp with a dinner of venison heart, a strawberry cake and a salad. Opening day of rifle season is tomorrow so I'll be out there with my dad's gun looking for dinner. Hal has already given a couple deer away to some of our less fortunate neighbors. They really appreciate it.

Luna will spend tonight and tomorrow at Uncle Butch's with her Uncle Yogi, Tank and whichever other doggie friends happen to drop by. Uncle Butch's granddaughter will feed and left my birds out of their coops in the morning so I don't have to rush back.

Did a little shopping last week, too. Bought Hal a new fleece hoodie. He liked it so much I went back the next day and got him another.

Eleven days till Thanksgiving. Many of Hal's clan will be up here for dinner at the farm, then holiday shopping on Black Friday. I'm looking forward to it. Plus I no longer have to get up at 5 am to wait outside Walmart in hopes of snagging a TV on the cheap.

Good Time Downstate!

Spent a few days downstate last week with Hal's sister. We'll call her Sal. She was between terms in nursing school and needed a few days to unwind as did I. We had a great time. We went shopping. (Imagine that!) Saw the movie Secretariat which we both enjoyed immensely. I remember watching those races live on TV. I loved that horse. Been a long time since I've really gotten interested in horse racing.

On Friday night we went with one of Sal's friends and one of our sisters-in-law to a mystery wine dinner at the Portofino in Wyandotte, MI right on the Detroit River. The restaurant has had several multiple course dinners before but this was the first one they had where both the food and wines served were a mystery to everyone except the chef and the sommelier. Every thing was fantastic! Five courses were served, first course had a champagne from Spain and a warm watermelon salad. Second course was a white wine from France and curried, grilled prawn. Hickory smoked duck was served with a red wine from Israel, and the 4th and main course was a gorgonzola stuffed filet mignon served with a cabernet sauvignon from Napa Valley, CA. Dessert was a toasted almond creme torte and a sweet white wine from Hungary called a Tokaji. We had the best time with 28 other guests that night. I loved everything.

Of course, the weekend had us shopping some more. Besides clothes, most of which I did not need but the sales were great, I also got more beads for the jewelry I've been making. Haven't made a lot yet, only 3 necklaces, but I enjoy it and they made great gifts.

On Sunday night we had home made Mexican food at yet another SIL's home, the one married to Hal's youngest brother. Their 3 children were there and their dog Bailey, a rat terrier and their newest puppy, Cutty, a 10 week old beagle. I'm afraid I played more with the puppy than the little kids.

The entire time I was there, 5 days and 6 nights we spent little time at home, we were constantly running around. Also wen to "Always Christmas" a holiday store in Lake Orion, as well as several different restaurants to eat. We didn't cook for ourselves at all. I'm hoping we can get together for another one of these visits in the future.

Miscellany - Or, I can't Think of a Better Title

Ended up on Alpena today to pick up my new eye glasses at Wal-Mart. Nice bronze colored frames, only 9 bucks. First frames I looked at were $94. I think $9 is a much better deal. I picked up a few other miscellaneous items too including a box of canning jar lids for the potential applesauce sitting on our living room floor disguised as apples inside of plastic bags.

We picked the apples yesterday. They probably would have been better if we'd picked them before 2 nights of freezing temperatures but we may have been able to salvage enough for some tasty applesauce. Hal made some great sauce a couple years ago. I agreed to can it if he made some more. We need to get to these apples tomorrow.

I also popped into the beauty school in Alpena and had a student cut my hair. I really needed it, and she did a nice job. Feels and looks a lot better and Hal thinks it looks shabby chic.

I stopped in at the farm on the way home and helped Hal finish digging the potatoes he, his dad and I planted earlier this summer. Only got about 2 bushels, we really need to plant more next year. Plus it would be nice to learn how to run the old tater digging machine. The old spade fork method gets old fast when the rows get over 50 feet long.

Hal's dad had his ankle surgery last Friday. (Did I mention he broke it the week before when he was run over by a steer? Five hundred pounds of mad steer (he had become a steer about 5 minutes before the attack) generally is going to win in a showdown between man and ex-bull. Consequently, my father-in-law wasn't in any shape to show us how to run the potato digging machine.

All this activity didn't allow me to get home till almost 6 pm so the planned burritos or enchiladas has been rescheduled for tomorrow and tonight's dinner was a hodge podge of left overs, tomato soup and grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. And a beer. A beer is nice to have after a hard day of slogging through stores and potato fields.

But I must log off now because the 4 South Park episodes we were watching have now ended and I feel like getting a good night's sleep. Toodles.

Feeling a Bit Better

Although I had a sinus headache all day, I drove to my in-law's farm, hooked up with my sister-in-law and we went shopping! Yes, nothing like an afternoon of shopping to brighten one's spirits! First we stopped at the ER to get my staples removed. The nurse had trouble with the specialized staple remover and had to resort to forceps to get the last staple (out of 2!) out of my scalp. The doctor said it's healing well but I may have a permanent squishy spot (no, not the bone itself, just a soft scalp bump) for the rest of my life. As long as my hair doesn't fall out, I can live with that. Things could have been much worse.

After that 30 minute visit we went to the all you can eat Chinese buffet where I managed to eat 2 plates of sesame chicken, garlic shrimp, lo mein, etc, and a bit of fruit for dessert. Next we dashed off to Peebles, to return a purse I had bought for a Christmas party that I never went to, and managed to find another purse I liked for me that was on sale to the tune of $19.74. This was a $94 leather purse. My SIL had to have one too! We hadn't planned on buying purses, but these should last, normally I buy cheap vinyl ones that look fairly ratty within a year. I also got myself a nice, simply structured fleece jacket for a whopping $4.20 plus tax. The color is a sort of burgundy. It will be a nice change of season coat for the future 50 degree temps I am predicting for April. (It's actually supposed to hit 40 tomorrow!)

Then, a little grocery shopping and we headed back to the farm for a nice meal with Hal and my in-laws. Hal brought me some sudafed (the kind that still has the real ingredient that actually decongests one's sinuses, not the placebo stuff they're selling now.) which finally killed off my sinus headache. We left for home at 8:30 pm.

Rocket and Luna spent the day at Uncle Butch's (which they love), almost 12 hours, but seemed happy to see me when they came home tonight. They were on their beds outside, enjoying the balmy 30f temperature but are inside now and gone to bed after getting their bedtime goodie. I brought their beds in tonight as it's supposed to rain/snow tomorrow. Hopefully, rain which will then turn to sunshine. Yes, that would be a nice end to my weekend.