Merry Christmas!

From my home to yours....

and wishing you a very Merry Christmas

filled with love, peace and joy!

Thank you for gifting me with your visits
and friendship this year.  I appreciate and love
each of you!

Love, Cheryl

~comments closed~

Ten More Days!

Hello!  Anyone still there?  Or are you busy shopping, wrapping and baking?  Maybe you are finished with all of that and sipping on a mug of hot chocolate listening to nice music in front of a cozy fire.   

This Christmas is approaching faster than any other Christmas in recent memory and I still have much to do.  But that's okay.  Really.  Everything that is important always manages to get done and I am not going to stress about anything.  Never mind that the cards are still to be sent, gifts still need to be bought and wrapped.  But, the trees are up and the house is as decorated as it's going to be. 

I love Christmas!  It is a most special season as we celebrate our Savior's birth.       

 

Ever since my kids were young, they have gotten a box of chocolate-covered cherries for one of their Christmas gifts.  It is a tradition that I continue today.  My daughter loves them, my son probably not so much but it wouldn't be Christmas if they didn't get them!  😊

Our daughter is mostly moved into her new home.  She is so excited and while there are still a few things to tweak, the main things are moved in and done.  Drapes, curtains and such are still to be chosen.  She's already rearranged the living room furniture.  The drapes/curtains will be pondered while she decides on the right colors.   

I got out my sewing machine, which has been in storage for years, to make her a couple of panels for her bathroom window.  It is over the tub so she bought a fabric shower curtain that can be used for a liner, so I cut out the panels and stitched up the sides and made a pocket for the tension rod to go through.  

I found out that sewing is like riding a bicycle.  You never forget!  I got out the instruction book in case I'd forgotten how to thread the machine, but didn't need it. 

BG has been under the weather the past few days and now I feel like I'm catching what he has.  That might hinder my plans somewhat.  I want to go to the Amish country to get some Christmas candy and a couple of pies for Christmas.  It's a fun little side trip that I can make on my way to CoMo where I'll do my shopping.  

I've decided to change my menu this year.  Me, who never wavers from tradition!  Will the earth stop turning?  Lol!  Instead of another turkey dinner...wasn't it just a few days ago that we had one of those?...I am planning to get a brisket and fixing a potato dish with a garden salad and rolls.  Maybe another dish or two as well and that will be plenty.

What is on your menu this Christmas?  Are you much further along in your preparations than I am?  Wishing you the very best this beautiful season!  Take care, stay warm and stay well!

Happy Thursday to you!
xo Cheryl

Some Good News...

Are you ready for Christmas?  Tree up?  This year, I'm about as far behind as I've ever been in regard to the trees and decorating.  It's been quite a week or so and it will be busy for the rest of this week and through the weekend. 
  
Thanks to all for your well wishes concerning my vertigo flareup.  It lasted longer than I wanted, but it's now subsided for the most part.  I was still able to drive and do a few things at the other house.  I was even able to paint most of one bedroom the other day, except for around the ceiling which BG finished for me. 

Yesterday, I had my last appointment this year with the chiropractor.  It seems weird to say that.  Isn't it unreal that this year is about over?  Or is it just me?  Anyway, the visits have helped but he told me that I need to drink more water and that some of my problems are due to arthritis.  He really is an advocate for healthy eating and drinking mostly just water.  That is a hard one for me as my water intake is usually flavored with tea and I like my cola too much.  He thinks I may be getting dehydrated thus causing some of the pain.

Another thing on the agenda yesterday was meeting the delivery men at the other house.  They delivered the sofa that daughter Kim had decided on for her new home.  I love it and it goes really well with the paint color she chose for her walls.  She may want to move it under the larger window.  

Good News!!  I am super-excited to be able to announce that the work in the attic is now finished.  BG is even more excited as he's the one crawling around up there on the rafters trying to find the old wire and run the new.  There is still some wiring to do downstairs, but it will be run up to the breaker box and the walls have been torn out down there, so it should be a piece of cake compared to what he's had to do so far.

And more good news!  Our daughter is planning to move into her new digs this weekend.  We have a few odds and ends to finish up there, but enough is done that she can move most of her stuff.  At least the essentials.  So, from this day forth, The Project will be called Kim's house.  It will soon cease to be an ongoing project, although is any house ever really done?  My house needs some work when we get around to it.  We still haven't redone our basement and eventually we'll get Kim's basement finished, too.

We've had many late nights working at Kim's house, as BG would work a few hours after he came home from his job and Kim would do likewise.  Often, I would meet them there after fixing a meal that could keep until they were ready to eat it.  Last night I put a roast with potatoes and carrots in the oven, and served a tossed salad and rolls with it.  My easy-to-fix roast is one that a friend gave me when I was first married and didn't know beans about cooking.  It's never failed me.  All I do is put a chuck or arm roast in the middle of a big sheet of aluminum foil which I place in a 9x13 pan.  Then I place peeled potatoes and carrots around it and salt and pepper all.  I add a wee bit of water, seal the aluminum foil and bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for around 3 hours.  Yum!
 
For now, a post once a week is all I'm going to try to do.  I do apologize for not being able to visit and comment as I'd like.  I have missed reading what everyone is up to and hope to be by to catch up soon! 

Happy Thursday to you!
xo Cheryl 

Odds and Ends...

Do you have your tree up and the house all decked out for Christmas?  I just took down all the fall decor, so I'm ready to get the trees and the totes out and begin making it look Christmasy around here.  

I've been dealing with vertigo issues since just before Thanksgiving, so I haven't been online much as reading and scrolling pages makes the dizziness worse.  Until this passes, I'm reusing an old Christmas header for my blog from a couple of years ago.  Looking for photos to make a new one just wasn't going very well.  I'm still able to do a lot of things, but I just have to be careful not to look up or turn my head a certain way.  The smell of paint and varnish at The Project hasn't helped, either.

Here's the big guy, aka BG, finishing up the ceiling.  He insulated the floor under the spare room that is on the end of the deck at the rental house.  I tried to help with holding one end of the plywood up, but not being able to look up very well, I wasn't much help.  He came up with the idea to nail up the board and then he could slide the plywood through.  

The insulation will make a huge difference in keeping this room warm.   It is the last room to finish before our daughter moves in.  Hopefully in the next week or two at the most. 

The other rooms have a few little odds and ends to finish and one needs painting which my daughter will do this weekend.  I will help her if my head feels better by then. 

I'm the general go-fer for supplies for the remodeling project and Menards is my main home improvement stop.  The Christmas section always catches my attention and I love to wonder through the many trees on display.  It's a little bit of a stretch, but I can pretend that I'm at SDC in Branson.  😊 

Did you have a nice Thanksgiving?  Even though my table isn't nearly as crowded as it once was, we had a very nice day with our children.  I cut back on the dishes this year...what? no corn or green beans?...and had turkey, which was delicious, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, garden salad, rolls, and I just had to have my scalloped oysters, too.  Pecan and cherry pies for dessert plus a cherry delight that a friend sent over. 

The only thing bad about it all is that it's all gone!  Well, I do have the carcass and turkey scraps to make soup with in the freezer.  That will be good on a very cold day and it sounds like the entire USA is in for some very cold weather this winter.  

🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄

Hubby is taking a vacation day tomorrow to hopefully finish up his work in the attic.  Below is a photo I took of one section of the attic.  I don't know how he can find anything in all that loose insulation.  By the way, the insulation doesn't have asbestos in it.  The only asbestos in this house are a few tiles in the basement that are stuck down tight and we have put a sealer over them and will cover them with carpet.

Remember the room I showed a few posts ago and the walls had been mostly removed so the wiring could be gotten to?   The walls have now been put back together and are awaiting paint.
 

  

The kitchen is mostly finished except for moving in the electric range and putting in the new sink and faucet once we're through cleaning paint brushes, etc., there.  And a thorough cleaning inside the cabinetry needs to be done.  Also a few outlet covers need to be put on.   Please ignore the clutter you can see out the door on the upper deck, the stuff just seems to keep multiplying!

We're hoping that our daughter will get to move in the next week or two.  She is so excited!  Some things can wait until after she's in, such as the basement and any outside work.  We never did get the exterior repainted.  We may be slow, but it will be a nice little house once it's all finished.  

And I'll be happy to have something else to talk about.  It seems like most of our thoughts are taken up by this huge project.  What will I blog about?  lol!  

I'll be by to see you when I can.  You probably have guessed that the work was going full speed ahead at the other house.  With the holidays so close together, I'm sure everyone is super busy these days, too!  

Happy Thursday to you!
xo Cheryl