Bye-bye Thanksgiving!

Today is December 1st! Advent has begun.  Thanksgiving 2014 is now a memory -- I would like to say distant but considering there is still leftover food in my refrigerator, not so much! I have to say that no matter how much pre-planning and paring down I do, Thanksgiving is the most exhausting of holidays -- more than Christmas.  I think it has to do with standing on my feet for hours cooking.  However, I am glad it is over and I am looking forward to the next month.

I am about done with my shopping -- really doing precious little of it this year.  Opting for a simpler approach.  We have reached the point in our lives where our adult children really don't need much and whatever they do need, they have the means to supply themselves.  The children are all growing and settling into their own interests so the days of mass toys are drawing to a halt.  E is still new so all she needs is a cuddle which I will be glad to give in excess -- can't have too many hugs.  So, Christmas this year will be more of a celebration of time together, time to reflect on blessings and just a time to kick back and chill-- an appropriate word considering the 45 degree drop in temperature over night.

As things wind down from a visit from my husband's sister and her husband on the occasion of my mother-in-law's  93rd birthday and, of course, the food frenzy known as Thanksgiving, I am enjoying some time to explore new DNA information on my Ancestry.com account.  When I did the DNA test I wasn't sure how that information would evolve and be used but it seems that it is an ongoing thing with new information being added all the time.  The DNA matches are becoming more specific which is fascinating.  When you have a DNA match the people at Ancestry have designed the results to compare your tree to the "cousin's" tree so you can see the relationship very clearly.  It is all very exciting and interesting, especially when most of my DNA matches are to the part of the family that was the most elusive.  I will be watching it quite closely to see more relatives.

Speaking of relatives and roots and all that -- it is no surprise to anyone that I am of extreme British extraction -- I have hardly any other ancestry except some Dutch and a tiny bit of German.  I have always identified with my British self -- in spite of the fact that Ancestry DNA seems to concentrate on my Dutch ancestry.  I was quite close to my grandfather who was the son of Welsh immigrants and many of the things I still do hark back to his habits which were, of course, from his parents. 

However -- there is the question of tea.  I have always been a tea drinker.  I remember having tea and toast with the aforementioned grandfather -- more Pet milk than tea but tea and toast was sort of a ritual of ours.  That and the Welsh rarebit but that is another story.  You would think that I would have tea making down pat, wouldn't you.  Well, with a tea bag, yes, but my daughter brought me some lovely loose tea from Fortnum and Mason on her last time to England.  It is loose tea and really good.  However, I don't seem to have the knack of tea infusers -- they all seem to shed the leaves a little too much.  So, here is my solution today -- yes, a coffee filter in a ceramic infuser.  It worked quite well, actually!  

ceramic infuser

I think I should look for some smaller filters

water added

Maddening infusers!

This nice warm tea was very welcome this morning as the temperature had dropped 45 degrees overnight.  I went to bed in the tropics and woke up in the arctic!  I did brave the cold wind to take a couple of snaps of the yard after a couple of freezes and a lot of wind.  It is lovely, actually but I didn't want to stay out there too long!

Pear tree in lovely fall colors

Another pear tree

and yet the OTHER pear tree

the crab apple tree today!

and the mint just keeps on keeping on

I know that north Texas isn't really known for it's fall color but I think we have done a pretty good job in our yard, don't you?

And now, totally unrelated, I thought I would share with Mary, Bonnie and Jane some pics of the Bean on her trip to England this last summer.  I sharing these with permission from her mother, of course.

Bean and the Pig

Such a grown up little bridesmaid!

Bean and her mother at the church in Bramley

I wasn't at the wedding but the photos are lovely and I think it was a wonderful day for all.

Ok, now I need to go deal with those leftovers! It is lunch time, after all.

Cleaning the House New/Old School -- aka -- I Am Really Lazy


Saturday was a banner day for me.  I got up with loads of energy and I had great plans.  I was going to clean house.  Now, you must understand -- this sort of thing doesn't happen to me often.  I am not domestic.  Not even remotely.  I grew up with a mother that would be known today as a "clean freak".  She cleaned -- a lot.  I don't know that she LOVED it -- I don't remember her saying but she detested clutter and there was precious little around of that.  Of course, we lived in a 950 sq. ft. house which was typical of the time so there wasn't a lot of room for too much clutter.  In any event, I always lived in a very clean -- I mean Clorox clean -- house. 

My children lived in a clean house but I really couldn't stand the smell of Clorox so I used other things.  I used to clean the bathroom tile with a toothbrush and dust didn't land anywhere.  We lived in a small house but we had more room to store things so more things were collected.

The kids grew.  The collections grew.  I learned that one would not die from clutter.  One might go crazy but not die.  So what did I do, little Mrs. Non-Domestic?  I decided to ignore the whole thing and take up hobbies.  Lots of hobbies with lots and lots of things.  More clutter, more mess, yuck.

So, the kids are grown, most of their stuff has gone and I have reached a point in my life that I want my toothbrush and tile floors back.  I don't want the hobby stuff, I don't want the clutter, I can live without the magazines -- I just want it clean.

Well, that's great but over the years I have learned to really, really dislike housework.  So, back to Saturday.  I decided to start cleaning in my bedroom.  I have a large window seat that seems to attract "stuff" like a magnet.  I worked on that for quite sometime.  Then I dusted, vacuumed, tacked the bathroom...you know, cleaned the room.  It. Took. All, Day.  I decided to do everything with the vacuum cleaner -- I dusted the furniture, I dusted the shutters, I dusted the exercise equipment (which needs a new home, BTW) and at the end of the day you couldn't tell I had done a thing.  I was too tired to even put the vacuum cleaner away.

Fast forward to today.  I got up with great plans -- going to finish cleaning the house.  BUT.....I was going old school -- with sort of new techniques.  I dusted with microfiber cloths, cleaned the bathrooms with microfiber cloths, dust mopped the hard floors with my Big Woolly wool dust mop, use my little carpet sweeper on the throw rugs, mopped with my Rubbermaid microfiber spray mop and threw away all the seasonal holiday catalogs that have invaded my mailbox.

I got all that done in the length of time it took me to argue with myself about dragging out the vacuum cleaner. 

So, I guess it is official. I am living in the 50's.  I am just a little lazy.  I am not keeping up with the times but I got done quickly enough today to have time to play with my Nook tablet -- the one I have had for two years and not messed with -- and I figured out how to check out library books on it and how to listen to audio books on it!

So, yes, a day well spent!

Emily

The new baby, Emily, has arrived on the first snowy night of the season.  She arrived at 1:09 a.m. and weighed in at 7lb. 5 oz. and is 20.75 inches long.  Rumor has it there may be a trace of red hair.  I haven't seen her yet so I have no photos.  That will happen later this afternoon.  I can't wait to meet her.

The Mistress's Daughter

A few days ago I finished reading "Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good" and was looking for a short read before I was scheduled to receive a book order from Ebay.  I went to my bookshelf -- the one that is completely organized with a good number of unread books and I searched for something that looked like a quick yet interesting read.

My eyes fell on "The Mistress's Daughter" by A.M. Homes.  It is not a long book and I figured that I could knock it out pretty quickly which I did.  I figured it was a novel about, well, a mistress's daughter.  I was wrong.  At the first page I realized that I was reading an autobiography.  A really sad autobiography.  I will admit it was pretty depressing in the beginning and then we hear about Ms. Homes learning that her biological mother was looking for her.  We are introduced to the biological mother only to realize that she isn't a stable person.  We meet the father and learn that he isn't a great guy and never was.  During all of this we don't hear a whole lot about the adoptive parents -- it is a story of her struggle to deal with her past.  As the book progresses, however, and Ms. Homes learns more and more of her heritage we learn of her desire to join the DAR and her struggled with that.  As I read along the book that started out a personal and painful journey turned into a genealogical study which fascinated me.  Toward the end we learn about her adoptive family and the grandmother that Ms. Homes adores -- and the table.  The table is fascinating. 

All in all, I really enjoyed this book.  It was different than I imagined, it was sad, it was emotional but, in the end, it was joyful.  For a quick read to sandwich between more important books, it was a great choice but  it was too good to be a "sandwich" so if you want to read it, give it the time it deserves.  As I looked at the picture of that beautiful child on the cover I felt that I had even let her down, sandwiching her story between other stories and that was not right.  It is well worth reading and it deserves the time and attention of any other work that might be in your queue.

I definitely recommend to anybody who does genealogy, anybody adopted who doesn't know their whole story or anybody who is just interested in a completely different, compelling read.

Somewhere Safe With Somebody Good -- Jan Karon



I have just finished reading Jan Karon's latest instalment in the Mitford series  -- Somewhere Safe With Somebody Good.  Prior to this book, Karon had more or less ended this series and then  proceeded with the Father Tim books which dealt with Father Tim's youth and with a monumental trip to Ireland.  Both of those books were a little deeper and darker than the Mitford series, they showed a different side of the beloved Father Tim.

This latest work, however, brings us back to Mitford after Father Tim and Cynthia's visit to Ireland.  They don't have long to get settled back into their usual routine before the life in the little North Carolina town draws them in.  There is the family with the good news -- Dooley -- and the bad news -- Sammy.  There are the long time friends, neighbors and parishioners -- some we watch go from deep despair to great joy - Hope -- and the possible romance -- Helene and Harley maybe? Or perhaps the spray tan queen and the fly boy.  Father Tim is involved in all their lives to some extent and it is so interesting to watch him juggle these relationships with grace and the knowledge of when to get involved and when not to.  His wisdom would be a good lesson for anybody.


For anybody who thinks small town life would be boring they should read the Mitford books.  Are small towns really like this?  I wouldn't know but I like to think they are.  In any event, I enjoyed once more, being able to "live" in Mitford for a while.  I hope there is another in the series so that we aren't left hanging wanting to know what happens to Hope, Scott and Grace and Dooley and Lace and all the rest of the quirky yet loveable characters.  I don't think Karon would do that, however, as there is so much more story to tell.

I, for one, will be waiting.

Time to Bring Out the Turkey Planter


Isn't she cute?  She was a gift to me from my Aunt V many years ago.  She came with a real plant but anybody who knows me knows that wouldn't last long.  So, each year, I deck her out in some lovely silk foliage and display her near our table.  I think she is so cute and should have a name --Thomasina, perhaps - the female to the traditional Tom?

I feel the Thanksgiving season coming on! I love it!

I am turning my thoughts to my Christmas decoration and I feel I am in need of a large Nativity set up.  I have several others that I put around but I need a larger one for use with my Advent activities.  I think a trip out is necessary.

So, have  a wonderful day! I will let you know if I come home with anything.

Monday --

It is Monday.  It is cold and getting colder.  I forgot to take my allergy meds last night so I am all stuffy with a headache.  Should get a flu shot today.  Need to go grocery shopping just in case the weather gets very bad -- I don't think it will but we have been known to have ice in November and I don't want to be caught without the necessary paper products, milk, allergy meds and a turkey.

Fortunately I have lots of reading material and sewing projects.  I stocked up on flour, sugar and eggs so I can do some baking if I wish.  Must get some gas in the car just in case.  All this prep should shoot the temps back up into the 70's right?  Isn't that how it usually works?  I have lived in North Texas for 24 years and am still baffled by how much different the weather is here than "home" -- San Antonio.

Getting on with my Christmas prep.  Going to start some decorations of the homemade variety today.  Have a few things ordered and on the way.  My minimalistic thinking has finally crept into the holidays -- token gifts this year.  Nobody "needs" anything we have to give anymore.  When the kids were first married there was always something for their house or their kitchen,now, not so much.  When the kids were tiny there was always some new toy or new clothes but now, their needs have changed as well.  We have a new "little" on the way which could probably use some wintery things since she is coming in the middle of this cold snap so that will probably be in order but for the most part -- a few things to let them know we love them and have thought of them -- a hug and a kiss and watch them grow another year.  I have watched my daughter stress out over trying to declutter their house -- mostly outgrown clothes and toys -- and I have made a mental note not to add to that.  Nothing is worse than trying to live in a house that has too much stuff.  Both my children live in adequate -- even large -- houses but realistically -- no house is meant to store unlimited amounts of stuff no longer useable.  So, I will do my part to help them out and my gifts will be thoughtful, small and not of the variety that will generate guilt if they decide to toss them.  Nothing is worse than having to hang on to things because "somebody made it" or "somebody bought that for you".  They are things and unless it is valuable -- like jewelery or coins or such -- I don't expect my kids to keep what I buy for posterity.  Well, maybe the books.

I do like giving books as gifts.  When I was a child reading was a wonderment to me -- I was thrilled when I learned how and from that time on my main source of entertainment was reading.  It still is.  And coloring in color books.  I still love that as well -- yes, I color but I use colored pencils now and color by number books for adults!  Shhh-- don't tell anybody but the latent artist in me -- you know, the one who can't draw a straight line with a ruler -- loves to color.

I digress.

Speaking of books, I am almost 3/4 of the way done with the new Jan Karon work "Somewhere Safe With Somebody Good".  As usual, she has done a beautiful job of creating an environment that I can get lost in.  I can recommend the whole series without reservation.  Great cold weather reads.

I bought a couple of books off the internet last week.  The next in the Agatha Raisin series -- "The Terrible Tourist" and a book I saw my daughter reading "An American Childhood".  I have been reading the Raisin books on my Nook but have discovered that I can get them cheaper by either going to Half Price Books or Ebay.  I don't really want to start collecting the whole series but I have to be cognisant of my quest to get want I want at the very best price I can.  Obviously the best price would be free and I am going to make an effort to frequent the library but it is a habit I have gotten out of and I am sorry -- note to self -- must do better in that department.  I honestly don't know why I am acquiring books in any form at all -- I have two complete shelves on my bookshelf devoted to yet unread books.  Reading, to me, is a bit like quilting -- I have to be in the mood for something so my reading really has no rhyme or reason -- just what hits me at the moment.  Sort of like my entire day to day existence.

Blah.

Ok, I am getting very rambly now -- don't really have much to say and no really great pics to share.  I am enjoying the pics of the poppies and in the Tower of London moat -- such beauty to represent such sorrow -- very striking photos though -- I hope they leave them there indefinitely.

Have a wonderful Monday, all!

A Rant, A Craft and a Plan


Ok, first the rant.  I went to Joann Fabric and Craft Store over the weekend to purchase some Wilton decorations for cupcakes.  While I was there I decided to look for some cute Thanksgiving decor.  I don't do much decorating but I love to set small stuff around just for color and atmosphere.  I was taken by surprise when I discovered that there was nothing there! No little pillows or pictures, nothing with inspirational words, nothing orange/gold/green -- no TURKEYS!  Instead I found myself in an ocean of red and green peppermint stripes! Really?  When did we do away with Thanksgiving?  Is this political?  Is this an effort to make American's forget our history?  If it is that easy to just simple abolish something as traditional as Thanksgiving is Christmas next? Probably not -- too much money involved there.  While I am sure it is just a "retail thing" my imagination makes me think there is something more sinister afoot.  If nothing else, America needs to slow down.  Way down.  We are just charging through life like a lightening bolt.  I don't like it.  Not one bit.  Something has to change but I am afraid that it has to be the people that change it because I don't think the retail society will do anything but get worse.  I for one am closing out the retail world until after New Years. Bah humturkey.

Rant over.


I haven't said much here because my daughter in law prefers her privacy and I respect that wish but, in the middle of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas plans, we are expecting a new addition to the family.  A baby is due to my son and daughter in law in mid November so  we are planning for this event as well.  I was asked to provide some crafty items so I spent last weekend working on these and this is what I came up with.

It is common practice here to decorate the hospital doors with something festive to let the visitors know who is new and who is living in that room for a day or two.  I have done this with my other three grandchildren and this one is no different.  So, this is what I did for the door --

Painted some wooden letter with Wicker White craft paint and pink paint pen for accents

Sewed some pink fabric from the quilt to some green fabric and backed with fusible interfacing (Pellon)

Placed in an embroidery hoop and glued the edges down -- secured with clothes pins till dry

Blank canvas waiting for embellishment

Glued on the name and then a cute little wooden bunny.  The bunny was chosen because there is a bunny in the quilt fabric

I chose these ribbons to go with the colors of the fabric

Big puffy bows aren't my strong suit but it looks ok

Finished product! Hanging by a sheer white ribbon

I am making a quilt but I am not finished.  It isn't a secret so I will share some information about it.  It is a wrapping paper quilt -- or striped quilt-- the fabrics are peach/pink/green/turquoise and a stripe.  It is the striped fabric that also has a little turquoise bunny.  It sounds boyish but it isn't -- it is very girly and I really like the way the colors work together to make a very lively, yet babyish quilt.  I will post photos when done.

I was also asked to make a dresser scarf and a nightstand scarf.  I did that as well but I didn't have enough quilt fabric to use so I just chose a white fabric with very pale pink polka dots.  It will blend nicely with the quilt even if it doesn't match perfectly.  Unfortunately I was in such a hurry to get the project completed I didn't take photos but they were very plain so you can imagine what they looked like.

So, that brings me to "The Plan".  It has occurred to me that my record keeping practices need to be improved upon.  Maybe that should read "implemented" as I don't really keep records of any sort about anything.  Then, when I need to refer back to a project, a purchase  or a recipe I don't have anything to look at and my memory is good but I am finding that it isn't as easy to recall some things as it used to be.  I do have a recipe box which works nicely for the recipes but I decided that I needed a notebook for just that -- notes.  While in my neighborhood Target store the other day I noticed that they had cute little 5 X 8 loose leaf notebooks with all the supplies -- paper, dividers, etc.  I was headed out this a.m. to get one but one look at the pouring rain and I decided to look around and see what I had in the house that would suffice.

I just love it when I practice what I preach!  Shop your own house!  I found a 1" white loose leaf binder that is brand new, unused.  I still buy school supplies in August, even though my children are grown, and I have a huge supply of notebook paper.  I picked up a bag and what did I find but a new set of dividers.  So, I didn't have to go out in the rain and I didn't have to spend any money to buy what I already had.  I felt so accomplished! 

Now that I have the "household" notebook and a set of 8 dividers I am going to organize my purchases, recipes that I use routinely, ongoing lists, holiday lists, etc.  And I am keeping it where I can find it and refer to it -- no putting it away.  Oh, I also have a brand new box of page protectors so I can use those as well.

So, that is what I have been up to.  In the next few days I will be finishing the quilt and some Christmas projects I have started.  I will share all of it when I am farther along

Oh yes -- Happy Guy Fawkes Day to all my British family and friends!

October Is My Favorite Month


I have always felt like October is the perfect month here in Texas.  It is still warm, for sure, but you can feel the change in the air.  There are also a lot of activities during October and we participated in a couple.  Here are some photos from our adventures.  These photos were taken at Hall's Pumpkin Farm in Grapevine,  St. Gregory the Great School in San Antonio, Texas and some local spots in San Antonio.  Thanks to our kids for inviting us to tag along on their adventures.

Hall's Pumpkin Farm

So Many Pumpkins!

Picking out a pumpkin requires deep thought

The Hay House -- Achoo!

This was my favorite pumpkin but it didn't come home with me

St. Gregory the Great Catholic School -- San Antonio

The gym

Classrooms

drink booth

Courtyard between classroom wings

Kiddie Park -- San Antonio, Texas

Miscellaneous San Antonio

Really good independent coffee shop in Alamo Heights

Great hot chocolate

So, that was pretty much October for us -- hate to see it end!

I Have a Pen Pal!

When I was a child we received a publication in school called Weekly Reader.  There was a section in each issue for pen pals -- children across the world that would like to write to someone.  I was always intrigued by this activity and I tried but nobody ever wrote me back.  Well, now I have a real pen pal and she writes back!

Recently Elizabeth at Cornish Cream decided to organize a pen pal scheme for any of her readers that would like to participate.  I signed up immediately and after a few days I received an email from Elizabeth giving me the address of the lady she paired me up with.  I was excited so I sat down and wrote a letter -- a real letter -- right away.

This past Saturday I received my letter from my pen pal and I was thrilled.  Elizabeth did a great job pairing us up as we have so many things in common.  Her letter was lovely, she was very friendly and seemed very interested in having a pen pal as well. 

My pen pal's name is Mary and she is from the UK.  We have read each others blogs so we know a bit about each other already.  Mary is very thoughtful and has decided to give one of my favorite authors a try so she is reading "Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good" by Jan Karon.  I am currently reading this as well so I am anxious to see what she thinks of it.  We seem to like the same hobbies and are both fans of M. C. Beaton's character Agatha Raisin.

I think Elizabeth's idea of a pen pal is a great idea.  However, it has been a long time since I have written real letters and the process is so different than dashing of a quick email or a facebook comment.  It takes thought and time which I think is wonderful.  I think our lifestyles have made it too easy to scratch the surface of friendships -- with a real letter you have to sit down and concentrate on what you are doing to communicate well with another person.  I have found my handwriting has changed as well.  Since I don't write as often I feel like I have forgotten how.  My first letter to Mary I actually printed because I can't write longhand anymore -- my hand cramps up and it becomes illegible almost immediately.  The printing was better but oh my goodness I didn't expect that!  Hopefully I won't be printing forever but I am afraid I am going to have to actually practice longhand again.  Who knew!??

I just wrote my second letter to Mary tonight and it will go out in tomorrow's mail.  I am anxious to see what she thinks about the book and I am very interested in her Christmas projects.  I think she will be very inspiring and make me want to be more creative than I have been of late.

So, I am very excited at the prospect of making this new friend and going back to doing things "old school" because I think it is important.  This exercise has just shown me that while technology is great we can't lose the skills that we used to have.

Fall Has Indeed Fallen!


The mornings have been quite lovely, the afternoons warm enough to be enjoyable and the evenings have been slightly crisp.  I just love October -- it is my favorite month of the year -- well, except for December.   I think I especially love the colors.  So, with that, I would like to share a few photos from our yard.  We don't have a huge amount of fall coloring but what we have is lovely.

The berries on the hollies are abundant and beautiful -- shiny little orbs ranging from yellow to deep red.  I am surprised the birds haven't taken them all

The salvia still growing strong -- still looks springy in it's lovely purple hue

The crabapple tree in a blaze of glory

Not in the garden, of course, but I had to include a photo of the pumpkin bread I made this week! It was yummy!

So, that is what fall looks like at Casa Brinkley- I will take photos of the pear trees when they change but they really aren't too spectacular -- they become a lovely yellow and within a day all the leaves are on the ground -- but I won't neglect to share them as well when the time comes.