Thankful, Grateful, Blessed #6

There are times when modern technology just baffles me - I'm not really a tech-savvy person so things get frustrating and it just boggles my mind that the younger generation can master all of the social media and e-resources that are out there these days.  I was reading a message thread about parents communicating with teachers - how they receive alerts when grades are posted and can keep track of whether their students are completing and turning in assignments in a timely manner.  No more hand-written notes going home from the teacher!

That being said, I am so thankful for FaceTime.  I know, crazy, right?  Of all the things I could be thankful and grateful for and blessed with, FaceTime seems an odd choice but with Vic so far away and Sophia so busy, it is wonderful to see their faces and hear their voices as if they were right there in the same room with me.

I've been a Navy wife since before the days of email so we've come a long way and I'm truly thankful to have this connection to my family.

way back when...Wednesday #3

Who remembers Corning's iconic Cornflower pattern?  First produced in 1957, there are some pieces still available today on the Corning website, and it's a firm favorite at any vintage market or antique store.

When I was growing up, Mum made coffee on the stove in this coffeepot.  When Mum and Dad came to stay with us in 2002, I introduced them to Ebay and we spent many mornings searching for items from years ago and there it was, the coffeepot, the one Mum said made the BEST coffee.  We purchased it right away and anxiously awaited its arrival.  I guess we didn't read the description properly as the box that arrived had the coffeepot, but not the percolator insert!  So much for brewing coffee from years gone by.  Oh well, we had a good laugh and a great trip down memory lane.

If this is Tuesday, it must be England #114

'Tis the season to source all of those yummy British treats that my sister and I had growing up and that Mum continued to send to us each year.  Here's a small selection from one of my orders this year - Cadbury Dairy Milk Advent Calendars for Sophia and her roommate, a Quality Street Advent Calendar for moi, a huge tin of Quality Street for over the holidays, After Eight mints in a beautiful decorative tin, and assorted flavors of Matchmakers, chocolate sticks infused with mint, orange, and salted caramel.

My two favorite online sources, since our selection in local stores is limited, are The British Food Depot and British Food Shop if there's a special British treat you'd like to have in your Christmas stocking.  I will be heading to Cost Plus World Market because they always have a great selection of Walkers cakes, puddings, and biscuits.

Happy Homemaker Monday - October 28, 2019

Happy Monday!  It's time again to join Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom's Happy Homemaker Monday  Time completely got away from me last week and here we are, the last Happy Homemaker Monday for October.

The weather:::

Mon

54°

30°

Tue

48°

30°

Wed

50°

34°

Thu

52°

36°

Fri

54°

38°

Sat

55°

39°

Sun

55°

40°

On the breakfast plate this morning:::
Back to work so it's coffee and more coffee, stayed up later than my usual work night bedtime last night.   

Right now I am:::
Headed to the bus and thankful it is not raining.

On my bedside table:::
My water, diffuser, Renew lotion, and a coconut/jasmine candle, not to burn, just for the scent.    

On my reading pile:::
Finished up the second Jennifer Robson book, Moonlight over Paris, wonderful!  Now I am reading Dragonfly by Leila Meacham, another impossible to put down book.

Movies or Shows I watched this weekend:::
Episode 9 of Season 10 of the Great British Baking Show - Patisserie - next week is the final!  Finished up Outlander, I'm all ready for Season 5 and I watched Hocus Pocus, can you believe I'd never seen it before?

On my TV this week:::

TV: 
Great British Baking Show, Season 10, Episode 10 - the final

You Tube:
December Daily
Caroline (Mrs. M)
Pretty Neat Living

On the menu for this week:::
Couldn't get back on the Whole 30 wagon and I'll admit a few pieces of Halloween candy have tempted me.  Ugh, no will power.  Will try again to find those illusive healthy eating habits.  I have a flank steak, salmon, and some shrimp in the freezer, let's see what I can come up with from that lineup.

On my to do list:::
Housework:::It's the pantry and closets this week on the Holiday Grand Plan.
Bedroom:::No change.  Bed-making check, cozy in flannel check.  Now that I have some semblance of order in the garage, I'll probably move the laundry organizer pieces out of the bedroom so I can say the master is done.  I do need to find two small lampshades for the lamps that go on the bedside tables.   The ones we have have definitely seen better days.
Kitchen:::Wipe counters, top up the Brita - did my weekly dishwasher load, run, and unload on Friday night/Saturday morning.
More packages arrived last week so I have some wrapping to do.  City Sidewalks kennel reservations for Spectra done, just need to check the budget.

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating:::
The final set-up in the office is in the works now that the last pieces of furniture were delivered this past weekend.  Just need to re-route some of the wiring to tidy things up.

Looking forward to:::
Another craft fair this weekend, this one as an outing with several of my co-workers.

Looking around the house:::
Moved a few things around for better flow.  Everywhere is tidy, I do a five-minute clutter check each evening to put things away.  

From the camera:::

This guy will be going up on the porch to welcome the trick or treaters on Thursday.  $50 at Michael's - 60% off plus another 25% off coupon = final price of $15, what a deal!

What I'm wearing today:::
Work uniform - pants, shirt, cardigan.  Moved up to a jacket lined with fleece for the chillier mornings.

Thinking about:::
The Christmas Afternoon Tea and Ornament Exchange I am holding in December.  Menu, dishes, serving dishes, napkins, thank you for coming gifts, what kind of ornament I would like to find, a dozen details like that.

Bible verse, Devotional, prayers::: 
"Make it your goal to live a quiet life" - 1 Thessalonians 4:11 NLT.

Prayers for family and friends with health and financial challenges.

If this is Tuesday, it must be England #113

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrived in Pakistan today for the start of a five-day tour, "the most complex" tour they have ever undertaken given the security concerns.  I think we can all agree that the Duchess charmed her hosts with her choice of this stunning adaptation of the national dress, a shalwar kameez.

As the press are wont to do, comparisons are being made to Diana, Princess of Wales, when she visited Pakistan in 1991.  Both women have the height and the figure to really do justice to this style of dress.

I can't wait to see the Duchess's style on this tour!

Happy Homemaker Monday - October 14, 2019

Happy Monday!  It's time again to join Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom's Happy Homemaker Monday  It's always a Happy Monday when it's a holiday!

The weather:::

Mon

59°

43°

Tue

58°

49°

Wed

55°

48°

Thu

55°

45°

Fri

54°

44°

Sat

54°

43°

Sun

51°

46

Lots of rain in the forecast this week - good thing I had the gutters cleaned last week.

On the breakfast plate this morning:::
A cup of tea.   

Right now I am:::
Still in my fleece robe because it's a federal holiday and I am home today!

On my bedside table:::
My water, diffuser, Renew lotion, and a coconut/jasmine candle, not to burn, just for the scent.    

On my reading pile:::
Finished up Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson and absolutely loved it!  I put her next book on hold at the library.  It's not really a series, but the main focus for the second book is a character introduced in the first one.

Movies or Shows I watched this weekend:::
Binge-watched The Durrells in Corfu (I LOVE PBS Passport) and Episode 7 of Season 10 of the Great British Baking Show - Festivals - which was interesting.  I can't say I've ever heard of a kek lapis Sarawak and most of the bakers hadn't either!  I reactivated STARZ and watched The Spanish Princess which I really enjoyed.  I'm also in full Christmas mode, having watched Delia Smith's Classic Christmas and the Two Fat Ladies Christmas, both on You Tube.

On my TV this week:::

TV: 
Great British Baking Show, Season 10, Episode 8 - Pastries, another favorite
Outlander
Poldark

You Tube:
December Daily
Caroline (Mrs. M)
Pretty Neat Living

On the menu for this week:::
A Whole 30 fail on Friday night when I ate three of the cookies one of my neighbors brought over and I ate three more on Saturday and picked up a sandwich from Mike's Jersey Subs after running errands ALL day.  I guess I'm transitioning to the 5-2 plan - 5 days of Whole 30, 2 days of eating regularly (although trying to stay gluten-free and not drinking any Coke as well as maintaining my snob attitude towards Halloween candy, "I don't eat American chocolate" LOL.

On my to do list:::
Housework:::It's the guest room this week on the Holiday Grand Plan.  Pretty much have that one organized.
Bedroom:::No change.  Bed-making check, cozy in flannel check.  Thinking about flexing my drill muscles and hanging up another couple of wrought iron racks.  We'll see how that goes.
Kitchen:::Wipe counters, top up the Brita - did my weekly dishwasher load, run, and unload on Friday night/Saturday morning.
Knocked out a chunk of my online Christmas shopping, still have a little more to do.  City Sidewalks hotel reservations done, just need to make reservations for Spectra at the kennels while we are away.

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating:::
Still creating organization - this time on my craft desk.  My December Daily supplies arrived in the mail so I need to get busy with finishing up 2018's album.

Looking forward to:::
A huge Christmas craft fair outing with Sophia this weekend.

Looking around the house:::
Working on a Halloween design for my three-tier server, something like this photo I saved from Pottery Barn below.  

From the camera:::

Not my photo - it's from the Pottery Barn website.  I ordered the mugs since they were on sale and when they get here, I'll put it all together.

What I'm wearing today:::
Nightgown and fleece robe - having a very lazy morning.

Thinking about:::
Thanksgiving, Vic coming home, Christmas, plans for the house, Sophia finishing up her Masters, my mind is going in a dozen different directions right now.

Bible verse, Devotional, prayers::: 
"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." - L. M. Montgomery

Adding to my prayer list this week, two friends whose spouses have serious health challenges.

BLOGMAS is coming!

I'm super behind on all of the regular features I planned for my blog - working on getting things organized.  I wanted to stop in quickly and put this post up for anyone else who is planning ahead, BLOGMAS is coming!

My fellow Happy Homemaker friend, Tamy over at Chasing MY Life, put up this great list as part of her Happy Homemaker post this week.  It looks like so much fun, I hope you'll join us.

Happy Homemaker Monday - October 7, 2019

Happy Monday!  It's time again to join Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom's Happy Homemaker Monday  Welcome to October - my plans for Blogtober fell apart but I do have a set of prompts for next year!

The weather:::

Mon

61°

42°

Tue

52°

36°

Wed

54°

34°

Thu

57°

38°

Fri

61°

43°

Sat

56°

45°

Sun

56°

46°

Fall temperatures for sure but a bit up and down - 34 degrees one morning (that will be a gloves and scarf day) but then up to 61 degrees on Friday.

On the breakfast plate this morning:::
Still skipping breakfast.  Couldn't find The Science of Fasting on Netflix but found it on You Tube.  Interesting. 

Right now I am:::
Heading to the bus!  Heigh ho, heigh ho, it's off to work I go!

On my bedside table:::
My water, diffuser, Renew lotion, and a coconut/jasmine candle, not to burn, just for the scent.    

On my reading pile:::
Sisterchicks in Sombreros by Robin Jones Gunn was great and I had not read it before.  Picked up my library book, Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson and I have to pace myself.  It's so my kind of book and I could read it in one sitting but I'll spread it over the week.  Loving my local library, so easy to reserve books online at home and then pop over to pick them up when they come in.  I also downloaded Together by Julie Cohen to my Kindle, it's the selection for a Facebook Book Club a friend started, not sure if I'll join yet, I don't think I can manage one more thing.

Movies or Shows I watched this weekend:::
Saving The Durrells in Corfu and Poldark on PBS to watch during the week (I just couldn't make it up to 10:00pm on a work night), Episode 6 of Season 10 of the Great British Baking Show - Desserts - my favorite episode.  What an amazing group of bakers - GBBO is unlike any other competitive baking/cooking show in the camaraderie between the contestants.

On my TV this week:::

TV: 
Great British Baking Show, Season 10, Episode 7 - Festivals, this should be interesting
Outlander (decided to hold off on Call the Midwife as I'm in the middle of rewatching Outlander)

You Tube:
December Daily
Caroline (Mrs. M)
Pretty Neat Living

On the menu for this week:::
Almost a perfect Whole 30 last week until I bought some chicken skewers at Costco and was so wrapped up in figuring out if the potato starch in the ingredients was Whole 30 approved that I completely missed dextrose (a forbidden sugar) a little farther on in the ingredients list.  Oh well, as my sister said, better to have something easy like that (the skewers) to eat than to blow it bigger, I know it's about reducing the inflammatory response but I can't believe there isn't some benefit from reducing it by 95%.  I love her.

On my to do list:::
Housework:::It's the children's rooms (yay, done!  lol, no children's rooms in this house) this week on the Holiday Grand Plan.
Bedroom:::No change.  Bed-making check, cozy in flannel check.  I do have a small craft table that has all the pieces for the laundry room shelving set-up in the bedroom - would love to move it somewhere else until Vic gets home but better in our room out of sight than in the living or family room.
Kitchen:::Wipe counters, top up the Brita - did my weekly dishwasher load, run, and unload on Friday night/Saturday morning.
Christmas and City Sidewalks (our weekend away before Christmas trip) accounts fully funded.

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating:::
I created organization in MyPhotos by getting them all labeled and sorted - does that count?

Looking forward to:::
A planner meet-up this weekend.

Looking around the house:::
Clutter-free, loving the minimalist decorating style.  

From the camera:::

My haul from the Hallmark Ornament Debut Event this weekend - the bottom two were free because of a special offer - one free ornament from past years for every $40 spent.  No, the top three didn't total $80, I bought some other items as well.

What I'm wearing today:::
Work clothes.  It's a pretty standard uniform that I've listed here before so it is another black pants with top and cardigan combo - top and cardigan are a turquoise set from L L Bean.

Thinking about:::
Craft fairs.  So far I'm going to four - one with Sophia, two with co-workers, and one with my MilSpouse friend that I met in Rhode Island and is now living in Washington.  Really have to pace myself - take lots of photos, enjoy the workmanship of others, enjoy the company I'm with, and not buy too much!  

Bible verse, Devotional, prayers::: 
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. - 1 Peter 5:7 NLT

I'm a hopeless worrier - I worry about everything, all the time.  I try to find peace knowing that God has control over everything, but it's so hard so I pray fervently for Vic, for Sophia, for my family and friends, for our nation, for our world.

Currently - October 2019

Stop by over at Anne's In Residence to join in.  This month we're arranging, loving, embracing, purchasing, and sharing.

arranging // My craft space - the order period for December Daily supplies from Ali Edwards has closed and crafters worldwide anxiously await the email that says "Your order has been shipped".

So many amazing ideas out there for all the wonderful items that will be included in the kit - papers, tags, transparencies, chipboard, embellishments...I can't wait.  I scraplifted this idea from Ali Edwards for one of my layouts in 2017 and made a pocket on the back of the large tag to hold a set of smaller tags about memorable Christmases.

loving // The cooler temperatures.  I actually wore gloves this morning!

embracing // The darker mornings and evenings of autumn, the scent of pumpkin and spiced apple, the leaves changing color...I love everything about this season.

purchasing // More Nora Fleming minis - I love the pumpkins I have for autumn (they are shown here on the edge of a platter but I display them on my napkin holder - shown here, scroll down, it's at the bottom of this post).

sharing // Plans for a planner meet-up with our local spouses group.  There was a long conversation about who uses what planner on our Facebook group and interest in a meet-up so plans are in the works.  My Planner Buddy and I will be there and hopefully others will join us.