November -Where Did You Go?

Tomorrow is the first of December. I can hardly believe that this year is almost over. The months seems to go by more quickly than usual.

Maybe it's something I don't understand about the process of aging and the passage of time.

Too deep for me.

We had one errand yesterday. My advice. Don't even try to get there from here - or wherever you are.
We are in a small town but the traffic looked like the Big City.  We managed to make it back home with no incident but I am thankful we don't have that every day!

Cat Emergency

Last week I bought three 3.6 lbs. sacks of cat food. For the feral cats somebody is feeding.

This morning there were no sacks to be found. None in the back of the van. Somebody wondered if the grocery store would be open.

He could not find a listing in the pathetic phone book that left our name out again this year. It evidently also left out the grocery store's number. I looked on the internet. Ads, shopping possibilities, specials, Black Friday stuff; no phone number.

So we bundled ourselves up, went out to the car. He opened the passenger door and there on the floor was a sack of Purina Cat Chow.

I went back in the house and he fed the stupid cats.

Too Late

I received an interesting call from the medical community where we go see our doctors.

They told me there was a recall on a medicine that I take. It was from a batch that was distributed last June. If I had any left, don't take them.

What?

I have to renew it every thirty days. I believe I have already taken those from June.

Well, luckily I guess, I'm still here.

Sunday and a Birthday

Today is my husband's birthday. We're not doing anything special.

Just glad we're both still here after sixty-seven years together.

Burners

I thought a small burner would heat up a big pot of water if it was on high.

It does. It takes about half an hour to bring the water to a boil for spaghetti.

A few weeks ago our large burner stopped burning. I'm afraid we're going to have to buy a new stove.
Replacing a burner on an old stove - probably $200. Then you wait for another to go out when you could have bought a stove for maybe $500.

We need to go shopping.

Chocolate

I like chocolate. Whenever I see a new item, I usually try it.

I think I would eat just about anything covered in chocolate.

Except mountain oysters or snails.

Remember the slogan from early television? "Nestle's make the very best CHOCOLATE!"

Impossible or Magic Coconut Pie

I decided to try the pie. The recipe is on the internet under Magic or Impossible and Bisquick.

I had the temperature as 400 degrees for 25 to 30 min. Well, it was not done - very soupy. I lowered the temp and left it in another 10 minutes.

Later I rechecked the recipe and it listed 350 degrees for 55 minutes. I had written the recipe and instructions some time ago. I don't know where I saw the 400 degrees but I remember at the time I thought that was pretty high.

Even with the error, the coconut was browned and not burned!

Non-Friendly

Usually I am a friendly person to strangers. I smile when two carts meet at a corner in the grocery store, saying, "Excuse me." Folks here wave at pedestrians as we drive down the street whether we know them or not.

Yesterday was an exception. I went to the farm supply store for more cat food. An older gentleman (but not as old as I am!) was telling a long story to two women who looked as if they would like to move on. They were at the check out line when I went in and were there when I was ready to check out. The store was not busy. As I was paying, the two women moved on (got away) and the man approached me and leaning over my shoulder said, "Do you know why the cows in Arkansas wear bells?"
Without turning my head, I said, "No."  "Because their horns don't work."

I didn't laugh. I didn't smile. I walked out.

While I was returning my cart from the parking lot, he called out, "Lady, is your husband a veteran?" I didn't answer and actually walked around the back of his van so that I didn't have go by the driver's side where he was now sitting.

Maybe he was just being friendly but it sure struck me wrong.

The Coupon

I spent a lot of time this morning looking for a coupon from Kohl's that was in last Sunday's paper.
I had cut it out  in order to buy some undergarments (panties.) I had had it on the dining room table. Then it was put in some place safe while I cleared the table before "company" arrived.

We looked, purse; pockets; bedroom table. Gone. Lost.

So Lee asked me for some scissors which are kept in our junk drawer in the kitchen. There it was. In the drawer.  After all, 15% off is a good deal.

Later we got the paper off the porch. There was another insert from Kohl's with another identical coupon.

So when it warmed up, we went to the store. I found what I wanted. Three for $30.00. Wow. O.K. I'm ready to pay. I show my Kohl's card and the coupon. The nice, young clerk rang up the sale and said, "Two twenty-seven." I'm trying to figure in my mind what she just said. Was that twenty-seven what? I told her, "I'm sorry. I didn't understand the price."  "Two dollars and twenty-seven cents. They are on sale."

I guess! The sign must have been for the silkier version on the other side of the display. Anyway, I was amazed. I didn't know you could find anything that reasonable anymore.

And they are Vanity Fair.

A Nice Visit

This evening two of Lee's former co-workers came by to see us. One fellow and his wife live in Oklahoma. The other man lives here in our hometown.

The evening was spent talking about pranks at work and trying to remember the names of all they worked with.

It was a great visit!!!

Cards

These two card were sent to us last August for our anniversary. The PBJ one was sent from the east coast (New Jersey.) The other was sent from the west coast (California.) They were both mailed the same day, August 6th. As you can see, they both have the same theme.  

One is from my sister-n-law and the other from her niece - and ours.

I just thought it was an amazing coincidence and since our day began with a temperature of four degrees F, I don't plan to get outside and do anything exciting. Maybe this week-end the forecasters are correct, it will be fifty-nine and we can go somewhere!

(If this post doesn't make much sense, I have a cold and I just don't care.)

Hats With Flowers

Today  on one of my favorite blogs, I saw a lovely hand (knitted) hat made by a very nice person for a charity. She had added a flower on the side. I had several crocheted hats I had made. A mistake was to leave one out where some puppies could get to it and chew.
So with mismatched  yarn, I mended the tear and made a flower to cover the defect.

I have made and given a lot of hats to our grandkids, relatives and friends. This is not one of my favorite patterns, but it sure is an easy one.

After I finished this, I found a picture of the original damage. (I wish I knew how to move it to the top.

Lost Day

Yesterday we were up early to go a doctor appointment at 8:00 a.m.

Came home and tried to catch up on sleep. Two days before I had slept way too long so Wednesday night I had trouble getting to sleep.

I felt like I was catching cold again. Yep! Soup for lunch and back to bed.

Up for a bite to eat for supper and back to bed.

I hope this cold goes away quickly.

I did finish the latest afghan on Wednesday. Beppo the Bear is on watch. I should take a better photo of him. He was made by my cousin's daughter-in-law. She made beautiful, wild animals back in the '80's. I added a close-up of Beppo. Beautiful fake fur and a wonderfully constructed animal.  Thank you Sara Lanning!

Measure Twice and Then Cut

We went to  a store today that sells plastic by the yard. Our son and his family have enclosed our back porch, which is screened in, with plastic for the winter for several years.

Lee told the clerk he wanted three pieces, four and a half yards  long. She cut the pieces while I looked at the yarn shelves which were not very full of yarn. I also walked to automotive and picked up a quart of oil They had been out last week but advised me that more would be in stock on the 30th of October. This was the first time we had been back to pick that up. And when I got to the "oil shelf" there was not a quart of the type Lee wanted in sight. I leaned down and waaaay in the back were four quarts. I grabbed one and moved the other three to the front.

Back to the dry goods department and the plastic cutting. Suddenly the clerk, who was writing the amount of the three bundles on a paper, said, "I think  I made a mistake."

She had cut three pieces of three and a half yards each. She was very nice but tried to convince us that we could overlap it. There still was not enough there to do the job. She had no more of that grade of plastic. More will be in the 9th according to her hand held computer. She apologized. She was very nice, but I think she was disappointed we didn't take her mistake.

Later Lee said, "If she had given it to me at half price, I would have taken it."  I don't think they are allowed to do that.

Maybe they'll put it in a sale bin and charge half price.

A Little Wiggle or A Shake

Our clock is chiming again! Lee decided to move it away from the wall to see if he could see why it was stilled. He tried to scoot the clock out but the rug was not forgiving and the clock was too heavy for him to lift.

He tried but gave up and shook the clock back to its foot print.

On the next quarter hour - it chimed!

Violet, the clock's first owner, would be so proud!

Clocks and DST

This is a Grandmother's clock that belonged to my dad's cousin. Her daughter did not want to ship it from Kansas to Washington so she gave it to me. Every year I have changed the time by turning the hands and waiting for the chime each fifteen minutes. I did not want to turn the hands backwards. I asked Lee if he thought I could just keep turning without stopping for each chime too ring on the quarter hours. He thought yes.

It worked until I had moved it ahead about three hours. Then the hands were frozen. I left it alone and went back later to find the pendulum had stopped. This happened about four more times. The last time I was able to move the hands. The good news is, the clock is keeping time. Bad news: no chiming at all. I must have stripped/broken something. I am not a happy person about my laziness.

This clock with the horses was given to us on our fiftieth wedding anniversary by our dear neighbors. So far I haven't ruined it. It has four batteries of two different sizes.

 This last clock is

one that was given to us by the realtor that sold us our house in 2007. It is not chiming anymore either.

Please stop daylight saving time to save my clocks from me tampering with them.

Here It Is - Sunday!

We are having a few warm days until we go back to the coldness. I felt a cold coming on so I used some Zycam and I think it sent the cold away. I hope so, anyway.

Yesterday I made chili. We like it no matter the outside temperature. On the packet of chili flavoring mix, I saw a recipe for Cincinnati Chili. No beans. A tablespoon of cinnamon added to the rest of the ingredients, and served over spaghetti with the beans added on top. I don't believe I'll try that one. I remember my mom used to buy a "brick" of chili. It was about the size of a pound package of butter and had meat, beans and flavoring molded together. She cut it up in pieces and put it in some water. Then we had chili. As I remember, it was very good. I also remember my dad putting a small splash of vinegar in his bowl from the small cruet on the table.

I add celery, green pepper and onions besides beans, tomatoes, hamburger and a dash of Worcestershire and liquid smoke.

Many years ago I saw a recipe for a chocolate cake that used sausage in it. What was I thinking? I made it and everyone who tried it said they could really taste the sausage and they really didn't like it. Maybe too much sausage and not enough chocolate?

This is the little vinegar cruet that was on our table about eighty years ago.