Questions and Answers and Comments, Oh My!

Come on in!  Have a piece of chocolate and a mini candy cane.  No worries, we're staying low carb though they are both sugary treats.  I promise you're under 14 carbs with those two little bits of candy.  Don't mind my pajamas and robe.  I got a bit chilly and decided that nothing short of cozy would do with Christmas music, Christmas tree lit and a tiny bit of holiday candy.    November seemed to just fly by, didn't it?  Well the year has seemingly flown by as well though I realize it had only as many hours in it as every single other year (save Leap Year).  Maybe it's because I USED so many more of those hours this year than I'd used in a long time?

I've been hearing Christmas music every where I went today.  Loved it!  I sang along and didn't mind if anyone heard but I promise I didn't get obnoxiously loud about it.  Just enjoyed myself, doing a tiny bit of Christmas shopping and very nearly finishing it off, doing a bit of grocery shopping (oh the need to visit the grocery store does come often enough!) and then home to do routine housework and check the bill box and I've the evening alone.  I thought it a good time to write a few posts, even though it is Shabat as of 5:12 this evening.  Tiny admission: these very early Shabat evenings are a little bit hard to cope with when you're trying to cram in lots of finishing up of things.  Fortunately today was not one of those days.

I wrote about Josh coming to visit and being ill here in the first savings post for November.  That poor child is still ailing with nasal and chest congestion.  He's better, and is eating and playing just fine, but I hate he's fought that ailment so long.  Bess says she guesses he's making up for never being sick the first two years.

Lana I seldom walk into a Dollar Tree.  None are really in areas where I normally visit.  That said, I passed a stunning display of Christmas plates in Kroger one day and just stood there dreaming when I was meant to be shopping and getting back to the car.  John found me standing there admiring them.  Do I need Christmas themed plates?  Nope I don't and I know it but gorly they were pretty!

Becky  I admit I'm a bit of a interior designer wanna be.  I enjoy takin what I have and moving it here and there until it pleases me.  I truly believe being limited in what I can spend has only increased my creativity.

Vs 21 Debbie in Ks  Part of the reason why I read multiple translations is that I love to see the different interpretations.  However, the lexicon at Blue Letter Bible pretty much sticks to the literal translation of the Hebrew words if not the exact Hebrew words and so on that score the KJV is generally the nearest interpretation of what was written, or so I've found thus far.  It does not make me one of those sorts who are purists and think only KJV is the accurate one however.  I often use three or four interpretations to help me through sticky passages that I want clarified.

Rhonda, let me know if you were able to see "The Station Agent" and how you and Jeff liked it.  I thought it was a nice film and really enjoyed it.

Whew!  Lana when we moved here the place was open fields with a very few trees.  We had hawks, shrikes, Red winged blackbirds, and killdeers among others then.  Now that the fields have grown up and are heavily treed we seldom see hawks and see more and more woodland birds.  Not a bad thing to see Northern Flickers (fat lovely birds) and Jays and such but different.

Sweet November Veronika Thank you for helping me feel more confident with the Hebrew in the verses I struggled with.  You were a timely word for me as I struggled with some of those posts!  I was the only granddaughter of both my grandmothers...at least until my mother's brother married a woman with three daughters and then I was a middle granddaughter.  I am proud to say that Granny very much took those girls to heart and treated them as though they were truly her own and somehow that meant I never felt in the least 'displaced'.

Best Efforts  Lana Thank you for sharing the info about the Bosch dishwasher.  I had reason to pass that on to a friend that same week as they had to replace their dishwasher.

Debbie in KS  I am happy to report my African violets both are LOADED with buds and one has just begun to bloom.  The trick of setting them in bright sunlight worked very well indeed.  I used one of those stick type fertilizer things in them.  That and watering when they are just dry.  I am very pleased.

Autumn Lull  Dale I just emptied a peanut butter jar this week and am planning to fix that as a feeder.  I suggested to John that I needed another bird bath (or three, lol) but he said perhaps not.  I'll fix up something for them.  I'm looking forward to seeing what birds I can attract. Maybe they won't be like Lana's birds and be picky eaters, lol.

Deanna  You are ALWAYS on my list of favorite bloggers!  I wanted to say I was sorry about your mom's stroke and I'm delighted to hear that she is rehabbing well. 

Budget Meal  Becky I was talking to my hair stylist today about cooking.  I too 'roll with the punches' after nearly 50 years of cooking (I started very young!).   I love when my girls call me up to say "Can I do....?" when they are cooking.  Nine times out of ten the answer is 'Yep, you can.'  They have good instincts, but it's a learning process as you know.

DebbieG  I confess I got inordinately excited at the idea that I might make this particular recipe.  In future, I'll do as Lana suggested and make it a meatless meal.  I tend to test recipes like this these days to see how the diabetes reacts to it and then move forward from there.  I feel confident the strata recipe will be a good meatless meal for us.

Good Company  Deanna and Lana  I find I'm more and more interested in good old fashioned shows. I would love to collect the Burnett DVDs as well as those of Red Skelton.  Just need to start.

Unfinished Projects Week  Lana please update on the nephew who was airlifted after the accident...

Weekend Reading  Karla my 'capsule' wardrobe occurred by illness, lol with resulting weight loss.  Otherwise I'd still be holding on to a lot of clothing myself.  I read a funny Meme on tossing clothes about how you can loathe everything in your closet but the moment you start to toss or donate you suddenly form a deep sentimental attachment to clothes you've never even worn.  It was too true for comfort.

Lana  I have gotten more color brave over the years, but John is not so much.  Fortunately our walls go with our current look.

Most Wonderful Lana and Judy 13 years of constant prayer before Samuel gave his life to Christ.  And then about that same time, I had a sudden revelation about another child and a situation they are not only tolerating in their life but appear to be encouraging sent me to my knees asking for his salvation.  I'd assumed what I was told that he gave his life to Christ early on but the evidence is that he is not saved.  There's always something to pray for when you have children and grandchildren!

Kathy It was a very nice Thanksgiving.  I am hopeful that sick or not everyone will show up for our family gathering next weekend.

Mild Panic  Susie at Persimmon Moon Cottage  I LOVE the story of your son's turkey with the giblet package inside, lol.  Such a classic first timer's mistake!  And one that you all will share for many years to come.    Sam fried his first turkey this year.  He got the oil a little too hot but the turkey was absolutely delicious.  Josh refused to eat any but he kept picking bits of the crisp skin from the bird and would take a bite them get a bit more and say to Bess "Hab some!" lol 

I would have been a bit put out by that young man behind the register.  Somehow people just feel a bit 'off' to me at times and I'll avoid them like the plague.

Chris My favorite coffee is the coffee I'm 'treated' to!

Dorie  Here's hoping we're in for pleasant surprises over the next four years.

Sarah  I could wish John would listen with ear plugs but he must share his views with someone and I'm it.  I do my best to really listen to what he's saying and his reasoning behind his thoughts but sometimes 'Enough it too much already!'

Anonymous whose sister is on hospice...I can well imagine what a stressful time you're going through.    I find great joy in Mr. Ed and I Love Lucy and Petticoat Junction these days and yes Andy Griffith and many old black and white films that are considered classics.  And books written in the same or earlier eras.  I find the more time I spend in those places the more shocked and horrified I am at what is on television otherwise.

Holiday Daze   Pssst  there is a granddaughter in this photo.  She typically does not wear her hair in a pony tail and I think that's why she looks like a boy.  She's on the right hand side of the photo on the second step.  Her twin brother is on the left of the same step and her older brother right next to her.

Karla  I really enjoy the smaller trees we've had.  Mine is just about 4 feet tall.

Sparkling and Bright  Debbie in Ks  Thank you for the suggestion, I will try to do a post about how I figure my annual budget.

Lana, Dorie, Judy  Perhaps our foul moods go back to that 'atmosphere of anxiousness' I mentioned in an earlier post...but mostly I think Patsi is quite right:  the lack of rest no doubt played into it as much as anything.  I rested more this week.  I confess I still felt 'off' and I did next to nothing pretty much all week long (at least in the afternoons).  I still ended up being foolish this week with my mood and paid a small price for it.  A nap would have benefitted me and that's truth!

vs 31  Thank you all for following the Proverbial Woman posts.  I didn't use any printed material Debbie in Ks but only what I found online. 

Done  Penny, I won't wash our Vellux blanket for fear the same thing will happen.  I remember Amie once came to me completely distressed.  She said her blanket had disappeared.  Upon questioning I discovered she'd been making her bed and pulled up the blanket only to have it dissolve into nothing but fluff, lol.  Not funny at the time.  

I've no clue what Vellux is made up of, but it's definitely manmade stuff.  They are lovely warm blankets and they have the ability to really hold body heat in but when they are done they are done.  I want something that is going to last and pass on to someone else in the future, as Jane Allan says.

Sarah  What a lovely memory...I felt I was walking down the streets with you looking into the windows.

Thank you all for reading and commenting this month!  I so appreciate your participation in posts!

P.S.  I hope I am not out of place sharing this but I've heard from Doe853 (Dale) this week.  She lost her home to a fire the day before Thanksgiving.  She has living quarters and said there is insurance to cover the losses but the memory items are forever lost  As we go through this holiday season, please keep her in prayer.  She's doing fine but I expect the holidays will bring home just how much was lost.