November more or less ushers in the holiday season doesn't it? I've been thinking along the lines of the holidays and I think I have a good idea of what I want to do and what needs to be done but doing is always the main thing, isn't it?
I want to set up a capsule wardrobe for the month. It ought to be a bit cooler. October sort of fooled me with it's cool mornings and then very warm afternoons. I had to pull some summer things back out in order to manage my outfits. But maybe this month we'll find real autumn. I'll plan for it in my wardrobe choices, anyway. Done!
I made my first fruitcake last year and it was a success for a first try. I'd like to try again, but will need to work out a new recipe and perhaps double the recipe as I know that Sam, Katie, and Mama are all fond of fruitcake as well. Or perhaps I'll buy smaller pans or bake off in 29 ounce cans...At any rate, I'll need to go buy my fruit and get busy or it will be well after the first of the year before we'll have any fruitcake.
We do money gifts to each family but...I love doing something for the kids and grandkids. I can't do a big thing for them, but I'd like to do something for each one. So I'm going to try to think of small gifts that will suit each one and perhaps be useful or fun for them. I need to get busy looking to see what I might afford.
I also have an idea of what I'd really like to do for John's gift this year. I need to do a bit of research and we'll see if I can manage it.
Paint the back porch. I don't need to scrape the whole thing. I need to scrape some areas of it, but once I do that I really need to get busy and get it painted before our winter rains come along.
Try to do something about outdoor winter flowers/greenery, etc. Since we are such a mild climate the house tends to look fairly barren if I don't do anything. I usually concentrate on the areas near the back porch since we all tend to use that as the main entry. Mums, Kale, dusty miller, pansies, snapdragons tend to do well and look pretty for most of our colder season weather. I have the pots and just need to fill them. I also need to plant those flower seeds that require sowing in autumn.
At the time I'm writing this I'm hoping to get the family together for an early Thanksgiving. I'm trying to finagle it for the weekend that all of them will be in town, so not the holiday weekend...And if that is a go, I need to get some prep work done. I'll also need to make plans to do something with Mama on Thanksgiving Day. We've scheduled our day and everyone is agreed.
If we haven't managed it by the end of October, I'd like to go find apples, specifically Winesap apples somewhere, preferably at a fruit stand. So I'll plan that as a date for John and I, and would like to plan one more date for the month, as well. Sort of...We ended up going to a grocery but we did find a lovely apple. I don't like apples exactly, but I love trying the different varieties. My favorite is Winesap varieties.
Since we put up the tree Thanksgiving night, assemble my Christmas décor. I'd like to make sure I've got all I want to make Christmas lovely this year. I know what theme I'd like to work with and near as I can tell what I really need is a pretty ribbon, some candles (which I need to restock anyway), and a wreath for the front door. There may be a thing or two I'd like to craft to go with my theme...Or somehow redo what I already have to go with the theme.
Then I need to plan my Christmas family party date.
And all through out the month, I want to do my year end review and look ahead to next year and make my resolutions.
8 comments:
Hi Terri - Reading through your November plans is so helpful for me! Thinking ahead, planning and getting things done early make the Holidays so much more peaceful and enjoyable. We are awaiting the arrival of a new granddaughter sometime around Thanksgiving. So our Holiday plans include traveling across the state to be with our daughter and her family for the baby's arrival sometime in November. I just realized yesterday that I need to have a suitcase packed and ready to go! It is also up in the air how long we will be needed to help with her family. All this to say that planning ahead and getting things done is even more important this year! Time to start thinking this through and making lists. Thank you for all you share with us. Blessings, Shirley
Good morning,
The new carpet is in and now we have several days of furniture assembly, putting things back, etc. I’m very happy with the results but getting there has been hard.
Because of the virus, our holiday plans are all up in the air.
About your ads, I only see Thriftbook ads here and that’s great as I like shopping Thriftbooks. I think the ads tend to be based off what the reader or users of the reader’s computer, have already shown some interest in.
I saw have all the ads you want if it helps you.
Sounds like it will be a lovely month. I'm glad you found your apples. I like trying new varieties as well. I have tried different pears this year too.
Hope you share your capsule wardrobe with us. It's always fun to see how you get such great combinations.
I'm sure you will come up with some great gift ideas. One present my mom and dad gave me was a picture of the two of them. I will always treasure it since they didn't like getting their picture made.
I'm stumped this year for presents. I have the kids a few things but not sure what we will do for the holidays and extended family. We have kept our bubble small since cases are spiking here with the colleges. We made the NY times 10 hotspot list a few weeks ago.It has started spreading in the community and hospitals are close to capacity. Scary times here anyway.
Hope you have a great November full of love and laughter.
Last year I finally convinced my husband to give money for Christmas, especially to our older kids. My mind is completely shot from all the years to find gifts that are A) affordable and B) useful/creative. I definitely don’t mind spoiling the grandkids. I’m not.buying.anything. I’m determined to use up EVERYTHING, from candles, to decorations, to shampoo, to food, etc before I shop. Not necessarily a ‘no spend’ challenge,, just using and appreciating what I already have. It’s a theme during this time of year anyway, being thankful for what you have. Anyway, have a great week, Liz
Shirley, yes indeed you do need a bag packed and some sort of preliminary plans in place! Perhaps even a couple of freezer meals to take with you? Congratulations on the new baby.
Rhonda, I hope you share photos of all your hard work and hard waiting! I remember how thrilled I was to get the new flooring here and then how the house sort of morphed into something new along with the new floors though we didn't really plan it that way, lol.
I'm glad that my Thanksgiving plans are laid and I am hopeful we'll be able to have a family Christmas as well but we'll see what the next year brings. There are changes afoot in our lives! I'll share more about that once they are absolutely fact.
Liz, I love that you're using what you have and 'appreciating it'. I think you might start a trend! I'm certain some of our commenters will take this idea right up and use it. I'm going to!!
Yes, giving money to the grown ups is easier and we are adamant that what they do with it is up to them. If they want to buy groceries, pay a bill, plan to buy Christmas for the kiddos...that's up to them. We felt cash was the most useful gift we could possibly give them and it's easily renewed year after year.
On the other hand, I love getting things for the kids...who NEED nothing. But what is Christmas without a present to unwrap. I am inspired by last year's Santa Hats and Rudolph noses to look for another fun group of items that are inexpensive and themed to give them all this year.
Like Liz we need to use up what we have here and have way too many Christmas decorations so no need to add a thing but rather weed out and get rid of some things. Still no clue about Christmas here. Germany is going into hard lockdown again on Wednesday and we still have a baby girl on the way to another son. I am going to shop for all the stateside kids but I am not paying to ship so whenever they wander home they will get Christmas.
Lana, I order from places that offer free shipping and then have it sent directly to my family members whenever I can. Postage is very high and we've spent loads over the years trying to mail gifts off to various family members.
Terri,. I do Amazon ship for birthdays and everything else throughout the year but Christmas just won't work that way for the way we shop and the volume of gifts. Kids in Germany get money because shipping is very high.
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