November 22, Friday evening: I've made an executive decision. I'll run this post through next Wednesday and then I'm shutting down for the holiday weekend. But I'll be back as usual by December 1 with my routine posts.
Meals today: I know we ate...Just can't remember what it was!
Soup and rice leftovers mixed up. This was delicious.
I don't know what they are called. It's a TikTok recipe that is like a Big Mac, but smash burgers made with tortillas. I made my own 'special' sauce replica, chopped dill pickles, thinly sliced raw onions to go on top of the cheeseburger. I semi-cheated and put mine down on a hot sheet pan in a hot oven rather than stand around frying them in pan. They turned out just fine!
John was over the moon about these. He's asked me to make them again. It's always the simplest things that please him.
November 23, Saturday: Sam said the kids would be ours from breakfast until dinner. It went on a bit longer than that. Millie and Isaac both were very sleepy and quite tired by the time their dad arrived. I expect Josh felt the same. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The kids arrived at about 8am. I had honestly contemplated for two days what to do with them but in the end, they made their own fun. I can't remember why they went back to their house, to get something or other, but they came back shocked that their dad had locked the door. However, the boys brought their bikes over to our house when they returned and that was their entertainment for hours and hours. They went to the bottom driveway which is level and solidly packed. They spent all morning down there.
I made lunch and afterwards they asked to go back outside. I told them to go ahead. Millie kept hinting that she wanted candy. I told her we'd wait and see. She doesn't have a bike, but she went outdoors and played at the bottom driveway while the boys continued to ride.
John went into the bedroom to call his brother. The children returned to the house for a snack. I let them each choose a candy bar. I had pulled up the movie, "The Borrowers" for us to watch together. The boys didn't want to watch a movie, only to ride bikes, and eventually Millie had enough of wondering what they were doing so she joined them. I was a little disappointed as I was sure they would enjoy the film but there you are. They were happy as could be. I settled in my chair to watch the movie alone.
Suddenly Millie came in and said "Gramma, there's a man in a truck down there." I asked if it was the mailman. She told me, "No...he's in a truck and he's a stranger." Sure, enough when I stepped out on the porch, I could see the truck parked in my bottom drive. Why? The boys continued to play right there in the driveway. I called to them to come to the house. The man walked out from the back of his truck. He was dressed for hunting. He explained he was going to the back of the fields under the power lines. I asked him if he had spoken to my brother or my son for permission. He never said yes or no. He just kept repeating he was going to the back of the fields. I turned to come indoors, and John was coming out of the bedroom. I told him what was going on.
Well, John went off to investigate but couldn't find the owner of the truck. I was mighty upset, because while my brother's property can only be accessed from my drive, I wasn't keen on strangers showing up out of the blue, chatting with the kids, having a gun, etc. John called 911 and then thought to call Sam. It seemed that Tony had mentioned to him that a man might come hunt on Tony's property, but no one had thought to tell us.
Two deputies and the town police showed up in our driveway a few moments later. John explained to them the man apparently had permission, but we hadn't known it. He assured them we had no problems with the man hunting, just didn't know who he was. John came back to the house and wrote a note to the man asking him to park on Tony's property in the future.
Now the entrance to Tony's property is a little overgrown and the man's truck is BIG so I expect he thought he would avoid scratching the truck, or maybe he was unaware that he wasn't on Tony's property which has a gate dividing our two places.
It was all a bit upsetting in several ways. I was alarmed that the boys hadn't been bothered by a stranger coming in and talking to them. I didn't like the idea of a stranger on the place. I was peeved that no one had informed us anyone would be coming. Yes, Sam knew, but we didn't.
I was doggone proud of Millie for coming straight up to the house and letting me know, though.
And the boys did come indoors for at least 40 minutes of the movie. They watched it and kept exclaiming over it but eventually the lure of the outdoors hit them, and they went right back to riding bikes.
We served the kids supper. Josh complained his legs and back hurt from riding his bike so much and crawled onto the bed after supper. Millie and Issac lay around on chairs in the living room. Well mostly Isaac did. Millie moved from lap to lap to rest.
Isaac spent a lot of time talking. "I don't sleep well," he said, 'but I'll bet I do tonight!" 8 hours of riding a bike will do that to you. "I'll be glad when I grow up and can have my own son...I think being a dad to a boy will be fun." He asked us loads of questions too about our childhood, our parents, our siblings, our former houses. I felt we understood Isaac and knew him better for his talking so much. And it felt good to have him ask us about our lives. This might be my little family historian in the making!
The kids went home about 9pm. Sam and Bess had gone to a Georgia Bulldogs game. They had had a long, long walk back to their car and a very long drive home, so they were good and tired. I'm glad the kids were worn out as well. I'll bet their whole house was sound asleep by 9:30.
Meals: Croissants (me and the kids), bagel for John, cereal for John and the children.
Tacos, Quesadillas, Chips and Salsa. The kids really like this menu. Getting both quesadilla and a taco seemed to be a big deal for them.
Hot Dogs, Potato Chips, Oranges
November 24, Sunday: This morning we were ready for church a good hour before we needed to leave, so I sat down at the computer and spent a few minutes writing. I don't typically write on a Sunday but there I was tapping away.
I promised myself last weekend that Sundays will be devoted to genealogy. It's something I truly enjoy doing and it's always being put off for other things. I got in about 3 hours of research this afternoon. I may have found some helpful information. I also found I'd gotten something completely wrong, and I am back to square one on that person. So, it goes. A gain and a loss. In the end, I'd rather my information was absolutely accurate than wishfully placed in the hopes that it might fit the puzzle.
Meals: Raisin Bread with Cheese and Sausage
Fried Chicken, Potato Salad
Ham Sandwich, Satsuma Tangerine, Milk
November 25, Monday: I was up before John this morning. I enjoyed that brief time on my own and got into my zone with regards to upcoming things and tapped happily away feeling led and inspired. However, when I started second guessing myself and trying to force things, I knew it was time to walk away.
I put a good day's work under me. The house wasn't a disaster, not like last weekend, but it definitely needed the TLC it got this morning! I cleaned ceiling fans this morning, and got the living room dusted, something I'd noted last week was due to be done once more. I got a few outfits set up for the week/weekend ahead, totted up the checkbook after a couple of days of neglect, wrote out checks for bills, reminding myself we're losing a mailing day this week due to the holiday and even got that birthday card ready to go into the mail ahead of time. Go me!
The last jobs I tackled were in the kitchen. The fridge was jumbled and messy and I set any number of things on the counter that I was going to deal with today. And then...and then, I realized I was hungry (it was past 1pm) and tired and I put more than half of them back. This was not the day to begin a long afternoon in the kitchen.
No indeed it was not. I'd only have gotten overly tired and super frustrated because when I am weary, I make bigger than normal messes of things. I sorted out a variety of leftovers for lunch, started supper and put all the rest of the items right back into the fridge. Tomorrow will be my big kitchen day.
Do not think I've been idle all afternoon though. I've had plenty of quiet work to keep me occupied. And plenty of time wrestling with myself because I think a project is going one way and it most absolutely is not going in that direction at all. So, I have to wrangle myself right back to where I'm being led to go and then figure out what I'm being asked to discover. I wish I weren't so stubborn! I could save myself a lot of extra grief and work, lol!
It's evening and time to shut the shades. Supper is bubbling away on the stove. I need to attend to that as well.
Meals: Raisin Bread Toast, Scrambled Egg
Lasagna, Giardiniera, Pineapple
Chicken Indienne (or Chicken Catalina depending upon whose recipe you're reading), Stuffing (from a box), Collards (from a can). The chicken came about because I discovered a good 3/4 cup of cranberry sauce at the back of the fridge and since I had chicken on the menu anyway, I figured I'd use it up making this recipe. I did NOT use a whole bottle of dressing as the original recipes state we should. I don't need that much leftover sauce at the end of the meal.
November 26, Tuesday: Last night, I went to bed early with the plan to watch a video or three. I don't believe I made it through even one. John startled me about an hour later taking my phone from my hand...
We woke later this morning to a dreary day. John took one look out the window, went back to the room and switched his shorts for his fleece pants. I laughed when I stepped on the porch to feed the cat and dog because it wasn't in the least cold. It was misty rain and gray for sure but warm. I found him in the living room wrapped in a light blanket with a cup of coffee cupped in his hands. The power of suggestion was strong with him this morning, lol.
I worked a good portion of the morning at a writing task then went to the kitchen to begin work there. I took all that stuff from the fridge that I put back yesterday and got busy. I made burritos for lunch and took the remaining beans and taco meat and made up a sort of Mexican lasagna for the freezer. I prepped supper foods. I managed to put a potato casserole in the freezer. I went through a bag of cranberries and chopped about half of them. I made muffins with those. I pulled stems from the collard greens and put those to cook in the slow cooker, taking care to set the slow cooker as near the stove vent as I could get it.
When we sat down to eat lunch today, John and I talked over our struggles. My writing project was not going well. John had a new song brewing in his mind and he was wrestling with the words and tempo. We moved from that subject to talk over the book he recently started re-reading. I suggested perhaps he might find an answer to a long-term concern we've been praying about. We talked for quite a while about why I felt as I did about the matter and what my thoughts were overall. Then he wrote out a prayer in his Bible and we prayed it together. We requested that God answer us in a very specific way and by a certain date as this was also a time sensitive issue.
I went off to the kitchen to finish up my tasks and clean up and John went off to do something else. Then he picked up his book and started to read. About ten minutes later he called out, "How ready are you for an answer to your prayer?" I laughed and said, "I'll take it just any time!" He read off the passage to me and it spoke specifically about the very subject matter and how to handle it!
This evening, we began watching a Tuesday night service we tune into weekly. No kidding, the pastor spoke about the same matter, and he said the same thing the author of the book had said!
It's been a difficult week in some ways. Not because anything bad has happened or because of upsets or illness (happily my family is much improved). It's been hard because I am struggling with a lack of confidence in my ability to do what has been laid before me. It's been hard because we've both been hearing from God in different ways creatively and neither of us feels qualified to do what we're doing.
The truth is I'm not qualified. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just listening and doing what I'm told the best that I can and I'm prayerful that it will all come out right in the end. And that's the best we can either of us do. Having God answer so promptly when I was beginning to despair that he'd ever answer was just the boost of confidence we both needed to believe we were on the right paths and to continue on with our creative work.
Meals: Grits, Smoked Sausage, Toast
Burritos
Glazed Ham, Hashbrown Casserole, Green Salad with apple, pomegranate, and toasted walnuts. John took one look at tonight's plates and said, "I feel like we're getting something really special tonight." I'd just been thinking myself that the food looked especially attractive and festive somehow. I glazed the portion of ham with a mixture of plum jam, cloves and a little brown sugar.
I really like that plum jam which had the texture of a plum butter. Adding in the cloves just upped the whole thing by several notches. Next summer, I'm buying plums to just make this plum butter. I may make a couple of jars of spiced butter, too.
November 27, Wednesday: Last night when I went to do the dishes, I paused to shut the blinds. I peered hard past the reflection of interior light on the pane and saw something move in the yard...Four or five deer were there. Three were grazing, one big buck was standing cautiously on guard and one young buck was cavorting around kicking his heels in the air and head butting the does. I stood transfixed for a few moments then thought to call to John to come look.
I wondered if that hunter last Saturday knew how close he was to deer here near the house and if he'd seen a single one back on the backside of the fields well away from the houses. I promise I've seen deer every day since Saturday!
This morning, I got up in the wee hours. I have been working hard all week, yes at housework, but also at a project that presented itself to me on Friday evening. It has been very humbling and a great struggle, but I'm committed to finishing it out.
This morning, I made myself go to town to get the last remaining items I needed to make a special gelatin dish that Bess enjoys for Thanksgiving. I picked up one extra and I'm glad I did!
I ran into the contractor at the grocery and asked him to please call John. Our back steps are falling apart, and we want to replace them with formed concrete. I didn't talk business to him, just told him we needed that job attended to when he was able and to please call, then wished him a happy holiday.
I came home and made the gelatin and got it in the fridge to set. I cleaned up a bit and started our lunch and went back to my writing project.
We had just set down with our lunch when Sam ran in bringing me a few leftovers from his lunch of Fried Chicken Livers and okra. Oh goodness that was tasty! I sent him off home with cranberry muffins (also sooo good...I had one this morning). I told him I'd asked Bess to run by after work to pick up this dish I'd made for her.
John has distracted me (I've been willing, lol) by putting on programs he knows I enjoy. Katie called several times asking questions about making foods, disposable dessert plates and napkins, etc. Then she asked if I'd make the cranberry gelatin dish for dinner. Back to the kitchen to make that for the second time today. I'm so glad I picked up the extra box of gelatin!
I think we're going to have an 'easy' supper tonight. I have some Spinach and Artichoke dip I want to heat up for myself. John will happily have eat a sandwich. In the morning we'll have our traditional holiday breakfast and then we'll head out to Katie's for a midday feast. I haven't got the tree from the shed, but it's coming out. I'm starting to feel the holiday spirit...I'm ready for this season of joy. Aren't you?
Meals: Cranberry Muffin/Bacon for me, Toast for John
Fried chicken (leftovers), fries (I had a large chicken liver and some okra with my chicken)
Dips, chips and sandwiches.
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