In My Home This Week: Counting Down To Christmas

John had  a lovely bit of time off, almost two whole weeks...My but it went by quickly!  Now we're back on a routine work schedule and we'll be there for some time.  No more extra days off for a bit.  It will be another schedule change for us both after all these months with an added day off here or there.  Sigh... Never a static schedule, ours.  Always changing and always weird to all but those of us who live with it.  Ah well.

We've had a lovely week of cold nights and cool days. I enjoy it a great deal, not the least because we can eat lovely slow simmered foods...

This Week In My Home: Living Frugally, Living Well

Saturday:  I used leftover hash brown casserole to make Egg Nests for our breakfast this morning.  It was a nice change of pace for a Shabat morning breakfast.

Our dinner was a heat and eat frozen entree right from our freezer, Turkey and Dressing, cranberry sauce left from our Thanksgiving meal and a salad with toasted nuts, apple slices and craisins.

We did nothing this day.  No shopping, nor driving.  We didn't even burn electricity except for the television and fridge and freezers running until late afternoon when I turned on the AC for a bit to cool the house off a bit.  A cold front is coming in tomorrow.  I for one shall be glad to see it.

I made a supper of waffles and hash browns and sausage for our company dinner tonight.  I used pancake mix for the waffles.

Coffee Chat: That Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Come in, come in...
All the while I am hurrying along doing the seasonal things I am well aware that yet another natural season is ending and the year is coming to a close.  It fills me with real sadness this year.  I feel honestly as though an era of my life is closing for good and I don't have a single thing other than feeling to back this idea up.  Well it's made me teary eyed over things, sentimental and nostalgic.  I'm not dreading the next phase, nor feeling particularly upset about it coming along, but I want to dwell a bit in the moments that are remaining, and run away from the thoughts that it's going to change, all at the same time.

I am forever hearing a bit of whining about folks not liking change...and I admit readily enough that you'll hear me doing some of that whining when changes are afoot in my life that I've had no choosing in...but I am aware too that we were never created to be stagnant people.  We might well have been formed of dirt in the beginning but 75% of our body is water and water must MOVE or it dries up and becomes nothing but...well, dirt all over again.  And truth is, that time is coming soon enough at the end of our lives so why hurry it on?

In My Home This Week: Another Fresh Start

Whew!  It was a week of work last week.  I was plenty busy decorating and cleaning and running errands. Well it's all over except the eating which will take place today and then it's all done.  I am looking forward to this day of family and food and grands.

This week promises to be busy as well.  John is off all week long so my time is at his disposal for the most part and whose to say what that means?  I never know until moments before sometimes what the plans for the day may be.  That means that meals also may be more on the fly as well...and I must be prepared for that as well.  Seems sort of useless to even make plans doesn't it?  Well I if I don't then I'll really have to prepare them on the fly and there is no fun whatsoever in that.  Besides, it's grocery week and I need to be sure I have enough to prepare meals.

Questions, Answers and Comments, Oh My!

December is well on it's way isn't it?  I haven't had a moment to spare to write this post until now but I didn't want to let this month pass without it because some of the comments and questions from November were awesome...and I do love to share what's being said amongst us all.

Let's get started...

Living Frugally post 1  Vicki M we got those two coupons which could be redeemed for either 20 ounce bottles or 2 L bottles.  We chose to buy the 2L size and had them for our family party this weekend.

Sarah said she uses a twin size blanket or spread folded at the foot of her bed.  It's just right for warming the feet and adding a bright spot to the room, too.  I exchanged the curtain panel at the foot of my guest bed for a quilt towards the end of the month.  I put out something a little more rugged when we had guests, that could withstand tugging and pulling.

In My Home This Week, Living Frugally and Well

                                           Vintage Pillowcase becomes Mixer dust cover

Saturday:  Nothing but leftovers for us all day long and it was just as good as it was on Friday.  We had leftovers of cinnamon rolls and sausages for breakfast, leftovers of turkey dinner for dinner.  Yum yum.

I made a quick hashbrown casserole as our second side dish.  I'd parboiled potatoes and chopped onion earlier in the week.  I just added half a can of mushroom soup, 1/2 cup sour cream and mixed it all up.

I put the rest of the food in to warm while the casserole cooked.

For supper tonight I made up a batch of biscuits, cooked a piece of turkey sausage and an egg for each of us.  Leftover biscuits will be saved for another meal.

Loaded the dishwasher tonight and it was FULL.  Washed on short cycle since I'd rinsed things well before putting them in.

Deck the Halls...with Canning Jars and Burlap

I've run a little behind and a little ahead this week.  Normally I have the tree up by Thanksgiving night.  This year, no.  It was partly due to the fact that I was simply worn down  that evening but also that I needed to move some furniture about and no one was at home to help.

With the advent of December I want my home to begin to seem somewhat holiday-ish.  At this point the majority of the leaves are off the trees.  Landscapes are brown and gray and deep forest green and bleached wheat blonde.  It is time to say goodbye to the flame orange and red and deep burgundy of autumn.  Time to say hello to winter and in winter we celebrate Christmas.

I normally begin to gear up for decorating about Dec 10.  This year I've moved it up because we have our family party this weekend and I really wanted the children (grown up and small) to feel they had had a holiday experience.  I've seen some great ideas on Pinterest this year and on a few blogs like The Cultivated Nest.  First was this front door idea