Hello and how was your weekend? On Saturday I went to Athens with my friend Kathy. We went to Dollar Tree and to our favorite Chinese restaurant. I was looking for a few things for Valentine’s Day crafts that I am working on. I also went over to see my sister and picked up some groceries for her. She is doing great!!! She has another treatment on Friday but she is much stronger than she was going into the first treatment.
On Sunday I did laundry and put out a few Valentine’s Day decorations. I don’t decorate a lot but I do like to add a few. After that it was a lazy day. I did laundry and watched a couple of movies and then went for a short walk and played with the outside kitties. It was a nice sunny day and it felt great outside. The kitties thought so too.
Shady Sadie she is always on the go.
Allie Cat aka the mama kitty. She is mama to Sadie and Izzy
Sweet Izzy.
Gus, living his best life. He loves to be spoiled.
And Kitty Kitty the one who first made me a kitty mama.
So a fairly uneventful and quiet weekend and that is just fine with me. How was your weekend?
You know it seems like December comes along and all of a sudden there is a flurry of special things to do and places to go and spectacular Christmasy things to see and then, all of a sudden Christmas is upon us. It is a special time of year that goes by so incredibly fast. I say this because we are in the middle of this precious time. Don’t forget to enjoy it and spend time with loved ones and take a deep breath and just have fun.
Last Thursday we celebrated my nephew Tyler’s 21st Birthday. He wanted to go to his favorite Mexican restaurant in town so that is where we went. It was a terrible rainy foggy night. I made the cake and it was a disaster. Tyler requested a chocolaty pudding type cake. I had a recipe but I hadn’t made one in years. I don’t know what happened but we had to spoon it onto the plates. It was terrible. My sweet husband insisted on eating a big plate full and assured me that is the kind of cake he wanted for his next Birthday. I think I better stick to what I am familiar with. Tyler got the traditional whipped cream in the face while we sang Happy Birthday. We had so much fun.
The night of the party made me remember the night Tyler was born. He actually is my great nephew, his mom Michelle is my niece. The night he was born it was rainy and foggy. Michelle and her mom went to the hospital as soon as she went into labor and I followed about an hour or so later. It was a Friday night. Tyler was born early the next morning. My sister, Michelle’s mom, and I were there to be the delivery coaches. Michelle had told me that I could cut the umbilical cord so I was beyond excited. Just before Tyler made his appearance I took one look at his head and I felt my knees giving out and down on the floor I went. The nurses said it was probably because I had been standing with my knees locked for so long or emotions or just me being me. I recovered in time to cut the umbilical cord. Tyler likes to tell people that he had popped out in time to ask if I was ok. He had a flattened nose and a cone head. I crocheted that little blue cap he is wearing. Such memories. I think the holidays makes us remember and reflect more than ever.
All grown up now. He sent me this picture last week when he went fishing.
Saturday morning I made a blueberry cobbler. I love to make these for breakfast and have it to eat on all week. I went into Athens to Hobby Lobby and bought the yarn I needed for the temperature blanket. I thought I would have enough of this orange color that I am using for fall but because of all the warm days I ran out and couldn’t continue until I bought this one color. Unfortunately the nearest Hobby Lobby or yarn store where they sell it is about 30-40 minutes away. I also had to return some boots I had bought a couple of weeks ago. I will show you those on Friday Favorites.
Every year around Christmas time I buy a box of these Russell Stover chocolates. I love them. It is a treat that I will only buy once a year and I will savor them.
On Saturday afternoon I added a few more decorations to the inside of the house. Several months ago when we were cleaning out some of the closets in my mother in law’s house I came across a ceramic Christmas tree in a large shopping bag. I decided to bring it home. It was very yellowed with dust. It has a base with a long bulb and then the ceramic tree fits over it. There are holes in the tree that small glass ornaments fit into. I couldn’t believe how nice it looked after I scrubbed it up and put the ornaments back on. My husband said he remembered getting that tree when he was about five years old. He said he and his mom and brother drove to someone’s house and bought it. After a few years his mom stopped putting it out. He was so excited to see it again. He had no idea what had happened to it. It’s about 2 feet tall and I put it on the entry table beside the front door. We love it. More bittersweet memories.
You can see how white the snow is now. You should have seen it when I first started cleaning it. It is pretty in the daytime but look how magical it looks at night with all the different colors of lights.
Kitty Kitty and Gus were so excited about the new decorations in the house. They ran and sniffed and pretended to be scared of some of them. Crazy kitties. It looks like Gus is saying “mom what the heck is this thing?”
I put this snowman throw on the back of the couch and Kitty Kitty jumped up on it and went right to sleep. This is where she has spent almost every day since I put it on the couch.
On Sunday I took it easy and watched some Christmas movies. Join me here on Thursday where I will share my top 10 Christmas movies of all time. I’ll be you’ve seen some of them already.
Last night we had our work Christmas party in Knoxville. It was a lot of fun but about an hour drive for most of us and the traffic was a nightmare. I didn’t get home until almost 11:00 PM and that is late for me. Early bedtime for me tonight.
So that is what has been going on over here how about you? Are you ready for Christmas? Have some fun, share some memories and make some new memories.
Hello Monday and hello December. I can’t believe Christmas is just a few weeks away!!!! Or that the end of this year is a few weeks away.
I have been a little out of pocket this past week. I had a sinus, stuffy head, coughing, scratchy throat, thing going on. A common cold I guess. One day I felt better and then the next I would feel worse. This went on for over a week. I left work early Friday because I felt so yucky. I went home and pretty much stayed there until this morning. I am feeling much better.
Mark and I had to go to Vanderbillt Medical Center in Nashville last Tuesday for a four month check up for Mark. Everything was good and he got a great report. As I have mentioned before. We leave out at around 5:00 AM and it takes almost four hours to get to Nashville. Our appointment went quick. After we see the Doctor Mark gets blood work and I run to the cafeteria to get us coffee. We later stop and eat breakfast on the way home. Usually once we are back home we take a nap. It is such a tiring drive for one day. But totally worth the peace of mind when he gets a good report.
The hospital courtyard was decorated for Christmas and it was so pretty.
It was actually a quiet morning. We were there very early around 8:30.
Iced Carmel Macchiato for me. Mark likes just plain coffee with a couple of extra shots of espresso.
Wednesday was my little mother in law’s 89th Birthday. I went to see her and I took her some cupcakes. She has really declined in the last few months and it is so hard to see her this way. So many things she enjoyed before she doesn’t now. She doesn’t even like long visits anymore so we just do shorter and more frequent visits. Just being with her and sitting with her is all she seems to need. Isn’t she a cutie. She can get with you when she wants something her way but she always goes back to that little smile.
I stayed in most of the weekend. It was rainy and cool. I read and did a lot of catch up work on the temperature blanket. Then I ran out of a critical color of the yarn that I have to have before I can continue. So I will have to make a trip to Hobby Lobby this weekend. In the meantime I will work on weaving in the billions of yarn ends. I also watched a couple of Christmas movies.
Saturday night Mark and I watched A Charlie Brown Christmas. Because of my nasty cold I missed out on several things going on in the area including our town’s Christmas Parade. But watching A Charlie Brown Christmas with hubs and the fur babies was still pretty special.
A Charlie Brown Christmas turns 52 this year and this scene was almost completely cut out, but Charles Schultz insisted that this scene remain and it has for 52 years. I think it says it all.
“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the Angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the Angel said unto them, ’Fear not:”
“for behold,I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, ‘ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, Good will toward men.”
By Sunday I was starting to feel a little stir crazy. I decided to make a Christmas wreath. I bought all the materials a couple of weeks ago. so I cut all the mesh, and tied the mesh onto the metal wreath form and then added those two white bells and put it on the door. I like it. I was wanting sort of a red and white candy cane sort of look and I think that’s what I got.
On Sunday night I brought out the Santa collection. I have been collecting these Santas for years. I have about forty small ones and several larger ones that I just place around the house. This old Singer sewing machine belonged to my husband’s grandmother. She gave it to us several years ago. It still works.
And back to work this morning and as soon as I got out on the road I saw this guy. It was very foggy and he (she) and a buddy were crossing the road. I always creep down our road because I see deer almost every morning.
Hello friends, happy Monday!!! how was your Thanksgiving? As I mentioned mine was very quiet. I cooked only for me and hubs. Although we did take food to a friend in town. It was very nice. My husband said I was cooking too much and too many different things. I told him that just because it was us two we still deserved to have a nice food filled Thanksgiving.
Even though I put my Christmas tree up a couple of weeks ago, I alway think the official “Kick off for Christmas” is the day after Thanksgiving. My sister and I usually stay out all day on Black Friday and shop. However we haven’t done that in a few years. Because of Covid and some other things the last couple of years and my sister having the flu this year it was pretty quiet once again.
I did do a little shopping on Friday in nearby Athens. I had heard that Home Depot had orchids for $5.00. WHAT??? Now I don’t have anywhere to put another orchid and I am not sure how Delphine, Ophelia, Saffron, Zsa Zsa, Oliver and Olivia would feel about another orchid sibling but I just can’t help myself. We don’t have a Home Depot near us but in Athens there is a Lowe’s. That is actually where I bought one of my first orchids, Olivia I think it was. But no such luck the orchids there were a staggering $30.00. No Way!!!
I did stop at the Berks store in Athens and Hobby Lobby and Dollar Tree. At Dollar Tree I picked up the supplies to make my Christmas wreath. I can’t wait to work on that. But overall it was a pretty quiet trip.
On Saturday I decided to shop local as everyone in town was being encouraged to do. I knew there was a Christmas Craft Sale going on in nearby Tellico Plains. It was being held at Riverbend Farms. This farm is a venue for weddings and other events and it is beautiful!!! I did find a few things there. The barn where the crafters were set up was a bit crowded but there were lots of good things. I just love attending things like this at Christmas. It puts me in such a festive holiday mood. And it was just what I needed this week.
I bought a few ornaments. Some of these were handmade from the lady who first rescued our big orange kitty Gus. She, Heather, has a booth at a local antique mall and she is so talented. And of course I am so grateful for her connection to getting us our precious Gus.
This is my bird tree that I keep up in my kitchen all year long. I collect bird ornaments from different places that I go and add them to my tree. I have them from lots of special places and each one has a story.
I just had to have this Cardinal for my bird tree. There is a saying that the sighting of a Cardinal brings a message from a loved one who may be far away. This is the way it goes:
When Cardinals appear, you will know that I am near.
Though we may be apart, you need to know that you are always in my heart.
The Cardinals presence is reassurance that your loved one is always with you when you need them…all that you need to do is look for them.
After leaving Riverbend I ventured into Tellico Plains and stopped at one of the gift shops my niece and I had been to a couple of weeks before. This gray jacket caught my eye last time and I decided to go back and get it. It’s reversible and from Simply Southern. I love this brand it is always so cozy.
I then picked up groceries and headed home. Sunday was also quiet. How was your weekend and Thanksgiving? Did you have a huge gathering or just a few people? Are you getting in the Christmas Spirit yet?
Southern Patches 