Friday Favorites

Hello and happy Friday!!! I have a few Friday Favorites to share with you.

Remember on my previous post I was decoupaging the pumpkins? I finally finished and I guess I’m ok with the way they turned out. I didn’t finish them until the week before Halloween but I think they look fallish. So I will keep them out through Thanksgiving.

I love winter weather folklore. I always find it interesting, all the ”signs”, that the old farmers use to predict planting and just how cold it is going to be. Have you heard this one about the caterpillars. This one is from the Old Farmer’s Almanac.

I also love making chili when it gets cold outside. I made some last week. We always have plenty for leftovers. I also love putting chow chow on mine.

I can’t remember if I showed you this carry-on bag that I got a few months ago. This one holds quite a lot and it can be put under your airplane seat. It has wheels so you don’t have to lug it through the airport. My arms and shoulders are saved. I also added the bigger suitcase. Of course you know I would pick the ones with cats.

Have you ever tried these Sea Salt Caramels? I get them at T.J. Maxx. I know a lot of the food they have is questionable. I have tried some things from there and not liked them. But these caramels are delicious. I always have to get a bag when I am there. See? I already tore into them before I took the picture HA!

Yesterday was Halloween and several of us at work decided to dress as Care Bears. I was the pink Care Bear. I bought a pink sweatshirt at Walmart and ordered the ears and the rainbow iron-on from Amazon. It was super easy.

And of course I love Gilmore Girls and I like to watch it best when the weather turns cool. It’s just the perfect snuggle up and get cozy show.

What are some favorites you have enjoyed this week?

Always remember

Live your day your way!!!!

Sunday Morning Coffee Share. 10-27-2024

Happy Sunday!! How is your weekend going? Come in and let’s share a nice hot coffee or tea or whatever you would like to drink. I bought this “Wicked” mug a few weeks ago when I was on Sister Trip. I thought it was appropriate with Halloween coming up.

What have I been up to you ask? Well I took a long weekend off from work. My husband was off and we decided to go car shopping. Of course you know that usually means you will find a car to bring home. And we did. I have been needing a new car for a while and have been putting it off. I just hate the whole dickering back and forth with the dealership trying to come to an agreement. But we did it and came home with a car for me. I am loving it. Still getting familiar with it.

Work was a little quieter last week. I didn’t do a lot otherwise. I did get to early vote.

I finished a cap I was knitting. It actually worked up really fast. I was using size 11 circular needles and chunky yarn. I added a fluffy ball to the top.

I have also been decoupaging some pumpkins I bought at Hobby Lobby last week. I have decoupaged some smaller ones before. These are a little bigger and I should have them finished tonight. After they dry I will show you what they look like. I think they will fit in with Thanksgiving decor as well.

I ***know it looks really messy but if you have decoupaged anything before you know it looks completely different when it dries.***

What am I reading? I am reading this book by Ina Garten, Be Ready When The Luck Happens. Ina is one of my favorite chefs of all time. I love to watch her show. This book is about her life and how she got started with her shop and then show, The Barefoot Contessa. So far it is really good.

It seems like almost overnight the leaves are finally starting to change color.

I took this picture yesterday. This is at the top of our driveway. Just after this it started raining.

What am I celebrating? Well National Black Cat Day of course. And I leave you with this picture of our sweet Sadie. She has brought us a lot of luck since she arrived. We call her shady Sadie because she is always into something.

I have so enjoyed our time together. Please come again soon. Until next time.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!

Hello Monday

Hello and happy Monday!!! How was your week and your weekend? I have been a bit under the weather. I am not sure what is going on. I think it is just that I haven’t been getting enough rest. Also a change in the temperature always gives me some sinus issues. I am feeling better today and I honestly think it was just the fact that I returned from my Wisconsin/Minnesota trip and went right back to work. We had a big week at work last week. We had some filming done for commercial and promotional footage and it was a lot to prepare for. It was a bit exhausting.

***It was exciting to see our cave lit up like this. I can’t wait to see all the footage. They even took a drone inside the cave.***

Last Saturday we celebrated my brother and sister-in-law’s 50th wedding anniversary. It was very nice. My two nieces planned everything and had it at my nieces’ church in the sanctuary. It was supposed to be a surprise but I think they sort of figured it out when they drove them to the church instead of out to eat. We had a great time catching up with friends and family. I was supposed to make the wedding cake but I realized a few weeks ago that the anniversary party fell the day after I returned from my Wisconsin trip. I knew I just couldn’t put a huge cake together in less than a day. They bought one somewhere else and it was yummy. They did a great job with everything.

***It’s hard to believe these two have been married for 50 years. I think ii was in Jr Hi when they got married.***

Yesterday we celebrated my nephew’s, well my great nephew actually, 21st Birthday. A milestone birthday so we had to celebrate although, who am I kidding we celebrate anything. We had the party at my sister’s house. My nephew Chris did most of the cooking on the grill. We brought some sides and had a feast. My sister just got a new dog baby and he is precious. He only weighs three pounds and will only be about seven our eight pounds when he is full grown. His name is Cooper, and I will admit I tried to smuggle him out of the house in my purse. It was such a fun day.

***Birthday Boy, Caleb holding his sweatshirt I got him when I went through Chicago last week.***

***Sorry about the blurry picture but this guy would not stop wiggling. He loves people and wants to be in the middle of everything.***

Today I felt much better when I went to work. Work has slowed down a tiny bit. The weather is cooler and so nice, especially early mornings and late afternoon. the leaves are changing colors but not a lot and not very fast. The weather here had been fairly dry until a few weeks ago and the leaves need more moisture to turn those beautiful colors.

***The trees with yellow leaves are my favorite.***

***We also had our first frost last week. It was beautiful.***

So that has been me for the last week. I have been listening to a great audio book. Olive Kitteridge written by Elizabeth Strout. I just finished it and found the second one, Olive Again, there is also a mini series on Max. Olive Kitteridge. The mini series follows the book and I am hoping for a second season. Only four episodes in the first season. Olive lives in Crosby Maine. The books are Almost like short stories but all of them weave Olive into them. I have loved them and now I am almost finished with the second one. At first I didn’t like Olive but now I love her. She is outspoken and tough but she can be so kind and she believes in treating everyone equally.

So other than work, housework, taking care of hubs and the kitties that is what I have been doing. Thankfully my traveling is over for a few months. That makes me very happy.

What have you been up to? I am sorry if I have neglected your blog posts. I love reading all of them and can’t wait to catch up.

Always remember

Love your day your way!!!!

Home Again, Home Again

Hello and happy Monday. I just got back from a week long trip to La Crosse Wisconsin. What a beautiful city La Crosse is. La Crosse is located on the banks of the Mississippi River in the southwestern part of the state. I was there for a work trip. I foolishly thought I could churn out a blog post or two while I was there, but people, it just didn’t happen. There was no free time.

It all started last Monday morning when I left my house at 5:15 AM. I had about an hour’s drive to the airport and my flight left at 8:00. I was very concerned because I only had a 45 minute layover in Chicago O’Hare airport. I considered only taking a carry-on but I was going to be there for a week and I just couldn’t do it. So I had to check a bag and then I was worried my bags wouldn’t make it.

Luckily, All of my flights were on time and getting through O’Hare was a breeze. I have flown through there several times and I am getting very familiar with the layout of the airport. Even my bags made it to La Crosse. The hotel has airport shuttle and they picked me up outside the airport. Easy peasy. Remember my post a few weeks back about travel? If not you can check it out here. I did follow a lot of those suggestions but sometimes I think it is just the luck of the draw when dealing with time zones and flights.

I got into La Crosse at noon on Monday. There was a one hour time difference. I took a little rest in my room and then met one of my friends for lunch. She had arrived for the meeting the day before. We walked into town and found a neat little restaurant, Bodega’s. We then spent some time walking through the town and visiting some of the little shops. We went to an amazing book store that was connected to a coffee shop. There was a young man playing a piano inside the book store and singing softly. It was just precious. We also got Ice Cream at a shop called The Pearl. It was so yummy. Oh and I almost forgot to tell you the temperatures that week were mid 60’s F. It was lovely. The trees were golden and had changed color much more than here at home.

Monday night we had an opening reception. This is an annual meeting so I was reunited with some of my friends that I don’t get to see often. It is always so much fun catching up. The following days were filled with meetings, seminars and a day trip into Minnesota where we toured two different caves. More on those in my next post. Let me tell you it was an exhausting, exhilarating, learning, and sharing week. Whew.

Before I knew it, it was Friday morning and my flight left at 6:00 AM. I was okay with that. I like early flights because that means I get home early. I did cringe a little when the hotel told me the shuttle to the airport would leave at 4:15 AM. Oh well, who needs sleep?