Monday, November 29, 2021

GIVING TUESDAY (open your wallet with purpose)

 


Now that we've all shopped until we dropped...
on Black Friday, Small Business Saturday,
and Cyber Monday-
It's time to take a break and do your GOOD upon the Earth. 
Donate what you can...
be it $1, $5, $10, $25, etc 
to the charity of your choice. 
FOOD BANKS
can really use our help this year.
So do what you can to help. 
OPEN YOUR WALLET
with PURPOSE.
We can all make the world a better place...
if we spread the gift of  KINDNESS to those in need.


Friday, November 26, 2021

BLACK FRIDAY.... Be safe



 BE SAFE OUT THERE PEOPLE

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

TALKING TURKEY, NOT?


  I had my Thanksgiving meal planned months ago. 
Just my hubby and I.
A pumpkin cheesecake for dessert.
And a turkey roulade for dinner. 
With a little stuffing rolled inside. 
YUM YUM
Best laid plans are no more.
My oldest daughter had a health scare.
Was in the hospital the other night. 
We are all walking on pins and needles 
hoping the seizures that put her there...
do NOT happen again, since she's back home. 
So she is now coming over to eat here, with us..
The grandchildren are suppose to eat with their dad.
But that may or may not happen...
because his dad had heart failure and has contracted Covid.
Odds do not look like they are in his favor.
So that means the grandkids may or may not 
come here too, to eat with their mom and us.
And all of this is well and good...
 except for one very important fact.
NONE of them eats TURKEY.
So yours truly was scrambling for an alternative.
Looks like it's going to be 
POT ROAST.
Not the Thanksgiving I hoped for.
But this way, I throw everything in a
big old crockpot for 8 hours 
and then dinner is served. 
No cranberry relish, extra oyster stuffing,
pumpkin pie or sweet potatoes needed.
Having carrot cake for dessert.
And after all the festivities are concluded on Thursday. 
If all goes according to other plans...
My younger daughter will arrive here 
over the weekend.
Her travel assignment will keep her in town 
for the next 4 months...
We haven't seen her for 3 years 
so we will look forward to
lots of hugs. 
The only sad part will be, that my elderly mother
is back EAST and will not participate
in our celebration. 
But she will be with friends and not alone...
So for that I'm grateful.
It's been a CRAZY couple years.


MEANWHILE...
Have fun eating ALL those traditional fixings.


I sincerely...
want to wish all my blog buddies, friends 
and family around the country...
a very 
HAPPY THANKSGIVING.
 
LIFE is SHORT
ENJOY EVERY MOMENT!

Monday, November 15, 2021

Let's DISH about Christmas

(This plate is missing the teddy bear)

When my daughters were growing up.... I had a lovely 45-piece set of Spode dishes and assorted matching casserole pieces for Christmas... because back then, we entertained. If memory serves me... the design of the dishes featured a holiday tree. Underneath it were wrapped presents and a cute cuddly teddy bear. My hubby thought the set of dishes was juvenile and didn’t like them. So when the children grew up and family members passed away. I bought a cheap 16-piece set of dishes at Kmart to appease him. Cost me $50. The dinner plates were white, but the salad plates and bowls had one tiny little poinsettia on them. So, they were minimally festive. I really didn’t like them but it’s what was available on my budget, at the time. That was years ago. The old Spode dishes were carefully packed away and forgotten. However, a couple years ago, before Covid, I came across the original Spode dishes. I asked my daughters if they wanted them? My youngest prefers more modernistic, abstract items and passed on the Spode set. But my oldest is all about soft, cuddly teddy bears and loved them. Reminded her of her childhood. I thought that was sweet. So she lugged all the dishes home to her house. I told her if she wanted, she could downsize the set, keep half and sell the others, pocketing the change. This made my husband mad, 'cause he said we could have sold all of them and kept the money ourselves. Truth be told just one Spode plate is going for a pretty penny on eBay, these days. Maybe I should have listened to my husband?? Anyway, with the Kmart set also packed away and missing in action. I now had no holiday plates. Hubby said we didn’t need them. I said we did. But rather go in search of a new set of dishes, I did what I do best. I went thrifting. I found four snowman dinner plates and two salad plates. For a total of $3.99 they came home with me. A few weeks later, I found some bowls that sorta matched and purchased them too.


Since we seldom if ever have company for dinner, anymore... I just needed place settings for two, him and I. So I was all set for Christmas back then. If we did have visitors, I'd just use the everyday Corelle plates (we also have) with festive napkins, even though the combination would look mismatched. When the Pandemic hit a few years later, the Snowman dishes were still serving us well. Just the two of us. But now, as we are seemingly coming out of the darkness into the light, I wanted something different this year. Though the snowman plates are great, they are also heavy, very heavy. I have neuropathy in my hands and handling them can be a chore at times. While there are only a few, it still rains havoc on my poor hands. So… back to the thrift store I went in 2021. My hubby saw no reason to change the status quo, but I did. It took about a month, but back in September, suddenly there appeared a sweet set of Christmas dishes in Goodwill.They were the color of snow, outlined with vines of ivy and berries and a few scattered poinsettias. I instantly liked them. The dishes were delicate and manageable for my hands too. The set included four dinner plates. Four salad plates and four soup bowls. Each bundle of four cost $1.99 for a total cost of $5.97. Which more than fit my budget. Can you believe it??? I was thrilled beyond belief. I love them. And since it looks like one of our daughters… might be coming home for Christmas this year… because of a travel assignment. (first time we'll see each other in three years) We’ll all have matching plates for the BIG holiday dinner. ‘You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometimes. You get what you need.’   


Do you have special HOLIDAY dishes 
that you use once a year or throughout the season???

Thursday, November 4, 2021

It's That Time Of Year

 


The leaves here, are late to fall 
and very few trees have turned color.
The vibrant reds and golds 
are missing in action this year...
leaving 'disappointed' people to note -
the snow will soon begin to fly. 
Find what happiness you can muster 
in what's left of this autumn season.

 
MEANWHILE...
I've put up a TREE full of color 
in my front window...
that's bringing tidings of comfort and joy.


Can't wait for the winter festivities 
to commence. 
PJ's and Hallmark 
are giving me my
HAPPY ENDINGS
this year. 




Except for the missing bird???

But not to worry
We can EAT pie instead.