Christmas decorating

I got quite a bit done yesterday, not everything I had on the list, but I’m happy with what I accomplished. I am frustrated tho, I had all those red sheets on the couch and chairs in the living room, when I got rid of the couch, I washed them and put them away. But I can’t find them. I had one stashed somewhere that I used in the bedroom for the curtain, but I have pillow cases and three more sheets somewhere that I can be using. I hate it when that happens. I did, after several more hours of searching, find my ear muffs! Finally! They were under the seat of the scooter. I happened to be taking a break, sitting there looking at the scooter when I realized that that was the last place I had used them. Days of hunting! At least the cupboards in the bedroom are organized now.

After I finally finished hunting for the earmuffs and finishing up the bedroom, I went out and cleaned out the car. I even vacuumed it. It is ready to go if I decide to do that. If not, it was a job that needed to be done. If I decide to keep the car, I am going to order the seat covers for the back seat. They are pretty dirty and ugly. I have the stuff that was in the car down to two small bags. One is the emergency kit, and the other is tools and oddball stuff. I’m taking the title and spare keys just in case. 

Once that was done, I started on the rest of the christmas decorating. Got out the spindly tree that I bought in Yuma last year and figured out how to attach the base I had cut off so I could store it, got the lights on it, but still need to decorate it. I also got the battery operated candles in the windows, got the horseshoe tree decorated and the stockings hung. Jake and Kali Cat’s stockings made me cry. Sigh...

   

I got all the fall stuff gathered and bagged, that is in the shed until I get a storage bin for it, and the mugs and wooden turkey are on the top of the cupboard in the kitchen. The xmas mugs will join them when the holidays are over. Can’t see them. :)

Dunno if I am going to like the turbine snowman. I stacked them yesterday to get an idea of what it would look like, it is quite short. But I will go ahead and do it anyway. I need some white string to get the white material to stay and cinch it in. Also have to figure out the face. Tomorrow I might start the pallet trees. Maybe. I might not feel that ambitious.

It was cold yesterday. Only in the 50’s, and it is close to freezing this morning. Just looked, it is actually below freezing…31 degrees. I think I am going to give up on any gardening for now. My tomato plant didn’t even make it outdoors yesterday and I didn’t cover anything else, so I guess I will have several dead plants. Oh well. I noticed the avocado didn’t look very happy yesterday and last night probably did it in. I guess I will stick with native plants from now on. Not too worried about the lilac cuttings, they are used to the cold. Maybe once the days start getting longer, it will warm up some.

So this morning I am heading to Blythe early. Would like to be there around 8 AM, see what is on the lot at the dealership and then go get tires if that is the way I choose to go. I also need to get the oil changed, and maybe even a car wash. Then I want to go to Dollar Tree and get my silks and whatever else I need from there and then groceries. I expect either way, I will be gone most of the day so I will be missing coffee this morning and the turkey noodle soup later in the day. But tires are more important than soup and coffee. If I weren’t working, I would go tomorrow, but I don’t want to have to go out tomorrow. I need one quiet day before I go back to work. Although I may go to Salvation Army since I probably won’t make it there today. 

Driving to Blythe on those tires make me nervous. It is all highway. I would go the back way, but there isn’t one that I have found yet. Some day when I have nothing better to do, I will try to find an alternate route. I would much rather drive on surface roads than highway.

I have moments where I wonder why I am decorating. I am the only one that is going to get to see it.

A day of reading

I wasn’t feeling a bit crafty yesterday, so I didn’t make anything. I did get the flannel sheets washed and dried, did a little rearranging in the living room to make room for the fire place, and that was about it. My soup came out good, but it was a cheap cut of burger and I had to skim off quite a bit of fat, but all in all, very good. Next time I will precook the burger before I toss it in to prevent the fat issue, and I won't buy that particular burger again.

I basically read all day. Didn’t see anyone or go anywhere. Although Lois brought me over a present. A tomato plant! 

I called the Walmart in Parker, they do not have a tire center like the website says. I will have to figure out what I am going to do. But not until next week. I’ll ask at work today, maybe someone there can give me an idea.

I think I am going to use the white sheet I got for the snowman as a curtain in the bedroom. I have the mattress cover that doesn't fit right coming off the bed that I can use for the snowman, and that I won’t mind cutting and stitching, so maybe I will make a sleeve/tube and drawstring it to cinch it in where it needs to cinch. Since it is somewhat puffy, it will look more like a snowman anyway. Then I can just stitch on the face. I will use one of my plastic pumpkin buckets for a head. I still need to go to Dollar Tree in Blythe for my holly and poinsettias.

Today I work. Tomorrow is putting together the fireplace, the parade and dinner at the clubhouse at 1. Not sure how to dress this morning, but I think it might be a long pants day. I think I will throw my Teva’s in the car so I can change my shoes at lunch if I need to.

I overheated my shredder while dealing with the small mountain of stuff that needed shredding. But it started working again after it cooled down. 

I should get my December schedule today along with my paycheck. I don’t know what my schedule is next week. All I know is that I have Monday off. Hopefully Tuesday too, but we’ll see.

A job offer and Christmas stuff

Nothing crafty yesterday other than shopping. Went to coffee, then off to do my errands. I bought some LED lights at DG and a star for the top of the horse shoe tree and some stretchy cord plus my weekly groceries. I got the beef and broccoli frozen meal at the market that I like along with a few veggies and fruit. They didn’t have much to offer that early on a Monday.  Late in the day, I made the orange cranberry relish for Thursday. I had the rest of my chicken and squash for dinner.

I did three loads of laundry, and puttered a little. I did pretty good at Sal’s. I got some tree parts to make the plunger trees with. There was no base or anything so I got it for $2. I also found a white cotton sheet with pillow cases for my snowman. It was supposed to have the bottom sheet too, but it didn’t. Oh well. Plus I got a bunch of ornaments and some other stuff. Here are a few pics.

  

I grabbed the tiered basket for $3, it looks nice on the table. The little house is made of metal and is out by the gas fireplace with the metal cactus. The snowman dish is about five inches, and the candle holder is crackled glass. I want to get an LED candle for that. I also got a bag of assorted bead garland. All in all, a pretty good haul for $15. Clothes were fifty cents again, but I didn’t find anything that excited me.

This is a picture of the fireplace I ordered..

I would be happier if it were black, but I think it will be dark enough to go with the rest of the furniture. Still haven’t found anyone to do my bookcase. I may have to break down and do it myself. But I need to get the chairs gone. If I do buy the cargo trailer, I can put them in there for a while. Just to get them out of the living room. I don’t have any place else I can put them. It is frustrating. The fireplace is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, so I can put it together while I watch the parade on Thursday.

Today I need to do a little house cleaning…the bathroom, vacuuming, etc. Then maybe I will get out and work on the pallet trees. Either that or clean out my closet. I might save that for later tho.

I need to make a base for the little tree I bought last year. In order to store it in Ody, I cut the base off. I should be able to come up with something. I think I will see if there are any 4x4 scraps at work, and then put braces on that. It will be covered up by something anyway. Maybe the piece of material I got at Sal’s yesterday. I will figure it out as I go.

This is the quilt and shams that I got. I did not get any of the extras. Will figure that out as I go.

And these are the sheets. I will need to wash them before I put them on the bed.

I know, that is a lot of print, but I think it will be OK. The sheets won’t show when the bed is made. Still looking for a solid window covering. My other flannel sheet is more or a burgundy, but I will keep looking at Sal’s and the dollar stores. Needs to either be white or bright red.

While I was searching for my relish recipe, since it wasn’t on the bag, I came across Richard’s recipe for hamburg soup. So I am going to make that today in the crock pot, minus the rice and I will probably replace the rice with quinoa. That will feed me tomorrow night too. 

I have decided to allow myself one dessert for Thanksgiving dinner, then that is it until Christmas dinner. I’m putting a few more carbs in my diet, I don’t think I am getting enough. See how that works. And will be reducing meat. If I could get haddock here, I would increase my fish intake. Cod is OK, but it isn’t the same. Made a very good fish chowder tho.

Huh. I just got a call (at 7 AM) from Arizona Western College. They offered me a part time job. I hated to turn it down, but I’m already working and I don’t have the energy or the time for two jobs. Sigh….Oh well. That would be seasonal too since they don’t have classes in the summer. It wouldn’t have been enough hours to compensate for the job I have now either. Besides, I don’t really like being second choice.

Anyway, I guess it is time I get moving. Maybe I will wash the sheets today too since I will be here. I could get them put on the bed and just not change the quilt until next week. Can’t see them when the bed is made. That way I can get the new, hopefully tighter, mattress cover on too. Solve that problem while I am at it.

The fence is done (for now)

I was wrong. He did work on the fence this week, and yesterday we finished it up. The section I didn’t have the tension clips for, we wired in temporarily. I will install the clips when I get them. I also got the reed fencing back up and the rocks all back into position, and it looks oh so much better. The only other big thing I did yesterday was deal with the garbage and cardboard, which wasn’t as bad as it looked. The cart full of leftover sand got dumped and spread under the chiminea. It was the least labor intensive place to put it. And the cart is back in it’s corner.

  

The gates were right in front of where the car is parked, a useful place, right?

I discovered yesterday that I have to replace my tires on the car. I had planned on doing that anyway, but now there is some urgency to it. The sidewalls are breaking down and rippling. It looks like I can get new tires at Walmart, and there is a chevy dealer on the way to the local Walmart in Parker. It will be a nervous drive tho, it is about 70 miles at 70mph speed limit. I think I will head that way next Monday. That way I can get a lot of my junk cleared out of the car just in case I decide to upgrade, and if I don’t, it needs some attention anyway. I have to have this dealt with one way or the other before I travel to Phoenix at Christmas. I need to get the oil changed at the same time.

Today I am going to Monday morning coffee, then do my marketing, food, DG, Sal’s. Then laundry when I get back. I’m hoping to get started on at least one of the xmas tree projects or the snowman assuming I have found something for the head. And I need to make the cranberry relish for Thursday.

I finished the book I was reading and played a little with the kindle. It is taking some adjusting since it is a different operating system than apple. I do have to say I like apple better, but the price difference alone makes it worth learning. 

Did I mention my new project yesterday? A row of bookshelves under the front windows? The problem is, the whole front is curved and angled, and I don’t do well with angles. I may try to do it myself anyway. And then paint them white to blend in with the wall. A pro could do it in an afternoon.

I did list the chairs on craigslist. Lets hope that gets some interest. I would really like to get them out of there. 

Finally a day off

Fairly busy at work yesterday, the morning sped by, not so much the afternoon. Was a better week than last week tho.

Off today, tomorrow and Tuesday, so much to do, so little time to do it. Today's goal is to get the patio cleaned up and all the cardboard and garbage to the dumpsters, and then work on the fence and get that closer to being finished. My yard is a mess and I am tired of it. This project has gone on long enough. Of corse, I can't finish it since I am still waiting for tension clips, but I could also be waiting a long time. Will have to jury rig it for now.

I bit the bullet and ordered the electric fireplace. I have wanted one for years, and am finally getting one. Will have to figure out what to do with the shelf that is there tho. Maybe I can shorten it and put it over by the TV.

Hmmm, built in bookshelves under the front row of windows...wonder who I could get to do that. Maybe I can do it myself, but it will require mitering. I'm not good at angles.

Gotta get those chairs gone, going to list them on craigslist this morning. Can't put them in the clubhouse, I asked. Worst case scenario is giving them away.

Another Christmas project

Not much new, made it thru another work day and have one left to go, then three days off. I think tomorrow I will get out my saw and finish up the fence myself since there has been nothing done to it since Tuesday. I can do all but the little two foot section, and I can fake that until the parts I need come in. Then I can get the reed fencing back up and get the yard back to normal. It is definitely bugging me - a lot. I don’t like leaving things unfinished and disorganized, especially out where everyone can see it. I don’t know if they took off for the week, but their truck just backed out at 6 AM. SusAnn and Chad out back just left and won’t be back until new years. 

I will have to go to the market and buy some oranges for the cranberry relish. I had bought enough the other day, but two of them were bad leaving me short on oranges. I have one with my lunch each day.

It is warming up some here. I wore my shorts and sandals yesterday plus two removable layers and had both off by the end of the day. It is about 51 degrees out this morning, so today should be similar.

Oh, got a new xmas decoration idea and brought home some of the parts for it yesterday. Have to go to Sal’s to get the rest. :) A mini xmas tree made from a plunger. This isn’t my photo, but it is the same tree. Looks easy enough to make. We sell the mini plungers.

I have a lot I want to do this weekend, but the fence project is going to eat up a fair amount of time. Plus I want to cut and paint the pallet trees, and figure out the turbine snowman. Maybe a ball from the dollar store for a head? I will also need to find a hat for it, or use one of mine. I have an old beat up one in the car that I could use. And maybe some fake tree branches for arms…Hmmmm….

I did find out that I have three days off at Christmas, so I will be able to go to Phoenix and see Mike and Judy. I won’t have to rush back this year for Kali Cat. I didn’t want to leave her alone too long last year, and felt bad about the time I did leave her. Now I just have to figure out the details, where I will be staying, etc. I’ll get a room somewhere. Howard and Barbara are supposed to be in Phoenix at xmas too for her chemo, so I want to see them while I am there. The December schedule should be done in the next day or two, so I will have a better idea about my month then.

It is snowing in Wisconsin today. I guess it is the first real snowfall of the season there. They can have it! :)

Not much

Yesterday wasn’t as busy as the day before, therefore, it was a much longer day. 

I did score two pallets and another roof turbine tho. I’m thinking if I can find something to top it off, I am going to make a snowman out of my pumpkin turbine and the new one, but need a head, hat, etc. The pallets are to be xmas trees for the front steps. I don’t want to paint my pumpkin turbine, so I am thinking of using white trash bags instead. We’ll see how that goes. I can paint the new one white tho.

I really don’t have much to write about this morning. I get up, I go to work for 9 hours, come home, eat dinner and got to sleep.

Nothing new on the fence.  So my yard is kind of a mess, and of course, it is the front part of the yard that everyone sees.

Two more days of work. Hopefully today will go faster. I have started using the timer function on my phone for my lunch hour. It counts down the minutes so I don’t have to keep an eye on the clock.