Saturday, November 14, 2009

Saturday, November 14

Started the morning with a treadmill and weights exercises session on this beautiful, sunshiny, warm November day. Later, I spent time in the kitchen, making first an apple pie for Daughter's birthday, and then a cherry pie for Thanksgiving. I'll put both pies in the freezer until they're needed.

Then I cut up lettuce, veggies, and fruit for chef's salads for Hubbie's and my lunch. Mother came over after that, and we planned next week's menu and made a grocery list. After lunch, Hubbie and I went to the WDCS to shop. We especially needed provolone cheese to use in making whole wheat bagel pizzas for supper.

Otherwise, Mother and I did this and that around the house, while Hubbie worked in the yard, mowing the leaves to a mulch to be used as compost.

Then we relaxed and watched three episodes of Dr. Oz that I'd recorded on DVR, after which I put together the pizzas. Mother made a new recipe of Parmesan potatoes to go with them. This very tasty recipe calls for eight unpeeled red potatoes, halved lengthwise, that are placed in a baking dish, cut side down, on top of six tablespoons of melted margarine that has been sprinkled with three tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese, and baked uncovered at 400 degrees, until tender...about 40 to 45 minutes.

Mother went home after that, and at 6:30, Hubbie and I turned on the radio to listen as our favorite college football team played to a much-needed win...YAY!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Friday, November 13

Another busy day. Started with water aerobics on this Friday the 13th. The water was nice and warm and felt wonderful.

Back home, once I was ready for the day, Hubbie and I ran errands...to the bank, and then to the Extension Office, where Hubbie dropped off a folder of Master Gardener publicity information (he passed the torch to someone else at Thursday's meeting), and where I talked to the agent for the Extension Homemakers to get information about a craft extravaganza in another town. Our scrapbook club will attend the event, which is scheduled for next Friday, November 20. I will drive the ladies (five of us will go) to the all-day program that will feature craft demonstrations conducted by members of clubs in several counties. For a small fee, attendees can buy kits and participate mini craft classes.

From the Extension Office, we went to the automobile dealership to pick up our free turkey. I thought it was going to be a smoked turkey, but it is a frozen, uncooked one. It's a nice sized bird, though not big enough for a large Thanksgiving Day gathering. But it'll do nicely for some other time of the year.

Then we went to a grocery store to buy cans of icing to use at the graham cracker cookie Christmas house workshop. It's not easy to find plain, classic icing. Most of it is whipped, which doesn't work on the houses, because it's not sticky enough for gluing things together. While we were at the store, we picked up bananas at 39 cents a pound.

We returned home after that to have lunch, change clothes, and go at 1 p.m. to the retirement party of the secretary that Hubbie and I worked with years ago. It was a nice gathering, and we enjoyed visiting with everyone...so much so that we stayed the full two hours of the party.

After we got back home, we changed into casual clothes again and went shopping at the WDCS, where we shopped for both ourselves and Mother. I picked up several more items we'll need at the Christmas house workshop, plus pie crusts and cherry pie filling. I plan to bake pies tomorrow to put in the freezer for Thanksgiving.

In between all the running around, I called the scrapbook club members to make arrangements for the craft extravaganza trip, and the art gallery director to make reservations for four of my great-grandchildren to attend the Christmas house workshop.

Supper tonight was leftover Long Soup, with the remainder of the bran muffins. Later, Hubbie and I went to the art gallery downtown to attend an artist demonstration. The artist focuses on multi-media acrylic/oil paintings of southwestern scenes. Neither Hubbie nor I are painters, but much of what she discussed and demonstrated (color values, the color wheel, shapes, element placements on canvas, etc.) are the same rules that apply to photography, gardening, home decorating and other things, so it was interesting.

At home again, we tuned the radio to our favorite college basketball game, which they won. The game was already half over by the time we started listening. After that, we watched one-hour programs on TV.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Thursday, November 12

Started the day with a treadmill session and resistance exercises on this cooler, but still pleasant, morning. While I was getting ready for the day, Hubbie went to a Master Gardener's meeting. After doing a few things around the house, I sat down at my office computer and wrote a long letter to my friend in Texas to include in the screen door birthday card I made for her.



Hubbie got back home around noon, and after lunch, we ran a few errands...to the greeting card shop for December birthday cards; and to the appliance store to pick up the remote control for the upstairs TV (but it wasn't there...a recorded message I'd gotten this morning suggesting we drop by the store to pick the remote up was a mistake. A clerk at the store said the remote would be sent directly to our home).



Then we went to a dollar store to get a couple of more birthday cards for kids. While I was there, I looked for Christmas stickers like the ones we used at the card making session yesterday. The Caring Hands Hospice coordinator said she had bought all they had, but that the store restocks on Thursdays, so I should check then. I was glad to find that they did indeed have more stickers, at a dollar a card, and I bought six cards of them.



From there, we went to the everything's a dollar store to get some of the supplies we'll need for the graham cracker cookie Christmas house workshop. I got bags of candies, but they no longer have boxes of graham crackers, so I'll have to get those at the WDCS, I guess.



Then we went to the WDCS to pick up my new eyeglasses. But wouldn't you know it, the optician had to be on hand before I could get them, and he was on his lunch break until 3 p.m. So we went on to an automobile dealership that sent us an invitation to look at their autos and talk to a salesman, for which we would receive a free smoked turkey. We spent quite a while talking with the salesman, who then said they were already out of turkeys, having given away 200 of them this morning. But, they were getting more tomorrow, and we could get one then...just call and he will set one aside for us.



Since it was after 3 p.m. by the time we left the dealership, we went back to the WDCS for my eyeglasses, and this time succeeded. We returned home after that, and I did this and that around the house before putting leftovers in the oven for supper.



Later, we all went to the movie theater to see "A Christmas Carol," in 3-D, starring Jim Carrey.
Critics have panned this movie, but we thought it was okay. It's a different take on the story, but then every film I've seen approaches the story differently, and they're all interesting. The movie is rated PG, but it is not suited to young children, because the characters are scary. I'm unaffected by scary movies, but one woman brought her five or six-year-old daughter with her tonight, and in the very opening scene, the child begged to go home, and thereafter kept her head buried on her mother's shoulder. Leave the little ones home for this one, folks.

The 3-D effects are pretty good in the film, with snow flakes drifting down right in front of viewer's eyes, and a feeling of being there as Scrooge flies over the city. Of course, things do come sailing out at the audience, as they do in all 3-D movies.

The basic Dickens story is there, though not enough attention is given to Scrooge's transformation. I like Alastair Sims' transformation scenes in the 1950's film better. And of course it's hard to beat Albert Finney's 1970s musical version of the story. But Jim Carrey's 3-D version will do. I like it a lot better than his over-the-top version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Though I am a fan of the Grinch, I really don't like Jim Carrey in the role.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Wednesday, November 11

VETERAN'S DAY

The first thing Hubbie did this morning was hang the American flag on the well house, in remembrance of Veteran's Day.

I started my busy day with water aerobics, of course, where the pool was comfy warm. Twenty one of us showed up today, which was heartening. This is a comfortable number, giving everyone enough room to move during the workout without bumping into anyone else.

I became a little anxious, though, when I got ready to leave the gym and couldn't find my car keys in my swim bag. I called Hubbie to ask him to come and bring me the other set of keys, but as I was talking to him, I rummaged around my bag and finally turned up my own keys, thank goodness.

Back home, after I was ready for the day, I made a batch of bran muffins to have with Long Soup (a modified version of a Chinese soup recipe) for supper. Mother made the soup while I was at water aerobics. We wanted to have supper ready before lunch, because afterwards, we were scheduled to go to a Caring Hands Hospice event.

The event, called "Fondue and Photos," was held at the home medical office. It started with a refreshment table of cheese fondue for dipping ham and bread, and a chocolate fondue for dipping apples and cake.

Following refreshments, the Caring Hands coordinator presented the volunteers with pink logo t-shirts, which we donned for group photos.

The coordinator told us that part of the money raised from our various projects have recently gone to buy a wig for a hospice patient with cancer, and to purchase special silverware for a patient with arthritis. These are examples of items that are not covered by Medicare, and that the patients would have had difficulty obtaining without our help. We are, of course, pleased that our efforts make a small difference in other's lives.

After the group photos, we gathered around a table to make Christmas cards for hospice patients and their families. We worked for two hours, until 4 p.m., when the children of staff members arrived to make cards as an after-school project. Their session was to last until around 4:30.

Back home, we heated the soup and muffins for supper, after which Mother went home, and Hubbie and I settled in to watch TV. We watched, "Duplicity," starring Clive Owen and Julia Roberts. In this 2009 PG-13 movie, two corporate spies having an affair try to steal secrets that will make them fabulously wealthy. This was a complimentary pay-per-view movie from our cable company that I recorded on DVR.

We were amused today to find that the graham cracker Christmas cookie house workshop that we'll be conducting the first Saturday of December at the art gallery is listed in both of our town's newspapers as the event that will launch the Christmas season in our town, and on our state's tourism website as one of the "more interesting and unusual activities around the state," right up there with a caroling in the caverns program in one town, and living window displays in another town.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Tuesday, November 10

Started the day with a treadmill and weights exercises session. After I was ready for the day, Hubbie and I ran errands...to the office supply store to get card stock; to the health food store for multi-vitamins; to the other discount store for incidentals; and to the WDCS for printer paper and other items.

Back home, Mother and I culled jigsaw puzzles and set aside a dozen boxes for family to choose from when they come for Thanksgiving. We also dug out various interesting new items to put into lunch sacks to use as grab bags at Thanksgiving. The bags are identified for women, men, and children. We stapled them shut, so the contents will be a surprise to whoever chooses them. Of course, guests will be free to swap items with each other, if they want to.

Since we have twelve family members with birthdays in December, we also looked through the cards we have on hand to see if we had enough for each birthday person, and found we lack about four. So we'll shop for those in the next few days.

At 5 p.m., I went to the art gallery for a scheduled meeting. Four of us showed up for the meeting, but the arts director failed to show. After twenty minutes, we declared the meeting adjourned and went home. I hope nothing is wrong with the director. I'm sort of concerned about her, since it is not like her to fail to show up.

I'm glad I went to the gallery, though, because there was an absolutely spectacular sunset this evening...the sun was large and orangy-red against a bright pink sky with purple and pink clouds.

Supper tonight was spaghetti and salad. Mother went home afterwards, and I cut up a bowl of fresh fruit before going to a community theater meeting at 7 p.m. At the meeting, we decided to suspend further meetings until February, since we have no shows pending and whatever business needs to be dealt with can be done by e-mail. This suits me just fine. I hate getting out on cold winter nights, though it will probably still be cold for the February meeting.

I was back home about 8:30. Before I left for the meeting, the TV acted up. Well, it wasn't really the TV. It was the cable box. I couldn't access the guide or the DVR list. Nothing on the remote control worked the functions. After the meeting, I fooled with the remote for a while and finally got the functions back. If this keeps up, though, we'll probably need a new cable box again.

There wasn't much time for TV tonight, but we did watch the second episode of "Dancing with the Stars."

Monday, November 9, 2009

Monday, November 9

Busy day, starting with water aerobics this morning. Despite an overcast sky, the morning was pleasant for traveling to the college pool. And the water in the pool was warm, so I enjoyed swimming and water aerobics very much.

Back home, once I was ready for the day, Hubbie and I went to the WDCS for groceries and incidentals, both for us and for Mother. Hubbie shopped for Mother, while I completed our list. While we were gone, Mother started a pot of chicken stewing for supper.

At home, after lunch, Mother and I spent most of the afternoon getting stuff together for a greeting card making session at Caring Hands Hospice on Wednesday. I also made a screen door birthday card for my friend in Texas, whose special day is next week. Then I used the Christmas rubber stamps loaned to us by our scrapbook club member to make several card stock pages of motifs. Mother did all sorts of things, like choosing papers, cutting card stock to size, locating envelopes, stickers, etc.

For supper, we had the boiled chicken, with mashed potatoes (Hubbie peeled the potatoes, and I mashed them...around here, everything is a community effort), English peas, and cole slaw.

After supper, I spent a couple of hours uninstalling my laptop computer's anti-virus program, installing the one I purchased recently at a discount price, and then running a full scan. While I was doing this, Hubbie and I watched a forgettable movie, followed by tonight's episode of "Dancing with the Stars."

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Sunday, November 8

Since I missed a couple of days exercise last week, I did a treadmill and resistance session this morning. Afterward, I did my usual Sunday activities, including programming the DVR for the week's shows and movies, and reading the Sunday newspaper.



For lunch, we had Mother's special barbecued pork chops...chops baked with a topping of sliced carrots, onions, and celery, and covered in sauce. They're really delicious. We had these with baked potatoes and cole slaw.



At 2 p.m., we went to the college for a World Bird Sanctuary program. This was a very interesting program that included a variety of live birds of prey that flew over the heads of the audience. At one point, a hawk flew so close to the top of my head that I could feel the air stir from his flapping wings.



One of the birds that flew over the heads of audience members was a huge owl that at one point decided he preferred to fly all around the auditorium, and then, instead of landing on the intended perch, flew up to a curtain track onstage. It took a while for the handler to coax him down with treats.



A less lovely bird on display was a turkey vulture, which also skimmed the heads of audience members. The speaker noted the thoroughly unattractive traits of this bird, which when irritated, vomits on the one who bugs him, a thing that once happened to speaker herself. Yuk. The vomit of a vulture is so strong that it can eat through a shirt, she said. The bird uses the tactic, though, to discourage enemies from attacking him.



Vultures, we were told, can eat virtually anything, no matter how rotten or diseased, and not be adversely affected, which is why they are so necessary to our world. They clean up the stuff that could hurt us. Thanks, Mr. Vulture, but do you really have to poop on your own legs to cool yourself?



A barn owl, with its cute, white, heart-shaped face, did not fly over the audience, but we learned his kind has eyesight that allows him to see a field mouse a quarter of a mile away, and when he flies, his wings are silent, so that prey cannot hear him.



A beautiful example of a prey bird today was the peregrine falcon. This little guy is the fastest animal on earth, the handler said, able to attain speeds of up to 270 miles an hour. He catches his prey (other birds) while in flight, and then he plucks the feathers of his meal and eats it while still in the air.



The tiny screech owl displayed is misnamed, since it doesn't screech, but makes a noise similar to a horse's whinny, the speaker said. Both this owl and the large one (I've forgotten what kind it was) were on display at the same time, and the screech owl kept his eyes on the large one, because in the wild, he would be prey for the big bird.



The final bird to be brought out was, of course, our national symbol, a bald eagle. This bird had twice been hit by automobiles, so that now he has detached retinas that impair him from being able to hunt. But he was gorgeous just the same.



We got back home about 4 p.m., and later, Hubbie and I had a sandwich supper, and then watched TV. Tonight, we saw a PG film called, "Luna: Spirit of the Whale." A lone Orca whale at Vancouver Island, dubbed Luna by the media, catches the imagination of the public. People of the local Indian tribe (or band) believe the whale to be inhabited by its recently deceased chief. So while some folks think the whale should be stirred back to it pod, the Indians feel the animal should choose for itself. Mixed into the plot is a troubled young teen, and the son of the dead chief, who is resisting his obligation to claim his rightful place as the new chief.

More Pioneer Village Snapshots







The docent who owns the lovely antique porcelain doll in the first photo doesn't know its age or anything about its history. The second photo is of a wooden chair, with a bent twig back, made during the Civil War, and rescued from slave quarters. The bottom snapshot is of a windmill, which a couple, members of the historical society, spent two years restoring at their own expense. Eventually, a water feature will be attached to the structure.

More Pioneer Village Snapshots







These are some of the buildings at the pioneer village. The top photo is of a combination Post Office and grocery store; the second photo is an equipment and implement shed; and the lower photo is of "the Little Red schoolhouse." The yellow building is named not, obviously, for its color, but for the area from whence the school house came. The docent of this building gave a very interesting talk about the building's history, and about the strict rules that teachers at the school had to abide by. As usual, males and females were not treated evenhandedly. For instance, the men were allowed to date one day a week, or two days, if they faithfully attended church. Women, on the other hand, were strictly forbidden to date. All grades, of course, were taught in the same room, with varying sizes of desks accommodating the age groups. I spent my first year of school in a one-room school house, and I remember the teacher going from group to group, working with the students. While the teacher was occupied with one group, the others studied and practiced their writing or arithmetic skills.

Pioneer Village Snapshots






These are three snapshots from our outing to a pioneer village in another town. The first shot is of a bedroom (notice the champber pot) in a two-story log house featured two separate living units, with a dog run converted to a hallway in between. There is a common kitchen the length of the lower floor, two sitting rooms, and two bedrooms upstairs, accessed by a very narrow staircase with a handrail only on one side. Mother was not able to go upstairs, of course. In compliance with current policies, though, there is a ramp outdoors, leading into the house. But this is the only structure that has a ramp. Hopefully, others will be added in time. The second photo shows a vintage hat and dress (or night dress), as well as a quilt on the bed. The third photo is a garden arrangement, using ladder back chairs with woven seats.