Saturday, Dec. 17

Up around 7 a.m., and after breakfast, I helped Mother take a shower, and then I did a treadmill session and resistance exercises.

Once I was ready for the day, I gave Mother her sixth twelve-days-of-Christmas gift...a little paperback book of gardening hints. She will probably never be able to garden again, but she can advise Hubbie on what to do, maybe using some of the hints in the book.

Then Hubbie and I did things related to getting ready for a visit from Hubbie's family tomorrow. Hubbie did most of the cleaning, while I spent my time in the kitchen.

I made a recipe of corn/green beans medley, baked a ham, boiled eggs for deviled eggs, and made a peach cobbler.

I also put another tablecloth on the dining room table...I was going to use my white linen one, but it had a large glob of Gorilla glue on it. Seems Hubbie decided to glue the leg on one of dining room chairs, and instead of taking the chair to the sunroom, he just laid it on the table, on top of the tablecloth. Go figure.

That tablecloth is ruined, so I located a pretty holiday one to use. Hubbie has promised to buy me a new white linen one, though...and I'm going to hold him to it.

I gathered green dinnerware and white dinnerware to alternate at each place on the table, as well as stemware glasses, napkins, and serving dishes.

Mother helped, too. She diced onions and bell peppers for the corn/bean medley, and she pattied hamburger and turkey burger for the freezer. Burgers are on the menu for one night next week.

After lunch, I found a Christmas-themed jigsaw puzzle for Mother to begin working on. She sorted the pieces and completed part of the border before she became too tired to continue. She spent the rest of the day in the rocking chair in the living room. She wants to be involved, so I try to devise things for her to do, but she tires easily.

While Mother worked on the jigsaw puzzle, I created a photo Christmas card, using the picture of my brother and myself visiting Santa when we were children. I made two copies of the card to send to our two friends who visited last Sunday. One of the ladies sent me a thank you card last year that featured a photo of herself as a child, so I know she'll enjoy my card.

Around 3:30 p.m., I put sweet potatoes in the oven to bake, and then relaxed until time to finish supper. We had the potatoes with slices of ham, coleslaw, and slices of sourdough bread. We also sampled the peach cobbler, topped with ice cream, for dessert.

After supper, Hubbie went to the WDCS to get slaw mix and another loaf of sourdough bread for tomorrow. While he was gone, I mixed a recipe of rum cake for the oven. I'll wait until after our company leaves tomorrow before making the glaze for the cake.

Later, Mother watched a one-hour show on TV, and then went to bed. Hubbie and I continued watching TV, including parts one and two of a movie called, "Bag of Bones," based on a novel by Stephen King, and starring Pierce Brosnan. Very strange, as can be expected of a King story.