Thursday, Jan. 31

Last day of a month of dicey weather and extra expenses (thanks to the washer and dryer, and central heat and air unit, biting the dust). Good times, too, though, including my birthday, and Hubbie's and my anniversary. And good fortune that we've all so far been spared the flu and other viruses that have raged through the state, and through several members of our family.

One of Hubbie's sisters said yesterday that she saw a patch of jonquils in bloom on a hill. Hoping that's a sign of warmer weather on the way soon...maybe even in February.

Up just after 7 a.m. this morning. Right after breakfast, Hubbie peeeled and sliced apples, so I could make an apple pie as part of Sis's birthday gifts. I used a small foil pan for the pie, which meant there were apples and some pie crust dough left over. I put those in a pie dish to bake for our lunch.

While the pies baked, I gathered supplies necessary for making candy apple jelly. Mother and Sis came over mid-morning, and once the pies were baked, Sis made the jelly, while I exercised and then got ready for the day.

Six pretty jars of the jelly were cooling on a table when I got back downstairs. Sis will take three of them, and we'll keep three.

Sis and Mother spent the rest of the morning working a new jigsaw puzzle...the one I received in the mail a few days ago as a replacement for the one I'd given Mother for Christmas that had a border piece missing.

Lunch was leftover chili for Sis, Hubbie, and me, and the remainder of the potato soup for Mother, followed by the apple pie, with ice cream for me, fat-free whipped topping for Mother and Sis, and just plain pie for Hubbie.

After lunch, I basically goofed off for the afternoon and read my John Grisham novel on my new tablet. Hubbie ran a couple of errands, and then spent the afternoon reading a mystery novel on his e-reader.

Later, Hubbie peeled and quartered potatoes to be boiled, Mother dredged chicken breasts to be fried, and I did the rest of the preparations. The chicken, mashed potatoes, white gravy, and green beans, with slices of homemade bread that Sis provided, were delicious.

After supper, we played several games of Duo, with everyone but Sis winning. Phooey. We wanted this to be her night, since these past few days have been a belated birthday celebration for her.

At 9 p.m., Mother and Sis were ready to head to Mother's house. Hubbie and I spent the rest of the evening watching our favorite college basketball team as they played to a loss on the road, after a very hard-fought game.