INTERESTING TO WATCH

Now that times are tougher, less expendable money to go around, I find it interesting what households decide to cut first and maybe even more interesting what they don't.

I don't know for sure, I am not part of anyone else's household and I have discovered that people kinda fudge their personal facts.  But I sure am sure of what we are cutting in this house!

First thing I did when I made the conscious decision to cut back was decide on a budget.  That wasn't easy or fun.  The thing is there are still things one has to pay for, even if you can't eat anymore, or drive or buy necessities (and that term has had to be redefined).  One of those things is house insurance.  I think you are nuts if you own a house and don't have insurance.  If your house burns down you become everyone else's problem, my worst nightmare....not the fire but being a problem to everyone else.  So after deciding on that budget the next problem is sticking to it.  Jeez!!!

Back in the day when we had pigs, one of the foods we used to feed them was cabbage.  They love cabbage and cabbage is basically a garbage food.  Sooo cheap and you only ate it at the end of your pay period when you ran out of everything else.  At the end of winter our root cellar was relatively empty and one of the fuller bins was the cabbage bin.  I mean face it, other than cabbage rolls and coleslaw (which we all hated cutting it up for it) what do you do with it?  I know mom would whack wedges, boil them and serve it with butter, s&p and vinegar drizzle.  Then she would tell us kids it was special. Sure.

The reason I mention this is that in this house Ange, bless her heart, now and then makes vast huge pots of cabbage roll casserole.  Deeeelicious!!!!!  And cheap.  So I checked out the cabbages the other day thinking it was time to put some more of that delicious cheaper food in the freezer. I was shocked!!! What used to be a two dollar cabbage was nine dollars!!!  Nine!!!!  Pig food has become foofoo food!!!! 

 Potatoes is another one. That was another root cellar special at the end of the month.  Mom would make what she called 'mulligan stew'. She would get out the cast iron frying pan, fry a bit of bacon (from the same pigs we fed cabbages to so I guess we did get cabbage another way than boiled) and onions, pour in milk and add a whack of cut up potatoes.  Oh god I hated that stuff.  I can still taste it when I think about it too hard. But potatoes were cheap and in the light of disclosure, we never bought potatoes, we grew them.

  When I make a grocery order online for pickup  at the Walmart grocery site, they sell potatoes individually.  They are almost two bucks a pound.  I mean who the heck buys potatoes individually?  Let's see, Aunt Martha is good for 3 potatoes, she likes them a lot, Mable is low carbing so I don't have to buy her one, I need enough for mashed spuds so I think ten should do for that.  Jeez!  Have you ever just counted how many potatoes you peel and dump into a pot?  Who does that?  Just give me a freaking ten pound bag already!!!!  I don't want to know how many potatoes are actually in that bag and multiply by individual prices.

I think the biggest change in our house due to less money, budgets etc...was selling Gladys, my beloved violently red jeep truck.  I hate to admit it but I didn't just love the look and convenience of have that truck, but I will be honest and admit I loved the attention I got.  Sick, I know, at my age.  Jeez!  But holy canoly!  the money we have saved in gas is phenomenal.  I mean truly amazing.  She was a total gas guzzler!  Smudge, the corolla, that replaced her doesn't even use a quarter of what Gladys drank.  So I will put up with anonymity and being lost in parking lots.  Smudge looks like at least 20% of the cars out there.  In fact Ange and I headed to a car we thought was ours and it wasn't until I was right up to the door and noticed a very puzzled man sitting behind the wheel.  We blend in perfectly now.

So I am taking deep dives into one of my four freezers that are so full I can't shut them.  Two days ago I hauled out a bunch of frozen beef and made the most delicious stew.  We ate it two or three times in a row.  There is still some left over.  Cook once, eat three times.  From now on thats the motto, well I have always kind of done that but now it's serious.

  It's funny but the cheap hamburger chubs at Walmart were 4.95 at the beginning of the pandemic when I started to do online/pickup shopping.  And guess what?  It still is!  I bought five of them yesterday and they were still 4.95!

Anyway, long story short I guess we all are trying to find that extra money we don't have any more in weird but obvious places.  Gas, food, dining out no longer, extra ferry trips stopped, clothes, household extras, cheaper versions of things like toilet paper etc....Meanwhile property taxes, income taxes, utilities, insurances, house upkeep, car repairs...steadily climb.

I am not complaining.  I think 'hard times' are good for society.  I saw this happen in the beginning of the eighties when the interest rate shot up to 21-23% and stayed there for three years.  Banks ended up owning most the houses.  New cars were a thing of the past.  People had to pull up their britches, buckle down and work two or three jobs....if they could find them.  The unemployment rate shot up ridiculously.  Society took a huge smack and I was pretty impressed with how we all dealt with it.  We didn't have a Trudeau handing out billions of dollars to undeserving masses, causing the inflation rate to go up like we have now.  Thanks Pierre.  And if people have to give up some lux extras well boo hoo.  And from what I am also seeing people in general are truly being as generous as possible and helping the less, really less fortunate ones out.  Charity is booming.  Good things happen in tough times.

Well enough silly preaching.  If you are still reading, I am impressed!  Hahaha!!!  I am now about to figure out how to cut my tv bill in half.  My goal for the day.  TTYL

'Freedom (n):  To ask nothing. To expect nothing.  To depend on nothing.'  Ayn Rand, "The Fountainhead"

THIS IS TRULY MY MANTRA.  LOVE AYN RAND

 

APRIL DECIDED TO TRY TO DO HER HAIR THE WAY THIS MODEL HAS DONE HERS

THE RESULT.....HAHAHAHAHA!!!

APPRIL IS ONE OF THE FUNNIEST PEOPLE I KNOW.   ONLY SHE WOULD DO A PIC SET LIKE THIS.

 

A RANT: FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS

 I have a beef...a big beef and criticism of a certain group of people.  As this may include you, I can't say I am sorry.  I one hundred percent  own my opinion here.

If you are a cat owner and you let your cat outside on its own, you are, not meaning to or doing it intentionally, being negligent and ultimately cruel.   It boggles my mind how cat owners claim they love their cat like it's their kid, then every morning they chuck it out the door to go play somewhere for the day.  Seriously!!!  Well I feel you can't value that cat very much to put it in so much danger every day.

I have mentioned this before here.  I feel it bears mentioning again and if it gets through to even one cat owner I will be happy.

A dog in our neighbourhood just brutally tore a beloved cat to pieces.  That cat was in that dog's yard, a secure yard.  The dog did what dogs do and that cat lost.  Brutally.

  We have seen a cat get hit by a car and killed out front.  I know for a fact that people set nasty painful traps in their sandboxes and gardens to nail cats that crap in them.  People put out poison bait to kill them.  People catch them and drive them out into the bush and leave them.  People may not be right but when you get that fed up with neighbour's cats, well bad things happen and whose fault is it NOT?  The cat's!!!!!

In the US, cats, house cats and feral cats, kill between 1.3 and 4 billion birds a year according to Peter Marra of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Washington, D.C.  Dozens of bird species have become extinct because of cats.  That fact alone should matter to cat owners.  

Many methods of control have been tried, to no avail.  Feral cats were rounded up and killed.  Sterilization campaigns haven't worked.  And now some municipalities are passing a by-law that cat owners have to keep their cats indoors and if going out they have to be kept on their property.  Like dog owners have to.  Plus they want pet owners to register their cat and apply for a special licence to NOT spay or neuter their animal.  If nothing else, once a few hefty fines are handed out, payable before you can get your cat back from the pound, the public may get the message.    And before adoption of a cat can happen, the potential adopter has to agree to keep the cat indoors, for the cat's, birds and small mammals' protection.

So my final word on this is keep your cat indoors and lobby your local government to pass a 'Safety for cats, birds and small Mammals Law'.

Love your kitty!!!!  TTYL

'I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul.'  Jean Cocteau

TRUE LOVE, I KNOW FIVE PEOPLE PERSONALLY WHO KEEP THEIR CATS INDOORS, AND THOSE CATS ARE LOVED, HAPPY, CONTENT AND SAFE.

ACCOUNTABILITY

I think I have mentioned that I do 100% of my non grocery shopping on Amazon.  Amazon can be tricky dicks.  You really have to know your prices, check delivery dates, make sure they don't charge shipping if you are prime and know that if the item is coming from outside Canada, the two day shipping is completely out the window.

That being said, their prices are simply not consistent from one product to another.  I was looking at their large container Club House spices.  I needed taco seasoning and the only one I use or like is Club House.  I can get it at Costco for for about six dollars but I am sure not making a trip to Costco just for that and I had no idea when we were going to be going again.  So I happen to know that Amazon sells them.

Well what can I say.  I am perusing through the Club House seasonings and they ranged from 6 dollars to 11 dollars.  I finally get to taco and...37 bucks!!!!  Thirty seven!!!!  Amazon can really suck sometimes.

Anyhooo...I have a pretty good idea how much I spend at Amazon.  But...I decided to get the Amazon Master Card and only use it at Amazon.  I got a fifty dollar amazon gift card for signing up for that!  But holy Hannah!!!!  I just did that one statement ago and I know it's xmas and presents are being bought, but jeez!  My new years resolution this year is to STOP shopping at Amazon.  When I looked at the list of stuff though all of it was stuff I would have had to go buy in stores so I am not sure what to do to solve that particular problem.  None of it was fun stuff.  Plant bloom food, gallon jug, whisk, wreath door hanger, batteries, books etc...

I wish there was something obvious I could cut out, stuff I would have to go to the store for otherwise.  I have to stay out of Costco too.  I was going to get four things for under fifty bucks (like taco seasoning and turlett paper) and came out with a belly full of fries and gravy and hot dog and a receipt for 330 bucks.  SHIT!!!!!!

Starting in January I am going to see if I can exist on my pensions only.  Thats about 2014.00.  I am not sure I can pay my income tax instalments and utility bill that comes in every three months.  I think my reno list is getting way smaller and my wish list is growing pretty fast!  Lol!!  Funny thing is I am way more comfortable living on a budget.  It's what I am most used to and I know people that only get half that or less per month.  This is when renting makes more sense.

One thing I can do after Dec. is start selling stuff.  I need to sell my dining room set.  I will be getting the family table and buffet that we had in Bamfield and is now at April's, back.  I have lots of stuff I can sell off.  And I can put that money towards those lump sum pmts I need to make.  Utilities, income tax, property tax, hydro equalization supplement, car insurance, house insurance, handymen for fixing turrlets etc., hot water tank replacement, insurance deductibles, car maintenance, and on and on.  I will try to empty out my sheds and laundry room!!!!!

I was just scrolling through various family pictures and came across a picture of the family gathering at a local Kamloops restaurant the evening of Bill's funeral.  Every one of Bill's family was there, including a few he rarely saw, except for April and Monte.  The kids were shocked and frankly hurt the next day when they saw the pictures on Facebook.  Other than Uncle Frank's family, bless them, it's like that family forgets that not only did he have two other kids spawned by him, but that he was very very happily married to their mother for over 34 years.  Best 34 years of our lives.  I am so glad that April has connected with her cousin Russ and wife Lorraine.  And Auntie Joan is gold.  Monte?  Has never heard a word from a Heyman since Bill died.

Any how time to wrap this up and go wash my hair.  A most detested pass time I must say.  At least it's all brushed out and prepped, the hardest part!!!!  And it is time to start wrapping up the presents arriving on the doorstep pretty much daily!  Have I said I LOVE Christmas?  TTYL

'A personal budget is a manifestation of your decision to grab your finances by the balls'      The Money Tree Man           

 

AMAZON HAS TAKEN OVER MY LIVING ROOM

 

CHRISTMAS TREE....BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

Finally got that wee tree up.  Normally I have the tree up by the end of the first weekend in November.  I am one of those people that LOVES all things Xmas!  And I love that the stores put xmas stuff out as soon as Thanksgiving is done.  It means I can spread the cost out over two and a half months.  Makes sense to me.

  I'm kind of liking having a three footer.  I have put it on a table in front of the front window so it looks Christmassy outside. We don't have a plug in out front so no decorations out there.  

Having a smaller tree cuts the cost of decorating way down.  Plus it is super fast to decorate, not my favourite pass time. In fact I have put 200 lights on that sucker so you can't see the decorations anyway.  I like tons of lights and I am leaving it up until at least the end of January.  I am a sucker for anything lights.  But you will see below I couldn't even get a decent pic of the tree due to lights.  I tried to tweek the picture but nothing helped.

It has not been a very eventful week.  Which is good, I guess.  We did have Monique, Ange's friend, over for coffee.  That was fun.  And we made one or two trips to Nanaimo, can't remember what for.  And guess what?  We have to go back again today.

I hate nagging.  And I really really hate being put in the position of 'nagging'.  Monte puts his glasses on the bed beside him when he sleeps.  Several times now he hasn't immediately been able to find them.  It was so so tempting to say 'put them on the bedside table just in case you roll on them or they fall off the bed and break.'  But I held back.  He is a man, not a kid.  But you guessed it.  He rolled on them and now they need to be professionally fixed.  And that means a trip to LensCrafters in Nanaimo.

Many many times I have tried to discern between micromanaging, nagging and just shutting up.  But when there is collateral damage inevitable, I am thinking one should speak up, especially if the consequeses involve you.  But I also know the futility of speaking up.  Monte wouldn't do it anyway.  It's just easier to put them on the bed so on the bed they go.  And now to Nanaimo we go, which fortunately for me I love doing!

Ange had an episode with someone knocking on her door around nine at night.  No one ever knocks on her door.  It's a basement door buried deep in a dark carport.  It was a massively upset female who according to Ange smelled like alcohol but wasn't drunk, who claimed that a car had been following her around. She was scared apparently. She was meeting someone over at QF but it was closed. Keep in mind that it is extremely lit up over there, read safe, and Cascade Liquor is attached to QF and is open til ten.  This just doesn't make sense.

She asked if she could wait in the carport.  But a few minutes later she asked Ange if she could come in.  And because she was so upset Ange let her in.  Ange said she didn't get bad vibes from her.  

 I have been remiss in not telling Ange that the policy in our house has always been you don't let anybody in, ever.  If someone is in trouble you call the police and frankly her story just doesn't add up.  She could be casing our place, figuring out who lives where etc...I haven't mentioned it to Ange yet but I will soon.  I don't want her to feel like she did something wrong. It's my fault for not telling her, how was she supposed to know?  Eventually the female got hold of someone to pick her up....back over at the store.  Go figure. 

 Twice in my life I have had what seemed like innocent types come to my door, I let them in and totally lived to regret it.  When you have been through that you kind of get hypersensitive.  I am still a bit worried about it.  Ange just came upstairs and I mentioned it to her.  And typical Ange she took it as I meant it and not as a criticism.  She is amazing!

Well this post is getting long.  I need to get my day going...like eat breakfast.  I am watching, while I type this, Naked and Afraid.  That show makes me both hungry and cold!  TTYL

'Rice is great when you are hungry and you want 2,000 of something.'  Anon

AFTER THE ADDITION OF 100 LIGHTS.  AS USUAL THIS STUPID SITE DIDN'T PUT THEM ON IN THE ORDER I WANTED.  GRRRRR

THE BEFORE THE ADDITION OF ANOTHER 100 LIGHTS

ANONYMOUS WROTE A COMMENT!!!!!! THANK YOU

I almost never get comments...which is completely okay with me.  This blogspot is so unbelievably difficult to leave comments on.  I have heard from so many people that read this thing that they can't comment.  And truthfully I am really okay with that. If they could leave them and didn't I might give it an extra thought but one thing I know.  The nasty sick heads that like to leave bad comments can't be bothered on blogspot.  It's just too damned difficult!

So I totally appreciated anonymous's comment today.  Whoever that is went to the work of getting one on here!  I was excited to see it!!!  And it was such a nice comment!

Well it's another trip to Nannymo today.  Monte is having trouble with his cpap mask and needs a new one.  And I need to make a quick stop at Costco.  There are just some things that if there is a choice, get it at Costco.  So much cheaper.  Tomatoes, eggs, bread, t.p., paper towels, etc...so it's a stop for ten things.  No more!

By the way I found my xmas tree!  It was in the box, out buried under the amazon boxes that are piled on the deck.  It is so hard to throw out those amazing boxes.  The deck is the one extra time to think about it before they get recycled.  Like planes versus boats.  There is no extra time to try to save your life when a plane crashes.  On a sinking boat, even if you don't swim well, you can at least dog paddle for a while.  Sometimes, very rarely, I do go out and get one of those boxes to use.

Yet again I digress.  I got the tree out and put it together and fluffed it and I love it.  I think it's going to be my forever tree.  It's only three feet and not hugely bushy so I can leave it all lighted and decorated year round and find somewhere to store it where it shan't get mouldy.  It still needs more lights and decorating so I won't put a pic here til it's done.

I made a rant on Facebook yesterday.  We have discovered mould and wetness in Monte's bedroom.  To tell you the truth I am not surprised given the ferocious rain and windstorm that had happened a few days earlier in the week.  But the mould that is growing indicated a longer period of dampness, the storm just took advantage of the weakness the earlier stuff had done.  It is either roof or foundation or old, no longer effective drain tiles around the foundation. My only hope at this time is insurance.

The rant yesterday was directed towards all the people that are super jonesing to buy a house.  I think some of them just aren't living in reality.  If you compare owning and renting there is no question that owning is way more expensive than even super high rent plus strata in some cases.  Between your mortgage pmt,  property taxes, city utilities, house insurance (1200 per year on my humble abode) general upkeep and then major fixes like my broken front door and surrounding glass with holes in it, cost me 5,000 dollars, renting becomes pretty appealing.  If you don't do your due diligence you lose either the equity in your home or your home itself.

That being said I made a list when I moved into this house of things needing doing.  Now four years later over half the list has turned into a wish list.  I need the money for the not dire stuff to fix the dire stuff.  Which with me is fine.  I can live with old lady pink carpet everywhere, foil flowers wall paper in the bathroom, green cracked laminate countertops, olive green barely working turlett and matching chipped bathtub!  I think some people wouldn't be happy with that!

So now I need to confirm insurance will help with the mould repairs and it will only cost the deductible, which can be considerable.

Wordle.  I have been hearing about Wordle for quite some time now.  I couldn't find it and couldn't figure out what all the hype was about.  But....I know now!!!  Kathy and Kerry play Wordle and showed me and now I am addicted.  Every morning the New York Times posts seven different puzzles, Wordle being one of them.  You basically get one shot at each one then you are done for the day.  It is so much fun!  I grab my phone when I wake up in the morning, always around 5 am, and do the puzzles.  I love it!!!!  I am def hooked!!! 

Gotta bounce!  I need to clean up my kitchen before bringing home more stuff.  TTYL

'A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.'  Anon

YOU DON'T NEED ENGLISH TO GET THIS ONE.  WE WERE IN A MCDONALDS IN JAPAN AND THIS WAS ON THE WALL.  SPOD WAS SO EXCITED...HE LOVED SPAM AND MCD'S!

G-DAMMIT!!!!!

 I put a G up there instead of God out of respect for those that attend church every Sunday.  I am not religious, spiritual, but not religious.  Even so I won't let my kids say 'my effing god' in front of me.  We could get struck  by lightening...you never know.  I find the expression offensive actually.

I think I have mentioned on occasion that I cannot find anything in this frigging house.  I am not sure if it's because I can't remember anything anymore or if it's the stupid house cuz there is no logical storage places or if it's a combination of both.  I just know I can NEVER find what I am looking for.  

I remember Bill telling me that his last wife was famous for the same thing and would just go buy another.  I remember arrogantly being quite critical about that, negatively I might add.  And because of him telling me that tidbit, and my negative judgy reaction, I refuse to do that, even when I am desperate.  And Kim, I am totally sorry for my judgement!!!!  Like she has any remote interest in my boring nothing blog and is actually reading it!  Hahaha...right!

Anyway, I digress, as usual.  You guys are lucky I am not dictating this thing.  I would be wandering all over my head, verbalizing silly unnecessary crap!  Like I just did now!! Dammit!!

Back to my G-dammit. I have lost my new Christmas tree.  Seriously!!!!  I replaced last years, oh just a minute, I didn't have one last year, at least not one to be proud of.  The year before I had quite a nice three footer but after spending a year in a bag, it came out absolutely mouldy and stinky.  Out it went and I didn't replace it.  I had a two foot warped badly made atrocity that I rammed a million lights onto and used that last year.  So this year I ordered from Amazon a nice little three footer.  It arrived in a perfect two foot box in a couple of pieces.  I have put that box somewhere and I cannot find it.  Since putting it somewhere I have completely cleaned my house for Kathy and Kerry's visit.  I even cleaned the storage/laundry room and I absolutely cannot find it. I am so fed up with not being able to find anything.

On another note I was not sleeping in the night as usual.  I got thinking about 'influencers', trying hard not to be scathing about them.  I have a hard time not thinking of them as societal parasites.  But I don't really know enough about their interests to be too judgemental...yet.  I know what basically they do.  I have seen them in movies.  They use their phones to show off either travel, clothes, make up, themselves, pets, cooking or what ever.  So I decided to lay there and waltz through my life in my head and decide that if I HAD to become an influencer, what talent or interest of mine would I choose.  The options were not plentiful.  It seems I have a modicum amount of interests and master of none.

I cook but a video of my cooking would be ludicrous.  Most the time I am looking for something I can't find.  My kitchen is too small to do cutesy  shots of me making the title of the video only to end up making something that doesn't even resemble what the title calls it....due to not finding what I need.

I play piano.  No.  Just no to that one.

Clothes for fat broads...hahaha!!!  Most of what I wear I bought after our house fire in 2003.  So a big NOT! to that one.

Hey now!!!!  One time around 2012 I wrote one hundred poems.  It was an internet project suggestion.  Write a poem a day for 100 days.  Well I wrote 99.  I wanted to just do it my way a little bit.

I could influence people to write poetry.  I could film myself reading one of my poems per session and put it on instagram and you tube.  The fact that they are particularly awful is irrelevant.  Have you ever read a Walt Whitman poem?  and he is famous. But with a little more consideration of this idea, I had to admit I am not really into serious humiliation.  It may seem like it but I do have a limit on the feeling.

Needless to say by morning I was feeling like a loser.  I don't do anything whatsoever that would be considered worth passing on to anyone ever.  Now I am feeling bad again just writing this.  I am going to quit this post right now.  TTYL

'Sometimes the amount of self control it takes to not say what's on my mind is so immense, I need to take a nap afterwards.'  Anon.

No pictures today but I am going to put one of my poems here just to prove my point.  Don't worry it won't be a particularly long one!  Hahahaha!!!

POEM 70 DEC. 2

WOE IS ME

I totally despise and hate my bra

it seems for women that this is a law

we must wear them, like it or not

but fighting this law, freedom we got

But hold on a minute I must say

I am still wearing one every day

I tried to discard them in the trash

but I yanked them back out in a flash

for its like this, you must see

if I don’t wear one they will hit my knee

they will swing and swag to and fro

different directions they will go

So I must keep my bras today

to rein them in and stop the sway

I need to anchor them and tie them down

to keep them from dragging on the ground 

BUSY BUSY BUSY

 Wow!  Once again time has flown by.  Lots happening.  

My sister and husband came for a visit!!!  I love it when people come to visit.  It almost never happens anymore due to my living in the boon docks that requires an expensive ferry trip.  As a result my house, especially my guest room, becomes extremely needy for a thorough cleaning.  When visitors were more frequent the house didn't get too bad.  So their visit was an awesome opportunity to gitter done!!!

I think I moved a mountain, the right way.  I found logical places for all that stuff that was stacked to the ceiling in the guest room!  And best part?  I found stuff I hadn't been able to find for ages and ages!  Plus I got an unusual amount of exercise!  Hahaha!!!

Our visit was awesome!  It was soooo good to see them.  I miss them.  We had the lamb dinner which turned out just okay.  I think I am losing my touch. 

 We went out each day for a tour of the Port area.  One of the trips involved the fish ladders again.  It is just so beautiful out there, especially in the fall.  I also drove them up to our new campground up at Loon Lake.  It is so beautiful up there as well.  We also had lots of just visit time.

  I had a broken drawer in the kitchen.  It would leave sawdust on the floor every time we tried to open it.  And KERRY FIXED IT!!!!  It literally took two days and two trips to the hardware store to get it fixed.  I am so grateful because not one of us in this house is capable of doing those sorts of fix-it things!!!!  They left on Sunday, heading up to see my brother.  Too short a visit!!!  I miss them, the downside of visits.

Later on Sunday Graeme was coming for a visit.  We drove down to Nanaimo to pick him up.  He came for two nights.  I love having him here.  We included a trip to Costco of course.  We were actually going to go out for dinner but we couldn't resist the poutine and hotdogs.  Dammit!!!!  It was so good to have Graeme here.  Then yesterday, Tuesday, we drove him back down.  That trip seems to be getting shorter and shorter!

Now back to current busy things.  First I shall be erecting a three foot fake Christmas tree.  I had to throw out pretty much all my xmas decorations and tree last year.  I stored them in a xmas tree bag under our indoor stairs....and when we hauled it all out it absolutely smelt terrible..mould we believe.  So this year I ordered two boxes of pretty ornaments from Amazon.  I ordered mini glass balls.  Now I know what mini balls are like, but the ones that came are so small you can hardly see them!!!!

When an Amazon package comes, just for fun I try to guess what it is before opening it.  Honing my guess the contents skills, practicing being blind cuz I know I will be one day if things keep going the way they seem to be right now. 

 So this package came, small, square, and I simply could not guess or remember.  A package had come the day before.  It was in a twelve by twelve box and I was pretty sure it was the balls.  Nope...it was a box of powdered dishwasher soap I had ordered. Then the next day this tiny package in a very small box came.  There was no way I was going to guess that one.  Like did I order a ring and just forgot? It was the teeny tiny xmas balls!  At least they are pretty.

I am super looking forward to Christmas!  Tonight I informed the household that I would not be making a xmas dinner this year.  And I went on to say that either of them should feel free to do the xmas dinner, they both know how to cook.  One grunted and the other one said she was going to eat a Hungry Man turkey dinner and stay downstairs and watch tv.  So I am going go out and buy myself unusual lovely food that does NOT need cooking and it will just be for me. They can go out and buy their own stuff.  Cooking that thanksgiving dinner all day then cleaning all the next day did me in.  

Well that's it for this round.  Sorry it's pretty boring.  Have fun getting ready for xmas....time to do xmas cards!  TTYL

'I think homes that are too tidy, neat and sparse look like nothing interesting is going on.'  Shelley Malec Vitale