Hello my Lovelies!
Are you ready to dive into a new week?
Can you believe it's the week before Thanksgiving time already?? The time - she sure is flying. There has been a chilly late Fall vibe in the northwoods filled with cold nights that bring a frosty deck in the morning and a glaze of ice on the bay. Cozy season is fully here.
I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing weekend. That's what went on around here. Besides Jesus time we also ran some errands - including a Goodwill drop off. We went out for dinner one night. And yesterday was a loungewear and football all day kind of relaxing day. I also have the majority of my Christmas shopping done and have already started wrapping gifts in Mrs. Claus workshop (my home crafting/office room). It feels good getting a lot of those details out of the way so I can focus on family time, baking, movies, and decorating during the holiday season.
And THANK YOU all again for the kind words regarding the saga that is this skin cancer stuff. The antibiotic is helping and I'm definitely on the healing track now...thank God's goodness. 🙏🏻
I've been making a Thanksgiving menu list and ideas. Now I need to break it into lists for grocery shopping trips (will probably do our favorite grocery store and Costco ahead). I love hosting it here. 🍁🧡 for many reasons but one is all the leftovers (the best part, right?). And especially for the family time. Looking so forward to having both of the kiddos in the nest for Thanksgiving. It's when my heart feels completely whole. Annie comes home from college this week - yay!!! I miss her so much and can't wait to hug my Girl. I was talking to her yesterday and she was saying the same thing...that she needs her Momma. :)
THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:
ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:
vanilla greek yogurt with granola, coffee
ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:
Ruby spa haircut day, start Thanksgiving errands, home projects, finish blessing bag refills, hospice work
THINKING ABOUT:
I'm grateful Matt & I tag teamed the windows and got them cleaned inside and out this weekend. Good job off the list and in time to get ready to hibernate. He may even put up the outside Christmas lights soon - before it's too cold or snowy. We have some other home cleaning projects to check off the list before Christmas decorations come out the weekend after Thanksgiving.
THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:
Listening to Christmas music while wrapping gifts and putting on pretty ribbons to make some of them extra pretty. 🎁
CURRENTLY READING
been so focused on craft projects, gift wrapping and mainly reading magazines
ON THE TV TODAY:
Jeopardy, old seasons of big brother, Dancing with the Stars, Survivor, Ghosts, Holiday baking shows, Hallmark movies
ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:
MONDAY - breakfast pizza (the crust made from frozen hashbrowns roasted with broccoli slaw - will share recipe this week)
TUESDAY - might be out running errands? leftovers?
WEDNESDAY - tacos
THURSDAY - spinach and cheese ravioli, Italian chicken meatballs, salad
FRIDAY - Annie pick?
TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:
color with Annie, work on puzzle with my Girl, wrap gifts
TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:
FROM THE CAMERA:
There is a glaze of ice on the bay each morning now. The bird feeder has been very popular lately...which brings in the squirrels to clean up what falls to the deck. And that has Ruby keeping an eye on things.
My crafting desk was so nice and clean but now it's become a Christmas workshop as I knock out wrapping the gifts I've picked up. It feels very satisfying to check things off the list with each gift that gets wrapped. I plan to do many homemade food gift baskets too. So I have an organizer (not pictured) holding baskets, ribbons, food gift bags, jars etc ready to go when I put them together closer to Christmas. Laundry baskets are filling up with wrapped gifts. Bubba loves to sit in the bay window and supervise my work.
Matt and I made the viral cranberry candy from social media. We did one bag of cranberries and halved the recipe - but the recipe calls for 2 bags of fresh cranberries. Soak them in a bowl filled with 2 cans of lemon lime soda and 1 cup of orange juice. Cover and soak them in the fridge overnight. Then the next day drain the cranberries. Toss them in a bunch of powdered sugar until fully coated and spread them on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Cook in a 200* F oven for 5-7 minutes. Let cool fully. Then enjoy! They're sweet and tart and very crunchy. They make a satisfying and loud pop when you bite down on them. I think you could also soak them in prosecco or something like that if you wanted a boozy version. They are different and fun. Matt loves them!
