Wednesday doings

[helia]

I'm done with my Hebrew final!! I think it generally went OK, we'll see.

Now, I can turn my attention to other things, like procuring feed for our chickens who have been without for an entire day now. They've been living on scratch. And hopefully work on the house where I have neglected it.

The 8th grade music concert is tonight, band, orchestra, choir, and jazz band. Dd13 will be playing a jazz duet with a fellow oboe player at some point, as well as playing in the band and the jazz band. So, it should be an eventful night! I think dfriend S will be coming too. We need to eat early so dd13 can get to the school by 6:45.

Congratulations to cowinkie!!
I hope Mr. MT's hand is OK. . .

We're chilly too, and there is about an inch of snow on the ground in spots.

Alright, I'm off to the Tractor Supply Store for chicken feed.

[Harriet]

helia, what brands do they have there? Here, Tractor Suppply has Purina's Layena and a generic brand. Once we got the generic and it was in dust. So HRH has never forgotten it and buys the expensive one.

blessed also has had 2 finals in the last day or so - I think she was feeling confident, too. All best wishes to both helia and blessed.

My ddad is having a bad day. I just gave him "supper" early with nice dessert because he is so nervous and fretting, depressed. We are hoping this will make a new start. When I clean up from that meal for him, HRH will be here so I can make a trip to PO with first batch, pick up a few more stamps (in my dreams - probably have to wait). Also, I will get some kind of comfort foods for my ddad and also for us! We are starting to need some comfort too.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I'm home for a little bit. And no more early starts until Saturday. I'm exhausted so am relieved.

Got off on time, drive in took longer today due to traffic, but the hospital treatment was still just 20 minutes. Apparently it was much more draining today so I offered a ride home but she thought she'd be up for Costco. She doesn't have a membership so she walked almost the whole store. Slowly. We left an hour and a bit later, having bought $150 of stuff (I got one stocking stuffer but other stuff I needed and she got a gift and lots of cookies to serve people who come to the seniors' apartment to sing at Christmas.

From there we went to Walmart and another long walk around the store (individual chocolates for carollers, wool to finish a project and a Christmas CD) and then the bank and post office.

I got home at 1 p.m. Left for choir practice at 1:20 (after having had cereal for lunch and printing off 3 of the second sheets of the newsletters that dh needed to finish up the US letters.) We dumped all the cards into a box and headed out the door.

Choir was fun. We don't need an anthem for the 18th (a soloist is coming in) so just focused on this week.

From choir we went to the general store and mailed the first $100 of cards. I only have Canadian left to do but I have to run off some newsletters first so I can finish up those.

I'm home now and doing my SAD light. Better late than never.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Dove: my stove grates are black on my stove but you can still tell they are gunked up so I appreciate your testimonial. Makes me tempted to try this myself. I have soaked them in washing soda and dishwasher powder in the past to no avail.

Elizabeth: my dh bought me leg warmers (footless knee-socks) which I wear over or under my regular socks, along with my shoes. My feet are fine inside because I wear lace-up shoes, but my ankles were so cold and these leg-warmers make all the difference. Note: these aren't the kind that Jane Fonda wore over her exercise tights.

I'm cold all the time too and you'll find me wearing flannel line jeans (leg warmers, socks and shoes) on the bottom and undershirt, turtleneck, sweater or vest and then either a fleece jacket or my wool cape. Plus I have fleece blankets on all chairs where I sit for any length of time. I understand your feeling cold.

It is funny to feel so cold and see MT posting about cactus outside.

[helia]

Harriet, if I go to Tractor Supply, I get Dumor. I have never bought P****a brand chicken food. Actually, we don't buy that brand for any of our animals -- only b/c we have gone by the feed recommendations of previous owners/breeders, and they all recommended different brands. Last time I bought chicken feed, though, I got it from a local feed store in the village down the road. They make their own, so that bunch was sort of a no brand food. I think Tractor Supply is closer than that village's feed store, though not much. We do pellets rather than crumble. Once last spring, I bought pellets by mistake, and dh liked it so much better - less mess - that we just continued with pellets. The hens didn't seem to notice a difference.

Pellets have been bought and are sitting in the back of my van awaiting a stronger back than mine to carry them to the garage.

Harriet, you are such a devoted daughter!! That is an early supper for your ddad.

I'm not sure about one thing on my final, which is how I organized labelling some of the clauses. Usually, we draw lines and mark out phrases on top of a large spacious Hebrew text, but on the exam, he had us write out translations on blank paper from the regular (small, no space btwn. lines), Heb. text and label and organize phrases as we wished. . . .

I am really tired, so I might lie down for 20 minutes. Then, I'll start dinner so we can be out the door by 6:30.

[Nancy]

Hanukkah q. ~
When is Hanukkah starting? Dec. 20-28 did a web. search.
Would a crab dip be some thing folks that celebrate Hanukkah eat?
Or should I do salmon dip?
Any fun things dgd's & I could do in the kitchen I know next to nothing about that I used to have a cookbook but decluttered it.

I looked for a cookie cutter of a menorah, Star of David or ? with out success ~sigh~ so we just rolled sugar cookie dough I made with butter and dgd "helped" me with circles and putting a blue m & m on them for dson's small family-thing I'm not sure when it is. But Dgd & I had fun doing these she ate too much cookie dough I think! So maybe we will put in a couple of the angels for the girls I'll freeze these up. I think I can use the candy cane tweak it and make it look like a candle!

I found some ideas using cream cheese for cookie dough I've been wanting to try that anyway! One more batch of cookie dough to bake she's going to be here tomorrow so we will wait on the rest. Maybe Joann's has cookie cutters I'm looking for!

Dson would eat the crab dip, I like to make dips / aka cheese balls b/c of the nut allergies he & I both have. I've been wanting to do up some salmon dip any way so I'll do both.
I have paper plates that are have snow flakes and blue so I can use these.

Thanks for the info. and ideas love the cupcake one especially I have a three tiered thing that cupcakes could go on they could bake 'em here and decorate 'em at home too I do not keep frosting in the house but that it a good thing to know. One of the dreidel toys looks like a leaf cookie cutter I have.

Okay I'm off to see about drawing some blue shapes on freezer wrap to use for wrapping paper!

Granny duty is over now.

[Harmony]

Nancy, I need your grandkids here to help bake my Christmas cookies. I haven't started them yet either.

(Harriet) I can't imagine how you are getting much done with all the elder care.

DH called...and called....and called......and called oops missed that one, other phone....and called and called. Wanting phone numbers, information, over and over. Finally I told him he was "killing me" with all this and that it was his idea to have people over and I need time to prepare.

He hasn't called since.

Does this make me a bad wife? sigh..... I'm only one person.

Ate more today and energy level was up a bit. I've been working in rooms, putting things away, sorting, etc. I got the sweeper started also. Highchair folded up and stored along with bin of toys which had been emptied. Closet is done and sewing stuff is there now. Which means the floor of my bedroom closet is now tidy, that's where everything fell off my tall shelf. No use having all these shelves when most are so high I need a ladder to get anything. grumble grumble

Looks like it's starting to sprinkle. Great, it's been dry here.

[Twins' Mom]

I'm home for the day, from a long day of running. Dmom had dr appt today - got Synvisc shot in one knee and cortisone in shoulder, so that should hold her for a while. Doc also mentioned that analysis of drained fluid last time indicated a possibility of "Psuedo gout" which I've already googled and checked out. Anyway, hopefully we're done with that doc for a bit. After getting her home, I had lunch at Subway, had blood drawn for the HRT practitioner, got groceries, picked up a carry out lunch for dmom and dcousin for tomorrow, treated myself to new shoes, and paid the property tax bill and water bill at town hall.

Tomorrow afternoon dmom has appt with the opthamologist (she has diabetic retinopathy that is monitored quarterly) and I offered to take her to see a dcousin who is confined to home after breaking an ankle and having it surgically repaired recently. I got carryout food for lunch - a pot roast, roasted sweet potatoes and broccoli casserole and am hoping to leave enough leftovers for dcousin for another meal. She's quite a bit older than I am and was the older cousin I idealized growing up.

We have had a dusting of snow on trees and grassy areas today but it's melting off. Whoops, spoke too soon, snowing again.

Nancy, no crab is not kosher - altho I would eat it (we are liberal Jews) it's not something that Jews would serve typically. A salmon dip is much better! We've made chanukah cookies by making sugar cookies, and drizzling them with blue and white icing. (Make the icing thin and add blue food coloring to 1/2. Put icing into a sandwich bag and snip a corner off to drizzle.) Also you can make latkes (there's a mix at the grocery, just add egg and water and let it sit, then deep fry.) The first night of Chanukkah is Dec 20 this year. (There's also the menorah of cupcakes - you need nine cupcakes for eight nights, plus the "shamas" or servant candle, and just add candles to light for the correct night.)

[Twins' Mom]

I need to get busy again, I've been sitting awhile and still haven't put groceries away (although I did unload the car.)

-get groceries put away
-clear kitchen counters and wipe
-bring down dirty laundry
-refill meds containers
-start a lol

I bought a very small container of "homemade" pimento cheese when I got the food for tomorrow - have been munching on triscuits and pimiento cheese and probably have ruined my dinner.

[helia]

Actually, not much snow on the ground here after all; our patio table has about an inch on it still, though.

Working on dinner and cleaning up the kitchen - and prepping my camera for tonight. Rice is started.
Next: download photos off the camera so I can clear the memory card.