I couldn’t resist a few funnies this morning. It was 42 when I woke up, a more typical Halloween morning.
I’m going out later to buy candy for my TWO trick-or-treaters. Have I mentioned that I live in the woods???
And then I’ll treat myself to a pumpkin spice latte at Cumberland Farms.
It’s been a birthday week here. Son Will, the Funny Grandson and my brother (a Halloween baby 70 years ago). Happy Birthday, guys!
And here’s a little giggle for my online dating friends…
Be careful tonight!
How Banjo Man spent his weekend:
How I spent my weekend:
My tv tech problems continue. Five hours were spent on Sunday trying to figure it out, get help from Verizon, get help from Youtube TV, and not have a nervous breakdown.
The only thing that is happening as a result is getting a new router, compliments of Verizon, though it’s a longshot whether or not it will help. Youtube TV, a streaming service that I really like, can’t come up with any response to why it won’t recognize where I am and adjust accordingly. Patriots game, anyone? Local news? Not here. Not yet. And not since Verizon’s “help”.
As far as Youtube TV? I started out as number 171 in the “chat line”.
While I was waiting, I completely scrapped my first star quilt colors and started over. There are mounds of fabric everywhere, but that’s okay. Eventually this quilt will come together.
Daughter Nancy and I took a drive before going out for burgers Friday night.
Narragansett Pier. And the iconic Towers.
Not much surf, but the surfers were enjoying a beautiful afternoon. Temps came close to 80 degrees, an odd and appreciated weather blip.
And now it’s raining. Welcome to November!
Well, almost.
After my post-summer, post-road-trip crash of the past two weeks, I’m slowly venturing out of my cave.
I baked sugar cookies Monday, and magically two hungry children appeared with their father! How did they know?
It was a party.
Today–or maybe tomorrow, or Friday?– I will venture out to the library to pick up the new Longmire novel. I need to buy Halloween candy. And mail a box of jam.
That might be enough errands for one day. But hey, I’m slowly getting back to normal and it’s all good.
Yesterday I tried my hand at making flatbread. Conclusion: I think it’s going to take more practice. And a few more recipes. Do any of you have a good one I could try?
My flatbreads tasted just fine, but the recipe called for cooking them in a frying pan and oil. Next time I’ll try another way. Suggestions, anyone?
I also made butternut squash soup, the best thing ever. Banjo Man has promised a trip to Narragansett for chowder and clam cakes soon, which we will have to manage to do in between doctor visits. It’s that time of year when we squeeze all of our check ups into the few weeks before Christmas.
What are you cooking this month?
My cookie-loving friend carving her pumpkin.
This is going to be complicated.
I’m in the mood for “complicated”. I like spending hours staring at, rearranging, and selecting fabric for a new quilt project. And this is going to take a while. I don’t even know what colors I’m going to use, but I’m intrigued with the squiggly red-white-black fabric. The traditional colors of the four directions are red, yellow, black and white, so it would work if I could find the right shade of yellow in my quilt closet today.
I’ve been researching the history of star quilts and what that design meant to Native Americans. Called “Morning Star”, it symbolizes the beginning of a new day or a new life. They are used in ceremonies and to commemorate important occasions.
To make it simpler, there is a kit that contains 8 diamond panels on preprinted interfacing. Like paper piecing, only designed for star quilts. I just ordered one on Amazon and learned it would be delivered this evening. This evening? I love the convenience, but how on earth does that work?
It’s a mystery.
Banjo Man is using his birthday gift from daughter Nancy. Don’t you love it? Campers, hikers and hunters have been using them for years, but for household repairs? It really helped. I think we’re very, very late to the headlamp party here, but Banjo Man intends to use this light whenever he needs to see a little better.
Thanks, Nance!
Yesterday I spent over three hours trying to stop my tv from freezing up while the Nebraska football game was on.
Banjo Man fled to the basement, where he watched the game in comfort and without frustration from the 50″ screen down there.
I tried everything, from simple (turning the tv on and off, deleting and reinstalling the Youtube TV app) to complicated (changing the DNS numbers, updating the software).
When all else fails I have learned to plug in a Fire TV stick.
About ten days ago the basement tv wouldn’t recognize our Youtube TV account and wouldn’t update the access code, blah, blah, blah, so I bypassed the whole mess by plugging in a Fire stick.
Which is what I did in the 4th quarter to the living room tv. Banjo Man was able to watch that exciting and triumphant volleyball game without interruptions. Go Big Red! Those women are incredible!
So far so good.
I think I have learned that my 2016 Samsung television’s software is not working with our internet now. The software is supposedly updated, but televisions only offer updates for 3-5 years. I guess they don’t think they’re going to last longer than that? Huh?
We have no plans to buy a new tv.
You are wondering how I happen to have Fire Sticks lying around, ready to be put into action and solve problems. Well, when it comes to techie things like cords and plugs and all that important stuff, I always have a back up. Always.
Amazon will deliver a new one tomorrow, one that will go into my “cord box” and be ready in case I need it.
I call it self-dense in this wild, weird techie world.
Season 2 has begun. This is not your typical reality show. If you have an On Demand option on your streaming service, check it out from the beginning. Season 1 was great, too.
The Special Forces selection process is the most grueling, challenging, frightening process I’ve ever heard of. Twelve “celebrities”–sports stars, Olympic athletes, actors, reality tv stars–challenge themselves to complete the course.
Check it out. And imagine our own Special Forces, the real thing, protecting our country. I’m in awe.
I am slowly getting my pumpkin act together. The mantel is fixed and looks festive.
There’s not much I can say for the rest of the house. I’m still unpacking six months of “stuff” from the summer, so autumn decorating will have to wait.
All of a sudden there is so much to do. Banjo Man fixed his broken lawnmower Saturday, but had to buy a new weed whacker to replace one that can’t be fixed. The yard is a mess. There is a freezer to empty and a pantry to clean out (we’ve made a stab at both chores). The car needs an oil change and an expert to figure out why our headlights keep going out. We are trying to find someone to remove our old range hood fan and replace it with a new one before Thanksgiving. Doctor and dentist appointments are piling up.
Everyone I know is enjoying cooler weather and thinking ahead to winter and what lies ahead. New England is predicted to be snowy, according to the amount of acorns on the ground and the markings of caterpillars and tv weatherman who forecast El Nino influences.
Before it snows I plan to load up on paper towels, toilet paper, beans, rice, yeast, flour and canned tomatoes. We have several dozen jars of canned Idaho peaches and plums. Our gas stovetop will work, even if the power goes out, so we’ll be ready for what comes our way.
What about you? What are you doing to get ready for winter? Any advice?
The Ninigret Quilters held their annual show in Westerly this past weekend. I managed to get down there on Sunday morning for a look at the beautiful quilts produced in the past year or so.
I’m obsessed with star quilts lately. Check out the border on this one.
And this:
Last week, in the enormous lobby of the Farmstead Inn in Shipshewana, I was able to admire these:
I think I need to make one of these.
I missed my mother yesterday. I don’t say that lightly. It was a rare and overwhelming feeling, as our last years together had been extremely difficult and painful.
She loved to go to quilt shows with me and never turned down an invitation to get in the car and go off for an adventure that always included lunch. She delighted in pausing in front of a group of quilts and exclaiming loudly, “These are nice, but YOURS are so much more BEAUTIFUL!”
I would cringe and try to distract her, but inwardly I was trying not to howl with laughter.
At one show we learned how to make pumpkins out of rolls of toilet paper, autumn-themed fabrics and cinnamon sticks. She would shop for Christmas gifts for her friends and ask me questions about whatever notion or pattern I was studying. She never wanted to make quilts, but she found the process interesting even though she could never figure out how I came to be a quilter.
When I told her I was going to make some “Quilts of Valor” (donated to veterans in recognition and gratitude for their service), she asked to come along to the quilt shop with me. And then she bought a pile of red, white and blue fabrics to contribute to the cause.
She was always very generous that way.
So yesterday I finally felt her loss. Which was such a good thing, no matter how sad, despite blinking back tears in the middle of the show. Because that means I’ve begun to forgive her–and forgive myself–for those final years of hurt feelings and resentment and exhaustion.
I fled the quilt show to cry in the privacy of my car. And then it was time to get on with things. I planned to stop at Aldi’s to buy the ingredients for meatballs. While I was parking the car, daughter-in-law Amber called to reassure me that she was home and recovering from an emergency appendectomy (yikes!). It was so good to hear her voice–we had been worried. I made a quick trip into a crowded store and hurried home. Banjo Man needed the car, so there was little time for dallying.
This morning I realized I’d forgotten to buy eggs, a crucial ingredient for meatballs. Banjo Man has gone to Walmart this afternoon and taken my list with him, so the meatballs might end up waiting for tomorrow. He is never in any hurry to leave a grocery store.
In the meantime, I think I will make a cup of tea and think about star quilts. And how much my mother would have enjoyed yesterday’s outing, taking every chance she could to brag about her daughter’s quilts.
It feels good to laugh about that again.
Discombobulated. What a great word!
That’s how I’m feeling, now that we’re back in Rhode Island. I’m finding it hard to get my feet underneath me, literally and figuratively.
Yesterday I went to town for a hair cut. I had it cut short, just because I was sick of looking at myself and needed a new vision in the mirror. It’s weird, but okay.
Then off to Marshall’s, to actually SHOP IN A STORE. There were lots of lovely things to look at and lots of happy people looking at the lovely things, but I was cut off twice driving to the store, plus almost hit by a car while walking in the parking lot. Thank goodness I was paying attention and jumped out of the way.
Banjo Man now owns two new sweaters. I have a new frying pan, exactly the same one I bought for the lake.
Then it was time to go to a Chinese restaurant to order take out. And next door was a seafood store, so I brought home chowder, too. Nancy came over and we had a belated birthday party for Banjo Man, complete with cupcakes. He is now the proud owner of a 200,000 lumen flashlight and four LED headlamps.
Oh, the joy!
I am attempting to unpack and settle in, but I don’t feel the least bit grounded. Such a strange feeling, and an unusual one. I can’t imagine grocery shopping or menu-planning or cooking. Even loading the dishwasher seems to be too much work.
I really do have to get a grip. My bins of velvet pumpkins are waiting to be unpacked and my pumpkin lights need to be displayed above the hearth. Fall is here and I need to get going!
October, 2017.
Fourth of July
Glen the Banjo Man
LIVE at the Dump
is there any more pie? 