starting november right

Posted on November 2, 2018 by is there any more pie?
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Gift from Harley Chick.

Yesterday was our annual fall fabric shopping trip in Massachusetts.

Sound the trumpets, make the coffee, gas up the car and be on the road by 8:30!

We–wild women that we are– look forward to it all year.  As we are not gambling in the local casinos or buying designer shoes or haunting shopping malls, we have a little extra cash in our handmade tote bags to indulge our sewing passions.

Aunt Pat, Harley Chick and I returned to our favorite place, Franklin Mills, for a leisurely stroll through quilting fabric, yarn, notions, patterns and gifts.

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Beautiful colors.

I shopped for fabric to make seat covers for Banjo Man’s little dining chairs in the updated Man Cave.

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The winner.

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Runners up.

Aunt Pat looked at afghan patterns.  Harley Chick bought elastic.  We admired everything.

Then we made our way–via GPS–to Milford and a Panera’s for lunch.  Check out what they’re selling.  I almost bought one to stick in the freezer for Thanksgiving week.  This picture unfortunately doesn’t show the three-flavored danish pasty ring that I was drooling over.

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 One more stop: JoAnn’s Fabrics.  Flannel was purchased.   As was foam, for the chair cushions.

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A gift from Aunt Pat.

And so another November shopping trip came to an end.  Such a treat to be with these two women on a gorgeous autumn day in New England!

I count myself lucky.

 

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fifty shades of gray

Posted on October 31, 2018 by is there any more pie?

No, I’m not blogging about that ridiculous book.

I’m talking about paint chips, folks!  Do you know how many shades of gray paint can be found at Home Depot?  Between Behr and Glidden, there has to be at least sixty of them.

And what was I doing at Home Depot in the middle of a weekday afternoon?  Well, Banjo Man informed me that he wants to change the paint color in the Man Cave.  Great idea, said I.  No problem.  Go for it.

Banjo Man:  Can you go to Home Depot right now and get some paint?  I want to get it done before the kids get here.

Me:  I need to get dressed.  And then I’ll go get paint chips and we can see what looks best.

Banjo Man:  What color?

Me:  I don’t know.  I have to think about it.

Banjo Man hates when I say that.  I thought his head would explode, so I offered, “I’m thinking…a soft gray.”

Banjo Man, frowning:  What makes gray soft?

Me:  I don’t know, but it means hopefully it won’t look like the inside of an aircraft carrier.  Just wait and see.

He agreed that gray would look nice and go with what is in the room now, but because of his particular color blindness, he thinks everything blue, brown and taupe is a shade of green.  It has made for some rather unpleasant arguments over the years.

So I headed off to Home Depot to see what I could find, hurried home to tape a bunch of paint chips to the wall, then began the process of elimination.  Banjo Man was surprisingly cooperative with the slow pace of the selection process.

And so, without malice or hurt feelings and in the spirit of cooperation, we agreed on a shade called “Silver Bullet”.  I hope it looks nice, but my attitude is the same as when I go to the hairdresser to get my hair cut:  Whatever happens is better than what I have now, so anything will be an improvement!”

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The winner!

 

 

 

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the end of the ugly stairs, hopefully

Posted on October 30, 2018 by is there any more pie?

Here’s the guy who greeted me at the flooring store.  After I pet him and told him how handsome he was, he stuck his nose in my crotch and refused to let me look at carpet.

The embarrassed store owner dragged him away and put him behind a gate.

Thank goodness.

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Bad dog.

I think we’ve had ugly stairs for maybe 20 years.  Neither one of us can remember when we ripped up the very worn blue carpet and painted the wooden stairs pale yellow.

I have no idea what I was thinking at the time.

Fact:  I am surrounded by decorating mistakes.

I despair.  Will I live long enough to correct them all?  Or will I quit caring?

Anyway…I took home some samples and picked out what I hope and pray will be an attractive covering for our stairs to the basement (and the glorious Man Cave) of our raised ranch home.

Banjo Man is excitedly pushing these improvements and engineering the long-awaited updates to the Man Cave (and guest area for company).  I would prefer to hide in my office and stare helplessly at the mess.

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I don’t know what to do.  No matter how much I clean and toss and organize and rearrange, I still end up with something like this.

Clearly I have work to do, but I think I’ll bake cookies instead.

 

 

 

Posted in family, rhode island, shopping | 1 Comment

the end of cold feet?

Posted on October 29, 2018 by is there any more pie?

Banjo Man’s cold feet take up a lot of time in our little world.

Over the years I’ve bought him electric heating pads, an under-desk electric foot warmer, a hot water bottle shaped like a boa constrictor, dozens of wool socks.

Nothing works for long.  He’s back in front of one of the gas fireplaces, holding his bare feet as close to the heat as possible without burning his toes off.

Last week he came to me asking, “I need new slippers.  Can you find some for me online?”

Of course I could.  I can find anything online.  It’s my other super power (spoiling little children being the other one).  I googled for slipper reviews and found these:

“The coziest indoor shoes money can buy.” – Men’s Journal

Hailing from Denmark — a country that knows a thing or two about how to stay cozy when it’s cold outside — Glerups’ slip-on boots, shoes and slippers are a house favorite here at HBHQ, and one of our favorite gifts to give friends and family. Each pair is handcrafted from toasty 100% pure, natural wool, which naturally wicks moisture from your feet so they’re always warm and dry. We love slipping into these bad boys and think you will too.

Features

  • Made from toasty 100% pure, natural wool
  • Felted wool uppers wick moisture for dry, comfortable feet
  • Double layer felted wool insole for double the softness and comfort
  • Easy-on, easy-off coziness
  • Flexible, lightweight and slip-resistant calfskin sole
  • Handmade from start to finish

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Banjo Man balked at the price, but I convinced him that he would save money on propane and electricity if his feet were kept warm by these slippers.

And you know what?  It’s working!!!  He can’t believe it.  I can’t believe it.  Now granted, we have not entered the depths of winter here in the northeast, but it has been in the 30’s and damp and windy and miserable at times.  We have high hopes for continued warm toes.

If you’re battling your own “cold feet” issues, check out this link:

https://huckberry.com/store/glerups/category/p/22445-the-boot?utm_source=shopping&utm_medium=googlep&utm_campaign=slippers.slippers&gclid=CjwKCAjw39reBRBJEiwAO1m0OQuopCNM5V8TCk5OOdta0J9QY0F51cHT8W7ZIrj9XqH5mwH7X4yPYxoC9_sQAvD_BwE

 

Posted in rhode island, shopping | 1 Comment

23 days away

Posted on October 25, 2018 by is there any more pie?
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Bring on the turkey!

Thanksgiving isn’t 23 days away, but the arrival of Son #1, Amber and the Funny Grandson is.  They have a week off and are flying in to spend it with us.

We are so excited.

This will be the first Thanksgiving since 1990 that my three kids have been together at home.  Will is flying in for the long holiday weekend to make that happen.

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Thanksgiving, 2017.

Thanksgiving is easy.  Mayme brings appetizers and Ginny bakes all the desserts.  I just have to figure out the timing of the turkey and make room in the oven for the baking of all of the casseroles.  Setting the tables is the fun part and I plan to iron the tablecloths while watching football next Saturday.

But in 23 days we’ll pick up the kids at the airport and have some fun days doing touristy stuff.  So I am making meals now and freezing them for those evening meals after busy days of fun.  I try to do something every day.  Yesterday was pumpkin bread.  Today is chicken enchiladas.  Last week?  Groceries, groceries, groceries.  Meatballs.  Shepherd’s pie.

Banjo Man is attempting to finish his man cave kitchenette.  New flooring will be installed in that area.  An electrician is coming to wire a plug for the stove.  The basement stairs are on schedule to be carpeted.

It is all very exciting.

The Funny Grandson is hoping for snow (Party Grandma is not).  The little Texan has visions of something like this:

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He is the only one.

 

 

 

 

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ozark

Posted on October 25, 2018 by is there any more pie?

ozark

This is a wild show!  Banjo Man and I just finished season 1.  We’d started it in the summer of 2017, but after three episodes I decided it was too intense.  Banjo Man watched the whole thing, though.  And now season 2 is available, so Banjo Man begged me to finish watching the previous season so we could watch the new one together.

According to IDMB:  Created by Bill Dubuque (“The Accountant,” “The Judge”), this drama series stars Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde, a financial planner who relocates his family from Chicago to a summer resort community in the Ozarks. With wife Wendy and their two kids in tow, Marty is on the move after a money-laundering scheme goes wrong, forcing him to pay off a substantial debt to a Mexican drug lord in order to keep his family safe. While the Byrdes’ fate hangs in the balance, the dire circumstances force the fractured family to reconnect.

The pace is certainly fast, the dialogue outstanding and natural and smart.  Bad guys are everywhere.  Jason Bateman and Laura Linney are brilliant.  It reminds me of Game of Thrones at times (without all the kinky sex and the dragons, of course).

We’ll start season 2 as soon as I brace myself for the emotional roller coaster of watching the Byrde family try to survive in a world filled with villains.

In the meantime, I’ll head over to HGTV for some episodes of “Living Alaska”.

 

 

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happy birthday to will

Posted on October 24, 2018 by is there any more pie?

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He’s right where he wants to be in July.

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Hard at work at Terry Black’s BBQ in Austin.

Did you know that Will is in a video that has over 26 million hits????

Yes, 26 MILLION.  Check it out.  He appears at about the 1:00 minute mark.

Happy Birthday, Will!  I hope your day is filled with good friends & family, great food and some terrific music, too!

Posted in family | 2 Comments

at last, thank God

Posted on October 23, 2018 by is there any more pie?
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Coach Frost and the Tunnel Walk, as seen on Banjo Man’s Big TV.

Light the fireworks!  Cue the band!  Beat the drums and shout Hallelujah!

The Cornhuskers won a game Saturday night.  A massive sigh of relief was heard o’er the land.

It was a stressful game.  Aren’t they all?  We had to leave during the third quarter (at a time when things had started to look bleak for our team), as one of Banjo Man’s clients was playing at a local restaurant.  We met Barb & Rod for dinner (hadn’t seen them since last May!), so I enjoyed a hot lobster roll and some great guitar-playing at the same time I got to hear about their recent trip to Scotland.  Win-win-win.

When we got home, Banjo Man didn’t want to know how the game ended, so he waited downstairs while I turned on the tv and scrolled through the taping of the game to the spot where we had left off.  Then he settled himself on the couch to watch the last of the third quarter and the entire fourth quarter.  Oh, the stress!

I couldn’t stand the suspense, so I sneaked a peek at my phone to find the final score:  Huskers 53, Minnesota 28.

It has been a tough season.  Our new coach has had his hands full changing the culture of Husker football and the players have had varying degrees of success learning to do things “the right way”, as their Coach says.  And “the right way” is not just on the football field, but “in life”.

We know it’s going to take a few years for our team to become competitive again, but Saturday’s win sure felt good.  The kids and the coaches definitely deserved it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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a star is born

Posted on October 22, 2018 by is there any more pie?

a star is born

Last week my daughter and I headed to the movies for some “girl time”.  This was the movie of choice for the afternoon (we would head to dinner after the show), because who doesn’t love Bradley Cooper or Lady Gaga?

We loved it.  Lady Gaga can act!  And when she started singing I had goosebumps run down my spine.  What a voice!

While I adored Brad’s blue eyes, his mumbling his lines at times was frustrating.  Unfortunately he seemed to be channeling Kris Kristofferson (whose music I have loved for 50 years) with his sexy, growling voice.  I’m sure all that country-boy-western-cowboy murmuring is pretty darn hot when a good-looking musician is rubbing his beard on your cheek, but those of us in the audience would like to hear the exact words, thank you.

It’s a sad movie, of course.  Brad’s character had demons no one could fix.  I thought his solution, while he thought he was being noble, was just plain mean.

I want to see the Kristofferson/Streisand version of the movie again.  Maybe we need another “girls night” on the couch!

 

 

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pumpkins, friends and more

Posted on October 21, 2018 by is there any more pie?
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Barb and Kris, still together 54 years later.

Yes, we are sitting on pumpkins and having a conversation.  That’s what old friends do, especially when one of them has a pumpkin patch.

I absolutely love spending time with this woman.  Can you tell?

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Your brain on drugs.

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All the beautiful shapes and sizes and colors.

Meanwhile, back at home, I settled for plastic…

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and velvet.

 

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Not as good as the real thing, though.  If I didn’t travel so much, I think I’d have my very own pumpkin patch, just so I could admire them.

 

If Banjo Man wasn’t on the couch watching the Patriots play, I think I’d beg him to go with me to the local farm to see the pumpkins and take pictures.  Instead I’ll go stir the sausage potato soup and curl up on the couch with a good book.

Oh, yes, and I’m going to make pumpkin bread!

 

 

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