Long Week...

This week seems to be going quite slowly. I think it might have something to do with hubby being away for work until the weekend and the lousy weather. It's snowing again today. I was rather hoping it wouldn't. There's wishing for you! The weather forecast said a few snow showers around in the afternoon. It started around eight this morning. I don't like surprises. Needless to say, plans I had are out the window. I'm staying inside. I did tidy up my room. It's ready for daughter's visit. I'm going to pull out my knitting and spend the day doing that, or perhaps some stitching (I'm working on a little Christmas card) if the light is good enough. I put out some extra seed for the birds - some fruit and nut mix I got yesterday. The seed I put out on the table first thing has been buried beneath a layer of snow. No walk today. I got the car out, warmed it up (another horrible thing about winter lol), drove up the hill and back down again. I honestly couldn't be bothered.

I think I'll finish my hot chocolate and do some crafty stuff! Looking out the window at the white stuff is as close to it I'm going to get for the rest of the day.

From my walk the other day.

Winter...

It has officially arrived. Too soon, in my opinion. Yes, we got snow Friday night into Saturday morning. More than expected. Probably around six inches. Hubby had planned on getting the porch winterised at the weekend, so snow had got on the front porch as it was quite windy too. He wasn't too happy. It did make him get the porch done as soon as possible though!

Despite the snow we did take a drive on Saturday. The closer we got to the lakeshore, the less snow there was but the winds were really quite high! Made for some lovely views of the lighthouse.

Saturday is Skype day and had a lovely chat with Mum. Time does seem to fly when we're talking. She's been having nicer weather than me. She'd actually gone to Felixstowe with my oldest sister on Thursday. I showed her the snow outside the window and she was glad she wasn't here!

This week I have to get my craft room sorted ready for when daughter comes. It means boxing things up in some order so that I can easily get to the Christmas projects I'm working on after she has left. Organising is not my forte. I shall try to do my best! The calendar I'm making for my Mum is coming along nicely. I will be taking some photos while daughter is here including one of the three 'kids' together. I am hoping to have the calendar and one holiday photo album for Mum done and posted by Dec 14th. I will be putting cards in there too - for Mum and sisters so those have to be made by then too.

Hubby is going away for work tomorrow and won't be back until the end of the week so I shall have time in the evenings to get some sorting/organising done. I usually sit with him when he comes home from work but as he won't be here I can work on other stuff. I did start a little cross stitch card, but the light has been so terrible and the threads really close in colour I'm finding a little tough to work on. Here's hoping for sunshine!

Decluttering - well...

Thanks for all the lovely comments on the last post!

At the end of the last post I said my next post would be about decluttering. I probably shouldn't have said that. Laugh out loud. I had such good intentions and, at that point, was on a roll. Then midweek when I talked to Mum, I realised that daughter would be coming on the 17th - which is next weekend - had a little panic and stopped pulling stuff out and making more mess! So there isn't a lot to report. I did get a good start. I was inspired by Bless over at My Two Cents. She always writes such good posts with lists and goals. I decided to start the decluttering with clothes. They don't have a lot of meaning with me so I managed to pull out a few. I also did clean out the top of the wardrobe and found some things I didn't need, as well as a few jumpers I had tucked away (ones I really like but had forgotten about!). I also found up some Christmas bags so I made a list of the ones I needed for this Christmas - and I went to get them at the dollar shop before they all disappeared.

There were a couple of things I had to throw out completely but the other pieces I boxed up ready to take to the charity shop. It doesn't seem like a lot but it's a start.

- photo album (old fashioned that I'll never use)
- cd
- dvd
- pair of jeans
- 2 shirts
- pair of knit capris
- crafty kit (that I have had a while and will never complete)
- fashion scarf (something that came with a jumper and not a lot of use to me)
- blouse (I liked it at the time I bought it but realistically I won't wear so time to let go)

More difficult for me I managed to put together a box of ten books to take to the library for donation, put another six on paperbackswap.com (only those that had wishes for them so they can go immediately) and gave a small bag of books to my friend to read. Phew. It actually does look a little better when all written down! It helped to write things down too as I could see the progress.

Although I'm going to continue with the book decluttering, the rest will go on hiatus until after Thanksgiving. I have some cleaning up to do for when daughter comes to stay - it's next weekend YIKES!

November 5th

Today is Guy Fawkes Day and my 30th wedding anniversary. I picked the date because I knew that I would remember it. I'm terrible at remembering dates.

I can't believe it's been 30 years! Where has the time gone? We've had our ups and downs but we're still here. Even after this long when I had the flu in the spring he came home on his lunch break to check on me. He's the one who comes out with me every Sunday, rain or shine, blowing snow or freezing ice. Yes, he'll be sheltering from the wind while I take my photos, but he does get out of the car lol. I really don't know how he puts up with grumpy me sometimes. I guess I'll hold on to him for a little longer ;)

On a crafty note, I FINALLY finished my cross stitch. It seems as though I've been working on this forever. It had been in my stash for a while. As a rule I don't generally buy kits and working on this reminded me why. I love the design and most of the time I enjoyed working on it, BUT there were a lot of half stitches and the fabric supplied didn't make it easy. Also there were a lot of one strand of this colour and one strand of that. I didn't like that at all. Our cat doesn't seem to like me doing anything while I'm sitting in my chair as he thinks my lap should be his on command. I had a lot of picking it up and putting it down again.

I am pleased with how it turned out. However I think my next cross stitch project will be one of the small kits that come 'free' with the magazine. I have quite a few of them! I also need to pick up the knitting and learning to crochet again now that the weather is cooler. Mum asked me whether I'd done anymore crochet and I had to admit that I hadn't so I think I'll pull it out and try again. 

Tomorrow is my final dentist appointment for a while - my permanent crown will be put on. I'll be glad to be done. The ladies at my dentist at very nice, but I'll be glad not to see them for a while!

Hope everyone is having a good Monday. I'm talking decluttering next post. 

Rabbits, Rabbits....a day late!

Okay so I'm a day late, but I did think it yesterday! How many other people always feel the need to say 'rabbits, rabbits' on the first of the month? Another one we always used to say was 'pinch, punch, first of the month' to which someone would invariably say 'a punch and a kick for being so quick'. I blame my wandering thoughts of this to Sue over at The Cottage at the End of a Lane . She always writes such great posts about old folklore and traditions.

On that note, as I saw her post the other day I had to pull out my copy of The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden. I actually went out and found my own copy after Sue had mentioned it. It's a really gorgeous book. Lots of lovely tales and beautiful illustrations. It really is wonderful. I was looking through November's pages and there is an illustration of a green woodpecker. I was lucky enough to see one while I was home visiting Mum. I don't remember seeing one before or, more likely, I haven't paid attention. It seems lately I've been seeing red tailed hawks everywhere here. I'm sure it's not the first time they've been around, more likely because I now know what they are I see them more often.

Isn't it gorgeous?

The hawks I've been seeing are on my walk in the woods, on the way to the shops yesterday, one flew in front of my car last week and in my neighbour's tree a couple of days ago! I came home from my walk and wondered why there was a deafening silence - no birds, no noise, nothing - the food on the bird table had barely  been touched despite being early in the morning. A few minutes later I saw it!

No wonder the birds were so quiet!

Now that November has rolled around I'm thinking of the holidays (I'm not saying the 'c' word yet lol). I'm actually going to make a list! I have a few accessories left over from last year and I don't want to repeat buy. That's one of my goals for today. I couldn't sleep - woke up when husband did (4am) and couldn't get back to sleep. My mind started going a mile a minute so I didn't doze off again. I laid there until hubby and son left for work (5.30) and then got up. So I have extra time  though I'm pretty sure I'll be ready to doze by this afternoon.

What's everyone else up to this Friday?

Monday...again!

Thanks to everyone for the list making responses on my last post. I have a large planner right by my chair where I am writing things as I think of them. I haven't done too bad sticking to most things - though I must admit I completely forgot to do a load of washing today despite it being on my list. I saw it this morning and it completely slipped my mind until hubby mentioned putting today's work clothes in the hamper....ding! ding! I remembered that I was supposed to do a load of wash. Whoops!

The weekend was horribly wet and dreary. It always seems to be that way on the weekend lately. Hubby worked on Saturday so I stayed in. Sunday we decided to take a drive anyway. The rain did stop long enough that we were able to get in a couple of stops for photos. We managed about a mile and a half walk...and got drenched! Still, we did get out lol.

We made a stop at this bridge again. I did manage to get in trying out some shutter speed shots while there was a (very short) break in the rain.

Quite pleased with the way they turned out. I think I am spending far too much time taking photos when I should be working on projects. At least I am being creative.

Not a lot on for the week - I have a pile of books ready to go, that have to be gone. I also want to sort some clothes out of the wardrobe. There are some I don't wear nor will I. Not sure why I'm hanging on to them. Also I WILL START ON THOSE PROJECTS!!!

Making Lists

I am trying to write down a few things I want to get done each day (in addition to the usual). If I don't have things written down my mind tends to wander and I don't get anything done. Before I know it hubby is on his way home and the day is almost done! I know that if I see things written down I keep more on track. It feels good to cross them out as done too. I have got half the week planned for meals, but have to work on the end half. At least it's getting cooler and having the oven on actually feels good!

I still haven't started on Christmas things. Sigh. This really is going to be last minute. Perhaps I should add them to the daily list even if it will feel like a chore then. At least I might actually get something done. What tips do you have to keep you on track or motivated?

Here's a photo from the weekend. We actually got out for a walk. We got up extra early and headed out to one of my favourite state parks - Ludington. It was quite crisp out but it turned into a beautiful day. The weather forecast had said mainly cloudy so we were really lucky!

Made it to the Weekend

It's been a funny sort of week this week. We were gone until Monday afternoon so I was messed up on my days a little. I had a dentist appointment on Tuesday - my permanent bridge fitted and a crown on the other side. My whole mouth was terribly numb and the anxiety meds I take for the occasion make me feel quite sleepy when I'm all done. I think some of that might be the mess I've worked myself up into and then the crash when it's all done and is never as bad as I thought it would be. Anyway, that meant Tuesday was basically a nothing day.

I have been getting out walking. The weather is turning cooler now so I want to make the most of it while I can. I did manage to get all caught up on the wash - which I thought would be a never-ending task. I've been sorting through photos too. I took a LOT of them. It was all so pretty I couldn't resist.

Here's another snowy one. I saw this view as we were driving and made hubby stop. It looked so beautiful and peaceful.

I did get up in my craft room today. It's almost November and I really need to get going on those Christmas projects or they won't be done! What is everyone else working on for the holidays?

Have a good weekend!

So Beautiful - Autumn Colours

We had a fantastic weekend away. The colours up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan were just stunning. I think my mouth was dropped open in amazement half the weekend. It was so gorgeous I can't find the words to describe it. I wish I could move up there and see some of these views every morning. We had a touch of snow and things were certainly chilly but the weather stayed good for the most part.

Here are just a few photos. Yes, the colours were really that bright. I never knew trees came in so many colours.

Driving along. If I could have I would have had hubby stop at least once a mile lol.

One of my favourite views - the lighthouse on Grand Island.

Tahquamenon Falls.

I took so many photos. It's going to take a while to sort through!

Blah

Still raining, though we had a gorgeous day yesterday. The temperature (on my phone) said 85F (29C) at one point! Yikes. That is really high for here. The mosquitoes were still out and biting me. I made the most of it and went for a long walk. I got down to the lake just after sunrise and it was really pretty.

It was like something out of a painting. The leaves are beginning to change colour. There is always that one tree - you can see it in the photo - that changes colour before the rest. I wish there was a bench there so I could just sit and admire it. The light was really golden then.

Today the morning sun soon turned back to rain and that's the way it's been for most of the day. Thanks for all the rainy day thoughts and suggestions. I really don't mind a day here or there, but I think what's getting me down is knowing that soon there will be more grey days than sunny ones. Sometimes we can go weeks without seeing the sun. I just need to get back into that state of mind again.

On a good note, we are going away for a mini-break this weekend. We will be going for a long weekend up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. For those who aren't familiar with this region of America, Michigan is split into two parts - the upper and lower peninsula (as seen on the map below). We live down in the bottom - close to the bottom of Michigan - and we're going way up to the Upper Peninsula. The colour change of the trees up there are amazing. It will be a nice break.

On my attempts to organise - I have been sticking to the meal planning but I haven't got a lot else on my to-do list done. Sigh. I still have Thursday and Friday!