Goodbye 2021...and Good Riddance

 It's been a horrible year and I'll be glad to say goodbye to it. It's another tough day. Mum and I usually see in the New Year together. I'll call or Skype her and we'll watch and listen to Big Ben ringing in another year. We've done it for...well, as Mum would have said, we've done it for donkey's years. We usually have a natter, sing Auld Lang Syne and then finally I'd be able to say I'll see you later this year, rather than saying I'd see her next year. Sigh. Good Memory, but really sad. I suppose in time it will be a little easier. I'm going to try to find a way to listen or watch and have a drink in her memory. 

On a positive note I've been thinking about 2022 and goals. Hopefully I'll have some to share. I haven't posted for a couple of days as I've just been feeling a little off but I have been doing some thinking. A lot of the plans I had for this year barely got started before Mum got sick. I want to follow through on some of those and maybe make new goals. I don't do resolutions as those tend to last for a bit and then when I fail (which ultimately I do) I abandon them altogether. So rather than resolutions there will be goals. I shall try breaking them down into smaller more managable goals. I shan't be too hard on myself if I do fail. I shall pick myself up and start again. 

Do you make resolutions? Monthly goals? Long term goals? 

I hope you have a safe and peaceful New Year's Eve. 

Everyday/Snow/Is it Spring yet?

 We took the dogs for a walk this morning. It didn't go too well. I forgot that the park I chose had a bunch of visiting geese in the winter and lots of goose poo! One of the dogs was really excited by it. Sigh. They did get a little worn out though! 

The house is a big mess. A little stressful but I am enjoying daughter and the dogs visiting. It started to snow this afternoon just as we were taking the dogs for another walk - this time just around the neighbourhood. 

Managed to snap this one with my phone as we walked along. 

Oh...on a side note...when daughter and I went to the shops yesterday we noticed that they were already stocking Valentine's Day and even Spring/Easter sweets. Oh my! It is a long time until then. I know shops work in advance but surely they could wait until the New Year. Has anyone else noticed this? 

This is an American Marshmallow Treat usually used in Spring Time. I can't admit to eating one as they have Gelatin in them, but most people around me either have a love or hate relationship with them. Either way it was a little...interesting to see them so early!

Another Day - books

Eileen - daughter isn't quite sure when she is going home. She has to work on Thursday but brought her work computer with her. She will probably go back after the weekend. I'm really appreciative that her new husband is so supportive of her spending time with me. He knew how tough this year has been for all of us. I know it's not easy to be away from your family in tough times and I'm glad he understands that too. He is such a great guy!

What a horrible dreary day! It started with all kinds of weather - snow, ice, rain and thunderstorms! Sadly there was no sun to follow. It was drizzly, dreary and foggy most of the day. The thunderstorms actually woke me up!

I went for a quick walk before daughter really got moving today. My oldest son is home from work on holiday this week and he was nice enough to look after the dogs while daughter and I went out and had a little look around. We didn't find a lot. I did splurge on some new books. The bookshop had a really good deal on hardcover books. I got some money for Christmas so treated myself. 

One of the books I got was this one. It's quite interesting and has been on my wish list for a while. I am looking forward to reading it. 

Speaking of books I completed my challege of 100 books in 2021! I was sure I wasn't going to complete the challenge. I didn't keep track of a lot of what I read so I'm glad to be have recorded as many books as I did. I am going to participate in the challenge again next year. I like having the books I've read recorded somewhere and Goodreads is really easy to do. 

2021 READING CHALLENGE

2021

READING

CHALLENGE

Congrats!

You have read 108 books of your goal of 100!

108/100 (108%)

View Challenge

 

I think tonight will be an early night. I am quite tired and am having trouble keeping my eyes open!

Boxing Day/A Nature Walk

This morning it was quite chilly. There was a thick frost on my car, and a thick frost in the field at the nature park I usually walk in. I don't generally go there on the weekend, but because of the holiday and daughter visiting I decided to take a walk there before we started our day. It was -4C as I was walking. The field was absolutely beautiful. It wasn't long before I came across a couple of male deer. They seemed a little wary of me, but (weird but true) I talked softly to them enough to take a few photos before leaving them to their breakfast. 

I walked down to The Point where one of the beaver lodges are. By that time the sun was just coming over the horizon. Quite beautiful. Not everyone is happy about the trees the beavers are downing lately, but I find it really interesting to watch. It seems that every morning a new tree has been gnawed upon. This happened last year too until it got too cold for them to do much work. I don't know too much about beavers but it seems to me that they fortify their lodges for winter and put some of the branches they strip off beneath the water, close to their lodges so they can chew on them during the winter. 

There were no beavers this morning, but I saw a muskrat (maybe more than one - who knows whether it was just the same one popping up!).  There was a thin layer of ice on top of part of the lake and I watched as one popped up through. 

Daughter and I didn't end up going far. We took the dogs on a couple of walks around our neighbourhood. I think the drive is catching up with her as she was awfully tired today and took several naps. I know she's been working hard too, so I decided it was more important to let her sleep and rest a while!

Christmas Day

 How you feel at the beginning of the day

How you feel at the end of the day

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas Day.  

I want this post to be a bit more cheerful so I will say that I received lots of thoughtful presents. I was quite spoiled. I did receive the books I really wanted from my oldest son.  A new adventure for 2022

Christmas Eve

 I missed yesterday. I had been trying to post every day this month and have done really well up until now, but last night I was tired. By the time I remembered (for about the tenth time) that I was going to post I was already in bed and, well, to be honest, I just couldn't be bothered to get back out of bed, fire up the computer and write the post.  So no post yesterday, but back on the posting wagon today. 

I managed to buy everything else I needed yesterday so I didn't have to shop at all today! Writing a list really did help. I finished most of the wrapping yesterday with just a couple of stray items that needed wrapping today. I went for a really long walk this morning. It was quite lovely. Quiet for a while early this morning, but by the time I left the car park was full. There were lots of birds around today eating the berries of the trees. I stood on the path and just watched. Nobody at all came along the path. 

I messaged with my sister this afternoon. She, my BIL and her younger daughter S, S's husband and two children went to Felixstowe today and took some flowers and a card to Mum's bench. They took photos to share with me. It was lovely but made me cry. I can't wait to be able to go sit on the bench and just chat with Mum. 

Middle son came up later and I cooked some pizza and nibbles. I was really surprised when someone came in the door - it was daughter and her dogs!!! She has surprised me with a visit home for Christmas. Her husband stayed home but he messaged me to say he hoped I liked the surprise. He is such a good guy. I am so thankful that my daughter has found such a lovely partner to share her life with. I wasn't looking forward to Christmas at all but it will be lovely to spend the time with her. 

I wanted to share a photo of one of the lovely gifts daughter and her husband gave me last week. It was son-in-law's idea to have this made for me. It is a blanket/throw. I am not sure I can bring myself to use it maybe except to wrap myself up in it and try to remember how it felt to get a hug from Mum. The flowers just so say Mum - she loved flowers. 

I hope everyone has a lovely holiday. 

I have been feeling a bit sniffly for the past few days. My nose hasn't stopped running and I'm tired (but haven't been sleeping well either). I decided to take a Covid test just to be sure (have some at home) as I didn't want to chance passing on anything to anyone else. It came back negative so probably just a cold. 

An ornament I brought home from Jane's tree to put on mine. She is missed this Christmas. I always tried to get her genealogy gifts as well as a Barnes and Noble (bookshop) GC. She was such a great reader! She always emailed after Christmas to tell me what books she purchased with her GC. I missed making her a lighthouse calendar this year. 

Lastly, the kindness of strangers. A cookie a lady at husband's work made. It is so beautiful I am almost afraid to eat it. 

Okay, this definitely is lastly. I really want to say a big thank you to all my blogger friends for your comments and support this year. They have really touched my heart and helped me through this difficult year. I hope all of you have a lovely holiday season. 

 It was really cold this morning when I woke up. I went for a really long walk and just about froze. I just needed to not think for a while, enjoy nature and the beauty around and take photos. Snow was falling lightly while I was out. I think that because it was so cold everyone decided to stay away from the park and it was lovely and quiet. It was really quite beautiful. Very cold though. I couldn't find my long undies and my legs were pretty cold when I was done. I came home and looked for them, but I still can't find them. Tomorrow morning is supposed to be just as cold so I will probably wear some leggings under my jeans. 

I managed one store, got quite a few things on my list, but still have to go out tomorrow to buy the rest. If I am not done tomorrow it won't be bought. I am determined not to go out on Friday. It will be crazy. I did get a whole lot of wrapping done today and tidied up some hotspots in the living room and dining room so I'm feeling a little better. Clearing up has made me realise that I have a lot of work to do in my own house next year. I also realise that I feel quite anxious when there is a lot of stuff/clutter around. My house isn't that big but I like space so there are things that will need to go. I think I shall have to be quite brutal about it. But that's for next year!

I kept busy all day.  There were more tears last night rather than today. I left a memory on Mum's memorial page. I am really glad the funeral home set it up. I'm not sure how long it will be there, but when I'm having a particularly difficult day I go on the page and light a candle or leave a thought. I want there to be more days when I try to think of the good times rather than the guilt I feel at not getting there in time. I know it is all on me as she wouldn't want me to feel that way. It's just tough. I can almost hear her telling me I'm being silly and her giving me a hug. 

I'm not going to end this on me being sad and moaning again. 

We got the Christmas tree up. Photos to come. I put up the ornaments I brought back from Jane's house. I have some I brought back from Mum's but they are still in the (unsorted) boxes. Husband put up the little tree. He usually does. Most of the ornaments we end up putting on the tree are handmade.

Tomorrow I'll be taking another walk. I have three shops to go to. One is just a pickup order, the other is for GC and the third for food. I have the last of the wrapping to do, some neglected housework to do and then I am hoping to take a nice relaxing bath before husband and son get home.

How are your preparations coming? Almost done? 

Today's photo is a picture of daughter, her husband (that sounds so strange to say lol), me and hubby at the light festival this weekend. Happy times. 

Happy Solstice!

 I almost titled this Monday, Monday... and then remembered that it is, in fact, Tuesday lol. Anyway, Happy Solstice! I was at the local lake just before sunrise this morning and watching the moon fall on one side of the lake and the sun rise on the other. It was quite cold and for a while there was no one else around. It was just magical. I always like this day as it means the days will finally get longer again. My Mum always laughed and said that it would be quite a while before that happened! It seems such a long way until Spring. We haven't got to the really cold days yet. 

This is one of my phone photos of the moon over the lake, it was reflected in the water below. I think I got better photos with my camera but I will have to check them and I just haven't got around to it yet. 

After my walk I picked up MIL and we went to a couple of craft shops. I am pleased to say I bought nothing! MIL picked up a couple of items she needed for a project and then we had a look around at the Christmas items. 

There were quite a few ornaments, statues and things left. Nothing I really needed or honestly wanted, but it was fun to look!

I came home, did the wash from our trip - lots of dog hair lol - and then I actually did a little wrapping! I am behind.

Tomorrow will be five months since Mum died. I've been feeling a knot in my stomach for days. I still miss her so much. Especially at this time of year when everything is about family and a huge, important part of mine is gone. I missed making the calendar for her this year.  It's the first time I haven't done it in twenty plus years. I would always be panicking in case I didn't have it done in time and Mum would always smile or laugh as she knows how I leave things until the last minute. It was always there by the new year though. She would have it up on the wall in her living room and my sisters would always look at the new photos when they came to visit. Sigh. I know my middle sister is having a tough time. Mum would always go over to sister's for Christmas Day and to spend the night. In the morning my BIL would take her to my other sister's. Last year Mum spent both Christmas and Boxing Day with sister. I think we're all struggling with the holidays this year. 

Well, I'm off to bed before I start crying. I can hear the wind howling around outside, so yet another windy night. I hope the power stays on and there are no downed trees. 

Back in Michigan

 It was a long drive back to Michigan, but we made good time. I'm just really tired. It shall be an early night for me. Husband has to go back to work tomorrow and I have lots to do. I need to go for a nice long walk in the morning. I haven't walked for a few days (not a long walk). It will be below freezing here in the morning, but not as cold as where daughter lives. After my walk I am going out with MIL. Then I shall get some washing done, maybe some presents wrapped. I am running out of time!

I heard from my walking friend while I was away. She was leaving on Saturday to visit with her son in California for the holidays. I texted her saying I hope she had a good journey as snow was expected here in Michigan on Saturday. She let me know that she made her plane okay but then they had to sit on the runway for FOUR hours as they couldn't get something in the plane to work properly! She said that wasn't the worst of it though. On Friday while she was trying to get everything ready for the trip she missed the bottom step on her basement spraining her ankle and chipping the bone! So she is back in a boot! I hope she recovers quickly.

Today's photo - one I took a while ago, but I like the bright red cardinal and the snow. I think this would make a nice holiday card. 

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

Daughter, Christmas

 Had a good day at daughter's. A few teary moments. There were conversations about mum and aunt Jane.  There were several times this weekend I wished I could tell mum something or share something with her.  I was thinking back on this time last year and how things were just fine,  before mum got sick and her struggles.  Even though we were going through covid and times were tough and we hadn't seen one another we could still chat and things were OK. 

Daughter's husband's mum lost her mom last year so she knows how tough firsts can be. Funny how we bond over the strangest things. 

On a good note,  plus note,  it was lovely to spend the day with daughter on her 28th Birthday. How time has flown! How lucky I am to have her.  She's been a tower of strength this year though I know she's done her own grieving too. She's taken time off work and driven hundreds of miles to spend time with me - when mum got sick with Covid and when Jane passed.  She's called me and talked with me when she knows I've been sad and grieving.  The day after mum passed she spent most of the day on the phone with me though I was in England and she in the states. I'm really glad to have her. 

So today's photo is of me and her.  I hate having my photo taken but I have learned - especially this year - that photos and memories are important.  I can't spend all my time behind the lens however comfortable that may be for me.  I want daughter to have photos and be able to look and remember the good times as I do those of me and my mum. 

Frozen Falls and Light Festival

 We had a pretty quiet day until this afternoon and then we took a trip to Minnehaha Falls. After the falls we went to the Glow Light Festival. Our time to go in was fairly early so parking was easy.  The festival was outside so there was lots of space.  My feet absolutely froze as it was all below freezing. We had a really fun time though - so glad we went!

 

Tomorrow we are doing our Christmas - present exchange and some games. 

Quick Post

 We arrived safely in Minnesota.  The roads were clear so we were really lucky travelling through Northern states in winter! It is snowing here lightly now and very cold. As I write this it is -10c/14f. I am glad I brought warm clothes with me though it is nice and toasty warm in daughter's house.  We made good time on the journey and the rest of our time we've spent catching up and just relaxing. 

Hopefully I'll have a couple photos to share tomorrow. I did take a phone one of Koda as she was in the couch

Getting Packed and Ready

 We are off for an early start tomorrow. We want to leave the house by 5am (yikes!) so we don't interrupt oldest son's morning work routine. It's a long old drive so if we get an early start we might make good time. Sometimes when we go we avoid Chicago as it is horrible driving there but it adds an extra hour onto our time. Hubby says we are going through Chicago tomorrow. Yikes. People drive so fast and there are lots of lanes. It makes me quite nervous even though I'm just in the passenger seat! 

I was busy most of the day running last minute errands and getting stuff together for our visit to daughter's. I must admit that I am feeling a little (lot) frazzled. I know things will go okay, but it's more the anticipation that is worse than anything. I am even clenching my jaw at night. I can feel myself doing it when I wake up and my jaw hurts. Perhaps being anxious is another reason for not sleeping. Sigh. 

Everything is packed (I think) and ready to go (I hope). I'm glad I made a list for things I needed to buy and stayed on track. I was almost tempted to go to the lakeshore for the waves as it was another windy day but I knew it would put me behind. I had gone at the weekend and got lots of photos so I decided (wisely) to keep on track. 

I did have a few minutes later in the afternoon to pop up into the craft room, make one card and take photos of a couple of others. 

 I almost missed posting again! I really need to write myself lists or reminders. Speaking of lists, I have started one for when I go shopping tomorrow. I was going to stop at one shop after dropping off MIL today after we got done at Jane's, but when I looked for my purse I realised that I had forgotten it! Sure enough it was on the table when I got home. Usually if I'm going somewhere after my walk I will keep my purse in my camera backpack and take it on the walk for me (there have been some break-ins at the car park to the nature park). I thought it was in the backpack and I actually didn't look until I was parked in MIL's driveway. I thought I'd get my purse out of the backpack so I didn't fiddle around when I got to the shop. Luckily I didn't drive all the way there before realising I had forgotten it! Grrr... just one more thing to add to the list to do tomorrow. 

As I'm writing this I can hear the wind whipping up outside. We have more high winds coming. I hope we don't lose power! I got emails from the energy company and the television place that we might lose service so be prepared! I might be tempted to go to the lakeshore if the winds are right, but I have a lot to do so I'm hoping I don't get distracted! I can check on Youtube to see if the winds are hitting the lighthouse the right way. I did get lots of photos the other day. 

Photo today of another little card I made for Christmas

Of course (as always) I'm behind in reading blogs and answering comments. I shall do tomorrow. Today is amost done and I'm ready for bed (though it will probably be restless sleep again - too much on my mind!). 

Just a bit crafty

 Didn't sleep well again last night. This may be a little tmi but I wonder that maybe on top of feeling stressed and sad, some of it may be due to menopause. I've not had trouble sleeping much in the past but lately I feel as though after about three hours I'm awake more than asleep! 

I did manage a walk. It was bright and sunny this morning. We saw a few deer but no sign of the beavers this week. I had to go and pick up just a couple of food items that I needed and then I spent the rest of the time organising presents and wrapping up and starting a pile of the things we are taking to daughter's. We are going for a (quick) long weekend this weekend. We are driving on Friday (takes 10+ hours) will spend Saturday and Sunday (her birthday) there and will then drive back Monday (10+ hours). Fingers crossed that the weather holds for us and there is not a lot of snow. Temperatures in Minnesota will be colder than here. Daughter made me laugh as she told us to bring warm clothes. I know Minnesota is a little colder but it's not as though we live in Florida or somewhere like that. 

On Saturday evening daughter has booked us tickets at the Glow Festival at the Minnesota state fairgrounds. I think it has lots of lights and food and things. It will be interesting though I hope not too busy! On Sunday we are exchanging presents with daughter, her husband and his family. It is also daughter's birthday so we shall be eating cake!

I am feeling a little better than I have got their things sorted out and wrapped. I still feel as though I have a lot to do but that was a big job. 

I also finally took some photos of a couple of the little gift boxes I've made. I will fill with some sweets and treats. I even cleaned off part of the desk and prettied it up a little! I enjoy making these - they are fun to make and quite easy. 

 Well, it's the beginning of another week. Up early this morning. I had a few nightmares last night. Not sure why. Maybe a little anxious or stressed. Now I'm struggling to stay awake but I know if I go to bed any earlier I shall be up even earlier tomorrow. 

I went for a walk this morning. The sun was actually shining so that was nice. The winds have died down a little - at least for now. Walked with my friend and then picked MIL up and we went over to Jane's. We are only doing Monday and Wednesday there this week and then we are taking a break until after Christmas. Today MIL's cousin came over and got some more of the genealogy research and books. Cousin likes doing genealogy too so it is nice that she is able to take some of Jane's things with her. MIL and I are trying to organise what we have sorted as we have (hopefully) got through all the paperwork upstairs though there may be a lot more in the basement (hope not!). Cousin was surprised at how much we had got done as last time they had come they could not get in the back bedroom or sit in the living room! It is beginning to look a little better. 

At Asylum Lake early this morning. 

 

Weekend Over

 Well that went rather quickly! We managed to get out today for a bit. It was really windy again so we took another trip to the lakeshore (a bit further away) and I got to take more photos of the waves. Today was nicer than yesterday and there was some sunshine. It always makes me a little more cheerful. It was above freezing today but I still bundled up - with the wind and being by the lake it felt a lot colder than it was. 

When we were done on our adventure we popped over to Jane's. Earlier in the week I couldn't open the lock on the skip/dumpster. FIL tried too. Apparently because it was so cold it froze! Husband was able to open it easily today as it has been a little warmer. He said water came out of when he tipped it slightly to put the key in. I'm not sure how the water got it in. The lock has a little latch over the hole, but apparently it happened somehow. Husband threw all the bags of rubbish away and took care of a large box full of recycle stuff that I couldn't lift. So tomorrow when we go back to Jane's we start with no rubbish around. Someone is coming tomorrow to look at some more of the genealogy so hopefully some of it will be gone!

A wave photo from today. This lighthouse is South Haven. 

While we were there two...people (being polite) went right down to the end of the pier with two dogs! The You can see how big the waves were and they were rolling over the pier at points! As I was getting ready to take this photo another couple stepped out onto the pier just as a waver came crashing over the other side! They managed to escape the water and wisely decided not to go on the pier. 

So Windy!

 It was a windy day here in Michigan. The temperature plummeted from 59F (15C) to 39F (4C) in about an hour! What a drop! We had really high winds too. MIL lost power for a few hours but luckily we didn't. A few things were blown around the garden, but we didn't lose any trees (thank goodness). We have a few really tall trees at the bottom of our garden. They have survived wind storms so far but you never know! As I sit here now it sounds as though the winds have settled down a little. 

I didn't get a lot done today. We were gone for a lot of the day. We took a trip to the lakeshore and stopped to drop off some things that middle son had bought and had shipped to our house. I think I've said this before but having packages delivered to his apartment usually includes having to either drive to the post office or waiting until the office (located in another apartment complex owned by the same company) is open so he can go get it. That usually doesn't work out too well due to his work/sleep situation. 

Husband wanted to get his booster vaccination today so on the way back we stopped to do that and I picked up some shopping while waiting. I later learned that daughter and her husband got theirs done today. My oldest son had his on Thursday so at this point we have all had it. After the shopping/vaccination we stopped at the post office (I was surprised it was still open as it was later on Saturday!) and then we stopped and picked up some bird seed we had ordered online. 

The lakeshore was really windy! Husband got out for about two minutes and then decided he was going back in the car. I braved the winds - stayed at a distance - and got some photos. It is really striking to see the waves and to realise that this is a lake - it's not an ocean or sea with regular tides and waves. I had to brace myself to stay on my feet! 

This is St Joe Lighthouse close to where my middle son lives. No walking out to the lighthouse today lol. 

It's Friday!

I started the day off with my usual walk. It wasn't quite as cold today - still below freezing when I started out - but it warmed up - and the sun was shining! I have to say that certainly makes you feel a bit brighter when the sun is shining! As my friend and I were starting off our walk we saw this beautiful sunrise through the trees. 

What a wonderful colourful way to start the morning!

I feel as though I got quite a bit done today. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night (again) and woke up early. As I was up early I was looking for a certain pair of socks and ended up pulling out two drawers and sorting through them. I got rid of a whole lot of things! It wasn't on my list, but it was nice to get something of mine sorted. I did manage to look through the things I've already bought and have found that I bought 2 of the same game for my son! I will have to take one back. Sigh. A good reason why I should probably write more lists! 

I did get to my craft room and made a couple of small boxes. I am waiting for better light to take photos of them. By the time I finished making them it was quite dark - a hazard of the shorter days. I have put a ring light on my wish list so perhaps I might get one. I think that would help with the lighting trouble. 

Tomorrow will be quite busy. Depending on the weather - we're due wind and rain - we might go out for a quick walk or a trip to the lakeshore if the waves are right. Husband wants to get his booster jab. They are accepting walk-in appointments. We have to pick up an order for bird seed that is finally ready and make a stop at the post office, probably a trip to get some food too. I also want to get back into my craft room if possible. I want to get some of daughter's presents wrapped. We are taking a long weekend visit to her over her birthday (19th) weekend and we will share our gifts then. 

Oh - one good thing about sorting out bits and pieces are found things you forgot you bought. Take these gift tags. I found them just in time for this year! 

Oopps!

 I almost missed posting. I had thought about it earlier, transferred some phone photos to my google account so I could upload them and after talking to my son tonight I shut down my computer so I could go to bed. I then remembered that I had forgotten to write my post. 

I went for my walk this morning. It was still cold but a little warmer than it has been - almost freezing lol. After the walk I ran some errands. I did end up going to the dollar store. I wanted to pick up some wrapping paper, tape and a few cleaning supplies that I was running low on. I ended up buying a bunch of snacks for stockings and spent more than I had thought! Still, the prices are better than other places. At least for now! I hear that the dollar store will no longer be selling things for a dollar. 😲 How crazy is that? There starting price will be 1.25. Maybe they will be changing their name to 'Nothing for a dollar' store. It doesn't sound like a lot but that is a twenty-five percent increase!! When you think of it like that it is a lot. I would like to see them keep some items for a dollar and have other items that are a little more. 

MIL and I have decided to take tomorrow off Jane's. Neither one of us got done the things we wanted to get done today. I think it will give us both a chance to catch up a little. I don't have any errands to run tomorrow so after my walk I can come home and get started on some things on my list!

A couple of Christmas-y photos today. My Christmas mug - I think I got this at the dollar store last year!

And a pretty bad lighting photo of a card I made today. I have to do better at my photos here. I am tending to post a lot that I take on my phone. I really need to take the time to take a better photo. Sigh. 

Quite tired this evening. We went to Jane's today. Sorted probably another 6 bags of clothes to be donated and 5+ bags of rubbish.  When I came home I sorted one (very small) cupboard of my own. 

Tomorrow is a day off Jane's house. I'll take a walk in the morning. Then I have a couple of errands to run, some housework to do and maybe either some Christmas crafting I need to get done or sorting gifts. I'm behind in what I need to get done so I have to make sure I do something. 

I took these photos a couple of weeks ago. While I was in England and my sisters and I were thinking of Mum's bench and plaques and what they say we looked at a lot of them as we walked along. There aren't as many of them over here in America, but when I see one I always stop to read it. This one really made me chuckle, especially since the bench is under a sand drift due to the high winter winds. 

I shall catch up on blogs tomorrow as I'm ready for bed!

Brrrr

 It was really cold this morning and a touch snowy. Our road was pretty icy - as it had both rained and snowed the day before. The main road was a little icky but I braved it to go to the park for my walk and by the time I got finished the road was a lot better. I already miss the warmer days when all I had to do in the morning was hop in my car. Now I have to warm the car up, dress in long undies, gloves, hat, boots, scarf. Today I even wore double socks and double gloves. It really was that cold!

Before I left for my walk I looked out of my back window and although I don't have a clear view of sunrise the sky was ablaze with beautiful deep colours. Yes, it really was this colour. 

Sadly after the sunrise there wasn't a lot of sun for a while - just lots of clouds!!

I didn't get as many errands done as I had hoped. I did get the food shop done, but it was busy and crowded and I just couldn't face going anywhere else. I am glad I went to the shop I did as I read later that the one I sometimes go to (a little further away) was going to be closing at 2pm until Thursday for 'deep cleaning' due to increased local Covid numbers. I read that to mean there are several cases at the shop as there are other branches of this shop in our town and none of those have been closed! Over here they won't tell where the cases are so it's speculation on my part. 

Got one more shelf cleaned out at home. Not as much done as I wanted to. Daughter called and we chatted for a long time. She said she was feeling a little lonely. Her workplace is now working at home for good so it means little interaction for her with people. It's nice that she doesn't worry about the dogs but not so nice that she's all alone all day. 

It's back to Jane's tomorrow. Oh, I almost forgot to share the photo of the room. I know it's not perfect. We are leaving the books on the shelves (they have been sort of looked through) as they are mostly history/genealogy books and we are hoping to have one of her genealogy friends come look through and take what they want or think their genealogy group would be interested in. The dressers are empty. I am SO pleased it looks like this. It was one of the worst rooms. We could not even get into it when we first started!

It really makes me feel as though we are making progress!

Monday Monday

 I woke up feeling a bit better. There have still been times throughout the day where I've felt a little dizzy and nauseous but not nearly as bad as yesterday so thankfully I think it was just a twenty-four hour thing. I went for a walk this morning. It was so cold and dull. Not a good walk! I think all the birds and deer were hiding as we saw hardly anything. After I went to pick up MIL and we went over to Jane's. Seeing the emtpy (sort of) room was so encouraging. I feel as though we are getting something done! Today I think we took out seven or eight bags of rubbish so still a long way to go. 

I took a few photos of her lovely Christmas village. She had a Chrismtas room where she kept a Christmas village up all year as well as a Christmas tree and a wreath. I thought I'd share something a little festive so I made a collage.

This afternoon it snowed a little so perhaps there will be a little colour around for tomorrow's walk. I am hoping that the roads aren't too bad though. We had a couple of really snow covered male deer visit the garden just as the sun was coming down. They were looking to eat some of the fallen bird seed. Quite a treat to see but too dark to take a photo and I didn't want to scare them. They could see me watching them from the house.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to get done some of the stuff I should have done yesterday. I should probably make a list. I have to go buy some food and plan the rest of the meals for the weeks as well. I have a couple of household chores to do. So it will be quite a busy day!

Ugh

 Not a productive day at all. I didn't get anything done that I wanted to. Last night I wasn't feeling too well after getting back. I thought it was probably because I had spent too long outside. Sometimes when I get too cold I sometimes end up feeling quite ill and can't get warm. I was feeling like that last night so I thought it was because of that. It was rather windy and cold at the lakeshore. But I woke up this morning feeling off. I went for a quick walk and still felt...off. 

I've spent most of the day sitting in my chair. I'm okay as long as I don't move. I think it must be an ear thing or such as it's when I move that I feel sick. I'm hoping it's just a 24 hour thing and I'll feel better in the morning. I did manage to go with husband and son over to Jane's and have them move some pieces of furniture (tables, bookcases) into the garage so that we can get into the cupboards. I was so pleased to get the things out of the back room as it is now empty in the middle (other bookcases, dressers around the edges). When we first started on the room we couldn't get into it at all! It was completely blocked. MIL and I have worked so hard and it's lovely to finally see some progress! We are back over there tomorrow to continue our sorting. 

On my walk this morning I saw that the beavers have been extremely busy again! So many trees felled and stripped. It's amazing what they can do!

Here's hoping that tomorrow is more productive!

Saturday

 Thanks for all the comments yesterday. I'm glad it wasn't just me doing something stupid with the photo uploads. I also managed to update December books without messing it up or getting frustrated. I've already read two books - though to be fair one of them was started in November. 

Today was chilly but sunny. We got up early and managed to do a sunrise. I can actually share a photo I took with my phone lol. 

This was taken at a local park (well, the other side of town park). It has one of the only good sunrise views in our town. 

There was a frost on the ground and it covered some raked leaves. 

Later we came across this lovely mural painted on the side of a building. It made me smile as I enjoy watching squirrels and I enjoy taking photos. 

We went to the lakeshore too and I took some photos with my camera. It was rather windy and chilly. I meant to take some photos with my phone, but I had my (2 pairs) gloves on and I didn't get the phone out to take photos. We had a little walk along the beach, but it was really cold so there weren't many people around. 

I still haven't got out much Christmas-y things. I think I'm running out of time. I shall probably try to get something out tomorrow. We aren't going far. We did our day out today as husband is going out with his dad and one of our sons tomorrow. I might go for a walk in the morning depending on how the weather looks. 

I hope everyone is having a good weekend! 

Friday - Grrr... photo troubles

My arm is feeling a little better today. It's still sore to the touch, but not as sore as it was. We were back at Jane's today. I feel as though we've got quite a bit done this week! I can start to see some progress although it will take several more months before it is finished. 

When I got home I put some washing in the machine and then sorted a small area of my own house that I'd been putting off. It's a shelf that seemed to have attracted, well, stuff. There is another shelf above it that I shall sort tomorrow. Although it's a lot of work and tiring at Jane's it is motivating me to get things sorted at my own house. Luckily I don't have nearly as much stuff as Jane! We won't be doing any sorting this weekend as we take those off but I am hoping to 'persuade' husband to go over there and dump some of the rubbish bags in the skip. I managed to get them out into the garage but lifting them up into the skip wasn't happening this week with my arm. I'm also hopeful that he will help me move a couple of pieces of furniture out of the room we've been working on. Jane put up metal shelving units in from of a built in wardrobe/closet that is full of stuff and needs to be sorted. 

I did manage a walk this morning although it was a horrible dull, rainy day. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny so hopefully we'll be taking a walk tomorrow or at least getting out for some photos. 

I had some photos of my walk to insert here but when I try to upload them - from anywhere or with any browser - I get a sign like a no entry sign. Sigh. Not sure why. If anyone can help please let me know. It feels rather bare to leave a  post without a photo. 😟

Another Day - Survived the Dentist

 Thanks for all the comments yesterday and the empathy. 

I was still feeling the effects of the vaccine booster this morning. I didn't feel well and had a terrible time trying to sleep with sore arm last night. I didn't have a fever so I decided to go to the dentist and just get it over with. No point putting it off. I thought about it. Really wanted to cancel, but I knew it would only delay the inevitable. It went okay. I got a little teary laying there thinking of Mum. She was always the one who talked me through going. I was thinking about that laying there. I could almost hear her telling me it would soon be over with. 

It's all done now. It was a little over an hour and a half appointment. I have a temporary crown on until I go back in January to have the permanent one put on. My arm is still sore, but the body aches have gone away now - or are just out ached by the pain in my mouth! The dentist said it would be a couple of days before my gums settled down again as the work was done close to them and they became inflamed. 

With my mouth still numb I went for a quick walk as it was sunny. I didn't do a lot once I got home - just my usual Thursday bits. 

I did manage to hang up a couple of Christmas wall hanging things I found at the dollar store. I don't spend a lot on decorations but I quite liked these. 

Tomorrow MIL and I are back at Jane's.