Winter Solstice!

 YEA!!

Yesterday was Winter Solstice

and that means the days will start

getting LONGER again!

Moving north made for much shorter

days in the wintertime!

And then with the time change falling back

the sun goes down waaaaay too early.

And then we are all just sitting around,

watching TV and wondering what to do

with ourselves.

Hahaha.

It will take several months for the days

to actually get longer again,

but at least we are heading in the 

right direction finally.

This morning Kyle and Rod headed out

to the farm to meet the electrician and

do a walk-through so he can get the

house wired and hook up some electricity!

That will certainly come in handy now

that Kyle is finished with the exterior

and they are starting work on the interior.

Rod has been working on getting the

plumbing figured out.

He's never plumbed a bathroom before,

it's a challenge, but he's getting it.

I'm planning to do my teacher reports

and then give the house a good clean.

I need to clean out the fridge and get

rid of all those little half servings of

stuff that get stuck in the back...

I tried a couple new recipes this week.

They were fails.

We didn't care for any of them...

So yesterday we went back to the old

stand-by favorites.

I made a big pot of loaded potato soup

after church and then put some 

country style ribs in the pressure cooker

for dinner.

They were both delicious!

Church was EXCELLENT.

We had 10 different people come up and

read a scripture about Christ's birth and 

say a few words or share a testimony

(Rod's part was about the star)

and then we all sang a hymn that

correlated with the scripture.

It was really well done and as always

I really enjoyed getting to sing all the

favorite hymns.

We even added the new Star Bright from

the new hymnbook. 

I'm not sure I love the new ones yet.

They feel like grown-up Primary songs.

We have been singing them pretty

regularly. For the first few, we had someone

present it as a special number in the

middle of the meeting and then sang it

together as the closing hymn.

That worked well.

Anyhow.

It was a good meeting.

And then we headed home and I made soup.

While it was cooking we took the dogs for

a nice long walk down our road and out

into the country.

The dogs were enthralled with the horses!

(There are 2 pastures with horses...)

it's been awhile since they've seen any up close.

But they didn't bark or try to chase them.

It was a lovely day.

Temps in the low 60s and almost no wind.

Had to reduce my layers and take off my hat!

(I was expecting it to be much cooler...)

This afternoon when the guys get home

we are heading into town to WalMart (yikes)

to get the stuff we need for the Christmas

fruit salad.

And then tomorrow Kyle and I are heading

to Menards in Salina (2 hours east) to pick

up his insulation and then to Wichita

another hour south, for my biometrics

appointment for my new green card.

Fun Christmas Eve activities.... lol.

Then home again to enjoy the evening

as a family and then it's Christmas!

Done! (Kind of...)

 So the family we are making the blankets for

decided to try to leave a little earlier than originally

intended (they were leaving right after church on Sunday)

and so the Sister Sisters came over last night and

picked up the 7 blankets I had finished so far.

(Not bad considering I only started on Friday afternoon!)

I spread them out on the floor so you could see.

Dinah taught me how to do them as a granny square.

I'm having lots of fun doing it that way!

Plus we have the 5 black and white ones.

Before I started that project I had just finished making

this one for Kyle's bed. It's 3 strands together on a smaller

hook than I'm using now (I think it's an N?) so it is 

tighter and SUPER heavy!

His room is "last" in the line of duct work so he 

doesn't get much in the way of either A/C or heat so 

his room stays chilly in the winter. (Plus he has 2 exterior

walls...) so having a big heavy blanket was kind of nice.

I had planned to keep it for Christmas, but he needed it...

He picked out the colors.

Meanwhile, yesterday I went out and helped him plant

a couple of the trees we bought.

He has dry-fit the cabinets for the kitchen.

He has another upper on the other side of the window

I think, but I'm not sure...

He also built the "closet" for his washer and dryer.

I thought I took a picture of his bathroom too,

but I guess not.

And no pictures of the baby trees.

They are little tiny fir branches sticking

out of the ground.

Remember the TINY trees we got from Mayor Jack Leslie?

I was in ... grade 1? grade 2?

Anyhow.

They turned into those GIANT trees in the front yard.

So I'm holding out hope for these little guys.

He got 50 planted yesterday.

250 more to go.

HAHAHAHA.

(Not all firs)

In the evenings he likes to draw.

This is what he has been working on lately.

Cute, eh?

He's enjoying working with pencil.

I just had this week's YW Presidency meeting.

I finished another adult sized blanket while I was teaching,

and then I started a half-sized one for a child.

I plan to take them down the "The Well" here in town.

It's a little coffee/smoothie shop that is the fund raiser

for a ministry for a local congregation.

They provide counseling services and other services

for some of the folks in town who need help.

So I thought I would use the last of the yarn and make

2 adult and 1 child blanket and take it down there for them

to donate to whomever could use them.

And then I'll think of a different project.

But for now I'm enjoying this!

(They delivered TWENTY blankets, some candy

and some beef jerky to the Farmers to take out to 

N. Carolina. They have to take it in by horseback,

and their pack mule's pack is FULL.)

They hope to go again next month, but will only be

able to get in via snow mobile and will have to

beg, borrow, rent... one so won't likely be able

to take a bunch of other stuff. But we'll cross

that bridge when we get there.

In the meantime, it's COLD here and I'm sure there

are folks in town who could use a blanket.

And now?

I'm heading back into the living room to finish 

watching my Hallmark movie and get ready to 

start my LAST CLASS FOR 2024 in an hour.

Oh!

And the main character was wearing this necklace.

I TOTALLY love it!

Terrible pictures, but I think it's cute.

Heavy chain, reminds me of the 90's

"News Anchor Necklace"... and then 2 strands

of chunky paste jewels in multi colors, 

hooked to the thick chain so there are only

gems in the front third of the necklace.

Anyhow.

I thought it was adorable.

I liked that no two stones were the same.

Different cuts, shapes, colors, sizes...

Anyhow.

Back to crocheting.

Have a wonderful rest of your day!

And I'll try to post again sometime during the weekend.

(I'm also re-filling my fancy hot chocolate mug because

it's a little chilly in the house today!)

YUM!!!

BLANKETS!!!

I have been madly crocheting....

Blankets and blankets and blankets.

I have 5 done out of the black and white.

And this afternoon I popped by the

Sister Sisters' house and picked up some more

yarn. Enough to hopefully do another 2 or 3.

Dinah taught me how to do it like a giant

granny square... this is pretty.

I'm using an off white as the stabilizer yarn.

It's soft and VERY warm.....

I was making it while I was teaching, and

HOLY MOLY it got quite toasty!

I also went into downtown and stopped by the

local meat guy and bought a couple pounds of

good ground beef and got a cut sheet so I can

order a 1/4 beef after the new year.

Then next door to look for a water thingie for

the chickens coop. But they didn't have what I wanted.

Then I walked up the street to the bank and

deposited some $ so they would quit charging me

$4 every month.

And then I hopped back in the truck and drove

across the railroad track to the Co-op and

THEY had what I needed for the chickens.

So I bought that.

And then swung by the Sisters for yarn and a visit.

And then back to the house to start this blanket,

and get dinner in the crockpot and also

start teaching this evening's class.

Also, our realtor stopped by and put a sign

in the front yard that says "Happy to be Home in Kansas".

It's a campaign Kansas is doing right now,

so I said I'd be happy to have a sign in the yard.

I didn't take a picture though.

Maybe I'll remember to do that tomorrow.

But I still need to make more blankets,

and I also want to run out to the farm and

see the progress they are making on Kyle's house.

*********************************************

In other news...

the oil well was a dry hole.

Bummer.

So we will submit an invoice the the water

and that will be that.

Oh well.

We ran the numbers and it wasn't going to

be a ton of money anyway.

Would have been fun though.....

Free money is always cool.

So...

that's that.

Kyle said they are already GONE.

Ok.

Back to crocheting and then off to bed.

NIGHT!

(And congrats Rozie on the card!!! YEA!!!)

I'm scheduled to get my biometrics done 

in Wichita (4 hours away) at 1:00 pm

on ......... December 24.

Yup.

Christmas Eve.

Sheesh.

So we will drive to Salina (on the way) and

pick up Kyle's insulation, and then drive down

to Wichita and do my biometrics, and then

drive back home.

Super festive.

Hahahahahahaha,

It will be good to get it done though.

And it was going to be a QUIET Christmas

this year anyway.

Whew! What a day!

 It was another busy one...

I spent the morning doing my banking,

sending in my roster for last week,

and doing other computer work.

Then Rod and I went outside and let

the chickens out of their new coop.

No. I didn't take any pictures.

I am a bad blogger.

They spent the night in their new house,

and when we opened the door to the big

wide world, they were kind of freaked out.

So they just sat there.

Eventually we shooshed them out.

And after an hour or so, they figured it

out and started eating the grass and pecking

at the dirt and enjoying the sunshine.

But then when it got dark, they just huddled

back in a pile on the ground and didn't go

back into their house.

So Rod and Kyle had to catch them and stuff

them back in.

We are going to leave them in for a day or two

so they get the picture.

And then we will try again, but this time we 

will let them figure it out on their own.

They have to climb a ladder to get in and out.

And that is hard for little baby bird brains.

Hahaha.

Anyhow.

After all THAT excitement, we headed in to

town to Home Depot (shocker) because we forgot

to get some pipe fittings.

We went Saturday evening and spent a TON of $$$

and got all of Kyle's kitchen and bathroom cabinets

as well as the sinks, faucets, toilet and shower pan.

HEY!

I have pictures of that!!!

Cabinets

More cabinets and sinks and stuff

PVC pipes and fittings, and some (32) 2x4's to build

the bathroom and pantry walls...?

There were NINE carts in total. Plus a buggy.

We were kind of in the way.

But we saved a TON of money,

and he is well on his way!

We FILLED the stock trailer.

And the back of Kyle's truck, but I didn't take

a picture, I was pretty tired and was having

a hard time breathing without coughing my head off.

My cold is better, but not ALL the way better.

Anyhow.

We forgot some fittings, so had to go back.

We still need the hot water heater.

After that, we headed to the DMV and we both

FINALLY got our Kansas drivers licenses.

And then Taco Bell for a late lunch

and back to town to stop at the post office and

mail Soni's birthday present and then home.

Where I found LOTS of fun packages!

We got Mom and Dad's package (I'm wearing

my adorable little gingerbread man necklace!)

and a package from Sondra,

AND some yummy goodies from Swiss Chalet!

YUMMMMMMMM!

Once I got that all opened and put under the tree,

it was time to grab my crocheting and start teaching.

I figured I wouldn't have any students,

since it's so late in the year.... but I had TWENTY!

And one asked a THOUSAND questions.

Not good ones, just, clarification questions.

Which is fine... but I had to teach every concept

2 or 3 times and then we moved on and then she

wanted to go back again.

So I'm tired.

And now I'm heading into the living room to

eat whatever I can smell that Kyle has been

cooking. It smells DELICIOUS!

And then it's off to bed.

OH!

And I got a letter from the immigration people.

I have an appointment for my biometrics in

Wichita.

December 24 at 1:00 pm.

Really? 

So, guess I'll be spending Christmas Eve

driving about 7+ hours round trip to do my

biometrics. We'll stop at Mennards on the way

back and pick up Kyle's insulation.

But doesn't sound very festive......

Anyhow.

It will be good to get THAT part done.

Ok,

I'm outta here!

Night!

All the Cool Kids Are Doing It.....

 Yesterday I pulled 10 bags of fresh cranberries

out of my fridge. (I got them at WalMart

earlier in the week, but I've been sick......)

Ran them through my food processor with the

slicing blade, and then spread them out

on freeze dryer trays and put them in the deep freeze.

Man, I wish phone cameras gave true colors.

They are a gorgeous burgundy, almost like

pomegranate seeds.

So pretty!!!

Anyhow.

I'm going to freeze dry them and then put them

in jars so I will have them to use whenever I

want to add a little pop of flavor to a muffin,

or a casserole, or whatever!

I'm excited!

It's the "newest" thing everybody in the FD 

community is trying out.

That and simmering pot stuff.

But I don't use a simmering pot, and

I don't have the patience to slice all the oranges.

(And they are EXPENSIVE this year!)

Anyhow.

Also, yesterday, we went out to the property and

I took a picture of the well progress.

See the giant hole to the right of the equipment?

I don't understand the purpose...

but whatever, 

Looks like they are coming along.

We watched and you could see the black

pipe turning...

(That's our shared fence in the foreground...

it's pretty close to our property, maybe 50 yards?)

They said it would take 7 days to drill.

And then we HOPE they get good oil.

Anyhow.

We also checked on Kyle's progress.

He got all the tar paper down and was

nailing down shingles.

He got about 1/4 done yesterday and

got it ALL finished today!

He just needs to go around and do some

spot stuff on the eaves where he banged 

into the edges with the telehandler or something.

(They sold the one he was using and this one

is bigger, but doesn't handle quite as precisely

and so there was a learning curve...)

Anyhow.

He is VERY happy to have that particular

task completed.

It was COLD the last 2 days, but the wind

was light - it's going to warm up tomorrow

but there will also be some gusty winds

and he would really rather NOT be on the 

roof when it's blowing 20+ mph.

Can't say as I blame him!

It's looking GOOD.

That little section on the front is all he has left

to do of the siding.

I really love the color!

(Again, lousy camera... it's a pretty sage color...)

And with the white trim it looks so good!

The electrician is supposed to make it

out there the end of next week

(fingers crossed)

so they need to get the plumbing in before that.

But it's simple.

Just a toilet, shower, hot water, washer,

and 2 sinks. 1 in the bathroom (upstairs)

and 1 in the kitchen.

And with the nearly 4' crawlspace underneath

the building, it shouldn't be too difficult.

So.....

That's the status.

Meanwhile, this afternoon they called and said

Rod's truck was done, so we drove down to 

Collyer to pick it up.

And while there, I got a phone call from one of

my ministering group members.

She said she felt prompted to call me,

are we ok? Are we warm enough? 

Do we need to borrow a space heater?

I said, no, we are fine, in fact I sent Rod into

town this morning to return one I decided

we don't really need.

We got to chatting and they are busy crocheting

blankets. Another member just moved here with

their family from N. Carolina.

She has made several trips back (family) because

they were from the mountains and were REALLY

hard hit with Hurricane Helene.

There are MANY MANY families who lost everything

and are STILL living in tents. 

In the snow and freezing temperatures.

In fact, last weekend, a baby froze to death.

So she put out the call for as many blankets as

she can get and is hoping to take a huge load back

with her when she goes on the 22nd.

I said I would LOVE to crochet some, I just finished

a really nice, heavy one for Kyle's bed.

But I ran out of yarn.

She said they were in town a week or so ago

(we actually ran into them at Hobby Lobby where

we were buying yarn.....)

they went to a surplus store called Ollies

where they charge $4.99 for those BIG balls of

yarn and they had it all marked down to $1/skein!!

So they bought $75 worth of yarn!

She said, COME GET SOME!

So I stopped on my way back into town and grabbed

two giant bags full of yarn and then headed home

for my 2:00 Presidency meeting on zoom.

And then I started teaching.

And now....

Six hours later, I have a blanket.

It's REALLY soft and quite warm.

It's a strand of black, grey & white Bernat and

one strand of black Red Heart to give it stability.

(I kind of feel like I'm crocheting with a 

lemur tail.... lol, but it's pretty.)

I think I have enough to do 3 blankets.

These are adult size.

I might do 2 adult and 2 kid sized.

We'll see.

Anyhow.

That's what's up in our neck of the woods.

NIGHT ALL!

Back From the Dead.... Hahaha

 I feel like maybe I'm on the upside now?

Ok, just random stuff....

1. I taught the class again last night. Had 14 students. Told them,

"I'm sick... and so is the only other instructor... so I'm going

to do the best I can. If my camera suddenly goes black,

it's because I'm having a coughing fit... I'll be back. Probably.

And if it gets too bad, I'm going to cancel class."

I had to go dark several times, but made it through.

2. This morning I am feeling a little better, but I'm going

to dig into my "stash" and pull out some "pony paste" 

Ivermectin and take a slug of it this morning.

3. I ordered some dried mullien (a weed, basically)

and it should arrive today or tomorrow. I'll make a tea

with it - reports are it is REALLY good for your lungs.

Lots of people swear by it for when their asthma flares up

(SABRINA!!!) so I'll give it a try and report back.

4. Mom sent me a darling little packet yesterday full

of FUN earrings, etc!

Aren't they cure!

EGADS, my mouse pad is DISGUSTING!

Hahahaha.

It's about 25 years old.

Rod made it for me. 

(The filthy corner isn't stuck down anymore

and while I'm teaching I fiddle with it... gross!)

Ok, I'm sick.

I haven't put on any make up.

But the earrings are adorable!

And match my grey hair!

5. I saw something hilarious online the other day.

What's the difference between GRAY and GREY?

Gray is a color.

Grey is a colour.

Hahahahahahahahahaha!

(Love Canadian humor)

6.  I just got this month's power bill.

After a month of "winter" weather and

running the furnace (admittedly, only at 72

during the day and 68 at night...)

my power bill went DOWN by $30!

I guess gas is WAAAY cheaper than electricity.

So I walked into the living room and cranked

that baby up to 75. (This house heats up

quickly so we'll make adjustments as needed...)

Hahahaha.

(Yes, I'm CHEAP!)

I'm also returning the large space heater

I bought for the living room. It was $72

and doesn't work that great.

7. I made the MOST DELICOUS 

Old Fashioned Molasses Cookies 

the other day. I upped the ginger a smidge

and they tasted just like Mom's ginger cookies

I remember from my childhood!

I have been buying gingersnaps for years

searching for that memory.

And this was IT!!!

However, I had to cream the butter and sugar

with my Danish Wisk because I couldn't

find the little hand mixer I brought with me.

8. When your house is only 71 degrees, 

butter does NOT cream easily when you are

doing it by hand with a Danish Wisk!

9. FOUND IT!

I was on the phone with Soni and remembered she

gave me an immersion blender (which I use ALL THE TIME)

but it came with a wisk attachment... I could use that?

So when I pulled out the drawer to find the attachment...

there was the hand mixer!!!

Cute, eh?

It's tiny, but surprisingly strong.

COOKIES coming!!

(We only have crumbs left from the last batch...)

10.  Speaking of the cookies, I made them for our

ward Linger Longer last week after church.

They had the Ward Christmas Party on Saturday night

and then had a Linger Longer the next day and

served all the leftovers!

BRILLIANT!

(I didn't send the cookies... sick... sent freeze dried

Christmas marshmallows, Rod said they were a hit...)

11. On the subject of being sick...

I'm taking lots of Oregano and D3.

Also keeping a Chime ginger candy in my mouth

most of the time... seems to help with the coughing.

I found a variety pack on Amazon and have them on

subscribe and save - I get a bag every month.

Thanks Nancy for turning me on to them! 

They help!

And they are DELICIOUS!

12. I asked Kyle to get me a picture of the oil

rig for Dad - he said we had a cold snap and the

guys put up scaffolding and tarps all around the site

so now it just looks like a big tent.

You can't see ANYTHING.

Sorry Dad! No updates.....

OK, an even dozen should be good for today.

Aaaaaaah Chooo!

 Yup.

Still sick.

But yesterday I got a text from Beth,

the morning instructor.

Can you cover for me on Wednesday?

I have a cold and NO voice.

I texted her back.

Hey! You win... I have 1/4 voice.

So this morning I texted and checked

on her. She still has no voice and has to

do a Christmas Concert (I think she plays the Oboe?)

so I offered to cover for her this morning.

Thank goodness for Rozann's electric cup!!!

I turned the heat down from 135 to 122

and enjoyed lovely, refreshing hot cocoa

to lubricate my throat.

Now I'm going to take a nap and rest my voice

cuz I get to do it all again this evening.

FUN!

Meanwhile,

Kyle loaded up the two lawnmowers.

They "JUST" fit.

Those are heading out to the farm and will get

put in the shed for the winter to keep them

out of the weather.

He has also been taking stuff out of his house

and getting it all organized in the shed,

in preparation for the electrician coming in

and getting the wiring done.

He's still sick too... but he's doing what he can

while he still has the telehandler.

They SOLD it... but were supposed to come

get it and swap it out for another one this week

and they extended his contract until the 18th.

So he has time.

He's nearly done.

And today there is almost no wind 

(it was gusting 20-30 yesterday)

so he will probably be on the roof today,

getting the paper and shingles down.

Then he just has a few rows of siding left

to do and then the exterior will be complete!!!

It's looking SO GOOD!

Maybe I'll drive out there this afternoon

and take a picture.

(Or not... we'll see. He took a picture, but

he didn't send it to me...)

Anyhow.

ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz