We have some of the best neighbors!

We love our home

A house is what you make it. Our house may be small but it is our home and right for us. Most of the time it is just the two of us with just enough room to accommodate but not enough to have a large chaotic gathering (we do in warmer, outside friendlier weather). We love our home.

We've been having Thanksgiving leftovers daily since last Thursday. Erik made a stock from the turkey and made a mushroom agnolotti turkey soup. It was fantastic! Last night I made a spicy white bean soup with turkey. We have ice cream in the freezer but I haven't gotten into it yet.

Lately we've had some dinner guests, they aren't too hungry though.

The Christmas decorations are up except for the tree and have made some cookies. Hoping December is a good month for everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving. We thoroughly enjoyed hosting Thanksgiving for the first time. We had a nice time with family and everyone brought scrumptious sides (e.g. my sister's mashed potatoes). It was nice hanging out at the table and enjoying the company of each other. Erik did a terrific job with the turkey, he brined it in an apple cider maple brine. The turkey was so moist it fell apart when taking it out of the roasting pan. It also was done about an hour before we expected it too, but thanks to some good advice by Mom it wasn't a big deal.

Friday was a fix it day and hang out with Dad day. It was a great day with no rush just trying to help out. We did have to go to a store, but thankfully it wasn't too busy. I very thankfully received a Nikon D80 yesterday too. My D70 is done clicking. I'm excited to be able to take pictures again! Thanks Dad! We wound down the day with dinner with sides from Thanksgiving and steak, good conversation, and pie at Mom and Dad's with Katie and Aaron.And then one of the sure signs that Christmas is approaching, we watched Christmas Vacation. I'm not sure Katie or Dad watched much, or just laughed the entire time. That kind of laugh is contagious!

How do others have time to blog everyday? I don't, or at least I don't make time for it. Even when attempting to sit down to write this Willow wanted to play. I'm not even that busy of a person. I guess maybe part of it is that I like pictures as part of my blog and not just writing (although no pictures for tonight).

We are getting ready to host Thanksgiving here for the first time. I'm excited. I went and bought a table cloth and dug around to find some things that we haven't used in a while but will be desired. This next weekend will entail some deep cleaning, although we've been keeping up with that a little bit lately so I'm not too worried. Things that do need done are fixing the toilet seat, finally hanging some pictures on the wall (I've been nervous ever since we had them fixed), finish the boards to go temporarily around the fireplace, maybe get a lamp for the living room (it's pretty dark on one side), and then the cleaning.

This past weekend was certainly a nice mix of accomplish a few projects, cleaning, time for myself, and family time. It was good and refreshing.

A night in the kitchen with Katie

Wednesday night I had a great time with hanging out with my sister. For dinner I made spaghetti squash-sagna. It was delicious - better than anticipated and that is always nice, with leftovers too. We made pear ginger preserve from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. The recipe only made barely half of what it said it would, but it turned out good. We used pears from our pear tree and lately when ever I've been thinking about our pear tree, I wonder where the partridge is?
It was fun hanging out with Katie and nice to have another person stirring. Willow certainly enjoyed their time together too.

Smoking Boots

Literally smoking boots... that is what I came home to tonight. Essence of burnt plastic lingered in the entry. My boots had been knocked over next to the radiator. Lucky for me I hadn't been gone long and the smell was the only damage as my boots are intact. I love my boots.

The yellow room is done. It looks, well, yellow - really yellow. I'm hoping with some things up on the walls and curtains it may lessen the feel of walking right into the sun. That said, I'm very pleased with it too. It is bright and cheery - a happy place.

Goodbye white walls!

The walls in the old office are going from white to yellow... Manilla Tint to be specific. I'm part way into this project and a little nervous that it is too bright and then second that the carpet looks particularly dingy. I guess that might mean it is time for some new carpet - hm, wasn't really anticipating that project. I guess we didn't even think about the carpet when looking at paint colors. Our new office turned out quite well and I had some of the same reaction when I was about this far into painting it, so I will just keep on the keeping on with brush in hand.

Treat Day!

It is my treat day at work and I love baking and making things for other people. Today's treat day sweet feast included:

• Brownies - from a mix, but always still good
• Pumpkin Gingersnap Cookies - my new favorite cookie
• Chocolate Dipped Wavy Potato Chips (and the undipped chips)
• Pear Galette
• Gluten Free Pear Tart - it was an experiment that didn't turn out exactly like planned but definitely edible and enjoyable