Quarantine and chill and kindness chatty clubhouse: Jump in and join the conversation! All is welcome!

[tazdev3225]

Morning all. I did a little shopping on Black Friday but the stores were empty. I was home by noon and didn't head out til 9:30 so a fast turn around.

We found out that my 80 year old sister in law got Covid at a funeral we attended a couple of weeks ago for my husbands cousin. Thankfully we paid our respects, never took the masks off and didn't hug anyone. Now I am glad we didn't and didn't stay long. The sister in law seems to be doing OK at least although it was rough for a few days and she lives alone about 70-100 miles away from all of her kids.

Today was going to be trying to figure out what appliances I want to order for the kitchen. I thought I would order them ahead of time but I am worried about if they would be ready to be installed in a month. Everything I like isn't available in my area anyway. I also worry that my grandson won't be ready to get the kitchen done in time with the baby coming at the end of January and he still doesn't have an apartment. They have been looking for months and haven't found anything yet.

I may just work on organizing pictures some more today and wait for the big decisions. Or maybe do some cleaning and start to decorate for Christmas. I am hesitant to do that with the Demon Cat though. He attacks everything. Last year he ate a Mickey ornament. I heard orange peels are supposed to be a deterrent. This cat would eat them.

Have a good day all.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Good afternoon.

@tazdev3225, I want to have different responses to different parts of your pot. Sad for SIL and COVID, and LOL for the car. So I averaged to a thumbs up.

@Breezy_Carol That manger is so beautiful, and looks so nice on your mantel over the fireplace! No wonder it's your favorite, I would be too. Is it an heirloom that you inherited or something you bought and use every year?

Thanks to all who commented on the manger. Not an heirloom. It is a Fontanini. We bought the stable and Holy family first when the kids were little and added another figure each year. I just put fake greens and little white lights behind it. I have several other nativity scenes I set up in other places in the house. One is from my parents that we had when I was a child. Some of the animals have broken legs though. LOL

I got the candles in the windows and my cards done and ready for the mail. And I actually have Christmas music on. This is all way earlier than I usually do.

Overall that hike combined with the walk around the lagoon was approx 15k- so took us just shy of 4 hours to complete.

Impressive hiking! That's about 9 miles, right?

Off to take a measly 3 mile hike now.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I heard orange peels are supposed to be a deterrent. This cat would eat them.

Mine actually do hate the smell of orange.

 

[AuntieMe3]

@NYCgrrl the teen years are tough. Hopefully DGD's get on the same page as you when it comes to the piercing.

@Pea-n-Me Glad you were able yo enjoy a mellow Thanksgiving after busy shifts.

After several people recommended it, I just watched Jingle Jangle on Netflix. I enjoyed it. (DH slept through it.) It is a musical fantasy. The music and dancing reminded me of The Greatest Showman. If you have Netflix, check it out. I have a whole list to look at on Netflix.

We really liked it too. Really liked the costumes too. Hubby is so funny, everytime we watch a musical, it never fails about halfway through the second song he's says..."Is this a musical?" and of course, this time was no different, DD and I just cracked up and he was like "whats so funny?"

Master bath , master bedroom, and spare bedroom are all done. Working on the dining room now.

You decorate all those??? I only do the family room where we are most of the time and the dining room. This year, if we decide to get a second tree, I'll decorate the living room but I would love to the bathrooms and our bedroom. Might need to hit up after Christmas sales for decorations for those next year.

Good morning on this first Sunday in Advent.

Got my favorite decoration done this morning. Half the battle is emptying the mantle first.

View attachment 540926

Beautiful!

Overall that hike combined with the walk around the lagoon was approx 15k- so took us just shy of 4 hours to

Wow....that's so awesome!! I'm so lazy, I get tired when we just go a mile.

We found out that my 80 year old sister in law got Covid at a funeral we attended a couple of weeks ago for my husbands cousin

I'm sorry your SIL got Covid....I hope she has a mild case and is better soon.

Sorry if I missed anyone, I'm on my phone and it's not letting me scroll back up to see what I missed.
Hope you all enjoy the rest of your Sunday. Hubby had to chop up a tree that tipped over onto our front fence. We didnt notice until yesterday when we headed out to run errands so I'm assuming it happened recently. Hopefully hubby can straighten the top fence pole, then I'm going to make him do the Christmas lights.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

Our walk turned out to only be 2.5 miles, but very nice.

I was surprised to see lynxstch decorated all those rooms. I have decorations in all the first floor rooms: family room gets most, but also living room, dining room, kitchen, and powder room. Second floor rooms only get candles in the front rooms.

 

[Snowysmom]

It looks like is decorating for Christmas this weekend. I am sure your homes are lovely.
@lynxstch I am in awe of all the rooms you decorate.
@Breezy_Carol The manger is beautiful. It is hard to clear the space for the decorations. DH clears off the mantle and manages to find places for everything temporarily. Then he puts up the decorations.
@flyingdumbo127 Glad your Bible is just want you wanted. Enjoy your reading.
@NYCgrrl The teen years are hard for sure. Hopefully everyone is on the same page for what is best for DGD.

We saw younger DS and grandkids today. We played inside with them which was a lot of fun. The youngest is such a sweetie. She thinks she can do whatever she wants as long as she smiles at you. We brought stickers for the kids and the older 2 made us cards with the stickers. They want us to use them as decorations at our house. So sweet! Their puppy is such a good dog. She has just the right temperament for a young family.

It is a chilly 47 here today. Tomorrow we are expecting rain and temps in the 50s. I sure hope we don't see any snow this week.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Shelley, good for you and your DH for the long walk! I just Googled Fenton’s ice cream and think I need to go there now Looks very yummy! I looked at the ice cream flavors and saw they have chocolate mint. Is that, do you know, chocolate mint flavored ice cream? That brings back a memory from the 90’s of visiting my Grandma in Houston. Marble Slab Creamery had a rich milk chocolate ice cream that was mint flavored—it was amazing! I’ve never seen such a flavor since. So glad you enjoyed a treat

TazDev, hug and prayers. Ordering anything ahead of time right now is the way to go for sure!

That’s really cool, Carol, that you have various nativity scenes set up. 3 miles, to me, is still 3 miles! Go you! P.S. Wow to all the rooms you decorate! I agree our friend Lynxstch, goes all out which is awesome. Look forward to seeing pictures, Lynxstch!

AuntieMe3, probably more than a few blocks would be a lot for me! Sorry about the tree! Yay for the Christmas lights.

Thanks, Snowysmom. Hooray for kids and puppies!

I look forward to seeing all of your Christmas decorations!

 

[lynxstch]

I did way too much today, and will probably be paying for it tomorrow by not being able to move. Laundry got done, a lot of decorating got done. We took all of the files back to hubby's office, filed them appropriately. Boxed up some files they have to put in their storage unit. Leaving the pretty much empty office was a bit bittersweet for him. He loved the people he worked with and he adored the consumers he worked with. He said the last 14 year were his favorite job of all time (and he's worked since he was 15). I got a little teary myself as we locked the door for the last time. I wanted to take his nameplate off the wall in the hallway, but whoever painted the walls, painted over all the edges and it was stuck but good.
So glad I put ribs in the oven to slow cook while we were gone, and I had made a macaroni salad. So dinner was ready when we got home. He's doing timesheets and payroll now, for the last time. And then it's time for relaxing.
Have a nice evening everyone!

 

[Shellsbutt]

I did way too much today, and will probably be paying for it tomorrow by not being able to move. Laundry got done, a lot of decorating got done. We took all of the files back to hubby's office, filed them appropriately. Boxed up some files they have to put in their storage unit. Leaving the pretty much empty office was a bit bittersweet for him. He loved the people he worked with and he adored the consumers he worked with. He said the last 14 year were his favorite job of all time (and he's worked since he was 15). I got a little teary myself as we locked the door for the last time. I wanted to take his nameplate off the wall in the hallway, but whoever painted the walls, painted over all the edges and it was stuck but good.
So glad I put ribs in the oven to slow cook while we were gone, and I had made a macaroni salad. So dinner was ready when we got home. He's doing timesheets and payroll now, for the last time. And then it's time for relaxing.
Have a nice evening everyone!

Congratulations on your husband's retirement! That's very exciting but also bittersweet. I can't remember if you said what your plans are for the future once this pandemic finally ends...

 

[Shellsbutt]

Our walk turned out to only be 2.5 miles, but very nice.

I was surprised to see lynxstch decorated all those rooms. I have decorations in all the first floor rooms: family room gets most, but also living room, dining room, kitchen, and powder room. Second floor rooms only get candles in the front rooms.

Hey- 2.5 miles is a great walk, isn't it nice to get outside? You guys really impress me with the amount of decorating you do, how do you get the energy? I will admit to being very bah humbug this year. I need to find my grumpy Fa La La Yourself sweatshirt and pull it out to start wearing again. I love it, get lots of comments, lol.

 

[Shellsbutt]

Shelley, good for you and your DH for the long walk! I just Googled Fenton’s ice cream and think I need to go there now Looks very yummy! I looked at the ice cream flavors and saw they have chocolate mint. Is that, do you know, chocolate mint flavored ice cream? That brings back a memory from the 90’s of visiting my Grandma in Houston. Marble Slab Creamery had a rich milk chocolate ice cream that was mint flavored—it was amazing! I’ve never seen such a flavor since. So glad you enjoyed a treat

TazDev, hug and prayers. Ordering anything ahead of time right now is the way to go for sure!

That’s really cool, Carol, that you have various nativity scenes set up. 3 miles, to me, is still 3 miles! Go you! P.S. Wow to all the rooms you decorate! I agree our friend Lynxstch, goes all out which is awesome. Look forward to seeing pictures, Lynxstch!

AuntieMe3, probably more than a few blocks would be a lot for me! Sorry about the tree! Yay for the Christmas lights.

Thanks, Snowysmom. Hooray for kids and puppies!

I look forward to seeing all of your Christmas decorations!

I haven't been to the original Fenton's in Oakland, this one is at Nut Tree shopping center in Vacaville. I'm not sure about the chocolate mint but sounds delicious. I usually order Swiss Chocolate-it's like vanilla with chocolate bits throughout and top it with jersey sauce(malted chocolate whipped cream). My favorite ice cream shop is Leatherby's, think it's just a Sacramento chain though. I get Shelley's ice cream soda- chocolate soda water with mint chip ice cream, so good!

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Please take care of yourself, Lynxstch! That is such a Blessing your DH truly enjoyed his last 15 years of work. I definitely understand how leaving would be hard but here's wishing you both a healthy and joy filled new adventure

Shelley, that sounds good to me! The best ice cream I ever had was peppermint fudge! I think it was pink peppermint ice cream minus the hard candy mixed with a chocolatey fudge. This was forever ago in a local place-- long gone now-- up in Humboldt County.

I just finished watching Northern Lights of Christmas. A little slow at times but finally Zoe got that she was home at her reindeer ranch! I know it was a Hallmark movie but still lol she seemed wanting to refuse to accept what her heart knew all along. I wish we could have met the original owners Gus and Ida.

Hope all of you are having a good night.

 

[lynxstch]

Good morning all. Dumping down rain here right now Woke to find a few wedding pics of our niece on FB. So pretty, and what a beautiful wedding spot. Thought I'd share the picture with my DIS family. Going to decorate the kitchen today, and get the tree out of it's box so the branches can settle a bit before decorating.
Happy Monday all..last day of Nov 2020!


She just sent this one to me..I love it!

 

[NYCgrrl]

Good morning, All!

Back from my morning staircase run down which I really shouldn’t have bothered with since deep winter is time enough for that more co fined

 

[sparkle78]

Just wanted to check in and say hi, we have been having family time with my in-laws for thanksgiving .if you have never seen a photo of the Wilderness Lodge Christmas tree, look for one on online. It’s beautiful

 

[easyas123]

Good morning all, hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving wknd.

Lynxstch - beautiful wedding photos!

I did NOTHING all weekend. And it was nice. Well, nothing of any great consequence I should say! Popped out to Target on Saturday morning and it was very eerily quiet. About 8:30 AM the Saturday after Thanksgiving...parked with about 10 spaces from front door, empty parking spot on either side of me. No one in the store, and grabbed what I needed, plus made a return, and took a slow stroll thru Christmas decor. When I went to check out there was no one in front of me in line - no wait to check out. Still hardly anyone there...and the traffic in general was super low. My other to stops - a pool supply store & local specialty grocery store were also very quiet. I thought the grocery would have a bit of a crowd as they have a huge baking section. Nope.

Finished a bit of decorating inside the house....wow! to you guys who go all out. I'm more of a minimalist, but I always take the viewpoint of I'm going to have to take it all down eventually, and that is no fun! I put some lights & garland up on the mantel over the fireplace in the sitting room (where we spend all our time). Put a few items on a hall table and on the small china hutch thing in the dining room. I also put a bit of garland on the stair rail going upstairs. It's looking like my folks may be up over the Christmas holiday so I'll need to go thru the holiday decor my mom has stored here and maybe put a little something over their fireplace mantel next door (we keep a in-law suite for them w/ a full kitchen and bedroom and sitting room, and porch - they are self contained!) and spruce it up a bit.

Turkey was dismantled and soup made on Friday. Some went into the freezer, some was for dinner Saturday. Lunch today will probably be soup... Yesterday was leftover ham and potato pancakes. Ham bone went into the freezer for a future bean soup. Rest of the leftovers will be either eaten or tossed tonight. Had a lot of leftover cheesecake, but luckily it freezes nicely. Didn't have as much leftover turkey as I usually do, only had one turkey sandwich and ended up not having enough to make turkey salad! Oh well - we do have another turkey in the freezer...I anticipate that might make a showing over Christmas or the week after.

Looks like it will be a fairly quiet week at work - more likely it will be a quiet month - I prefer it to be a more busy environment but the month of December is usually pretty quiet so it's nothing new.

Have a good day & week everyone -

 

[lynxstch]

Congratulations on your husband's retirement! That's very exciting but also bittersweet. I can't remember if you said what your plans are for the future once this pandemic finally ends...

Thanks for the congrats. I didn't say. But we don't have any plans for right away. He has to get his health under control first. Being on oxygen a lot of the time limits where we can go and what he can do. He needs to just relax and stop worrying about work , which he will probably still do for about a month. And I'm sure he will get calls, asking where is this , where is that, lol!

 

[lynxstch]

Good morning all, hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving wknd.

Lynxstch - beautiful wedding photos!


Thanks..I have to ask my sister in law if my niece made her wedding dress. She makes most of her own clothes, so it's entirely possible. She said the most trouble they had at the wedding was trying to stay out of the waves, lol


I did NOTHING all weekend. And it was nice. Well, nothing of any great consequence I should say! Popped out to Target on Saturday morning and it was very eerily quiet. About 8:30 AM the Saturday after Thanksgiving...parked with about 10 spaces from front door, empty parking spot on either side of me. No one in the store, and grabbed what I needed, plus made a return, and took a slow stroll thru Christmas decor. When I went to check out there was no one in front of me in line - no wait to check out. Still hardly anyone there...and the traffic in general was super low. My other to stops - a pool supply store & local specialty grocery store were also very quiet. I thought the grocery would have a bit of a crowd as they have a huge baking section. Nope.

We all need a weekend to do nothing, so glad you had one. Our Walmart was like your Target Saturday. Seemed strangely empty and quiet. Noone at the register, plenty of parking spaces etc.

Finished a bit of decorating inside the house....wow! to you guys who go all out. I'm more of a minimalist, but I always take the viewpoint of I'm going to have to take it all down eventually, and that is no fun! I put some lights & garland up on the mantel over the fireplace in the sitting room (where we spend all our time). Put a few items on a hall table and on the small china hutch thing in the dining room. I also put a bit of garland on the stair rail going upstairs. It's looking like my folks may be up over the Christmas holiday so I'll need to go thru the holiday decor my mom has stored here and maybe put a little something over their fireplace mantel next door (we keep a in-law suite for them w/ a full kitchen and bedroom and sitting room, and porch - they are self contained!) and spruce it up a bit.

I didn't go as all out as usual. My kitchen looks bare compared to what I usually do, but like you said, you have to take it down and that's not fun. It takes me 3 days to put it all up, but only a day to take it down. Can't figure that one out, lol!

Turkey was dismantled and soup made on Friday. Some went into the freezer, some was for dinner Saturday. Lunch today will probably be soup... Yesterday was leftover ham and potato pancakes. Ham bone went into the freezer for a future bean soup. Rest of the leftovers will be either eaten or tossed tonight. Had a lot of leftover cheesecake, but luckily it freezes nicely. Didn't have as much leftover turkey as I usually do, only had one turkey sandwich and ended up not having enough to make turkey salad! Oh well - we do have another turkey in the freezer...I anticipate that might make a showing over Christmas or the week after.

Looks like it will be a fairly quiet week at work - more likely it will be a quiet month - I prefer it to be a more busy environment but the month of December is usually pretty quiet so it's nothing new.

Have a good day & week everyone -

 

[Shellsbutt]

I did NOTHING all weekend. And it was nice.

Doing nothing does sound nice! Then, when you actually want to do something, you really have the energy and motivation to do it. I don't believe I've ever been to an empty Target, maybe everyone was at the mall? I agree with you about the x-mas decorations too, the more you put up, the longer it takes to put away. It's never as fun to put them back up, it's a definite chore. I think I might actually take some boxes down and go through them, see if I can pare them down a little. Have a great day!

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Good Morning all!

Beautiful wedding photos, Lynxstch. God Bless your niece and her new husband.

Doing nothing days are so important!

Have a great last day of November everyone. Hugs