Lights!

Almost December 1st and we have not gotten our Christmas lights up yet. I worked heavily on it today. Got blue lights up around the garages, put snowflakes on the decks, and shoveled the decks 3 times so far today. It is snowing. Again.

I don't know if we will be able to get all the trees in the woods lighted this year. There is about 2 feet of snow out there already. Most of the plug ends are buried in the snow mounds. Next year we will start in October to put up our lights.

Finished the Sparkleball and hung it up. Quite pretty. And simple once you know how to do it!

 Sparkleball

Mrs Prindables

Gosh. I was doing so well on my diet and then I get this catalog in the mail. Another catalog advertising Christmas gifts. Except these look to be D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S.

Apples dipped in buttery caramel, rolled in tasty toppings, and dipped in chocolate. Decadent.

Mrs Prindables gift basket

I finished another garland today. Hung Christmas garlands up in the house today. Brought out more decorations. Slowly getting the house decorated for the holiday.

Fucking Reindeer 2010

Yesterday, hubby & friends saw a momma moose & 2 baby moose (if you could call two animals that are over 6 foot tall babies...) cross the road down by the shop. Sure glad that our resident Moose found a boyfriend and had some kids! Hope they stick around all winter.

I got the red, white, green, and cream garland done for a customer today. Delivered it when we went down to get lattes at stand.

After lattes, we walked the dogs down at the deserted subdivision because the park refuses to plow out their roads for use by taxpayers.

Then came home. Shoveled decks with another 3 inches of snow. Hubby helped me with the Paint Stick Ornaments from Today's Fabulous Finds. He also drilled holes in plastic cups so we can make a SparkleBall for ourselves. It will be clear plastic with blue lights.

Fucking Deer

We also put the Fucking Deer up outside on the deck. Our Christmas annual tradition. #3 is coming over on Tuesday to put up the lights outside. I am too tired and hubby doesn't want to do it. #3 is more than eager to come over to help. He just has to put the star on the side of the house, run the cords out to the lights on each tree. I am not putting out the deer, snowman, or metal tree this year as it is snowing too much.

Changed the seasonal dictionary pages in the frames - changed to snowmen. While watching television tonight, I started work on another garland.

Turkey Day

On Thanksgiving Thursday we got up early, put the turkey in the oven. I made bacon/stuffing roll-ups so that we munched on something while getting dinner ready. KRN had already made her brandied cranberries. Hubby made Yams with too much cinnamon. KRN also made the green bean casserole.

KRN had to meet a friend at 12:30 so we ate after that. Hubby drove her down because it started snowing. And snowing. And snowing.

Snacked throughout the day, shoveled snow, and perused the newspaper for Black Friday ads. KRN had us play a game later that night.


On Black Friday we decided to sleep late as the BF ads were not so great. Nothing we really wanted to endure going in the snow & crowds for.

It continued snowing.Got about 10 inches total. KRN left in the afternoon. Hubby plowed snow until 7:00PM. I went to bed early after watching The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.


Saturday we drove to Sandpoint to shop at Ben Franklin, then on to Newport to shop at the Ben Franklin there. Finally found 35 & 50 count Christmas lights.Snowed another 10 inches.

 Snowy Woods

Happy T-Day

Went to get eggnog latte for hubby this morning. Gave Jen the tree & turkey cupcakes to share with her family. Then came back home & hubby helped me clean house, vacuum, tidy, & wax the floors.

KRN arrived at 12:30. Brought in all the groceries. Hubby worked in the shop til 5:30. We realized we had some last minute groceries to get so went to Rathdrum Super One after eating at Zips (family says "never again"). Dogs were happy to see us when we returned.

 HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Holiday Events

Holiday Events = Shopping & Baking.

Hubby and I awoke this morning to 5 degree temps outside. Brrr. Very cold. Joe H. was outside plowing for us. Very nice of him to do that. Later in the afternoon there was a high of 10 degrees while we were shopping in town. Hubster got his hair cut at Great Clips, we picked up pumpkin and apple pies at Costco for Thanksgiving. Got gasoline in the FMF. Then over to WalMart at Post Falls to pick up material for the Christmas garland that a customer at the latte stand wants me to make. White, Red, Cream & Green. With lots of raffia.

turkey cupcakes

Decorated cupcakes today when we got home.

Christmas tree cupcakes

Hubby worked in the shop until 7PM to get a truck done in time for more snow plowing.

It is a bone chilling, lung burning NEGATIVE 8 Degrees! Hope people have sense enough to make sure their animals have some sort of protection and pets are brought indoors tonight.

Snow Snow & More Snow

Woke up to the snow softly falling. At first it looked quite beautiful. However, the softly falling has accorded us more than 6 inches so far...and it is only 2pm in the afternoon. Right now with the temp only 16, the wind is blowing and it looks to be quite the developing winter storm.

Dogs are rip-roaring in the backyard. Bud walked with me down to get the mail and I almost froze to death! Could not feel anything in my body, I was so cold.

Decorated chocolate mini cupcakes. Working on decorating the regular size chocolate cupcakes filled with vanilla and chocolate cupcakes filled with tapioca. As soon as the cream cheese is thawed, I will be able to make maple cream cheese frosting for the pumpkin cupcakes.

Indoor Fish Pond

On Saturday I went over to the John Brown Elementary School craft show. It was a waste of time as there was not much there that I was interested in. Nothing new for me to try.

Bud stayed in the shop with the guys all day.

Cold, intermittent snow all day. Worked on making Christmas ornaments.

At bedtime - Isabelle decided she wanted to go outside at 3:00AM. Groan.


Sunday we got up at 8:00 (we slept in-woot!) and while hubby sat around in his jammies to have breakfast, I made coffee & had an apple. Made beds and got the dogs ready for their morning walk. It was quite cold outside 22 degrees F. Brrr. Winter is definitely upon us.

The snow was bitterly cold as it hit our faces while walking around the park. Dogs raced around like maniacs. Harriet & Isabelle galloped around in the white covered fields.

We dropped dogs off at home & promised to return with treats. Took Bud & Lil Bit with us to town. No more separation anxiety destroyed beds for us, Thank you Bud.

100 gallon stock tank for fish

Stopped at Feed & Farm in town to pick up a 100 gallon stock tank for the fishies in the basement! No more roundy-round swimming for them. Then went to Wal-Mart for a quick shop to pick up groceries for cupcake baking & some last-minute Thanksgiving items.

The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile was parked in front of the store, but they seemed to have no promotional event going on. Sad.

Picked up newspapers to find the Black Friday ads (per KRN), then walked B&B through the Hayden Community Park. Drove home in the burgeoning snow storm.

By 7PM, we have about 3 inches on the deck and it is 21 degrees F outside. Brrrrr. I hate opening the door to let the dogs outside as a blast of arctic air wafts into the house!

The overwhelming aroma of Chocolate Espresso cupcakes and Pumpkin cupcakes fills the air as I get done baking them all by 8pm.

Hubby updates his blog & Flickr with pictures from the shop.

Craft Shows

KRN and I started out bright & early for the Craft Show at Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds. It was huge. $6 entry fee for each of us. I got a cute wooden cut out of a running bunny. KRN purchased a piece of eggnog fudge & then bought a glass/wooden expression frame for over her bed.

On the return trip to CDA, we stopped at the new Nordstrom's Rack in the Valley Mall, then a quick shop at Old Navy next door.

Target in CDA, got Wendy's cheeseburgers for the dogs, then home. When we entered the house we discovered that Bud had not been as good as he was yesterday. Separation anxiety resulted in the complete destruction of one dog bed. I cleaned it up while KRN brought in our purchases from the car.
KRN left shortly afterwards with Addison to attend dinner at Azteca Grill with Matt's family.

Hubby came home & spent until midnight working down at the shop.

Lost 10 pounds on the HCG diet so far. Quite good.

Cloudy, Rainy Cold

Before KRN came over, I vacuumed.

Quilted Christmas Ornament

I had made quilted Christmas ornament ball. Also made a couple cinnamon stick Christmas trees and several button wreaths.

Button Wreath

Shopped in CDA on Thursday. When we got home, we walked the dogs in the park down at Farragut. Hailed on us for a bit.

Craft Fair Shopping

Friday - Yucky cold day. Rainy. Ick.


Saturday - Walked dogs with hubby at park. Harry was wild & free - running everywhere. Shopping at Noon with KRN at the Post Falls High School Craft Fair. KRN got a cool penguin painted vintage sled complete with metal runners. And also purchased a lighted wine bottle and custom made mittens.

I passed on the wine bottle thinking I could make it very easily. Got a wooden snowman, also custom mittens in a different color & block snowman - very cute.

We drove to pick up Jamba Juice (I was on my bulk load days for diet so I could eat high fat) then over to Hobby Lobby near the Valley Mall to pick up craft stuff. Hobby Lobby was very disappointing. Low stock. Unable to find lots of stuff I wanted for craft making.

Returned KRN's American Eagle purchases, stopped quickly at Aeropostale, then returned back to drop KRN off at her car. Then I drove home because by that time it was about 4:30 & almost dark. I detest driving in the dark & rain.

Hubby came home at 5:00pm. Had dinner. Watched a little TV. Went to bed early.

Sunday - After I had made breakfast for hubby, we walked dogs again early this morning. Mist due to fog. Harriet was again running like a free dog. Isabelle was also a "free" dog, but did not run as much.

L to R - Isabelle, Bud, Harriet, Angus, & Lil Bit

We dropped dogs off at home & went to WalMart for shopping - groceries. I got a pretty scarf, hair coloring, & crafty stuff. Hubby got 2 pair new jeans in unusual colors.

Then to the Mead High School Craft Fair. Difficult to find. But not worth it - nothing original. Hubby did find a cool hat. And got a red sparkle ball for KRN. I believe with hubby's help, I can make one of these for us, too.

 

Sparkleball

Picked up sub sandwiches for KRN & hubby on the way to Airway Heights and detoured to get a Wendy's cheeseburger for Bud for a treat because he had waited patiently in the FMF for us while we shopped.

Surprised KRN at work. Gave her sub sandwich & sparkle ball. She was happy.

Drove back home in dark. Daylight Savings Time sucks.

Monday - Lost 5 pounds on 2 days of diet so far. Thought I was on the menopause roller coaster, but this month I stopped to get off  :(

Can't seem to get anything done today. Lil Bit escaped out the back yard. Had to secure broken fence with zip ties. Another thing for hubby to fix on his vacation.

Thank A Vet for Their Service

Today is the day to honor all Service Members.

As the proud mother of a service member, I thank you all. Including my son.

Our freedom was earned by all those who have sacrificed.

YoYo Garland

I cleaned house, did 6 loads of laundry, picked up poo, and made a fall YoYo garland.

Christmas Catalog Time

Model Girl at the latte stand (Hannah) had knee surgery so her sister Megan was filling in for her. Megan makes the best drinks EVER.

Must almost be that time of year. The catalogs I received in the mail today - Alloy, Delia's, Victoria's Secret, Moosejaw, Fetchdog, The Vermont Country Store, Cutco, Terry's Village, Pfaltzgraff, Lilian Vernon, Ltd Commodities, The Lakeside Collection, Crate & Barrel, Neiman Marcus, IKEA, Miles Kimball.

Worked on craft projects today.

Ordered AE Warm & Fuzzy boots from American Eagle.

Mute Monday

Schipperke Lil Bit driving Dodge with dad

Vintage Dictionary Page Art

On Sunday we slept until 10AM. I was very exhausted after getting up 4X to let the dogs out. Bud still seems to want outside several times during the night-still has bad tummy.

KRN & I got lattes & talked to Jen Bunny. Left Deralee's Christmas glass block.

Hubby was dressed by the time he got home so we left the dogs at home so we could go into town for some shopping. Got gas in FMF at Costco, went to Big Lots, got KRN some Jamba Juice Pumpkin Smash, $1 Store, Target & returned crockpot to Kohl's. KRN got a memory foam mattress to help her hip & back pain at Kohl's for 50% discount.

Stopped to pick up Mediterranean Chicken pizza at Papa Murphy's. Then home.

 vintage dictionary page art

Forgetful Friday

Friday was a short cleaning day for me. Then kid came in the afternoon. We took Bud down to the vet to find out why he was vomiting and had diarrhea for the past couple day (Bud put the brakes on at the vet-which was odd-he never gave me any problems before). Vet thought our dog food was bad.

We picked up lattes & chatted for a while with DeraLee. Then got a few groceries at Spirit Lake Miller's. Hubby came home & worked in shop until late.

 hubby at work pole cattin'

On Saturday hubby and I had good intentions to travel to Montana but stopped in A-town for lattes. We changed our mind and instead took took the Jeep into CDA that hubby had worked upon, then breakfasted at Blue Plate Special (hubby's work hangout). Then came home to pick up the kid - took all the dogs to the park for a long walk. When we returned home, hubby backed into garage and accidentally ran over dog poo in yard. It was on the left front driver's tire. Smelled Like Shit! He had to clean it off.

Dropped dogs off at home & took KRN into the CDA Ski Swap at the Fairgrounds. Very disappointing. Picked up Christmas lights as Lowe's. Kid had to get a Pumpkin Smash at Jamba Juice (she's addicted). Then got pitas at Pita Pit in Post Falls.

Came home to take naps. We were exhausted after getting up at 5am.

Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes

Wednesday. Made Chocolate Espresso cupcakes. Vanilla pudding filled cupcakes topped with vanilla whipped cream frosting. Decorated with holly leaves & berries. A little early in the season, but gotta start now before Christmas is upon us.

Chocolate Espresso cupcakes

pudding filled whipped cream topping with coconut

On Thursday the propane man came to fill our tank. $2.25/gallon. Cleaned house & did laundry. Big Boring.

Christmas Glass Block

Monday morning-Foggy clouds hanging over Mt. Spokane.

Mt. Spokane with fog

I made vanilla cupcakes for the Dulce de Leche cupcakes. The crockpot rattled while cooking all day long. Obviously the lid does not fit properly and the slow cooker will have to be returned. It drove me bat-nuts all day. Rattle. Rattle. Rattle.

Worked on my Christmas decorative glass block. Filled it with multi-color lights & created a custom bow for the top.

 Christmas decor glass block

On Tuesday morning I went into CDA to get my nails done at Nails 2000; the girl filed my skin down on my thumb & cut it. Owie. When I got home, I cleaned & vac'd the Dodge & the FMF. Hubby's Walenstock slippers came via Fed Ex. Also made more vanilla cupcakes. Picked up dog poo.

Hubby came home at 5:00; went to Timberlake to vote. I Voted Today. Did you?

Filled the cupcakes with dulce de leche, then frosted. Yum. Ready for delivery tomorrow.