The big event this week was Thanksgiving. Additionally, we began putting up Christmas decorations. There are plenty of family member photos this week so take a look.
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Now that the housekeeping is over, I have a few photos left over from Toby’s visit. He helped me trim the bottom of the downstairs bathroom door, necessary to fit a low-profile threshold plate to cover the transition from the wood floor to the tiles Pam had installed.
Pam’s sister Becky drove to Elma during Toby’s visit, so we took the opportunity for this group photo.
We had accumulating snow the week Toby was here, but recent mild weather has melted it away. (More snow is in the forecast for this week.) Our leaky old windows yield some “frost” photos when the weather gets near zero.
The “big event” was Thanksgiving. Becky invited us to Greene for a meal and to celebrate 6 months in her “new” home. We were more than happy to help celebrate the first major holiday since she moved in.
Becky put together a great meal of chicken, stuffing, cranberry relish, bean salad, rolls, whipped squash, gravy, and mashed potatoes with cream cheese. Yum!! Pam baked pies for dessert – strawberry-rhubarb custard and pumpkin. Becky’s daughter, Lilly, joined us for the meal. Here are a few photos from the day.
Everything tasted great! Conversation flowed around the table, making the day even more enjoyable.
We had taken the dogs along and part of the afternoon found Becky and Lilly giving Jo and Bru some love. Blondie was not as sociable this trip.
We had a very good holiday and thank Becky and Lilly for the food and hospitality.
With the improvement of the weather, we ended the week by putting up the rest of the outside decorations. After more than a decade of use, Pam decided to replace a raggy-looking exterior garland, used along the front porch. (This was a two-day project with disassembly and reassembly needed.) In addition, some non-working, or partially working, lights were finally tossed. Elma’s Holiday Parade is this Sunday night so we try to have exterior lights ready for that; the parade passes directly in front of Heart House. Additional exterior wreaths + inside decorations + a live tree [in the Media Room] will be part of the decor in early December.
I replaced the mower deck and bagger on the John Deere LX 176 and attached the snow blade. I hope I don’t have to use the blade for a few weeks but I want to be ready when the heavier snow arrives. I need to get the snow blower running, a task for the upcoming week.
We hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving and you’re looking forward to Christmas.
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Penny
Every year when the holiday “stuff” is hauled out I think “Wow! How did we accumulate all this?” It’s unusual for us to throw anything out, but I’ve been putting off a re-do of that exterior garland for years — the time had come to strip it down and reassemble with new materials. (If the weather hadn’t cooperated, I wouldn’t have done it this year either.)
Heart House [with its three porches] certainly can handle quite a bit of exterior decoration. I try to make sure the decor is as attractive in the daylight as the lights are at night. This requires extension cords to be as hidden as possible and decorations in various media (lights, cloth, wood/evergreen, metal) to be distributed around the property.
Future indoor decoration will be “edited” with kittens in mind. That process can wait until early December.
Happy Trails.