Happy Thanksgiving 2020

 "M U F F I N S"

Spelled backwards describes what you do when you take them out of the oven.

May all the scents of Thanksgiving fill you with warmth and gratitude.

Throwback to Thanksgiving 1985

We'll be celebrating Thanksgiving apart from our family this year.  We knew we had to keep our plans fluid due to the pandemic restrictions, but we had planned on visiting our daughter and family in DE.  Then this morning they were notified that another child in our grandson's daycare class tested positive for COVID-19.  Our grandson hadn't been in school all week due to a case of croup, but he will have to be tested and they are in quarantine now because no one really knows the time frame for exposure.  So, we drove down to the end of New Jersey yesterday afternoon and met Rachel at the rest stop with a cooler full of apple pie, pumpkin roll, and devilled eggs.  She has the rest of the meal planned, including an 18 pound turkey and will be sending everything to her in-law's house after it's cooked and they have their portions.  Luckily, we thought ahead and picked up a small turkey breast for just the two of us and I can muster up the side dishes.  Dessert is not a problem - I had already made a pumpkin roll for us and HWNSNBP picked up a small coconut custard pie to have.  Rachel also gave us a couple of slices of pumpkin pie when we made the drop.  I know she's upset both that we won't be there and more so that there's the possibility that they've all been exposed now to the virus.  They'll all be getting tested and we're praying that everything will be okay.  

So I'll end with a little bit of a funny story.  

I will first say that I am very lucky..... and thankful...... that HWNSNBP does the shopping for us.  He is an early riser and can get in and out of the grocery store first thing in the morning when it is less crowded.  So last weekend he told me to leave him a list of what I needed from the store to prepare for the holiday and I did.  I was finishing up my breakfast when he got back with the bags and left them on the counter for me to unpack while he went on to his next chore.  I was unpacking the bags and was a little perplexed when I pulled out a single orange.  I hadn't planned using an orange in anything so I called to him and asked him what he was going to do with the orange.  He told me he wasn't going to do anything with it - adding very adamantly that it was on the list.  I asked him if he still had the list and he pulled it out of his jacket pocket and started to point to it ........ and there it was....... 1 orange pepper.  He did offer to go back to the store and get the pepper, but I told him it could wait.  

I just don't think that orange rind would have been good for these..........

If you really want a good laugh, check out this video of Jeanne Robertson on why you shouldn't send a man to the grocery store.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Every Seven Days - a continuation (PLUS)

Just a few catch up photos with the Every Seven Day challenge this time.

This little bluebird was playing peek-a-boo behind that twig.  How I wish the twig wasn't there.

This is where the background color came for that picture above.  Our Japanese Maple is in full glory and the sugar maple near it has finally turned yellow.

These colors were the inspiration for the Every Seven Day Challenges these last two weeks.

Week 18 - Mandala

Using sugar maple, Japanese maple, ornamental grass, blue salvia, lamb's ears, acorn caps, and a chrysanthemum blossom.

With a little bit of rearrangement.

Week 19 - From the Heart

This challenge is worldwide and the theme this week "From the Heart" is dedicated to all who need a little extra love.  The challenge originator aimed this particularly at the citizens of the US who are waiting for the results of a very contentious presidential election.  Our angst is felt worldwide.

A Japanese maple heart amongst the leaves of an autumn olive bush.

I don't know what this plant is below.  It might be some kind of wild rose bush in its infant stage.  I found it growing in one of the raised flower beds and was drawn to it's red leaves still wet from the recent rain.  The leaf looked like a jeweled heart.  I couldn't use this for the Every Seven Day challenge because that has to be something that you "create" from nature.  I think nature did a pretty good job of creating this on it's own.

I picked out some new plants on a recent trip to the Great Swamp Nursery.  HWNSNBP picked out the pot.  The tall plant and the plant on the lower right side are varieties of the snake plant.  The plant on the left side is called String of Turtles (Peperomia).  I thought these animal-names plants would make a good combination.

Don't these little leaves look like a turtle shell?

And now for my PSA.  During my purging I've been sorting things in the living room and must have dropped this little nail on the carpet without knowing.  When vacuuming the carpet I unknowingly sucked it up and didn't know what was causing the whining noise.  We checked the rotating brush and it seemed to be caught up on something but neither of us could get our hand far enough up into the rotor to find the jam.   I took the attachment off, of course, and in the process of moving it around, grabbed the top of it and felt something sharp.

I know it's a bad picture, but I indicated what I saw and felt below. The nail had been forced right up through the top of the attachment and my guess is if it didn't have a flat head, it would have gone right through.  So I will be more careful about accidentally vacuuming up nails in the future.  (HWNSNBP had to pound the nail backwards very carefully so it didn't bend in the process or we wouldn't have been able to get it out and free up the rotor.)

End of Origami Week - Who Knew?

I just saw in my favorite blog feed that Every Day is Special posted that today is End of Origami Week.  Of course, I didn't know that, but I just happened to have some origami that I was going to post soon.

There was an old cardboard cheesecake box dated use by 1999 in our "storage room" that wasn't labeled (of course) with what it might contain and it felt very light but when I shook it I knew that there was definitely something inside.  When I opened it I found a bunch of little origami pieces.  Specifically a rainbow set of cranes and gold stars. I remember that when I was subbing I used to carry a little pack of origami paper in my go bag and when I had some time prep time, I would fold something.

What could I do with the cranes?  It just so happens that another bag of stuff that I had recently found had some gold beads and drapery rings in it.  This bag of goodies came from one of the teachers that used to work in my school.  When her parents were being moved into senior living quarters, she was cleaning out their house and would bring me the craft supplies.  Some of it I knew that I would never use, but I didn't take the time at the time to go through it and just stuffed it into that room.  Well, in this case I was glad that I held onto this stuff.

Because with a little sturdy quilting thread, those beads, the drapery ring, and the cranes became this...

It's not staying outside.  Right now it's hanging in the kitchen, but I have to find a better place for it.

And here are the foil stars.  I don't remember what I had in mind for them either, but I'll come up with something.

And just for the heck of it, a little more rainbow color from yesterday.  Sitting at my computer in the dining room my view to the kitchen window was rewarded with the sun catching my gypsy rod and illuminating some of it.  Funny, when I stood up, it wasn't as bright and beautiful.  I guess I was in the right place at the right time and just happened to be transferring pictures from my camera so I had it at arm's reach.  (And you can see the new glass dragonfly that we just added this week.)

 

I hope you find a rainbow today.

Jingle Belles - It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

I had a jump start in my brain for this fortnight's Jingle Belles challenge because I was so behind on the last one and I got lucky that this fills the requirements for both.  Of course, last week it was creatures and I mentioned that I had a couple of ideas but only got to one.  This week we are to use a see-through element hence the "midnight clear" reference.  My clear elements are vellum for the second swan and a piece of transparency for the water (under the sparkling swirls).

 

Truth be told, my original idea was for one swan and the water was going to be clear embossed under those swirls, sans crown.  But when I saw this week's theme, I thought that if I find some vellum a second swan could be perfect with that.  The crowns were another aha.  The closest one is from shiny gold paper and the further one back is matt gold.  They are made from a piece cut from a punched snowflake.  I even colored some vellum green for the holly leaves - one peaks up between the two swans.  (Note to self - think about getting some colored vellum to add to my stash.)  

 

Here's another photo in different light to show the clear water a little better.  The moon is stamped from an SU set and I added the "stars" to the night sky with a glitter gel pen.  For the life of me, I could not tell whether that gel pen was silver or gold glitter, but it does appear more silver which is what I was going for.  

HWNSNBP caught a glimpse of the ingredients for this card when we took a Facetime call in the stamp cave from Rachel and said he wanted to see it when it is done.  Little does he know that it already had his name on it.

I have another creature card in mind that I might be able to add something see-through to, but for now I have to get back to my purging.  I am finding so much "stuff" that I still can use and a whole bunch of other stuff that I now know I'll never use.  This is both overwhelming and entertaining at the same time.

Please take a quick click here to check out the other wonderful creations at the Jingle Belles blog.  Stephanie and Lauren have again provided beautiful inspiration cards for us.  

October Birthday, Painted Leaves, and Slippers Anyone?

A card I did for a friend's October birthday using the outside circles from the Concord and 9th Painted Dots stamp.  The flowers are from Altenew's Hennah Elements.  The sentiment is from an SU set.  I liked the bold colors.   Had to grab a quick photo from my worktable - sorry about the lighting.

I found some oak leaves down by the mailbox that looked like leather and tried drawing on them with a white gel pen.  I do like the look of them.  I keep wanting to stop along the side of the road to find some of the red-hued ones, but it may be too late for that.  Although, oaks are usually the last to lose their leaves.  

So, do you think this is an indication that someone wants his own slippers?

Ahhhh, that's the life.  Snack, drink, and new slippers! (And of course, your favorite movie.)

October Events (Picture Heavy)

Catching up on posting our pictures from our October adventures which are reruns of the past few years at this time but with a little different participation level due to the times we're in.  

Early in October we did go to the Kite Festival on LBI, but kept our distance from the crowds even though the event was outside.  We are lucky to have friends who own a home right off the dunes and they welcomed us to use their upper deck for some picture taking.  

And some butterflies close-ups in the goldenrod on their dune.

And we also did our own version of the Lighthouse Challenge since it was not an official one this year.  We saw what we could on that very pleasant Saturday - traveling through mostly southern Jersey just before the leaves were at peak.  

Tinnicum

Finn's Point

East Point

East Point - another new vantage point of this one

Cape May

There were several horse and carriage drivers lined up along one of the side streets that we went through just waiting for riders.  We thought we might be able to find parking on one of the back streets near the mall so we could get some ice cream but it was too crowded and busy for that.

Hereford Inlet hasn't been on the official list the past couple of years because of an issue between the town and the Lighthouse group, but the grounds are still open so we did stop there.  And just as we were leaving a wedding party arrived there for pictures.

Our traditional gazing ball photo when we're there.

Tuckerton Seaport

And Old Barney as the sun was going down.

Back at the condo we got a little treat of some fireworks out the back.

These are a couple more pictures of East Point with my other camera from the new vantage point and then again by the side of the road.  I was hoping to see some eagles there this time as someone who lives up by us had posted pictures he had taken in September of eagles down the road from this lighthouse.  We we were not lucky enough to spot any, but the tide was in our favor to get the front view of this lighthouse and the flag pole.  

We're going to have a little bit of a warm spell (in the low 70's) for the next couple of days after we had our killing frost last weekend and temps below freezing for the first time this fall.  We'll be trying to take advantage of the nice weather to get the yard cleaned up and finish some temperature-related chores outside.  HWNSNBP is finishing up the second night table for our daughter and this will be an opportune time for him to be able to do the last stage - painting it out in his workshop.  And all those tender annuals that bit the dust in the frost have to be removed.  Some window washing may be on the list too.  We'll see.