...the Man's last Sunday as a full-time called pastor was so nice...really touching and heartwarming...the choir sang us a special sending hymn...and everyone was so sweet...the ladies from our Prayer Shawl group made me a going away prayer shawl in this lovely magenta colour... ...we rang in the New Year with cream soda instead of champagne...haha... ...it was bubbly and sweet and fun... ...we put a bag of greens from the freezer out to thaw...and soaked a pound of black-eyed peas overnight... ...and had a delicious New Year's meal...

~Wishing you a lovely start to the New Year!

...we had an early start Saturday morning...Mom had to get to the soccer field and we were heading to pick up the U-Haul truck...so I made some blueberry muffins... ...y'all have seen the recipe many times...I often make it..this time...I made six regular full sized muffins...and then I used my muffin-top pan to make six muffin tops... ...Mom and the Man both chose the pouffy tall muffins... ...but I just had a few muffin tops...let me know if you remember the Seinfeld episode about the muffin tops...haha...there was often a bit of social commentary on Seinfeld...they called the donated bottoms of the muffins 'stumps'... ...we got the truck... ...and loaded it up...his treadmill was definitely the worst part...even after we took it apart...and this truck didn't have a ramp...who knew???...so we improvised by strapping a few two-by-fours together...it worked... ...but everything that he left here is now safely stowed away and he'll be able to easily transfer it to a pod for shipping later... ...so Mom came back to our house after the day's games (there was more on Sunday)...and we had a nice BBQ dinner...she brought a basket of fries that she'd gotten by mistake at lunchtime...haha... ...one of our parishioners sweetly placed the piano flowers in honor of Our Airman...so we brought those home and sent him a picture...it's a really pretty fall arrangement and we're enjoying it on our 'table'... ...after Mom left...I ran to the grocery store for a few things...nothing unusual...but the potatoes in that bag are huge... ...Mom brought the Man a bag of jalapenos... ...on Friday...I had picked what I thought were the last two tomatoes...we've already had frost... ...but when Mom and I were in the backyard...I spied a couple more yellow ones...and I went ahead and picked all of the green ones too...maybe they'll ripen on the windowsill...if not...I'll 'fry' them in the Griddler... ...I think the only food prep I did was to make a batch of toful pudding...just silken tofu, sugar and cocoa...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

...this was the weekend of the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT...the Man announced his retirement from full time called ministry...at the end of the year...

...so that made Sunday afternoon full of phone calls...leaving a congregation is always bittersweet...and after nine years here that is certainly true...

...but before that...Friday...it was Trunk or Treat... ...so we headed over to the Church parking lot at 5:00...and it was still over 80° F (27° C)...way too warm for Halloween... ...there was already a good crowd... ...the fire truck was there... ...and it was fun seeing all of the decorated trunks... ...so fun to watch the little ones so excited for the candy... ...this one is a car wash...and you have to go through the bubbles and plastic hanging 'scrubbers' to get to the candy...how neat... ...the kids ran for a seat on the hayride...when they got back I heard two little girls call to their mamas...'we're going again'...so fun... ...the trip around the graveyard isn't too spooky before nightfall... ...the baby goats were there again...they're so sweet... ...and the playground was a really busy place...it was all a lot of fun! ...and then Saturday...I made another trip to Goodwill...we have SO MUCH STUFF...it's insane...I really NEED to move every few years...just to make myself go through everything and get rid of what we don't need...and...I'll be making at least one trip to Goodwill every week between now and the end of the year... ...the only food prep I did was to make another batch of croutons...I know I just did that last week with sissie...but I made those super sized for topping our Caesar salads...and they are almost all gone...so I made some smaller ones...I like them smaller... ...and then I worked on our Christmas cards a little bit...so here's a sneak peek...we're using one of our family photos from Okinawa...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

...I finished the third fleece blanket with the crocheted border for the Senior Center... ...the yarn from the bin at Church was a sport weight...so I held two strands together...which is maybe just a little bit too thick...but I think it's ok... ...and I've made a little bit of progress on the Simply Red...one front is finished...and I'm working on the back...which is the middle...you're supposed to do the back first...but I just decided to do the front panel first because that's where I was and I didn't want to cut the yarn and reattach it for the middle/back...

...what's in your workbasket this week?...

~Have a lovely day!

...minimal progress on Simply Red...we're under a sort of deadline to get these little lap-ghans finished for the Senior Center... ...so I finished the pretty flowered one...and I did do the shell stitch border this time...

...and I found a ball of that sage-y green in my stash and I thought that it matched the leaves pretty well...so I did the single crochet border with that...but then pretty quickly realized that I did not have enough for the shell stitch...crochet uses so much more yarn than knitting that it's hard for me to judge how much I'll need... ...but I found another ball in a soft green that goes well with the blanket too...so I just alternated every other shell stich and carried the other colour under the shell...I actually like the effect of that a lot...

...and then...wouldn't you know it...when I went to put away the leftover yarn in my tote downstairs...I spied another ball of the sage-y green...oh well...I'm quite happy with the two tones...

...what's in your workbasket this week?...

~Have a lovely day!

...a few more inches on the Simply Red bolero... ...and the first of the fleece lap-ghans for the Senior Center...the 'pattern' calls for shell stitch...but I thought that was a little too girly for this baseball print fleece...so I did a variation of granny stitch instead...I like how it turned out...I'll probably do shell stitch on the other two though...

...what's in your workbasket?

~Have a lovely day!

...since we didn't watch our movie Friday night like we usually do...we watched it Saturday...and it was my choice...remember when my friend who was walking the Camino missed my birthday and sent me a card with some chocolate...well...the chocolate was Peace Chocolate...and there's a movie about the family that started that chocolate factory in Canada...Peace by Chocolate...it was good...

...and I'm feeling so much better now...I got up early Saturday...and had a quick mug of tea and a vegan buttermilk biscuit with a homemade sausage pattie to start the day... ...because I had to head over to the Church for the Prayer Shawl Knitting/Crocheting group meeting...

...we're doing a new-to-us sort of a group project...a whole bunch of fleece lap-ghans for the local senior daycare center... ...first we cut nice straight edges...not as easy with fleece as it looks...haha... ...and then we used this little cutting tool to make little slits in the fabric for the crochet hook to poke through... ...and then we had the fun of rummaging around in our stash closet to find a matching yarn...we have a ton of yarn... ...I chose this bright yellow to go with this one...there were so many patterns to choose from... ...a group shot of everyone hard at work... ...I brought three home to work on... ...and another flowery one...the yellow yarn will actually go with this one really well...but I think I may have a green or two in my own stash that I may like better... ...and this one reminded me of Our Airman's baseball themed bedroom in North Dakota when he was little...

...and I love the red and white yarn with it... ...so right after that meeting I headed out to get the groceries... ...I got lots of neat vegan things... ...Ben and Jerry's Mint Chocolate Change... ...accidentally vegan Doritos... ...and I know I've been lamenting the inability to find my favorite Silk Protein milk for some reason...so I got this creamy Oatmilk to try... ...and I got a Daiya pepperoni pizza to have on hand... ...and then when I stopped at a new to me Harris Teeter...they actually had my milk...so I got three of them... ...and then in the afternoon I made a vegan German Potato Salad... ...and we headed over to a friends Oktoberfest party... ...there was so much delicious vegan German food...a pretzel and mustard table... ...my overloaded plate...so delicious... ...sweet vegan marzipan fruits for dessert... ...lots of little party favors...an Oktoberfest wristband... ...and a Kiss Me button... ...Sunday morning...I texted my sweet sissie a piccie of me dressed for Church... ...because I was wearing a cute cardi that she'd given me for my birthday...back in 2010...blogs are so useful...aren't they...? ...one of our parishoners gave us this lovely bouquet of fall flowers after Church... ...and I made a cherry pie...using the cherries leftover from the clafouti... ...I used my old pie helper to roll out a nice thin crust with no flour... ...and used the scraps to make some lattice strips... ...it turned out so pretty and delicious...I should make pie more often... ...the Man's little Hen and Chicks have already outgrown their little pot... ...so we got a bigger one and repotted them... ...and I changed out the porch pillow...Hello Pumpkin... ...and we opened the sauerkraut...and it is so perfectly crisp and delicious...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!