Confessions of a Grandma

It's not nice to wish ill of the dead and dying. But really, I am so tired of 2018. I am resenting the fact that December is a 31 day month. There were challenges and good times. I am grateful for the good times with family and friends. I weathered the challenges. Everything happens for a reason, so might as well learn from each experience. I will be spending the next two weeks in Vermont. I will be busy, but still looking forward to making my way south. Hard to complain about anything when I have two roofs over my head, fun things to do almost every day, and great friends in both locations. Still . . . 2018, don't let the door hit you in the bum on your way out. google images

Real life is getting in the way of my time to engage in my blog life.  We all know it happens from time to time. BUT I want to take the time to wish those who celebrate Christmas a very merry one. If you celebrate or find some significance to the holiday season, happiness and joy. To those who just strive to survive the whole holiday season, know it will all be over soon.  Hang in there!

Well, I went to Boston this week for my minimally invasive sinus procedure.  It was an outpatient deal and I stayed with my friend who lives in Massachusetts so it wasn't all bad.  I have a drippy nose (and will for a while) but no pain, at least not in the area of my sinuses.  That part went very well. The hard part was getting set up in pre-op. The anesthesiologist could not get a needle in my vein to hook up an IV. After ten or so attempts she went for help and then there were to of them jabbing both arms with needles.  She finally settled on using a tiny needle --"the size we use for babies." My arms are a lovely shade of purple and my hands look like pin cushions. I am hoping to be breathing better soon.

My grandmother used to say, "It never rains but it pours." Bit of a pessimist, my grandmother. Or perhaps a bit of a realist. I am having pouring issues right now. I returned to VT from my place in Florida where I have been for the past three weeks. My friend Don was picking me up at the airport. He found an app the kept track of the progress of my flight -- a good thing since my flight from JFK to Burlington was delayed. He didn't have to hang around a nearly empty airport waiting for me. We got to my place at 11:30 p.m.* I was tired. I didn't hear Don getting up and into the shower but I did hear him yelling when he went downstairs. I now have a shower that allows two people to wash up at once -- on in the tub upstairs and one standing under the ceiling light fixture in the dining room. Good thing he was here. For one thing, he takes really quick showers whereas I take longer and would have pumped a lot more water through the leaking drain. Main thing: he ...

You recognize these things. A twist tie or a tab tie keep an open plastic bread bag closed prolonging precious freshness. Sometimes the twist tie comes in handy although I cannot think of a specific example at the moment. Perhaps there is another use for the tab but I have never cared enough to research what that might be on Pinterest. They say plastic straws are clogging up the landfills and oceans. What is the impact of these bread thingies? It cannot be good. NOTE to environmentalists in need of a research topic! I can hear your eyes rolling out there. Good grief, she is really scraping the bottom of the barrel for a blog topic . Of course this is not a post about bread ties. It is a post about a new relationship, a romantic relationship, and the need to negotiate such when you reach a certain age and yet still imagined navigating those mine fields had passed with your youth. A bowl filled with plastic bread ties taking up space on an already too cramped counter top ...

I made this  brown quilt -- could be a crib size, maybe a lap quilt. I plan to donate to the church Goods and Services Auction in January. I much prefer to work in this size. I did attempt a larger project: Way too many opportunities for mistakes and way too hard to quilt on a regular old sewing machine! I used left over material (which I bought at a yard sale last winter) to make a shopping bag. I plan to fill that with jars of jam and maple syrup; coffee, tea and hot chocolate; pancake and scone mixes. I will call it breakfast in a bag and donate that to the auction as well. I can whip these bags up in no time so maybe I will just specialize in bags from now on.

I have been on a vegetable kick. I am actually not a vegetarian but I do eat lots of vegetables. It's winter vegetable time. Even in Florida. I love roasted root vegetables. cauliflower, carrots, turnip and sweet potato I like to grocery shop on Tuesdays so I usually clean out the fridge on that morning and any left over vegetables from the previous week get made into a soup. My sister-in-law took a tour of Ireland last winter and brought home a recipe for Irish vegetable soup.  Basically, it is potato, leeks, onion, turnip, carrots, parsnips  boiled until mushy and then blended with seasoning. It is a satisfying meal and it makes my skin glow. I did tell a friend about leftover soup once and she looked at me askance and said, "You can make soup out of pizza and leftover taco meat?"