Things I like Thursdays Nov 28

Greetings!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to my US friends.   We will have rain and cold. for several days. Very unusual for us as many Northerners have arrived for the winter and had plans for golfing, etc.
I will be going to my son's house for a big feast. I take turns each year with my kids.. Thankfully, I only have 2 kids.
But, they are both great cooks (as well as their spouses).  I'm eating as healthy as I can before that day.
I am thankful for all of you visiting my blog and sending me your thoughts.  It keeps me happy and sane.
 Hope ya'll have a great day!

In the meantime, here is a list of my "likes" for this week:

1. Green Enchiladas Soup. Here is the link for the recipe: https://seekinggoodeats.com/?s=green+enchilada+soup  I hope I set that up for you correctly.  Most of the ingredients I had on hand.  I used canned chicken. It can be made in a pot on the stove but I made it in the crock pot for 1.5 hours to make sure all the cheese melted. This was  SO good and easy.

2.  Vignettes of my Christmas decorations:

The shelf over the tv.  Those candles have LED lights which I love.

My blue and white tree.  This was taken with my Ipad at night.  I'm still trying to get better photos but it's a struggle.

Here's one taken  with the Iphone. The tree is so pretty -live. I've had that crocheted Angel at the top for many years but the blue and white theme just started last year.

My hanging Nativity scene.  It is a carved wood piece bought at Hobby Lobby for $5 that I attached to a midnight blue (with stars) fabric. It's about 13" square.  I just love the simplicity of it.

My table Nativity scene.  I've had this small set many years. I grew up with the Nativity scene set up under the tree in a manger every year. But, as an adult I've liked seeing it in a more visible setting on the table.
I still have one or two decorations to go inside and minimal outside stuff to prepare  --so I'm almost done.

Hope you enjoyed a peek into my days and please join us for more "likes" at Lee Anna's site: Not Afraid of Color

mary

Things I like Thursdays Nov 21

Greetings!

We are having solid rain for three days!  Yesterday, today and tomorrow. We've only had half the annual rainfall ytd! ( annual is about 8 inches and we didn't even have 4 before this).  We definitely need the rain.  Luckily,  it's light but steady and temps in the 60's. 

  I don't like to drive in the rain so I'm staying home putting up Christmas decorations and making Green Chicken Enchilada soup in the crock pot.  This is a nice day.  I belong to a Christmas Group on Facebook and have been watching many people decorate for Christmas.  I usually decorate the weekend after Thanksgiving but since it's late this year, I'm doing it now.  Oh, such fun to do the things that make us happy

Here is a list of my "likes" for this week:

1.  My apple/potato peeler. I've been peeling, slicing potatoes for scalloped potatoes with my machine:

I use it weekly for my apples but finally tried it on potatoes.  I haven't figured out yet how to peel and slice only.  There is a way not to core it, but I just sliced up the core as I was in a hurry.This machine is a life saver for me as my thumbs are in constant pain.

2. My new phone- an Iphone 8. My old 6S (about 5 years old) finally wasn't working well or hooking up to the wifi!  I was lost for a few days without my phoen and ipad and finally gave in to go to Sprint for a new phone. I got a rebuilt Iphone8 for 18 months lease at $11/month. Score.  As part of the deal, I got a free new Ipad due to a "special" running for the weekend. Here's the Ipad:

Some of you may remember I got an Ipad as a gift last Christmas and have been learning to use it all year.  I decided now to pay approximately $15/ month for cellular data in addition to  WIFI for the new Ipad.  This is much more dependable in my house.
The bad news is- I have to set up all my stuff on the new Ipad.  After I clean out the old one, I'll set it up for Thomas to use when he's here. This has all been so time consuming!  I spent the entire day last Friday dealing with phones and Ipads! I think I'm ok now.(heehee)

3. Walmart fabric. I know-surprise. I needed dark green for a Christmas tablecloth and couldn't find one online so I was at Walmart and found these:

One yard precuts for $3.00 each!  The quality is very good = as you can see it's from Waverly.  I don't care for the fat quarters at Walmart but these one yards are nice and ridiculously priced.  I got 2 and pieced a 55inch square tablecloth in an hour or so. I saved a lot of money and running around.

4. Christmas centerpiece (on the new tablecloth) for the kitchen table.

I had the pinecones and some trees.  The place mat, green tree, red star was purchased at Pier 1 a few weeks ago.

5.  Blue lights for the living room:

I spent all day Saturday cleaning the living room top to bottom and trying to hang blue lights by myself in the living room. .  As you can see I was listening to Chef Rick Bayless on the Simply Ming show.  My hips don't work for up and down climbing so it was a real process but I got them done.

This was the best photo I could make after about 10 tries!  I have a difficult time with night shots on my phone.

That's about it for this week.I'll show more deco results next week.   Hope you enjoyed a peek into my "likes". Please join us at Lee Anna's site for more:Not Afraid of Color

Have a great day!
mary

I like Thursdays Nov 14

Greetings!

Since most of my time was spent on before and after my trip to Payson, Az , I only have one BIG like today:

A trip to Payson, Az

This photo was taken in a moving car and with my Iphone.  I wish it was clearer for you to see how beautiful the changing leaves appeared. This was the desert about an hour before arriving in Payson.

Payson is a  town about a 2 hour drive northeast  from Phoenix.  It was founded in 1884, the population is about 15,000 and it is widely know for it's rodeo. The elevation is about 5000 feet so the terrain is tall pines and cool(er) weather.

We stayed at an Air bnb. This was the first time for all of us taking that route for lodging.  It was a 3 bed 2 bath home in downtown Payson which is a very old area.  My son in law handled the process of an Airbnb so we were all a little nervous of the result.  When we arrived, we were shocked at the outside appearance which was not how the photo appeared.  It was awful looking. However, the inside looked like an HGTV home.  Crazy.  We loved the place as it was everything we needed.

We timed our visit perfectly for the changing colors of the leaves:

Everywhere we went was clear blue skies and beautiful trees.

We visited 2 parks in the town many times.  Here we are at Green Valley park with Thomas throwing a jet ball to mom and dad.

All of the park events are a workout for mom and dad but they love it. Gramma gets to sit with Thomas and cheer him on:

Check out another red tree in the background.  As you can tell,  I spent a lot of time admiring the trees up there.

The other park was Rumsey Park.  Thomas got to play basketball, his favorite sport.

Mom and dad got quite the workout there, too.

And, then it was back  to the rental to relax:

Thomas and my daughter Tina watching "Christmas at the Cranks".  Everywhere we went was so close to home- maybe 3-4 miles away at most.

I wish I had taken more photos, but I was busy enjoying the great outdoors and the company!

Back to the grind of chores and running errands  in 85 degrees.  I hope ya'll are enjoying your week.

Take care,
mary

I like Thursdays Nov 7

Greetings!

Happy fall.  Hope you are enjoying it. I haven't sewn this week but have been cleaning and running errands. Unfortunately, my hip has been acting up so not much going out in the world.  This coming Saturday I'm going to Payson Az (best small town 2015) for a vacation and I am so excited.  I'm going with my daughter and her family.  We have been going every fall but last year I was sick and couldn't go.
I wish it was going to be colder but it will be 70/45 for the 3 days.

And, I will finally see trees.

In the meantime-here's a short list of my likes for this week:


1.  Gift in the mail.  I was so pleased to receive a lovely gift from Roseanne of Home Sewn by Us.
A pair of socks with " I'm watching Hallmark Christmas movies" on them.  Very thoughtful and very cute.

2. Changing my closet to "winter" clothes.  Two weeks ago we had unusually cold weather for us-60 and 70 degrees with 40's in the a.m.  and I just ate it up.  So, I changed most of the clothes out.  For us, that just means long sleeves.
However,  today we are at 90 again.  I can't win. Now you see why I can't wait to go to the high country this weekend.  If it wasn't for my family being here- I would definitely live in a small, cold town.

3.  The last show for Durrels at Corfu.  It was so well done.  Even though I will miss that crazy family, the finale was lovely. Now I need to find another PBS show similar to that. What an escape.

4. My annual trip to Pier 1. I go there just to see their beautiful, creative trees and take a full hour just to get ideas for Christmas.  This time , I picked up just a few small pieces:  I picked up a red placemat, 2 white, small  dishes ,  a gift diffuser and two of their small trees (like 10-12 inches).  I want to make a  new centerpiece for the kitchen table.
Luckily, I did not see these plates or would have bought a set:

They have trees!!!  Sorry.

That's all I could come up with for this week but hope to have photos for you next week. And, maybe some sewing done.

Have a great one and please join us at Lee Anna's post for more "likes" at Not Afraid of Color

mary

P. S. I was not happy at all to see my favorite basketball player, Steph Curry, severely injured- a fractured hand. They are saying it will be 3 months before he can play again.  Prayers to him for a speedy recovery.