12-2-2018 In One Door and Out the Other

Thoughts and Quotes: You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.           C. S. Lewis

And therein lies my problem. I keep coming up with new things to do, but no added time to do them. And I'm trying so hard to downsize, but I take four more boxes of books to the library -

and then go to Russell Stover's to pick up candy for my kids, and right down the street is Goodwill, so I come home with this -

Six strawberry napkins for 25 cents each for the Strawberry Tea.

Hmmm.....maybe not. I like the white to show off the napkin rings.

I'll come up with a luncheon table with green tablecloth, red handled silverware, green dishes, red placemats, the new napkins and I'll get an entirely new look.

Four little tea napkins perfect for Christmas for 25 cents each

They'll be perfect with this.

Six blue glass bowls for 50 cents to use with Blue Christmas

And then realized that I already have blue bowls

But these are so pretty.

A sweet little Pilgrim for 50 cents. I love that the turkey looks as if he's thinking, "What's going on?"

I have no idea what I'll do with these chairs for $1 each, but they were so cute, I had to have them. At first I thought "picture frame", but there's no place to slide in the photo. They looks as if they came right out of a Fairy Tale.

A small pumpkin plate for 25 cents. A couple of small nicks, but I can fix them with a marker and some clear nail polish.

And a large pumpkin plate for $1.

I'll use them for serving dishes with the Pumpkin Patch table.

Spreaders for $2 to go with the Coastal Cuisine table.

Spreaders for $2 to go with the Mexican Tea.

Spreaders for $2 to go with anything. Really nice quality.

Spreaders for $1 to go with the Snowflake table. Hope the blues will blend.

So did I make any progress? Probably not, but I'm having fun.

Tasting (out): Lisa and I went to the Market Place Cafe in Ozark for bacon-mushroom quiche. She had lasagna soup, I had a salad.

Then we both had Irish Creme Cheesecake

Tasting (in): I remembered this recipe I hadn't made for a long time. It's so easy, and the pork chops and rice bake together while you prepare the salad and/or vegetable.

PORK CHOPS AND DIRTY RICE

4 thick-cut pork chops

2/3 cup uncooked rice

3 cups water

1 envelope dry onion soup mix

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 small can mushroom pieces, drained

Heat oven to 375°.

Place rice in the bottom of a 2 qt. casserole with a lid.

Brown chops and place on top of rice.

Add water to chop drippings. Add onion soup, onions, and mushrooms to water. Heat slightly and pour over chops.

Cover and bake 45 minutes; remove cover and bake 10-15 minutes more.

  

The Pepper and Pals Report: Nothing new with the kitties. Robert and Joey were here for lunch and Stormy warmed up to both of them. Pepper, the attention hound, wouldn't leave them alone.  He loves people and he loves to get pets.

Tidbits: Isn't Mother Nature a wonder? She piled all the leaves in the middle for easier removal.

Tidbits (again): Brother Danny told me about a wonderful off-season sale at Aldi. BBQ grills for 25 cents. Click HERE. For those of you who don't have an Aldi, you have to put in a quarter (25 cents) to unlock a shopping cart. After you unload your groceries, you hook your cart back up and it releases your quarter.

Tidbits (still again): I learn something new everyday. I packed up the candy I bought for my kids, and took it to UPS. They told me they couldn't ship it in that box. I was so perplexed. It was a really nice sturdy box I got at the last library book sale. Then they told me why. It originally held some kind of pale ale - it was printed right there on the side with their logo. Who knew? You can't ship in boxes which say any kind of liquor on the side. 

They put my box inside one of their boxes, taped it up, and sent it on its way. And the box cost me an additional $4.43 cents. Lesson learned.

Talented Friends: Remember Nancy, the genius cakemaker who made this -

And this -

And this -

Take a look at her newest creation. Genius.

The Most Beautiful Christmas Music: A moving youtube presentation to start the Christmas season. Those who don't celebrate Christmas can still appreciate the music and creativity.  Click HERE.

Test: I wanted to share a Jacquie Lawson card. Let's see if it works. Click HERE.

WORK ON YOUR CHRISTMAS BUCKET LIST

STAY HYDRATED

EAT LOTS OF LEAFY GREENS

WRAP THE PRESENTS AS YOU BUY THEM SO YOU WON'T BE IN OVERLOAD JUST BEFORE CHRISTMAS

TAKE LOTS OF PHOTOS OF THE HOLIDAYS - IN THE FUTURE YOU'LL BE GLAD YOU DID

THANK YOU FOR SHARING MY LIFE