Bryan braved the windstorm this weekend and got us a tree! We spent a nice afternoon getting all the decorations out and setting everything up.
Naldo then enjoyed rearranging everything for us. Because… she’s a cat. That’s what cat’s do.
Next on the list of things to do: get the packages wrapped and placed under the tree!
For his birthday this year I got him a new Vacuum Sealer!
He’s been wanting one for years, but it’s very expensive. However, if you add up all the money he’s paid other people to seal up all the fish & game he brings home, he could have gotten three of these things already. And we both paid for halfs, so it wasn’t such a bite to our pocketbooks as it could have been. It took a while for it to arrive at our doorstep, so we are just now getting to play with it a bit.
During our weekly grocery shopping run this weekend we came across a really good deal on a huge chunk of New York Strip, so we figured that was the perfect “excuse” to try out our new toy. We also got a nice big ham and some chicken breasts – but the deal on the beef was exceptional: regular price was $175 but we only paid $70
I’m sure by now everyone knows I don’t eat red meat. My preferred source of protein is more plant based, like Tofu. Seeing that huge hunk of bloody meat in the bag at the store was quite gross, but Bryan was really excited. He had fun cutting it into meal-sized portions. I failed to get a final tally, but I’m guessing he got at least 14 or 15 meals out of that chunk!
The new sealer is very loud and make lots of hissing noises – but it works pretty well. It came with a package of various sizzed sealer bags, so we had plenty to work with. It took us maybe an hour and a half to get all the meat packaged up and in the freezer.
The valley got hit with another big windstorm – actually bigger and longer than the last one. The other one, back in January of 2022, only lasted three days with gusts up to 90 mph. This one has been going on for well over a week and they’ve recorded 100 mph gusts out at the airport in Palmer.
I am exhausted; I just can’t sleep with the howling winds. My mind keeps picturing trees falling on top of us. Or debris crashing through a window. Or our pipes bursting & flooding the place. Or any other of the hundreds of worst-case scenarios my brain can come up with. The only reason my cats haven’t spent the past 10 days in their traveling crates is because Bryan talks me down to a more reasonable level of panicked alertness. As it is, Viktor needs a lot of hugs lately. He does not like the wind any more than I do.
The worst to happen so far has been the three trees that got blown down. Two of them are just tiny things, with no damage done to anything. But that third tree – that was a big one! Thank goodness it didn’t hit anything, it could have taken out our house for sure! Bryan says he couldn’t have laid it down any better if he’d done it on purpose – it JUST missed our trailer and the shed out back.
Our neighbor wasn’t so lucky – you can just see the tree on his roof. The poor guys were out there in the freezing cold and bitter wind, all with chainsaws and ropes, working to get it off his house. Hopefully the damage was minimal.
During a lull in the winds, Bryan went outside and did a walk-around to see the state of things and found that somehow, something got our water main! It’s just the marker, so basically an easy fix – but seriously: How did that happen?
Inside the house we have silt everywhere. The winds definitely come from the glaciers nearby! So far, I have swept up hands full of the stuff at each door & window. Once it’s finally done blowing, I will have to do a more thorough cleaning with a mop to get it all.
November’s crafting project was a crushed glass suncatcher in the shape of a butterfly! I only had one, however, so we all had to work on it together. The kit came with a picture of one that had been completed, but the girls didn’t like that color scheme so decided to go with a rainbow pattern. I must say, ours looks way better! They did such a good job on it!
Working with resin was a new experience for me – I had never done anything like that before. It was pretty cool, though. The girls declined to help with that part of the project – but since they had placed all the crushed glass, we were okay with having the adults do the pouring part.
The most difficult part of the project was figuring out where to put it after we’d completed it so the cats couldn’t get into it while it cured! We ended up placing it in one of the storage cupboards on a piece of cardboard.
24 hours later, and this is what we ended up with! I am so happy with how it turned out! We will have to trim some of that resin off, obviously (we apparently got a little heavy handed with the resin) – but once it’s hung up in a window, I think it will be just beautiful!
This year, we had Thanksgiving dinner at our house! Bryan invited his daughter, who brought along her husband & her daughter, as well as her husband’s mother Patty. We had a great time – they arrived Wednesday afternoon and left Thursday evening after our meal.
Bryan went a bit overboard with the food, of course. He cooked a nice big turkey, a big ham, with a batch of chicken wings & some meatballs for snacks. Patty made the stuffing and sweet potato dishes, while Lindsey helped with all the other dishes that needed to be put together. Ryan kept little Betty occupied, while I ran around and looked busy doing not much of anything except take pictures.
We had the Red Room and the Blue Room both set up for guests. This required a bit of shuffling around with the remainders of Mother’s stuff – but we got things organized well enough that both guest rooms looked inviting. I worried about the heat in the Blue Room since mother always complained that she was cold. Turns out, it was quite warm – Patty said she didn’t need the extra blankets I put in there.
I really enjoyed having them all over and look forward to doing it again – and not just for Thanksgiving.
We’d been to this place once before, but we liked it so much we went back for a second visit - and yes, it is as cold as it looks! We arrived Thursday night and stayed until Sunday afternoon. I got a lot of work done on my projects!
The tiny house is very well laid out, with a kitchen and dining area downstairs – complete with a wood stove and bathroom – and the bedroom upstairs has plenty of room for my crafting table & his computer work. We took the kittens with us this time and they enjoyed reacquainting themselves with the place. We also took the opportunity to binge watch three whole seasons of Game of Thrones – and finished out the rest in the weeks following our little get-away.
The owners run a team of dogs who have their doghouses next door to the rental, so we can see them when they’re out and about. We could have gone for a run with them if we had arranged for it ahead of time. We opted to stay inside where it was more comfortable. They also have a coffee shop on the premises, but it’s closed for the winter. One day I would like to stop by when they’re open, just to try them out.
