Unplanned

30°f/-1C, snow flurries. Cold and mostly cloudy all day, but the stiff of snow soon melted.

We hadn't planned to go out today, but our son messaged that a friend of his had a lot of Depression glass left behind by his ex-wife a while back that he wanted to get rid of. So off we went! 

Along the way to his house: old schoolhouse, or old church? 

Can't resist an old barn! 

There were boxes and boxes of glass, but it was almost all clear glass which does not sell well these days. So I have a big sorting job to do tomorrow. Some will go on ebay, a little to the booths, the rest to the thrift. 

Before we left though, I made a batch of snickerdoodle cookies because what guy doesn't like snickerdoodles? It was a small gift for so much glass, but he was thrilled.  Derek was happy to get a dozen too! I use the Betty Crocker recipe, which is in my old cookbook, but here is a link to the same recipe online. So simple,  and so good!

Since we were out we stopped at our favorite café and caught up with several good friends there. How nice it is when you know almost every single person in a place! Lots of conversation, and a shock to find that one man that we had not seen in a while had had a major heart attack and open heart surgery back in October.  Somehow that news missed us, but he is doing well and has certainly made some adjustments to his too-busy life. 

I was saddened by news that came via email that another friend had lost her husband to pancreatic cancer. What heartbreak for her. I planned to call her when we got home, but was surprised to run into her at the grocery store with her son. It was a teary meeting, and I did not hurry; we talked a long while right there in the store. Forty-seven years of marriage; my heart breaks for her.

On the way home I snapped a couple quick photos of paintings on two empty storefronts by a local art student. I had to do some editing and couldn't quite crop out the van's mirror, but I think you can still appreciate her work. 

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

All's Well That Ends Well

27°f/-2 6C, snow flurries early,  then cloudy and cold.

Snow expected to start again around midnight 

It was another of those days where what seemed like a problem turned out just fine  in the end.

 

Larry canceled his Tuesday appointments because of thd weather, and rescheduled for today...he thought. So we were up at 6:15 to get ready: breakfast, coffee cups filled, pets and critters cared for, lunch packed, etc. We allowed extra time because we weren't sure about road conditions, but the drive took the usual 2+ hours.

And then we find out when we get there that his appointments were tomorrow. Now, at any private sector medical office, that would have been that. But the VA is nothing if not accommodating, or at least the one in Huntington is. The weather had caused a lot of cancelations so we actually were taken right in. Whew. 

So now Larry has had all his pre-op meetings and checkups and is all set for his carpal tunnel/entrapped nerve surgery on January 8th. Let's just hope the weather cooperates!

Yesterday was a getting-ready-for-the-storms day. According to the hyperventilating meteorologists, we have two weather systems coming which could produce anywhere from 0 to 4 inches of snow, in front of some very cold weather.  Since neither of us want to be caught running out of catfood, dog food, toilet paper, etc, we stocked up on all of that. And we stopped at our booths and did a little tweaking, nothing major but now they are in fine shape for the next week or so.  

And that has been our rather humdrum, boring life these last 2 days. I haven't even taken any photos, but I have not yet posted the moon photos from Saturday night, so now is a good time to do so!

It started here, as we reached our road on the way home from the Christmas parade.

I had Larry stop---no traffic out here!---and tried a zoom shot.

Then on Joe's Run, another try.

Peeking through the trees...

And one last shot. All were taken through the van windows, except for a couple where I rolled down the glass. 

None are great, but I had to try.

Packing It Up

19°f/-7.2° C, gradual cleaning but very cold all day. The snow began to melt in the afternoon.

Today's project: packing up the Christmas gifts. 

14 grandchildren, 6 great-grands, then my sons and daughters-in-law plus a few friends makes for quite a pile. I need to add ribbons and bows to pretty them up, but I don't wrap anything anymore--gift bags are my best friend!

6 must be mailed: 2 to Colorado, 1 to California, 1 to Tennessee, and 1 to Florida. 

I am almost done but as always, there are a few additional gifts to pick up. We don't spend a lot, really. I pick things up all year, make some things, etc. But it is such fun to put the gifts together when it's time! Because these boxes are heavy, flat rate postage is best. I won't mail them all the same day either; my mail carrier is great about picking up my packages so I try not to overload her on any given day. 

That was about it for today. Larry had 3 appointments in Huntington but he canceled as the roads were still in bad shape. Not the day for a 5 hour round trip!