Brown, bare, and bright

Here's the new LED tree out of the box.  My first totally bare tree.  Each limb has several branches that are movable and the brown is lightly flocked.  The LED lights are not as sparkly as the old ones, but actually quite nice in the warm white.  I think using it indoors with ornaments would be different, but I would love to have several glowing in the back yard or in the wooded areas. Haven't opened the twig one yet.  It doesn't have as many lights and looks more like a maple tree.  Who knows?  By next year, 2743 hot flashes from now, I may want a white one with multi colored lights and keep these in the attic.  But I've learned that if you like something, get it, you may never have the opportunity again.

 

 

I have to tell you what happened last week with the cookies.  You already know that my husband claims I am always right (or think I am).  After baking the snowball cookies, I put them in a container and placed with the others on the cold concrete floor in the garage.  It was really cold out but I didn't expect them to freeze.  The next day, Mark asked to test one so I brought in the container.  A few minutes later I asked how they were, and he answered, "frozen".  I barked that they can't be, not overnight in the garage.  He insisted.  To prove him wrong, I flipped the lid off and latched my fat crooked fingers onto the top cookie.  As I lifted that sugar coated ball from the container, the other four dozen came with it.  Firmly attached to one another in a frozen mass.  I felt like I was in an episode of Raymond.

The pressure to be right ALL the time is exhausting, so I appreciated the break.

 

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Brown wire trees

Hope you're relaxing today and still smiling from a wonderful time with family and friends on Christmas.  I went shopping.  Rarely do I visit Kraynak's (holiday decorations galore), especially the super crowded after Christmas sale.  But we stopped today and I am glad we did.  Years ago everyone had the tall white wire lighted trees for outdoors and they have become very difficult to find around here.  No longer the sparkly bulbs, everything is LED.  The old bulbs could be replaced in the cord after burn out, but not these. 

 Anyway, I saw those wire trees in brown which I preferred, about 10 years ago online but didn't buy them, haven't seen any old style lights since. But today, Kraynak's had the six foot tall, brown, with warm white LEDs which aren't that harsh bluish white.  Half price, bought two.  They had another primitive style also in brown, half price, bought one. Others in LED had tons of lights on the wire trees with clear flower shaped reflectors and they are so pretty, but not my style. 

So naturally, I sit here saying, so what?  Buy them anyway, they're beautiful!  Put them outside the kitchen window.  Will I go back tomorrow for more?  I hope not.  They also had the bristle feather tree in six foot for only $37.50 but the needles are a little longer than I like, and I don't need another.

 

Stopped in JCP for the big sale and $10 off $25 coupon, got Mark new underwear (BOGO) and myself a new coat.  I have coats.  They don't fit and may never again.  I hated to get the larger size but I can't keep kidding myself into believing I may lose enough to wear the older ones.  When I bought them, they were a little snug because at that time (back in the days of estrogen and jawlines) I expected to lose 10 pounds.  Why buy larger and give myself the leeway to gain even more?  Because I didn't realize that menopause encourages fat to stay, boogie down, party on, and losing becomes much more difficult.  How do you get party-goers to leave when they are having such a good time?  You give up and buy a bigger coat.  And panties.

 

Requests to switch the Italian and Polish dinners were honored so tomorrow I need to buy more kielbasa.  The links previously purchased are currently at a party and will probably stay for quite some time.

 

Enjoy the last week of the year.  Can't believe another one is over.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Christmas Bells

The kitchen (never to be completely finished) won't see action until Tuesday.  By then we're hoping Carole will be better.  The Polish dinner for Eve, also postponed, will be next Friday or Saturday.  I don't want to freeze the kielbasa so we'll have it Sunday.  If there is any left.  I've been alternating snowball, kielbasa, nutroll, kielbasa, almond crescent, kielbasa, butterscotch crunch, kielbasa, bobalki, kielbasa.  You get the idea.

 

 

Someone has been taking liberty with house privileges.  Her coloring is like camouflage and sometimes I am looking right at her and don't realize it.

 

I said I probably wouldn't be back until after Christmas and I've shown up three times since.  Can't trust me.

 

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From four years ago

and still true for many of us today.

Carole has been sick, another incident with Chris this morning didn't help, and our dinners are on hold until the antibiotics kick in and she feels better.  Maybe by tomorrow, maybe not.

 

I finished the Christmas Bells free chart and will be attaching the bells this evening.

 

Merry Christmas to all.  Again.

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The snark that stole Christmas

The good news, the daylight will start getting longer.  The bad news, it's officially winter.

 

I haven't worked on the bell, haven't finished Santa or the free design.  I'm tired.  I always bite my tongue when I want to say something about a family member because one day they may be gone, and what I'm upset about now will be very trivial and irrelevant.  But sometimes, human nature takes over and my Release the Snark bracelet is glowing red hot.  For many reasons, for several people.  But I do what I can for others and when I look back, that will be the thing I am OK with, no regrets, nothing to wish I could take back. 

 

I doubt I will return in time to wish you all a Merry Christmas so I will do so now.  May it be filled with the blessing of family and love and good will. 

 And goodies.  God bless you all.

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Scripted

Hello folks.  Seems like we've all been experiencing frigid temps and icy conditions.  Enough said.  Why give villains top billing?

 

First off, I can't answer your comments because everyone is no-reply.  I still refuse to join Google+ and Googlemania because I do not want my personal preferences changed and dictated by someone else.  That being said, I can't even leave a comment on some of your blogs because of it, forcing me to join.  Nope.

 

So here's the thing about the linen.  If you want printed linen, I suggest purchasing it from Kanikis (https://www.etsy.com/shop/Kanikis) or The Primitive Hare (https://www.etsy.com/shop/ThePrimitiveHare).  It is professionally done and a better option.  I'd been printing and transferring for a long time, for muslin sacks, sachets, labels, book covers, and had tried linen but wasn't happy with the outcome.  Linen is rough and the weave has too much texture to result in a crisp (or even close) outline.  Not with my method.  I purchased script graphics several years ago which is what I used for these and a piece of red script fabric I was lucky to grab on Etsy.  I have linen that I don't like for one reason or another so ruining a piece was no big deal.  And several attempts were failures, which can get costly.  Especially when you forget to reverse the image.

 

I have the few pieces shown here which will be used for hearts.  I'm not happy with the red, may try one more time on a lighter linen.  I have several pieces of antique white in a linen grab bag that I will sell in the near future, and one of those may be the ticket for the red ink. 

 

I need to focus on dinner here for Eve and Day, cookies/desserts, getting the house clean, and applying flea meds without bleeding.  Not to mention .. worm pills.  MEDIC!!!  I may be seeing one anyway if these extreme and sudden jolts above my ear don't stop.

 

Have a good start to your week.

Thanks for visiting.

 

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