4 posts tagged “home”

2008_12_28 - Xmas 008.JPG- Lady for Vox

Here's one of my favorite Christmas photos.  Lady enjoying a bit of sunshine and peace and quite before we were invaded by a hoard of relatives. 

I have spent a good deal of time today trying to find some information about AT&T cell phone plans.  We discovered that even though AT&T doesn't show that we have any service here (neither does anyone else), AT&T phones do work here if you stand in one corner of the house by the Christmas tree!  That is better than nothing, which is what we have now.  I can't get their web site to open.  What's up anyway?

I'm finally dealing with the leftover turkey carcass.  I didn't get to cook the turkey until Saturday.  When I went downstairs to get it on Christmas Day so I could put it in the oven, I couldn't find it.  Finally I went back upstairs and ask my hubby where he put the turkey.  I had sent him downstairs with it on Wednesday evening, after it had spend Tuesday night and all day Wednesday in the car.  "In the freezer", was his answer.  So needless to say, we didn't have turkey for Christmas Dinner.  Thank goodness I had also bought ham, so that saved the day. 

Then I forgot to get the turkey back out of the freezer until sometime on Friday, so when I went to get it on Saturday, it was still frozen.  Nothing to do but put it in the oven just like a block of ice.  I started it off early, and at a lower temperature than usual, and it turned out great!  I usually don't do anything with the giblets anyway, so when we took the turkey out of the oven, we just threw them away. 

After we ate on Saturday, I put the turkey back in the roasting pan, covered it up, and put it out on the porch inside the grill to keep the critters out of it.  It stayed cold enough to keep it just fine.  Decided I had best do something with it today, though.  Still haven't decided what to make.  Just can't get inspired.  What are your favorite ways to use leftover turkey? 

I did take time to put some of my plants back in their preholiday places, and water them.  They were all getting dried out!  I managed to kill the poinsettia that my daughter gave me.  I had it by the window, but I think it got too much heat, even though I had the heat vent closed.  I bought an amaryllis before Christmas, too, but it is not doing much.  I'll be lucky to have flowers by Valentine's Day.  All I have are two tiny little sprouts. 

Got my check book balanced but I haven't paid bills yet.  Did get a couple to loads of clothes washed.  It has been cold today, but at least the sun has been shining.  A good way to end 2008.  Happy New Year, everyone!

2008_08_09 -Flash for Photo Quest 060.JPG - petunia for Vox

I usually avoid flash photography like the plague, so this week's Photo Quest challenge to shot with flash was a real challenge. 

I have been working on it for two nights.  Tonight I went through about 100 shots to try to pick out some good ones.  This one made the cut.  The petunia bloom is about half way open.  It wasn't dark yet when I took the shot; the sun was just setting, and I used a filter to keep from over exposing the flower. 

I worked up a few more apples today, but didn't make any more jelly.  Hubby didn't go looking for the jars.  One of our sons is coming tomorrow.  Maybe he will go look for them.  If he has time, I want him to set my old computer up for my hubby's sister, who lives with us.  She can use it to edit and print pictures, play games, etc.  She just won't have internet access. 

I did do a lot of paperwork on the computer today.  I paid bills and balanced bank accounts and downloaded banking info to Money 2005,  I'm going to have to see if the bank can send me all of the back dated info that I need from January through June.  I tried several times today to order some blank check registers and deposit slips.  Since I do most of our banking on the computer, I run out of registers and slips a long time before I run out of checks.  Does anyone have a place that you can order those two things from?  I found a couple of web sites, but I couldn't complete the transaction at either place. 

Photo Quest is going to have to wait.  I'm running out of steam.  Think I'll watch a little bit of the Olympics before I go to bed.  Later! 

2008_08_08 - jelly in the window 005.JPG - Crab Apple Jelly

Here's the crab apple jelly that I made this morning.  It is almost clear enough to see through. 

Our first project this morning was picking apples.  My hubby's brother came over and he and I got into the bucket on the loader.  Then hubby lifted us up into the apple tree so we could pick apples.  We picked for about an hour, and only got about half of them.  I knew it was more than I could work up today, so we quit.  I can only stand still working in one spot for so long, then I've got to do something else. 

I made this jelly from apples I had fixed yesterday, then fixed enough apples for at least one for batch, maybe two.  I'm just putting the juice in jars in the frig for now.   Hubby says he will look for more jars in the morning.  I still have a whole pan full of apples to cook down, but they are just going to have to wait. 

I did manage to get a couple to loads of laundry done, otherwise it was apples all day.  I need to pick beans, etc., but that is going to have to wait as well.  Right now, I'm going to check out the links for this week's Photo Quest, then I'm going to put a cover letter and resume together for another job that I found in the paper tonight.  I may even sneak outside and take some photos later. 

2008_08_07 - crabapple jelly, etc 002.JPG - Jelly in the Window

Here's today's batch of crab apple jelly cooling on the window sill.  As you can tell, I put jelly in whatever leftover jar I can find.  I would like to get one nice set of jars to use as gifts.  I looked at Wal-Mart today, but they didn't have any. It's all I can do to make one batch a day.  I do have enough extra juice from today that I can make another batch tomorrow morning before I start on the next batch of apples.  I may just freeze some of the juice to fix later.  I'm about out of jars.

My interview this morning went really well.  I liked the superintendent a lot.  I applied for the position of food service director for a school district.  It would be basically the same as my old job, except at a smaller school.  That's fine with me.  I hope to find out soon, because school starts on August 20th.  Not a lot of time to plan menus and order food.  I think I could pull it off if I started on Monday or Tuesday. 

I am really tired from standing so much today.  Need to do laundry and pick green beans tomorrow, as well as working with more of those little red apples. Need to do a lot of paperwork, too.  No rest for the wicked!