LOL Actually today I had to do the town run. Scored big time at the thrift store on some warmer clothes. Thinking layers now. I have never been bothered like this with the cold before. I forget all the pieces of clothing I got but I do remember two vests and a 3/4 sleeve sweater and a sweatshirt. Several long sleeve T shirts. Some pretty glass dishes for my up and coming windows and a small silver christmas tree all for $15.00. Yes I bought a small tree and plan on putting it some where. It is maybe 2 foot tall.

I did some big paper work in town but forgot the other paper work at the bank. Darn me. Well oh well. Next week will be soon enough or I can drop it in the pail to them.

Lots of other stops in town and it was getting to be one of those days I just could not wait to get home. Tired and going to eat my dinner as soon as it gets done in the oven. Chicken tonight. Yum. I do not even remember what tea I am drinking I think green tea, I just grabbed some to put in the pot to get it going while I unloaded the car and put things away.

I find it harder and harder to do the whole list. After 3 stops I just want to go home. I bought flannel cotton sheets last night. I hope they get here before they're sold out on that site just in case they're that good that I want another set. I had almost bought some that were 4x the money but I just couldn't do it. I'm sure I'll get what I pay for and I read everything carefully so that I got cotton flannel and not that other stuff. And a heavy enough weight to be a warm flannel sheet. Maybe they'll come Saturday. Merry Christmas to me!

Yesterday I put on my Antarctica chore clothes, walked outside to 50°. Today... freezing cold with gale force wind. The chickens haven't been out but the horses are acting like it's an ordinary day.

I find it harder and harder to do the whole list. After 3 stops I just want to go home.

I usually always have to go home after 3 stops. I just can't do the running around I used to do!

I've done some shopping for me too - bought a new TV on Friday. I have to go pick it up this week.

Snow flurries all night and still now. The ground is warm enough not much is staying snow. UGH! HATE snow.

I am about the same on the three stops. Living so far from town I need to keep pushing as best as I can. Yesterday after 8 stops I totally dropped one half way planned stop because I felt it was not necessary and the other stop I forgot about. And there could have been one more stop,getting gas, but I let it go until next trip down. I am just a little less than half a tank and would usually fill up. There is a gas station another 10 miles up the road if I really need to fill up sooner. I rarely do.

It is lightly snowing here too and not much build up at all. Weather report said it is supposed to stop by 11AM. Sunny tomorrow. I am taking today off after I get morning chores , that always have to be done, done. Moccasin suggested a good book for me to read/listen to so I hope to do that. I have been pushing really hard over the last week and deserve a rest day. Especially after yesterday.

Hahahaha Saw a Walmart shopper at the dollar store in her fleece wild print pajama pants and slippers. Still a bit shocked some people dress that way when they go out of the house.

That is funny about the shopper in pj's. I don't believe I have seen that but I don't go to Walmart too often.

It's been relatively warm here - 60's yesterday and 50's today, but gloomy. Yesterday I got the oil changed in my car and spent some time with the current manager of the farmers market seeing where signage goes. It was fun and a nice warm day.

Today I went up to the farm just to visit the horses because this week is open hunting and the woods where our trails are is available for hunting. We brought the horses in and gave them some grain. Our friend was with us and he has now sold his horse and Arrow will be leaving the farm on Saturday. I will miss them both. Arrow is a pretty nice horse and Rick let me ride him a few times. I do miss having my own horse, but really can't afford to do that anymore. I'm lucky that my other friend lets me ride her horse because she can't get out to ride very often.

They were castrating two colts while we were there today. Poor babies. These colts are thoroughbreds and will go into racing when they are old enough.

I came home and took the pups for a nice walk, fed them and then sat down for a little while. Right now I am having a lovely cup of Twinings Mixed Berries. It's a black tea. Tastes good on such a gloomy day. I need to get my outside Christmas decorations going, but I will wait until tomorrow. There isn't much light left in this day even though it isn't quite 4 o'clock. I can't believe that tomorrow December begins. Where did this year get to?

I don't "get dressed" to go to town but I draw the line at pj's once I'm up.

In the evenings after I shower I put on fleece leggins and long sweatshirt . Mostly just to keep me warm. I do not wear these out but should some one come to my door I am dressed enough. I wear jeans to town in winter and usually summer dresses in summer and call it good.

One thing I am trying for the first time it home delivery of pet foods. Some from amazon Prime and some from walmart. This eliminates my need to go to walmart. The PJ shopper was in the Dollar store yesterday. It is across the street from Walmart. I suppose some how she got out of there.

Shades, I don't know what the pricing on Prime and Walmart is, but I use Chewy.com. They are very reasonable and fast and it's free shipping for purchases over $49. I like it because I can buy cases of canned pet food and it's much cheaper than going to the pet store. If I'm close and need a few more dollars to get the free shipping, I throw in an order for cat litter which I can always use.

Murraysmom my friend also told me about Chewy today. I need to look into it too. Thanks for the link.

My first part of the shipment arrived and I asked the delivery guy to just always put the stuff on the front porch so now I do not have to hang around waiting on a delivery.

My kitchen cabinet clean out is working to store the bags of cat food on the bottom shelf. I have room for 6 bags and I have another cabinet to put the canned food in Litter stays out on the front porch and bring it in as I need it in a smaller bucket. I am loving this home delivery. Saving me gas money and energy driving all that way and also now I do not have to worry about stocking up so much for winter. I can just order more. I was so afraid to do all of this.

I also signed up for Capitol one credit card to get 1.5% cash back on my purchases. Yes thank you. I will take that. Now off to check out Chewy.

PJ shopper

oh dear. that could have been me today. my mechanic came by to check my car (trying to get it working to drive to shop rather than tow). he didn't have something he needed ( a sealer) so needed to go to W (it's closer to me than his shop). I went with him to pick up a few things at the gas station... I forgot I had on my long sleeved micky mouse / red flannel pj top (button down the front but I had open over t shirt) to keep warm! I also had on grey knit ? sort of like jogging pants I guess (I don't jog - so what do I know?). the flannel pj top worked fine since I couldn't find a cardigan to put on over my tshirt. I probably should have taken it off to go to W. did you see me there Shades? lol! we were in the auto section.

car is working now. but needs to go spend more time with him real soon. like next week! I need to find my winter things. forgot where I put them last spring. pjs were out because they needed washed before putting away... then I just put them on shelf in the closet - was close by to grab when I was chilly.

gas station was already out of cranberry muffins!

now tomorrow I can go to the bank and to the eye doctor! will need to get more $s out for the car's next trip to the car doctor.

Steph, are you and I supporting the local car mechanic? Now the battery light is on in the SUV. The truck was supposed to get a battery first. If this is alternator, it might have to just sit. I can't make repair payments on 2 vehicles.

I am so sorry both of you are having car issues. That just sucks. Never a good time to have it happen. I hope repairs are not too expensive for either of you.

anyone hear from moccasin? doesn't she live in the area of the tornado in AL?

New flannel sheets are here. I'm very impressed. they're in the washer now.

http://www.jcpenney.com/jcpenney-home-print-flannel-sheet-set/prod.jump?ppId=ppr5007119421&catId=SearchResults&searchTerm=flannel%20sheet&N=4294966894

The other set is blue gray. Not the most attractive color. What was I thinking? But they were super cheap so I don't care. I bought 2 sets of sheets and a pair of socks so I could get free shipping. Socks aren't here but they were only three bucks.

Returned to the site to buy more sheets. They're $10 more than when I bought them on Cyber Monday night. I don't know whether to buy them or not. 60 bucks for two sets... still cheap but money is money and I never have enough. And 2 batteries in my very near future. At least it's not the alternator. Probably.

Edit! In the bottom of the huge box: one pair of socks!

Glad your sheets came in Imhappy. And socks. The only thing not good about shipping in all this stuff is what to do with the huge boxes. They are super sturdy too.

Steph I will give Moccasin a call tomorrow. and let you know. I did not know about the tornado. I do not mind not having TV but times like this are not good to be totally clueless.

Parrot toys, Shades! Thank goodness I found the socks before I gave it to her because my paperwork that evidently was under the bottom flap is now confetti. And so is a lot of the box. But it's cheap entertainment and saves my wood work. And it makes her happy!

My TV is still off and other than force of habit of turning it on first thing in the morning, I don't miss it at all. I can't believe it's that easy. Full disclosure. I mostly watched Public TV. I have been watching Dead Like Me and either Barney Miller or Johnnie Carson. As far as the news that I thought I had to watch 3 times a day. It came on while I was surfing last night and I kept on surfing. I can't believe I watched that much drivel. I did check Yahoo the other day just to see if anything had happened that I really needed to know about. Nope. Nothing. So I didn't know about the tornado either.

here's from google...

Alabama tornado that killed 3 cut two mile path of destruction in two minutes

AL.com‎ - 2 days ago

Several parts of north Alabama hit by late-night tornadoes, 3 dead and several others injured

whnt.com‎ - 3 days ago

I just heard from Moccasin and she is fine. Her area had a little bit of weather but nothing serious. phEW i am so glad she was able to answer me and let us know she is doing ok. She said Thank you Steph for looking out for her on this With no TV I had no idea there even was a storm.

Going to pull the toothpicks out of my eyes now and go to bed. I have waited up long enough to not be back awake at 5AM. I am sure the minute my head hits the pillow I will be asleep.

I'm glad to hear Moccasin is fine. The weather has been so odd. My mom, in south western Arkansas, has had colder temps on some days than I have here in North Dakota.

Add me to the list of people who think three stops on any trip to town is more than enough. I have to drive about 40 minutes from the house just to get to town, and then, depending on where I have to go, I will have to dash from the south to north areas which is no small feat either. Park the car, hike to the stores, hike back, go to the next place, and repeat. Then drive 40-50 minutes to get home. Ugh!

We're all in the same boat. I had to take my car in last Thursday for an oil change, tire rotation, fluids check, etc., the full maintenance song and dance.

I spent more than an hour sitting near a bright window, curled up in a comfortable leather chair, sipping fresh hot coffee, and reading a book. I think I dozed off, too.

It was so relaxing; there were no dogs to tend to every five minutes; no buzzing around trying to finish 100 things at once; no two-hour cooking dinner session!

You may think it's a bit weird, but I thoroughly enjoyed the peacefulness of the warm, quiet waiting area. The ladies room was clean enough to perform surgery in. Someone had turned off the TV; there were no children, no music. There were two other people waiting, but they were talking quietly to each other on the other side of the room.

The 30-something service guy came in and kneeled down by my chair. He told me what they had finished and what was left to do for the car. Once they are finished the service person brings the paperwork and escorts the car owner to the business office.

He stood up and said "Give us five minutes; I'll get the rest of the paperwork and then come back in and grab you."

I raised an eyebrow and said, "If you do, I'll grab you back."

He paused, looked me in the eyes, and then laughed. He said "I do believe you would."

That was the most fun I'd had in a while. I normally don't think of these quips until three days later.

The rear brakes have to be replaced. It was too late for them to do the job that day so I'll probably go back Tuesday for more R&R. My new "relaxation spa," is the car dealership. At least that's better than no "relaxation spa!"

That sounds divine! Our little gas station doesn't have anything other than a dirty OLD beat up chair - a chair is a chair- in the miniscule "office" that's open to the service area and the overhead door is almost always open. It's only 3 miles and he will fix what I need fixed as quick as I need it. I walk to the city hall and read old newspapers while I wait. If it can wait a day or two then I take a number. The next choice is 12 miles. Before it changed hands I preferred the dealership where I bought the truck 16 years ago. That's 23 miles.

I don't suppose it will matter but I signed a petition today.

https://www.change.org/p/electoral-college-make-hillary-clinton-president-on-december-19-4a78160a-023c-4ff0-9069-53cee2a095a8?tk=xRxB51qxJhJziEgcTQHn7BxNw9eobejNVi3Xn92LcCY&utm_source=petition_update&utm_medium=email

Steph, are you and I supporting the local car mechanic?

yep! and caroline has joined us! gotta keep those guys on the job or who else would fix them for us? my guy had an appointment on Fri to check out a bay rental at a shop about 40 miles away... so, he might move a good 40 miles W of his place which is already a mile or so from me. ugh - I don't like that! he's worked on my cars for over 7 yrs!

shades - thx for checking on ML! so glad she is ok. I have a great niece (?) who lives around there somewhere too. she's ok or I'd have heard from my sister... such a sad thing for all of those who were in its path.

tomorrow my BIL is going to pick up the new TV and bring here. he's also bringing me 2 leftover meals from times they ate out (he doesn't like leftovers so I usually get them). bravo! something different to eat. and several goodies to go with them. she mentioned donuts... and I'm hoping some lemon pie will find its way here... and I'm going to meet my sister sometime this next week in town for Mexican food (haven't had any since our favorite diner closed). there is a nice Mexican restaurant in town but I haven't eaten there yet. They also have a restaurant in a nearby city (where I used to work) and I have eaten at that one - and it was good too. I checked out the menu online and it looks like their lunch special is close to what I used to get at the diner (for the past 18 yrs!). I'll be finding out if this one is as good as the diner food was!

I also have to make a trip to an eye specialist (hopefully on Monday) to get treatment on my left eye. that has to be done before I can get new glasses - will I need 2 lenses or just 1? I'm hoping 2 - they'll balance over my nose better that way...

The new flannel sheets. I wear flannel pajamas. I slept on a flannel board. There was NO slide to it!

There's snow everywhere :-(

ImHappy I hope you are talking out side snow and not in the house kind of snow. I like my old cotton sheets. But then I do not remember ever having flannel sheets. So it your message the new sheets are not good or are good? Maybe a washing softens them if they are like a board??

It is lightly snowing outside here this morning.No build up as I guess the ground is too warm.

More deliveries coming tomorrow and Tuesday and then hopefully I will be done. I found a friend that has a friend that is moving so will take the boxes to them to recycle. These boxes are just too good and strong to cut up. Not to mention my difficulty in cutting them. I think I will have to slit the tape to flatten them to get them in my car though. I will recycle one into the kitty kennel on the front porch to make it smaller and more cozy for kitty. I think the box will fit inside the kennel. Project for today. And to move the rest to the garage.

Then I plan on working on my mosaic and listening to an audio book.

Do you know what a flannel board is? That you stick flannel cut outs on or quilt squares to preview? That's what my sheets turned into. The sheets are wonderful. Exactly what I was looking for. They've been washed and dried. Flannel pajamas stick to flannel sheets just fine.

Oh No I did not know about the flannel board. That would be nice for quilting for sure. So you will be changing your jammies? One night I was so cold going to bed I wore leggins and long socks and a sweater over long sleeve T shirt. I usually wear my long old too big summer dresses of cotton to bed now. will wear them out and they are very comfortable to sleep in.

Well I found the lighter reindeer and only one rope light strand but I did also find a lighted garland. So there is a small section of neighbors fence that will glow bright for her babies to see. I did what I could with what I had and it had stopped snowing just as i went out there so all is good. I did not find my timer. I will have to keep looking for it. would make it nicer to not have to walk out there at night to unplug before bed.

Now the rest of the day is all mine.

I went to another estate sale today. The ad promised lots of great things. I stood out in the cold to get a number to get in. When they allowed us to come in, 30 people just started roaming around, pandemonium ensued! I heard the woman running the sale say that coins were missing. Everything in that house was pure junk. A young man's bedroom upstairs had 3 large boxes of empty beer cans!! I considered some trophies that he had but didn't even look at the price. I don't have any trophies for anything and thought it might be nice. :)

I came on home and took the pups for a second walk. It's cold here today and supposed to rain tonight. I made ham and eggs for breakfast. I putzed around until the football game came on. Amazingly the Bengals won!! They have been disappointing this year.

It's getting dark now and I am going to go fix a salad for dinner. I still have some leftover chicken I can add to it. Guess I better get going.

That's the kind of sale I end up at.

shades - they have lights on batteries now with timers on them. not that expensive either. tho, I think they are tiny lights. some places 10' of them = 10.00 - 20.00 $s. if I thought I'd even put them up, that's what I'd get these days. I did think about it... then decided to unthink about it... I haven't even looked at my Christmas decorations this yr (or last yr, or the yr before etc).

the next time I run across them I need to just put that box in the middle of the room so I can find it come time. I'm just not up to looking thru a bunch of boxes.

If I knew where my outdoor hook up stake thing was and the timer, I might put something out. But I'd have to get lights out of that closet. Guess I won't.

Well it looks like my small bit of lights made the girls and Mom happy. I did find one of my timers and Jerry rigged it to work two cords. AND the lights did not go off so I set the time wrong or my timer is not working. I will go pull the cord after I post this.

Mom's comment was "They love it !!! Your the best thank you so much"❤️

LOL Tried to get rid of the hearts and they are sticking no matter what.

Thanks on the lights information Steph. Right now I am not buying any more christmas stuff. This is why i just used what I already had left over from?? and for some reason it was not sent on when I sent all the other on. I got rid of the out side lights several years ago. Probably 2009. I only did this for the little neighbor girls. no one else can even see it. I can barely see it. the pine trees I planted in the yard hide it from my view.❤️

I will use the rope light for my new patio next summer and hope I find the second one I am sure I have some where. Just not sure where. I did not look all that hard for it today.

i used to play on a flannel board when I was a kid. kind of like colorforms (remember those? ) . My mom cut out all sorts of shapes to play with. I was more into horses and other animals than dolls, so I had a barn and a horse with saddle and bridle, trees to ride through. Great fun.

I remember them in school too, when learning basic math and alphabet.

I was hoping the snow would melt today. It didn't. A little colder each day so if it's not gone tomorrow, it's here to stay. We'll have some nice days yet.

oh look at those little ones! how cute - and look at their jammies! how exciting for them to see the lights.

shades - I didn't buy any of those lights this yr either. I gave Jed all of my old strings of lights. if I ever get more, they'll be on a timer / battery. maybe next yr.

I'd have to get lights out of that closet. Guess I won't

you sound about as in to it and energetic as I am - lol!

My times is working just fine. It was my error in not getting the time set just right. the exact hours on the timer are vague. I pushed it up a little bit and it shut off and actually turned on at the right time tonight. So all is good. I do not have to worry about it. It will take care of itself.

I really have no plans to get more Christmas stuff. I did pick up some 20 light strands for crafting. I would like to put them into some glass blocks I bought several years ago at a yard sale. I have to drill them first. And then of course do some pretty mosaic on the glass blocks. I love my nativity set and mentally can not get rid of my collection of indent bulbs I have collected since my first husbands grandmother gave me two boxes of them. Not sure I will ever put up a tree again but I am not ready to give up my bulbs.

Doing the lights in glass bottles is a project I got to try when my sister-in-law was here in September. We had a lot of fun doing it. My only wish is that the bottles had been clear instead of blue. I like the color lights and they don't show up as well in a blue bottle as they would in a clear one.

I need to do that. I have two strands of those light, battery operated, so the battery pack won't fit through a small opening and I'm not sure how to hide the clunky pack.

If postage wasn't so high I would donate lots of clear lights. I bought them for those glass blocks and then ended up buying the completed blocks at a yard sale so the light strands and the blocks are sitting here.

I think about that Christmas closet but can't bring myself to open it.

I need to get the special glass drill bit to drill through the glass blocks. It might be awhile before i got to town. I would guess the highway is cleared though. They did not plow our street. I think it has to get 4 inches deep before plowing.

NUTS! I gave mine away!

Every time. Something hangs around here for years and as soon as I get rid of it...

And that's why I collect STUFF.