Dec. 16-22, 2018 "Winter," Wallpaper removal, Xmas Break, Cookies, Fattening Beth and Bunny

Dec. 16-22, 2018 

Winter, Wallpaper removal, Xmas Break, Cookies

Hello Friends! 

Happy First Day of Winter!

Four Weeks:

It has been four weeks since Dh had his two surgeries on his left eye to fix his Detached Retina.  The doctor has taken off one of the four different eye drops this week since his pressures are improved.  He still reminded us that we "haven't saved the eye yet," apparently one of his favorite sayings.  He also said Dh has another 4-6 weeks of recovery to go.  He has to continue to stay sitting up at night; which is the hardest part of all---night after night of not sleeping well at all sitting in the living room high chair.

Our garden is still serving us well!  Yay, hoop houses!

Christmas Play:

Sunday night was our Christmas play: Rediscovering Christmas.  I was the director and had so much fun!  After church and Sunday School, Dd and I went home for lunch.  I had to be back at 3pm to set the stage---remove the immense quantities of Christmas decorations and trees from the stage before we could put up our set.  Dh had not been to church in over a month, but for his first non-doctor appointment outing he came to see our play!  He sure did get a lot of (unwanted) attention.  The play went very well!  One of our church members, in the audience, said it was the best Christmas play he had ever seen!  

After the play was a Pot Luck/ Pitch-In and quite a lot of people stayed for the treats!  Dd and Dh baked two desserts for our contribution.  By the time Dh and I got over to sit down, the tables were pretty full.  We sat beside a couple we didn't know and found them to be very friendly and chatted with us.  Somehow in the discussions, it was brought up that Dh had just had his eye surgeries and the couple had to laugh---they were happy to meet the man they had been praying for - for the past few weeks!!!!!  

Garden:

I finally dug up all the turnips this week!  We haven't eaten them yet, but I expect to do so soon.  The hoop houses are also doing well and I'm getting wonderful greens out of them too.  The chickens are also benefitting from the warm weather.  



I've picked green weeds and grass for them as well as the greens from the turnips and other green scraps from my gardening.  The chickens really, really like their greens.  They really aren't crazy about the bagged food I buy.  The only thing, from a bag, that they actually get excited about is black sunflower seeds.  

Wall Paper:

Dd somehow was motivated to peel off the old wallpaper in the basement hall this week.  I really don't have any idea why she decided to start on this long-overdue project, but I am glad she did!  I paid her in cash and bought her a new fleece to reward her for all the hours of work.



  It will be so nice when we get some projects completed again; it has been so long since we've made any new progress.  I'd love it if we could get the molding up around the french doors in the basement's Rec Room!!!!  

Ranger Cookies, Mexican Wedding Cookies, and the 9x13 is shortbread covered in caramel (chocolate was poured on top of that layer later).

Work Cookies:

Dh spent three days baking cookies.  I bought some new 'shirt boxes' that he lined with tissues and then filled with his assortments of cookies.  We drove them to his work and dropped them off on an evening for his friends to receive in the morning.  He worked really hard getting a full box of cookies made for them.

Prednisone:

My lungs have been hurting since Nov. 1st so I finally called and went to the doctor.  She had an x-ray to make sure I didn't have a serious problem; which I didn't and then prescribed prednisone to get the infection from my lungs out.  I don't remember ever having that medicine before, and boy, I didn't like it one bit!!  Prednisone can cause insomnia and it sure did!  I think I slept about 4 hours each night and was miserable until I napped again.  Wednesday I had TWO short naps!  I was so out of sorts I missed Olympians, but Dd went and volunteered without me.  I hope my lungs will be better after all this upheaval in my schedule.  It isn't any fun waking up at 2 and 3 am each morning!  Although, I did make progress in my Bible studies.  All three of us didn't feel very well this week.

Beth

Bunny

Fattening-Up Beth and Bunny:
The winter affects different chickens in different ways and I have two little chickens that are getting seriously skinny---gasp.  I can't have that!  This week I've decided to put a concerted effort into fattening up these two lovely girls.  I named the teeny-tiniest hen, "Beth" after Beth Moore!  That cracks me up!  The all white hen that needs some padding I've named, "Bunny."  I don't have a good reason, it just fits. It's good to have goals, mine are just a little unconventional!



Eggs:
Normally, Dh sells our chicken eggs at his work, but since he is home recovering from his surgeries I have had to be creative with our eggs.  Henry and our chickens have really been enjoying getting spoiled a little bit!  I did have one friend buy six dozen a few weeks back, but the past two weeks have been all us.  The Angel Food cake took 12 eggs to make; so that took down a lot.



Planning for Christmas: Food
Of course, AFTER I did all the grocery shopping and running around for the week, my two beloved ones decide what they want to eat for Christmas....nothing we have in stock!  I shopped and made more runs this week than in three weeks normally!




So, our line-up: Shrimp, Gomae (favorite awesome spinach dish), and Agedashi Tofu (favorite tofu dish...frying involved, not actually healthy but tastes great).  For dessert--Moo-Less Chocolate Pie.  It is made of tofu from Alton Brown.  We don't use a crust so it is also GF, and it tastes delicious!  

The Lichen grows like crazy in our woods; so many varities.

Visitors:
This week Hailee (Dd's bff from church), her mom and g'ma came over to see our Christmas tree.  Dh had a bunch of fresh cookies that we shared with them while they visited.  I was really happy they came over for a visit.  It is always my goal to be more hospitable and open my doors to friends more often---the way Heather LeFebvre showed me how to be!  We bought some ham, on sale, this week; I'm hoping to invite someone over from church soon to share the ham and a meal with.

Bible Study:
I'm still doing a daily bible study with Dh (Seamless by Angie Smith) and Entrusted by Beth Moore with our church. Again this week I am the substitute teacher and enjoyed relearning this weeks lesson again.  I'm getting lots of bible study in this month; especially since that Prednisone has me awake by 3 am each morning.

With the warm weather this week, I took advantage and brought in our metal summer table from the deck and squeezed it into our 'sunroom' to get some of the plants off the floor.

Dd's Academic accomplishments this Week:

Fun Reader:
Winter by Marissa Meyer

Bible Study:

each day Dd is doing her Word of Life Bible Study

Art:

Drawing and Painting

A card I found that Dd had made

Cooking/Baking:

Tis the season to bake, bake, bake! 

Home Economics:

Dd worked for three days this week on peeling wallpaper off the hallway in the basement---big job! 

Volunteering:

at church: Nursery Sunday morning (1 1/2 hours), and Olympians Games(1 1/2 hours).

at the library: Story Time (1 1/2 hours)

Next Week:
Christmas!!!  

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Chickens in December 2018

Our PET Chickens in December 

2018

Beth, Number One on my Fatten Up list!  This pitiful hen is boney...won't do!  I am now hand feeding her as often as I can each day.  I won't rest till she is much plumper!  You might think I want to eat her, but these aren't those kinds of chickens...these are 'pets' to us!

Bunny, Number Two on my extra care list... she needs to eat more! 

Venus, one of our stoutest girls!  She is literally heavy!

The girls love being down here in the bottom run; they always seem to find tasty treats to eat!

The fall-looking view from their bottom run.  It doesn't look like the end of December, does it?!!?  Usually, we are heavy laden with snow!

Aphrodite--another big girl that always seems well fed!

I so enjoy these precious girls!!!!  They must be missing Zeus as much as I am.

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Dec. 9-15, 2018 Wrapping Gifts, Tree Up, Christmas Play,

Dec. 9-15, 2018 

Wrapping Gifts, Tree Up, Christmas Play, Dd's last Grace classes before Christmas break!

Hello Friends!

Three Weeks:
It has been three weeks since Dh had his two eye surgeries on his left eye for his Detached Retina.  He is off work, on short-term disability, and trying to heal as fast as he can to save the eye.  The doctor continues to be very rigid about the fact that we are not out of the woods yet.  Dh can look up some now, but still can't lay back or put his head down/back.  He still has a good ways to go---prayers appreciated for his recovery.  His work has been very understanding; which is an answered prayer---imagine if they weren't! The hardest part is that Dh can't sleep, he has to sit up in a chair all night with his head hanging down in front of him, which is not conducive for deep sleeping.  He wakes up all through the night uncomfortable and miserable and tired.

Christmas Tree:
We finally put the Christmas tree up this week!  By the end of the week, we got some of our ornaments up.  Since I've been making new felt birds to add to the tree each year our tree has gotten too full; so this year we decided to take a 'less is more' take on decorations.  I keep putting some on and then taking some off and am having a hard time settling on a stopping point!!!  It is fun doing it differently this year and showing only a small portion of the birds we have to focus on the nice green tree and little white lights.  I've wrapped up all the little presents I've collected over the year and put them under the boughs of the tree.  With Dh being off work we decided to not do much this year; so thankful I had already picked up things here and there as I found them, mostly at thrift stores, so Dd won't feel like she doesn't have any surprises under the tree---not that presents are what Christmas is about!!! 



Weather and Chickens:



We have had a nice spell of warm weather so I have been able to let the chickens out on the farthest run where they can really scratch around and find buggies.  

The plastic I put up around the chickens "inner sanctum" has really done great.  They have been able to go out here almost every day.  Only on the days that are under 25 degrees do I keep them inside the barn.

The chickens are all doing pretty well.  I can see they are skinnier than they were in the summer, but they are not getting buckets of greens anymore.



 I do try my best to spoil them and pick some greens here and there but it isn't nearly the same.  The hens sure do enjoy being outside so much for a December!!!  

The Sassafras trees look so dramatic in the winter.

Garden:

Our Garden in December---still cutting out Swiss Chard and Kale!  The hoop houses work well!  So far at least!

Christmas Caroling:

This year I went with Dd to her annual Christmas party on Sunday night; I don't think I have ever gone caroling and really enjoyed it.  They drive to a few elderly church members homes to sing Christmas carols to them; which was so much fun!  I just wish we went to more homes!  Afterward, we had our party and exchanged "White Elephant" gifts.  It was really fun as we probably had about as many adults as we had teens!

Dress Rehearsal for Christmas Play:

This week we had it all; all the props perfected, the cast in their futuristic black outfits, the right table, the stage all cleared off so it didn't look like a church so much....it was really great to see it all coming together.  Next Sunday after church we will squeeze in another dress rehearsal before the actual live play; maybe twice if we can.  When they do the play back to back the second time is always so much better; they slow down/calm down and listen to each other better that second time around.  It would be great if they get the chance to get in as much practice as they can before they perform it.  For the most part, I've really enjoyed the blessing of being involved in putting on the play.  I can honestly say, I had fun!  The downfall, as there always is a downfall, is that I was really behind getting MY Christmas things going as I was focused on the play (props) and the church's bulletin board (lots of computer time trying to decide on the 'right' one).  

Christmas Cards: Began Mailing

I mailed 30 cards this week!  My special pen ran out of ink, so I had to fit in a run to Meijer to get a replacement, then I couldn't find time to sit back down for a few more days, so my final cards still haven't been mailed but I was happy that I've got most of the cards done.  I like to draw a scene on each card and make each card special and unique and that takes a simple job and turns it into quite a time involved labor of love.  I just have to go to the post office and drop off the last ones Monday and I'll be done.

Dh's Eye Appt.:

Our normal doctor was back this week, and we were able to get a little more out of him.  We were trying to ask him how long the recovery would take, how many more weeks of Dh having to sleep sitting up in winged back chair all night, returning to work?... and he quickly cut us to the quick.  He said it was very much, "early days."  He said if Dh laid his head back, like in a bed on a pillow the way he used to sleep, that it would cause the retina to detach again.  As he walked out the door he said, "we haven't even saved the eye yet."  YIKES!  Here I thought we were doing good, Dh's pressure numbers went from being 45 to 13 in one week!  But, he was very clear that during this recovery period anything could happen and the eye could go south at any point.  Dh has to continue to be, as the doctor puts it,: "a walking couch potato."  It was a very sobering appointment---a bit depressing too!  We (I) thought things were going along well and the doctor was quick to nip that optimism in the bud! ouch.




Orthodontist:
Dd is really doing a great job taking care of her braced teeth.  I hear her Waterpik working it's magic!  She had another appointment this week and they added more metal to the back teeth for future use.  We can literally see the teeth straighten!  Amazing.




VISITORS:
Judy and Karl came over for a little visit on Saturday to see Dh and bring him some 'get well' cheer.  Dh had just happened to make an Angel Food Cake from scratch (GF) and Karl was kind enough to take a little slice while we chatted.  It was really very kind for our church friends to come to encourage Dh to heal.

Henry keeps gaining weight and adapting to family life.  So glad we adopted this mistreated rescue.

Bible Study:



Dh and I have had three weeks of our bible study together---Seamless by Angie Smith.  I was already into it when Dh was put on bed rest, so I invited him to join me and he has been very faithful to do it with me each morning.  I love doing our bible study together!  What a silver lining!!!

I have a few commentaries, but really appreciate how well this one works; very thorough.

Bible Study for Church:



Even though I finished this study six months ago I have to re-do each week's lesson for our class on Sunday.  It has been a great refresher as I usually study the lesson repeatedly.  We started this bible study Dec. 31, 2017!!!  I know this book backward to frontwards now!  The perks of having a slow-paced class.

Academics for the Week:

Bible:
Church, Sunday School, Youth Group, daily bible study through Word of Life, and Olympians



Grace Co-op Classes:
Last week of classes before her Christmas break.  Dd is doing a great job keeping up with all her classes.  She has been struggling with understanding her Logic class but has made some progress this past month in improving her comprehension and grade.  The Geography and Algebra classes are her steady favorites.





Hiking:
My favorite pastime continues to be walking out in our wood with Henry.  It does me so much good; especially in the dreary gray winters of Grand Rapids, Michigan...gray, gray, gray this year.  Normally it is white snow ground to contrast the gray cloudy skies.  So thankful for Henry and his insistence on lots of walkies!  I like looking at the trees and seeing things I missed when the leaves were there.  This week I found this one set of two trees that had grown together in an interesting way---I took a few pictures to share:

Interesting to notice how these two trees kind of grew together and adapted.

Grace Subjects:

Geography: BJU (Bob Jones Textbook)

Algebra I: Saxon

Spanish I

Graphic Design

Introductory Logic

Volunteering:
Church: 1 1/2 hours each week for "Game" and once a month in the church nursery during Sunday morning service.
Library: 1 1/2 hours helping during their Story Time with the little kiddies.

Art:
Dd has been doing a lot of painting and drawing this week!  

Music:
I just have to share a YouTube favorite in case you haven't seen/heard it: 

Yo-Yo Ma Bach Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major

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