A keeper

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Mr. Aitch is semi-retired.  He retired from a 34-year teaching career in 2008.  He’s semi-retired as he has two part-time jobs.  He works at a retail store two days a week and is also the choir director at his church.

When I come home from work, the dishes are washed.  He even washes my breakfast dishes that I leave for him.

It’s so nice to come home to an empty sink.

It wasn’t always like this.  When the kids were still at home, I would come home to a sink full of dishes in the summer when they were all home from school.  The kids have been out of the house for a few years.  The clean sink is  just a new perk since 2008.

Before I went to work this past Tuesday, I set out a frozen roast on the counter.  I emailed Mr. Aitch (from work) asking him if he saw the roast as I was waiting for him to call or email me asking what to do with it.  He saw it when he made his morning coffee and put it in the oven with the usual veggies.  He saved the last email I sent him with the directions so I wouldn’t have to send them to him yet again.

Dinner was ready and waiting when I got home from work on Tuesday.

The house smelled so good.

This morning I got out the Crock-Pot, the cutting board and knife, and a can of diced tomatoes.  I put a bag for frozen mixed veggies on top of the leftover roast in the refrigerator.  Unfortunately I didn’t have time to get anything in the Crock-Pot before I left for work.

Yep, that’s what my Crock-Pot looks like.  One of the originals.

I was very busy at work today and finally had time to call Mr. Aitch around 1:00 to ask if he needed any directions on making beef and veggie soup from the leftover roast he fixed on Tuesday.  Nope.  He had it under control.

The house smelled so good when I got home.

I think I’ll keep him.

Better late than never?

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I have been busy, out of town, sick, you name it.  I’m also behind.

For the past several years I do something for my kids and their families for Advent.  I call it Christmas Wishes.  Throughout the year I collect little things: some of them are free, some are edible, some are just a few cents, and some are a real gift.  Each item goes into a lunch bag.  I make labels with the numbers 1-24 and use them to seal the bags.

Each person opens their bag on the numbered day for a little treat.

These are last year’s bags. 

Packed up and ready to go

 I just finished bagging everything today.

It’s the 1st of December.

And these still need to be mailed.

They’re going to be late.

Cupcake hats

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I’ve been working on these for a couple of weeks and finally got around to photographing them.  I think I still want to add some sparkle with small beads.

The bobbles are different.  The pink hat has half the amount of bobbles as the purple hat.  Too much time elapsed between making them and I didn’t remember how I placed them.

They will fit the twins and I don’t have any small heads to model them so you will have to use your imagination.  If I’m lucky, I’ll get some pictures of them wearing the hats.

Cupcake Pattern: Chile Con Yarne

Cherry on top: Cherries are the Bomb

Yarn: stuff from my stash.  Lion Brand tan heather for the ribbing, Caron  Simply Soft Strawberry for the pink hat, Red Heart Super Saver Lavender for the purple hat, Lion Brand dark green heather for the cherry stems, and some unidentified red yarn for the cherries.  I over stuffed the cherries but I’m not removing any.

Pie crust machine

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My mother was intimidated when it came to making pie crusts.  She bought hers from the frozen foods case in the market.  They were good.

Mr. Aitch’s mother was a great pie maker so when I got married, I decided that I should make my own pie crust.  It didn’t seem like it should be all that difficult.   Sometimes they were tough.   Sometimes they were chewy.  Sometimes they were perfect.

I rarely make pies any more.  Except at Thanksgiving.  Mr. Aitch likes my pumpkin pie better than his mother’s.  He likes my stuffing better than hers, too.

A couple of years ago my daughter brought her pie crust making machine to our house to help me make pie crusts.  It was so wonderful that I bought one for myself.

Do you have one of these?

It makes the BEST pie crusts.   I just wish I used it more often that once a year.

To my American readers:  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.  Be safe in your travels and give your loved ones an extra squeeze.