Checking Things off the Lists

I love lists, I love checking things off the lists, I love checking the lists and enjoying the check marks! I have been known to leave the list at home, or forget to look at it but it doesn't diminish my love of lists!  (I am blaming my mother who is an inveterate list maker for this little OCD in my personality!) At any one point in time I could have multiple lists going - currently I have a list for Christmas gifts to make, housekeeping chores and projects for church and clubs.  One of the lists has gone missing - oddly enough the one with the housekeeping chores on it - making me wonder whether if I had completed more tasks on the list I would now know where the list was!  :)  Yes I really do think about this sort of thing.  I should probably talk to a professional about this but it just doesn't bother me enough!  

The reason 'lists' are on my mind today is that I was able to check off TWO things on my lists.  THE DRATTED CURTAINS ARE FINALLY DONE AND HANGING!  Pardon the shouting but I really was on the verge of hating them if they hadn't gotten finished fairly soon!  Seemed like I kept running into problems and then the sewing machine would need work and I really was a little frustrated!  I started them in September!

The set over the laundry window

The ones over the kitchen sink 









I am fairly pleased with them - if you look up close you can see mistakes but I am the only one who really gets that close and I am not telling!  The batting that I used was one I had on hand and was a 'high loft', frugality said to just use it as I already had it, doing it again I probably would have spent the extra money for the stuff that would have been a little easier to work with and might have hung a little more even but this will definitely keep out the cold, and it is getting cold, it was 27 degrees a couple of nights ago (about minus 3 C)!  Doing it again I might not have used a pattern with so many obvious lines that should match up and I am pleased that it seems to match up fairly well.  I bought extra of the dark print so maybe placemats or toaster covers are in the future!  When I get over the curtains that is!  :)

The second thing to come off the list is the Apples - it took me two weeks but I finally put up the last of the apples and have applesauce and pie filling and slices for the near future.  Final tally - 21 jars of apples are now in the cupboard and I celebrated by mopping the floor 2 times!  (I really have made a mess the last couple of times and had spots of sticky all over the place that I couldn't seem to find until I stepped in them!)  

Curtains are up, apples are down and the floor no longer makes those awful noises when I walk on it!!  Feet are up, coffee is hot, chocolate chip cookies (only two) in hand and the new novel from Anne Hillerman.  (I loved her dads work and her first foray is very good so far.)  

Life is good!!

This 'n' That

Bits and pieces running through my head tonight, so I'll share.

Had a bad storm come through the area day before yesterday and lots of folks lost tree branches and parts of roofs. We were fortunate we only lost power for a short time and our trees are all where they are supposed to be (not on our roof!). However my corn looks silly, it all blew over and now is propped up on the back fence, maybe it just looks tired! The neighbor in front of us had a huge branch fall on their car and knock out the windshield and dent the hood. You could count the rain drops we had on two hands I think! Strange storm.

Idaho attracts environmentalists and animal activists. We have the debate about wolves and elk, we have had several bear incidents lately where people have found themselves face to face and either shot a bear or been injured by one. A man actually was taken to court because he shot a grizzly bear in his back yard where his kids were playing! This brings out the folks who need to 'monitor' us hicks to make sure we are not doing things to hurt the wildlife! One of the folks who are here to monitor the wildlife got bitten by a grizzly – he will be fine – it just made me laugh out loud - it's probably a character flaw and I will work on it, just as soon as I can breathe again!

Our youth pastor is in India on a mission trip till Monday, his wife is in the hospital as the baby decided to come now instead of in 3 weeks. Heck of a way to find out how the rest of your life is going to be now that you have children!  :)

My grandma has had another TIA type stroke and the left side of her body is affected. My mom is with her and has been since January, Grandma is fading, she knows where she is going and she is ready to get there. At nearly 101 she is just about the last of her generation, she has lots of friends and Grandad waiting for her, this is hard for my mother to go through and there is nothing I can do other than pray for them. (Grrrr!) How fortunate I am to have had grandparents for so long. My children have had multiple great grandparents until recently! Now they are down to one grandma and one great grandma. What a legacy they have enjoyed!

We have been talking for awhile about having insulated curtains on all the windows to keep the heat out in the summer and the heat in in the winter. They kitchen/dining are the last ones and we finally bit the bullet and bought the material for the kitchen ones, they are the last ones that still have curtains I cobbled together from my stash! I am going to try and 'quilt' curtains – got several fabrics and am going to try a zig zag pattern, white muslin on the back. I am debating what to line them with, thinking I may use some of the very old polyester double knit I have been given if it won't show through. That stuff is the best insulator! I have a polyester quilt grandma made and it has no batting in it and its the warmest quilt ever – can't believe we used to wear so much of it! Only one problem with it though, polyester is like Tupperware – it never wears out so you never get new!

That's it maybe now I can sleep - just need to get it all gone through!

Isn't it funny how much random 'stuff' just runs through our heads!? Ahh life!