After breakfast I went over to Kathy’s for a planning meeting – we’re trying to plan a little get-a-way somewhere! We thought Gettysburg but the only weekend we can go is not going to work with the schedule there. Newport is too far away to plan a spur of the minute trip. Biltmore has nothing available for the weekend we want. So, we started looking local and decided on a tour of the Oglebay Mansion. We’re still open to local suggestions – maybe a candlelight tour at Compass Inn!

But now to the Open House. Lisa closed up the shutters and lit candles and lanterns in the tavern. There were lanterns along the pathway to the other buildings.

Several people contributed to the savory food – sausage, cheese, pickles, ham, meatballs, crackers. It was all delicious and everyone really enjoyed the event. Amber and Tom were serving in the bar – two kinds of beer, mulled wine, and cider.

Although I didn’t get pictures of the shop, the sweets were offered up there. They had homemade jelly (which is for sale in the shop) with crackers. Snickerdoodles, pumpkin bread, and two kinds of beer bread, which are sold as mixes in the shop as well.

We had so many opportunities to share information about the history of Hanna’s Town, their continuing programs, and the upcoming Three Centuries of Christmas. It’s a wonderful site and it’s exciting to see it so well received.

Tomorrow I’ll post about the movie – Deb and I went to see BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER. Great movie!

My blessing for today was having a delicious lunch with my lovely sister! Thank you, Kath!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW November 9th is:

British Pudding Day; Chaos Never Dies Day; National Pool Day; Go to an Art Museum Day; National Scrapple Day; World Freedom Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Fireplace Day. Tomorrow: I’ll agree with the Chaos statement! And celebrate freedom always. God bless.

I won’t post about the open house tonight. It’s getting late and I’m tired. So I’ll post pictures and stories tomorrow!

I worked this morning but not for long. I took the meat and cheese to Hanna’s Town as I knew I’d be late getting there for setup. I came home, had lunch, did some emails, watched Biltmore Christmas, then went to pick up Kathy at work. One of their cars is in the shop and she needed a ride home from work. I went straight from dropping her at home to the Open House at Hanna’s Town. If you’ve never been to this FREE event it’s a must attend for next year! Very nice.

My blessing for today was the delightful ambience of Hanna’s Tavern by candlelight and fireplace!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW November 8th is:

National Cappuccino Day; National Fireplace Day; National Dunce Day; National Parents as Teachers Day; Talk Money Day; World Pianist Day; National S.T.E.M Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Test Day. TOMORROW: Kelly is a teaching parent. And my Aunt Joan is my favorite pianist. God bless!

Well, we have a new President…

I was at Westmoreland Hospital at 7:30am, and walked out finished with my CT scan at 7:54am. I had half a bagel for breakfast and got started cleaning. I finished a bit earlier than usual.

The doctor’s office called me at 5:30pm with results, which I didn’t totally understand. What it boils down to is my lungs are lazy and I have to consciously breathe deeper! Also, though, another prescription! Antibiotic, I think. I might not be able to get it tonight. The office said it was totally treatable but I do have to work on breathing. I’ve been doing that for well over 70 years so not sure why it changed!

After I finished cleaning I changed the lights on the front deck. The fall ones I put out the other day went out (they were old) and the only color I had were purple or blue. I decided on blue because I had a few sets. I’ll leave them up until the Christmas ones get put up.

I noticed when I was shaking rugs earlier that there was a bloom on my white lilac… Ummm — it’s NOVEMBER!!!

My blessing today was an easy test and treatable results!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW November 7th is:

Hug a Bear Day; National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day; National Test Day; National Cancer Awareness Day; National Cash Back Day; National Men Make Dinner Day; Notary Public Day; National Book Award Week.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Hourglass Day. Tomorrow – anything chocolate is good by me! And I’ll take cash… I could also use a man to make dinner now and again. I’m a notary but that’s not something I would celebrate. I’ll stick with the book award. God bless…

First thing I did when I left the house was to stop and vote. It’s been over 20 years since the lines have been that long. They moved quickly and I was out of there in less than an hour. And the bonus is that Word of Life offers snacks and water for the voters. Since today was national Donut day I grabbed a mini-pack and had 2 of them when I got to work.

Sir Regis and I sat for about an hour and just talked about voting, and the election and the candidates and politics. I don’t know where I’d be without his insight; he does so much research and in-depth studying of the parties and people.

We also talked about dryer sheets. His wife is really into natural products and uses home-made cleaning products, and does not use the dryer sheets. She said to use wool dryer balls. I’m going to check that out. Gen suggested them, too, and I know Kelly uses them.

I was inspired on the way home by the view of the distant mountains. What would we do without mountains?

I stopped at the store to look for dryer balls but didn’t find them. I did, however, find Holiday Goldfish, Holiday Blend M&M’s (large bag), and Red/green tortilla chips. All I need now is the Utz pretzels in Holiday shapes and that will be it!

I also decided to make cookies. I’m not sure why – it came on me suddenly. They are all in the freezer but one cookie which will be my dessert after supper.

My blessing today was my chat with Rege. Well, Ken was there too. He put a wooly worm on Rege’s desk….

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW November 6th is:

Dog Film Festival; Marooned without a Compass Day; National Advent calendar Day; National Basketball Day; National Hourglass Day; National Nacho Day; National Saxophone Day; National Stress Awareness Day; National Team Manager Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Pink Day. Tomorrow: Celebrate Advent calendars but don’t get them out yet. And let me assure you I am well aware of my stress! God bless —-

Well, I guess I won’t get Grandmother of the Year! I wished Peyton a happy birthday on facebook and sent a card (of course with money — a teenager!) but forgot to mention his 19th birthday on the Word Garden. So sorry, Peyton!! So Happy, happy birthday to my Oldest Grandson – with a wish for many more! Love you!

I did some work in Jeannette this morning, stopped at the bank, got a few items at Walmart, and came home to leftover veggie soup for lunch. Did some laundry and emails and switched out some purple lights for two strings of orange (more fall-ish), answered some emails, and plan to watch Biltmore Christmas later. Big surprise there!

I did spend some time reading book 4 in the Asheville Christmas Cabin series (Traditions). There’s not a lot of Biltmore history in it, but as it’s set in Asheville and partially at the Biltmore I am enjoying it. I’m halfway through.

I updated my spending ledger spreadsheet and created next year’s to get a jump on things. It’s so much easier to compare expenses, etc, from that rather than digging through receipts and check registers. Especially utilities and taxes. So I’m glad that’s done. Then I looked outside at the sky and was rewarded with pink and blue and grey!

My blessing today was getting through my whole list – except for an ongoing long-term project!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW November 5th is:

American Football Day; National Pink Day; Bonfire Night; Election Day; Gunpowder Day; Guy Fowke’s Night; National Chinese Takeout Day; National Redhead Day (Love you Beth!); National Donut Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Devotions Day. Tomorrow: I will vote, and maybe have a donut. And sending hugs to my favorite redhead! God bless…

It was fun waking up to sunlight! Usually I enjoy hitting the snooze once but I didn’t need to do that today. But it’s still a little chilly. It is, after all, November!

November is our month to not teach Sunday school. So I again went to my own class. Since today was National Give Someone a Dollar Day I found Max and JJ after church and explained the ‘national’ holiday to them and gave them each a dollar. They were both excited. Those boys have done so many nice things for me (and Mary) over these last few years it was fun to do something back. They are young enough to appreciate a dollar bill!

Todd’s message was ‘Less is More’ and about having too much stuff. Reminded me of the Veggie Tales DVD about Madam Blueberry going to Stuffmart and she had so much stuff her tree house fell right out of the tree onto the ground! And like Madam Blueberry stuff doesn’t really make us happy. We shouldn’t put ourselves first (selfish). We need to lose ourselves to God (selfless). ‘Throw off everything that hinders…’

I went outside after lunch and did a few very small things. I needed to empty the lint in the outside dryer vent, hose out a storage bin, bring the Halloween projector and extension cord inside, and switch the Thanksgiving flag for the Fall one. I wasn’t out long but was glad to feel the sun — the air was really brisk!

I’m hoping to work a little on ironing the linens and my own laundry from Friday. The linens alone will probably take well over an hour…

Autmn, Noah and Cameron stopped quickly to give me the the baby Ruth candy bar that they saved for me from Cameron’s Trick or Treat. They were on their way to Noah’s family – they had an uncle from out of town visiting – and popped in here. Got to see my baby!

My blessing today was actually GIVING! To JJ and Max…

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW November 4th is:

Color the World Orange Day; Job Action Day; National Candy Day; National Chicken Lady Day; National Day of Community Service; National Devotions Day; National Easy-Bake Oven Day; Roast Dinner Day; Use your Common Sense Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Fig day. Tomorrow: Celebrate candy; what better thing! Probably good to hang on to common sense, as well. God bless…

Before I go on to the tea, I want to post a picture of last night. Paul, Kathy, Mae, Sarah, Kyle, Millie and Wyatt (and I) went to Cracker Barrel for supper. It was very crowded! But it was a nice evening and the food was good. Outside there was a parcel of ducks that followed people around and took a liking to Millie. They were very friendly and fun!

This morning I changed my sheets and got dressed and ready for the Tea at Hanna’s Town. Charles Dickens was our guest host and stayed in character to talk and visit with the guests. He did a great job!

The girls had put up a few more fall decorations before they left yesterday, and AJ got the final quote on the chalk board by the door. I love that quote!

About 10:45am we started cutting and plating the sandwiches, scones and sweets. There was so much good food! After the guests were seated they were served spiced tea, then offered figgy pudding. It was a very dense square of cake with warm caramel sauce and clotted cream. It was a huge hit.

We offered orange/cranberry scones and sugar-frosted frozen grapes as the first course, then the sandwiches. We had pimento cheese spread on white bread; Ham and Brie on party rye; raisin bread with honey pecan spread; and smoked turkey, cranberry relish and brick cheese on sour dough bread.

The desserts were pumpkin cookies, Hershey kiss acorns, mini apple crisp bites, and gingerbread thumbprints with Dulce de Leche icing. The fun part is the volunteers get to eat the leftovers!

Kathy came about 2pm to help with the second seating and with cleanup. All the volunteers did a great job and all worked together. Kathy got to talk to Mr. Dickens for a few minutes on his break, and I took their picture.

It takes a lot of people to make this event a success. Thank to every one of them, especially our ‘General’, Claudia and the other Lieutenant Roxane. I still have three loads of linens to launder, iron and fold — so I’ll be busy with that for a day or two!

My blessing for today was this dear group of lovely friends.

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW November 3rd is:

Cliché Day; National Fig Day; Daylight Savings Ends; Give Someone a Dollar Day; Jellyfish Day; National Homemaker Day; National Sandwich Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Leaf Day. Tomorrow: I’ll have a sandwich! God bless…

A New Month! Let’s see what November has in store for all of us.

My month/day started at Hanna’s Town. Tomorrow is the semi-annual Hanna’s Town Victorian Tea. This year we are privileged to have Charles Dickens as a special guest. He will act as a co-host and entertain our guests with quotes from his books and stories from his life. I’m sure I will miss most of it as I’ll be acting as scullery in the kitchen the whole day!

But this morning our committee gathered in the parlors at the Steele house to set up tables, set the tables, and decorate for fall. It looked very festive when the girls were finished. We have a plan, and people in place, to make this our most successful tea ever.

This is Mae’s last day in Greensburg. She’ll leave early in the morning to head home to Kentucky. I believe we are all (Kathy, Paul, Mae and I) going out to dinner at Cracker Barrel this evening. That will be a nice evening to finish up her vacation.

My blessing for today was my sweet (if not overly excitable love-to-be-in-control) friends on the Tea committee!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW November 2nd is:

All Souls Day; Be the Impact Day; Look for Circles Day; National Leaf Day; National Deviled Egg Day; World Pallet Day; National Play Outside day; National Bison Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Water Bottle Day. Tomorrow: Deviled eggs! And play outside. And maybe, read a Dickens quote (I made that one up!). God bless…

I woke up this morning to a dramatic sky, and to fog in the valley. Very spooky and appropriate for Halloween!

I worked in Jeannette and did a few things for Rege and Joe, then stopped at Walmart. I needed to get items for the Tea on Saturday (Hanna’s Town) and since set up is in the morning seemed like I should take it out there tomorrow.

I came home and started taking down the Halloween part of the fall decorations, and put the Thanksgiving ones up. I knew I was leaving this evening and wouldn’t be home – and no one would see them anyway. Also changed the Snoopy calendar to November.

The home health nurse came about 1pm, and did a wellness check. Everything went well so I passed everything. Also got a call from Dr. Baker’s office and all is well with the test. There was no evidence of …. whatever they suspected! So on to the next thing.

Kathy and Mae picked me up about 5:45pm and we went to the haunted tour at the Palace Theater. I think they did a really cute job with decorations and actors and stories. They had venders in the courtyard and the kids could walk though and get candy and treats. Well, adults could too! It was a nice event.

My blessings today were passing my med tests, and spending the evening at the Palace!

PEANUTS Thought for the Day:

TOMORROW November 1st is:

Scented Candle Day; National Water Bottle Day; All Saints Day; Deck the Everything Day; Extra Mile Day; Fountain Pen Day; International Pet Groomer Appreciation Day; Love your Lawyer Day; National Author’s Day; National Toothbrush Day; National Cinnamon Day; National Cook for your Pets Day; National Vinegar Day.

Yesterday’s Fake Day was National News Day. Tomorrow: Author Day! I don’t cook for myself so I doubt I’d cook for my pet. I could probably deck everything every day. Have a wonderful November! God bless…

Today was an almost-typical cleaning day. But it started out with a CTAP scan at the hospital – scheduled back in September. I can’t really interpret the notes they post on my Health record but so far as I can tell there’s nothing of concern. Just have to wait for them to call me, I guess.

The test was a little nerve wracking. It was really just a glorified CT scan, it’s just that the scan took longer and after about 15 minutes I felt hemmed in! I was playing mind games and singing Bible songs (in my head!) and playing the alphabet game. I was even singing Henrietta Pussycat and X the Owl songs (if you know, you know…) although not out loud, of course. I had to have the injection, wait an hour, have the scan, come home for 2 hours, then go back and have another scan. No pain or distress – I just didn’t like it!

So I got home the second time at about 1:15pm and started cleaning. I took my time and stopped every now and then to read a bit. When I came downstairs I put Hallmark movies on. I watched Heaven Down Here which is an excellent movie – highly recommend it! And speaking of heaven, the sky was blue and pink and went the whole way around. I took a pano picture of what I could see from my deck.

And that’s it for the day – just have to find supper!

My blessing today was to cross that scan off my list!

PEANUTS Thought for the day: Happy Birthday Charlie Brown!

TOMORROW October 31st is:

Books for Treats Day; National News Day; Girl Scout Founder Day; Halloween; National Caramel Apple Day; National Doorbell Day; National Knock-Knock Joke Day; National Magic Day; World Savings Day.

Yesterday’s fake day was National Sunshine Day. TOMORROW: Books are good, and of course Halloween. Enjoy if you celebrate. God bless…