I kept busy all day – doing laundry, ironing, organizing, writing lists. At 10am I had a meeting with my insurance broker to go over the changes to the Medicare plans for 2026. It’s wonderful to have someone to explain all the changes and the benefits and what was cut. I think we have a good plan for next year. He’s very good at his job, and I really have a great respect for people like that. So – thanks to Seon!!!

I forgot to get ice yesterday so made a quick stop for that on the way home. Then at 4pm Deb picked me up and we went to see THE CHRISTMAS RING at the theater. I really liked it – Faith-based movie and nice story line. And I really liked the lead actor – I had seen him in other movies. And Dan & Shay (Country singers) closed out the credits with one of their Christmas songs.

When I got home I heated the rest of the Stuffed Pepper Soup and had that for supper. Not a lot left on my list for tonight but tomorrow will be busy. Have a lovely weekend – and watch out for the weather. I hear there are flurries on the way next week!

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW November 8th is:

National Parents as Teachers Day; National STEM/STEAM Day; National Cappuccino Day; National Dunce Day; Talk Money Day; World Town Planning Day.

My daughter home schools, as does my cousin’s wife. That wouldn’t be something I would tackle so God Bless them — and everyone!

JOKE: What happened to the turkey when he got in a fight? He had the stuffing knocked out of him….

Our computers were so slow at work today that it took me two hours to not do any deals! I had a few things to print out and it took almost half an hour to print a driver’s license. But I did get everything done, including a chat with Sir Rege, listening to a chat from Ken, and a little info-sharing with Barry. They really are a big support system! And here are photos of this morning’s Beaver Super Moon! Apx 8am.

Early moon

I stopped (again!!!) and picked up 6 items from Walmart that I needed. Their Halloween slippers were on clearance, and there was a pair of Snoopy ones. Usually they are $9-12 and these were $2! I was very excited. I wear these kind of slippers every day between October and late spring. I threw a bunch of worn out ones away in the spring so I am glad to be able to replace them when I can.

Aren’t they super cute???

Autmn is making applesauce from fresh picked apples that were given to her. She’s using Grama Dot’s recipe and said Cameron is the taste tester. He loves it! I’m excited to taste it this weekend.

Autmn’s Apple Sauce

I had a chiropractor appointment, and I popped into Burger King and got a frozen Coke. Now I am organizing my day for tomorrow (and Saturday!) and I have Biltmore Christmas on in the background. I could probably recite it with the actors!

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

Amen, and amen!!!

TOMORROW November 7th is:

National Fountain Pen Day; National Retinol Day; National Jersey Friday; National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day; Hug a Bear Day; Love your Lawyer Day; National Cancer Awareness Day; Notary Public Day.

The only bear I would hug is a stuffed one! Not sure that I’ve ever loved a lawyer — I appreciated them but let’s draw the line… National Cancer Awareness Day, and I AM aware! Notary Public Day: Guess I missed that window. God bless…

To start with, don’t be concerned if there are intermittent posts over the next several weeks. There is a lot going on and I may not post every day. If there is something to post, I will make sure I do it.

Very few empty blocks!

Today was a combination of cleaning, laundry, and making lists. Lots to remember. I have at least two obligations every day for the next week.

Not sure if I mentioned this, but Nathan’s surgery is on Tuesday November 11th at Allegheny General. No other info (time, etc) yet.

As I cleaned downstairs I put Hallmark on, and watched Newport Christmas, Window Wonderland, and Haul out the Holly. Biltmore Christmas is on at 8pm and that’s on my list! But nothing else more exciting than that!

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW November 6th is:

National cash Back Day; National Nachos Day; National Men Make Dinner Day; National Saxophone Day; Dog Film Festival.

I’ll take the cash. I had nachos Monday and Tuesday. And I don’t have a dog. God bless!

This morning early Kathy, Mae and I went to Pittsburgh to visit the Bayernhof museum. We were there back in June, and it is such a unique place that going back was fun. Mae loved it! The view in itself is amazing, and you feel like you could just get a cup of tea and just sit and look out the windows for hours. The rooms are all unique, and the guide was quite a story teller and was very entertaining. We learned things on this trip that we didn’t hear in June.

View of the river.

I love this skylight – reverse painting!

I love this pool – note the mural to the left of the deer. That’s Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music! Charlie loved that movie!!

We stopped in Irwin and ate lunch at Arby’s – somewhere I seldom eat. So that was fun. We sat for an hour and just chatted. It was something that I needed, to take my mind on of everything and focus on Hallmark movies, old memories, and roast beef!

Once we got home and they dropped me off, I zipped over to Walmart and picked up my photos. When I was walking to the checkout, I accidently (?) walked past the holiday candy displays. I picked up a bag of Mint M&M’s – but I noticed that the milk chocolate ‘Holiday Mix’ were blue and white! Wonder if they will have red and green for Christmas!!

I hope to iron a few of the linen tablecloths then get supper a little later. 5:45pm and it’s pitch black! Takes some adjustment.

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

Tomorrow November 5th is:

National Stress Awareness Day; National Love your Red Hair Day; National Donut Day; American Football Day; Bonfire Night; Gunpowder Day; National Advent Calendar Day.

Oh, trust me – I’m aware! I love my red-haired cousin! (Hi, Beth!) I may have a donut for breakfast as I have one in the freezer. My advent calendar is packed away until December. No gunpowder (or football!) here! God bless…

AND — a little extra info!!!

Happy birthday to my first-born grandson – Peyton Matthew! He’s grown up so quickly – has a job and a steady girlfriend (Hi, Izzy!!) and heading on a good path. Love you Peyton!!! Happy 20!

So here are two of the things I see out my window in the mornings when I get up. The colorful fall flag, and also the ground cover at the bottom of the driveway has turned red this year. I don’t remember that from other years – normally it stays green. But that is my mornings!

Fall flag

Ground cover

Pumpkins on the porch – left over from the tea.

Here we go with the pictures from the tea. Friday a BUNCH of ladies came out to set up and lay place settings for the tables, organize the serving dishes, and decorate. It took us all morning and maintenance hadn’t been as organized as we normally like. Be we got it! Becky’s decorating team did a great job. Everything looked wonderful.

Basic table setup.

Following are decorations:

Highboy

Dining room mantle

Tea table

Tea table

Curio

The little purple Amish outfit belongs to me.

Front foyer

Foyer

Phonograph

Parlor mantle – it’s 5 O’clock somewhere!

Parlor library table

Parlor – dresser. Doll on chair belongs to me.

Parlor – corner table.

Front entranced to parlor

Becky and Kelly filling vases with fresh flowers.

Parlor fireplace.

Saturday the scullery (kitchen help) were there in plenty of time to prep the food, plate it, and have the servers carry the plates to the tables. Roxane and her crew prepared and steeped the tea and served it. Our tea always gets good reviews! We had scones, sugar frosted grapes, and ‘acorns’ on the top tier, three different sandwiches in the middle, and sweets on the bottom. My favorite sweet was the chocolate frosted pumpkin cake, and we had snickerdoodle biscotti and mini apple tarts as well. All delicious!

Dining room and tea table.

Prepping sandwiches

Plated

We were there until a little after 4pm so it was a long day of being on our feet. Most of us didn’t set down at all. But we did get to eat the leftovers!

Scullery – with a few missing. Ladies in white and black were servers.

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW November 4th is:

National Candy Day; National Chicken Lady Day; National Easy Bake Oven Day; Election Day; Roast Dinner Day; Use your Common Sense Day.

ANY day is candy day, really. I will vote – for sure. I try to always use common sense – that’s just common sense….. God bless.

I’m going to make an attempt to start catching up! Today I will just cover Halloween.

Kelly and I started the day out helping set up for the Tea at Hanna’s Town, but I’ll post pictures tomorrow. There were plenty of us to get everything done. The administrative assistant saw what we were dealing with and ordered pizza for all of us for lunch. So that was a nice bonus. The girls did a wonderful job decorating and the rooms are very festive and look great.

Friday sunrise

(Stock image)

We got home and made lunch for Chase, then got a few things done in the afternoon. About 5:30pm Kathy and Mae picked us up and we went to a haunted Palace Theatre tour. It was about half an hour. We got to walk around the theatre and there were vendors set up in Megan’s Suite. We all had treat bags with everything from chips to candy to stickers.

Palace courtyard

Kathy, Mae, and Kelly holding up the ghostbuster.

A vendor table.

Lights over the balcony.

The ghosts that we met told us about being ‘stuck’ in the theater for almost 100 years — but at the end of the tour we discovered that they were actually protecting the theatre and the actors. So we used our magic wands (yes, we all had noise-making, light-saber type wands to cast spells!) to call all the spirits back and the Palace is restored!

The ghosts disappeared in a cloud of mist.

A ghost on the stage.

Kelly using her magic wand to protect the Theatre!

Our view of the theatre from the stage.

Suddenly … a ghost!

The courthouse against the evening sky.

Later, Autmn sent me two pictures of Cameron. They look him Trick or Treating with Noah’s mom and step dad who live a few blocks away from me. Looks like he had a great time and got lots of good stuff. I forgot to ask him to save me a Baby Ruth bar if he got one!

Enjoying a treat.

He got a lot of treats! No tricks!

So Kelly took a few minutes and laminated the senior pictures for Autmn, Peyton, Christina and Logan. I had them in soft plastic magnetic frames, and the frames were falling apart and shredding and falling off the door. So I put magnets on the back of the laminated photos and the door looks fresh! Thanks Kelly!

Top to bottom – Autmn, Peyton, Logan, Christina, Peyton, Autmn, Logan, Christina.

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW November 3rd is:

Job Action Day; National Housewife’s Day; National Sandwich Day; Cliché Day; Color the World Orange Day; Give Someone a Dollar Day; Jellyfish Day; National Accessory Day; Traffic Directors Day.

I keep house but not as a wife. I like sandwiches but not a fan of the color orange. If I see Cameron I will give him a dollar. God bless!

Just jumping on here to let you know I’m still here – just have a lot going on and am exhausted by evening. I hope to catch up and send posts from Halloween, Haunted Palace Theater Tour, Tea set up and the Victorian Tea today, and life in general. Have a blessed day in the House of the Lord!

Morning sunrise

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW November 2nd is:

Daylight Savings Time Ends; National Deviled Egg Day; All Souls Day; Be the Impact Day; Look for Circles Day; World Ballet Day; Zero Tasking Day.

I have several tasks tomorrow so that won’t work! Logan and Autmn LOVE deviled eggs. I will miss evening daylight but we must embrace what we can’t change — or move to Arizona! God bless…

It was cold all day – mostly rainy but then the sun peeked out. I started the day at work after a frozen waffle. Got everything done, had a nice medical pep talk from Barry (much appreciated!) and then stopped for my prescriptions on the way home. The sky was dramatic.

I had potato soup for lunch, then made a list and gathered up what I need to take to the tea setup in the morning. Did a little mending after that, and made a packing list for vacation. Plans are still up in the air but we are going to try to figure it out.

Potato soup

My honey was running low and I had to return an empty honey jar, so I popped down to Irwin. My plan was to also drop off a few items at Goodwill, but Rege called and needed something handled at work – and he wasn’t there. So I headed straight up there and took care of that – the main issue being that the computer takes forever and the printer jams if you print more than two pages. But again, that’s done and we met the deadline.

The rock I found at Miller’s Crossing (honey store)

Now I am making Acini de Pepe soup for when Kelly gets here later. It will probably be after 10pm as they had a program at church tonight. So I have plenty of time.

So that’s all for today – and I will probably have a full schedule tomorrow so may not post. I’ll catch up Saturday or Sunday. But look what I found online! We used to have lots of these wax candles. Made me feel nostalgic!

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW October 31st is:

National Doorbell Day; National Frankenstein Friday; National Breadstick Day; Girl Scout Founders Day; National Magic Day; National Knock Knock Joke Day; National Caramel Apple Day; Halloween; Bandana Day; Books for Treats Day; World Savings Day.

I’d take a book for a treat! Everyone will expect treats on Halloween. And it’s the best idea to have a savings tucked away. You just never know what’s next. God bless…

I may not be posting much in the next few weeks but I’ll try to keep up. I know Kelly and Chase will be here the next few days so I may not post — don’t panic!

All I did today was clean and do laundry. Talked to Nate – he is still having tests done before a surgery date can be set. I will share info once I have it.

I did feel energetic enough to make potato soup, so I’m going to grab food. Have a lovely day tomorrow.

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW October 30th is:

National Candy Corn Day; Haunted Refrigerator Day; National Checklist Day; National Publicist Day.

I have lists everywhere. Thankfully my fridge is not haunted. God bless…

I had a few things to do at Pinnacle, then I finished some paperwork for my cousin. From there I went over to help Mike P with something. I had to stop at Walmart to get items to make Nate some Chicken Acini de Pepe soup and then potato soup on Sunday. I took the chicken soup down about 6pm so they’d have it for supper. It should last them a few days – maybe! Any time you stop at Nate’s you are greeted by the welcoming committee – here are just two of them. Trust me, there were more!

Dobie in a purple sweater

Piggy waiting for belly rubs

After lunch I made the soup and did a few small things around the house. I forgot to mention that yesterday I dropped off some items at Goodwill and walked around. I saw this really nice drawing of the Capitol building at Colonial Williamsburg. I don’t really have a spot for it and I have several pictures of Williamsburg already so I didn’t buy it. But I really liked it!

On the way home from Nate’s there is a pretty back road. The sun was shining gold off the trees. There was a field of deer but I couldn’t get a picture. There was a car behind me and I couldn’t stop.

It’s later now, and dark outside. Snoopy is watching the moon.

And I think that’s it for the night! I have Biltmore Christmas on in the background – getting myself immersed in the culture!

SCRIPTURE of the DAY:

PEANUTS?

TOMORROW October 29th is:

National Oatmeal Day; National Hermit Day; National Cat Day; National Internet Day.

You wouldn’t be reading this without the internet! I like my oatmeal with brown sugar. And I will never be a hermit as long as there is a Walmart! God bless…