Whatcha Doin?

 

I'll be cleaning the living room/dining room, rearranging furniture so we can start decorating for Christmas. 

Whatcha doin?

T Stands For Folded Christmas Book Trees

My public library was having a craft event. Making Christmas trees by folding the pages of an old book. This brought back memories of my MIL who used to make the Christmas trees and angels from Reader's Digest Magazines. 

Since the Eldest is on a temporary assignment in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and living a minimalist lifestyle in a hotel, I thought this would make the perfect decoration to make her room more festive. After the season is over, she can just toss the tree in the recycle bin or trash.

My schedule doesn't mesh with the library event, but I figured I would have materials here to work on my own. I asked Himself if he remembered how to fold the pages, but he said no. No worries someone would have the instructions on the Internet and here they are.

I didn't have a suitable hardcover or paperback book to sacrifice, but I did have a Vermont Country Store catalog that I thought would work.

To add stability to the tree, I covered some chipboard with tissue paper

Washi tape was used to cover the seam

The pages folded into triangles and ready to decorate. My teacup posed for the picture and then was removed from this workstation. Rule number 1 no food or beverages here. The cardboard bowed a bit, but it give stability to the front and back pages.

The tree decorated with some gold thread and green ribbon. I didn't like the "free shipping" on the page so cut and painted some gingerbread people to cover that up.

Ta-Da! The tree all decorated with the Eldest's name on Santa's Nice List. The tree was then packed up, taken to the post office and mailed. 

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Calendar Give-away

The oil delivery company left a beautiful 13 month wall calendar. I don't use paper calendars anymore. I thought someone might like to have it or use as collage fodder in their artwork

Leave a comment if you would like the calendar. If more than one person wants it, I'll draw the names out of the proverbial hat. Comments accepted until Wednesday, November 30, 2022 until Noon EST

The calendar recipient will be announced on Thursday's blog post, December 1, 2022

How Does Your Garden Grow?

I didn't spend much time outside this week.

I found a chunk of ice in the bottom of the garden cart

Heavy winds and rain knocked the weathergram out of the Japanese maple and blew it in front of the driveway. I'm glad I found it before it blew into the Leaf Lady's yard.

This morning the sky looked like it was on fire.

How does your garden grow?

Fun Facts About The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

Just in time for Thanksgiving weekend, the official historic rock of Massachusetts is Plymouth Rock. There's a lot of myth surrounding the rock of whether or not the Pilgrims actually landed on this spot. In 1983, the legislature acknowledged the rock's historical significance.

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Iris, a picture of my Hausschuhe when they were new, just for you

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Another wonderful piece of happy mail arrived

2. Heard from the Eldest. Her trip to Philly had to be postponed because of the mega snowstorm hitting the Erie, PA and Buffalo, NY areas. She's safe and sound. She's rescheduled to leave on Monday. Fingers crossed. 

3. In a box of stuff, I found the Black Factis eraser I've been looking for in nearly forever

4. Another snag in the Eldest's travel plans, but third time's a charm. The employment agency she's working for, got her a flight from Erie to Philly via Charlotte! But she arrived and made it to the hotel safe and sound.

5. Thanksgiving Day, nice, quiet, low-key, just the way I like spending my holidays. 

How was your week?

Sudbury River Walk

After having lunch at the Wayside Inn and visiting the Grist Mill, Teague and I took a walk along the Sudbury River via the trail behind the Grist Mill.

The water that powers the mill wheel

Heath asters

Water droplets that looked like jewels

A view of the Sudbury River

Swans on the river. We tried to get closer to them, but they moved off.

A Charlie Brown Christmas tree

Bright green moss that looked like Godzilla and a dinosaur

Tiny red berries

A rocky road and not the good kind. (Rocky Road is chocolate ice cream with nuts and marshmallow pieces. Sometimes chocolate chips, too)

Tiny mushrooms

 Pet Sematary

Outings with Teague usually end up at the Dairy Queen. I had the Very Cherry Chip Blizzard which is cherry ice cream with chocolate chunks.

Leo's Nieces and Nephew Have Names

 

The Oklahoma City Zoo held a contest to name their 4 lion cubs. There are three female cubs and one male. The names chosen are: 

Female Cubs’ Names:

Neema (NEE-mah) “grace”

Zahara (Za-HA-ra) “flower”

Makena (muh-KEN-na) “happiness”

Male Cub Name:

Mshango “surprise”

T Stands for the Wayside Inn and Grist Mill

An outing with Teague, and we decided to be ladies who lunch and to have lunch at Longfellow's Wayside Inn. I did a previous post when Himself and I stopped for lunch

The Inn is a very popular destination and looked crowded. I wondered if we would have a long wait to get a table. No wait and we were seated in the Tap Room, cozier than the main dining room.

I ordered a chicken club which came with fries (chips), a pickle and pepper relish, and I had unsweetened ice tea for my beverage.

After lunch, we stopped up the road a piece to visit the Grist Mill. They Wayside Inn and property was purchased by automobile entrepreneur, Henry Ford. He made improvements to the Grist Mill, and the building of the Martha Mary Chapel across the street from the mill. You can read over 300 years of history of the Inn and property here

Teague was married at the Martha Mary Chapel and wedding photographs were taken at the Grist Mill.

The mill is a working mill and is still in operation today. Cornmeal and wheat flours are ground and used to bake cornbread and rolls at the Inn. 

The power to drive the water wheel comes from a stream of the Sudbury River.

In the basement of the mill was this decapitated statue. Since it was close to Halloween when we visited, we thought maybe St. Francis (I'm guessing because of the little bird on his shoulder) was trying out for the part of the Headless Horseman from Washington Irving's Sleepy Hollow

 I was wishing I had this Cyclone Dust Collector to automatically take care of the dusting in my house.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.