I finally finished my tree!

I love hodge podge trees. 

This and that. 

Red and green.

Old and new.

Whenever I am home, I have my lights on.

Love it!

Homemade potato soup

I have been wanting to make homemade potato soup for a while now, and I finally did it!  I remember watching my mother make potato soup, so I just started with that, then added my own touches.

I first sautéed celery and onions (blended) in butter.  I have one daughter who is not fond of onions, so I blended them in order to get the taste, but not the chunks of onions.  I peeled, diced, and boiled potatoes at the same time.  Once the celery was almost done, I added a can of chicken broth and brought it to a boil until the vegetables were tender.  I added mashed potatoes (from Costco), milk, and the cooked, diced potatoes.

I then seasoned with salt and pepper.  Once it was done, I added grated cheese just long enough to melt before serving.  I LOVED it.  Taking it for lunch tomorrow!

Moroccan Treasures

When in Morocco, both Pat and I purchased rugs.  They had such beautiful handmade rugs.  Too many to choose from, actually.  Pat sent me a picture of her rug which she placed in her den.  OMG!  It is absolutely beautiful - stunning!

I bought a runner to put on my table.  I wasn't sure how it would look or if I would like it on my table, but I think it looks nice.  I don't think I will let anyone eat on it, though.

The design makes me think of bowls.  I do have a large table, but these pictures and the runner make my table look really long.  This runner is woven out of wool.

When we were leaving Casa Blanca, we had time to kill at the airport, so of course, I went to the gift shop and shopped a little.  I found an ornament to put on my tree...

I had been looking for an ornament, but couldn't really find anything.  This worked out beautifully and it is a great little reminder of my trip to Morocco.

I love decorating my tree - it takes me back in time...

I can't remember every ornament, but I do remember almost every ornament.  They take me back in time.  Some I've made, some were gifts, some I picked out myself, some from vacations, some from my parents, some old, some new.  They make me happy.  And, of course, I love the ones my daughters made in school and the ones with photos on them.  I came across these two ornaments of Myah and Kylee...

 ... and hung them on my tree, of course.  In this first picture, Myah is 2 and Kylee is 9 months.  Such cute little peanuts!

These are their school pictures from last year, and now they are ages 9 and 11.  Wow!  I am still waiting for this year's pictures.  They are growing up, really growing up.  Such beautiful girls - not far from being young ladies.

Putting up the tree

I Love Christmas, but as I age, I find that I don't have the patience I used to have in setting out all of the Christmas decorations.  However, I still make it a point to put up my tree - just the way I like it.  So, today is the day, I started digging out the Christmas lights and tree trimmings.

 Every year I try to do the tree a little different by changing the lights or in the past, 

I've put up a white tree. 

This year I am using red and green lights.

 I bought a new tree this year - I sold my old one in a my garage sale.  It needed to go.

The new one has white lights on it, but I like more - much more - so I started

wrapping additional strands of red and green lights around the tree.

Not sure I will get my ornaments on today, but you can imagine how pleasantly surprised I was to open one of the boxes and find some ornaments from my parents.  I wondered what happened to their ornaments and found that my sisters set aside this box for me.  

So excited and thankful!  

These ornaments will be some of the first to go on my tree.

Check back again - hopefully I will be finished with this task and on to the next!

I have taken an interest in Essential Oils

Both of my daughters have started using essential oils.  So... I have decided to join them and try to  take a healthier approach to some medical/sleeping issues.  In order to keep my oils organized, I decided to use the altered cigar box I made a while back.

 Remember this?

I LOVE this box - it turned out so pretty (if I do say so myself).

I bought a special foam insert that keeps each bottle upright.  

I am so excited with how this worked out.

Another reminder of my Mom

After my mother passed away and the house was being cleaned out, my sisters went through some of her things.  Since I was not able to be there for that, they set aside some things for me - I had several boxes of miscellaneous things that I unpacked after I moved.  I came across a small box with one of my mother's hats in it.  I do remember my mother wearing hats to church on Sunday - not every Sunday - and maybe for other occasions like weddings and Easter, but I don't specifically remember this one.

Kim thought it was great and had to put it on, which worked for me.  I loved having someone volunteer to model it for me.  Kim was surprised that my mother wore hats like this one.  I remember that most of her hats had some sort of netting on them and always matched the color of her dress.

Nice memories.

Breakfast with Grandma

Because of Kimberly's work schedule, we weren't able to get to Grandma's on Thanksgiving Day.  So we went Saturday and took breakfast with us.

To make it easy, I made a crock pot recipe with tator tots, sausage, diced ham cheese, and eggs.

Here's what it looks like before cooking.  I have to say, it was not my favorite.  I think it cooked too long, even though I followed the directions.  I felt more like a breakfast hash. I think my first choice would be a breakfast casserole you make at night and bake in the morning.

I then made the bran muffin recipe - my favorite - that supposedly keeps in your frig for up to 6 weeks.  I never have it around that long, but it does keep a long time.  I used to make this a lot when my girls were at home and in school.  I could make them a hot muffin for the morning without any fuss.  We had a nice morning with Grandma and Dick - always nice to catch up.

Is there anything better than a leftover turkey sandwich?

White turkey on white bread with mayonnaise.

Mmmmmm!  Just like old times.