Lu is coming for dinner tomorrow. The usual Southern New Years Day menu.

Stuffed pork roast with mushroom gravy (from Christmas)
Sweet Potato casserole
Black Eye Peas
Collards
Deviled Eggs
Biscuits

The sweet potatoes are all done.




All ready for the topping.



Ready to cook. Now back to the refrigerator till tomorrow.





Last night I mixed up a batch of banana oatmeal raisin cookies for Lem.



The first dozen all done.




Four dozen and four cookies. These are good.



This morning I wanted to get a head start on Friday so I sorted the Black Eye peas and put them in water to soak.


I got the vegetables all ready to steam for dinner tonight.


And the eggs are boiled ready to become deviled eggs.


Tonight I can sit and add the pathway to the blocks for row seven. I have three more to complete before these can join the first six rows.


The binding is on Lem's quilt and he is enjoying it.





Four hats were discovered that I made earlier. These are all ready to give to Joan.


One puzzle complete and ready to break down.




Puzzle two complete. I have already taken this one apart.

I am home from work now. Ready to get supper complete and spend the rest of the evening sitting in my chair.

And once again we roll around to That Time of Year. As for myself, I tend to make list and resolutions and promise to do this or that............ Alas, the list only grows, the resolutions are forgotten and the promises are not kept. This year I plan to go about it a bit differently.

There are certain things I want in life. I want my home to be welcoming, attractive and clean. I want to cook better and healthier meals for my family. I want to finish more projects than I start.

This diary is for me. Yes, others can read it but basically it is for me to use to keep on track. Today I am fixing menus ahead for January. When I get home from work I will make some banana oatmeal cookies. I have the ingredients all measured and ready to assemble. Lemuel likes cookies in the afternoon and he likes to have a variety. I like to make cookies so this is a perfect fit. When I left for work this morning he had mostly chocolate chip cookies left and just one or two cookies each of the molasses and snickerdoodles. The cookies can bake while I fix our dinner.

I need to take a couple of pictures for tomorrow. I have two puzzles assembled and one quilt completed along with a few baby hats. Wanting to start another puzzle means that I need to get the completed ones put away.

After dinner, I can sit and stitch my GFG. There are 13 rows and I have 6 rows together. I get tired these days and it takes longer to do things than it did before.

Friday, Kaaren will have another design for us to stitch. When that comes out I will take a break from the GFG and complete her stitchery.

A Safe and Happy New Year to all.

Yesterday I got a new to me chair. The chairs that we had were in poor condition so we got rid of them. Since I thought we would be moved by now I just used a beach chair. I realize that we will be here at least through the winter and probably longer so yesterday I found this chair at the Thrift shop............ Much more comfortable and at a price I liked. (I now see the large cobweb behind me. I will take care of that as soon as I get home.)


Before getting dressed for work this morning I decided to get a head start on the cooking for tomorrow. I got the eggs boiled for deviled eggs.


and the sweet potatoes baked for the sweet potato casserole.


When I get home I can get a few more things ready. That will give me more time to enjoy tomorrow.

Since we had so much snow and could not leave the house I fixed waffles for breakfast on Sunday morning.


Wade Hamilton gets a treat after we eat. Here he sits, patiently waiting for his turn.


Next on the agenda was making Rye bread for Lu for Christmas.


There it is, all ready to put in the oven.


All done. I had a loaf for myself. It is quite good.


I even managed to place a piece or two and get a puzzle finished.

Another weekend with no sewing. Perhaps next weekend.

My mound of dough all ready to roll.


The mold I selected.



I got a bakers dozen from that batch. It was surely a learning experience. I think a Springerle Rolling Pin is in my future.


And here are the remaining bits of dough. Thought I would bake these now and let the others sit.

The mailman and Fed EX and UPS made a few stops on Friday. From the mailman I we received the gifts from my sister Jean and they are now under the tree.





Fed EX brought my Kitchen Aid mixer.



UPS delivered my order from House on the Hill and now I can make my springerle cookies.

But first a stop at the grocery store.





Then a batch of M&M cookies for Lem.




This is from the upstairs window. The snow is just beginning.


I finished a puzzle and began another one.






While the world turned white.


Now to make my springerle cookies.

Believe it or not there is a wee dog in there..........

It has turned cold here -- real cold. Lem is keeping Wade Hamilton all wrapped. I stay wrapped up myself. As long as my hands are free and I can stitch.

I keep reminding my self that it will be March in about 10 weeks. When March gets here we are not far from spring. All I have to do is last for 10 weeks and that will go by fast.

Lem and I had a talk the other night. Since we only have the two of us for Christmas dinner this year, we are going to have a rolled pork roast stuffed with sausage. I just called Rick (my butcher) and ordered it.

Jane is sending her sweet potato casserole recipe so now all I need is a really good green vegetable recipe to add to the menu. There will be gravy and home made biscuits of course. I might even add cranberry sauce to the table. We both like it and I don't think it is only for poultry.

Anybody out there have any suggestions?

Here they are. All finished. Thank you Kaaren at The Painted Quilt for such a lovely design to stitch.

I will confess to being remiss. This box arrived on Friday and I failed to contact the sender to let her know it had arrived. I really meant to but every time I thought about it I could not get to the computer. Last night she called. How embarrassing. It was left on the front porch so I put it inside the door. Lem carried it upstairs to the studio but I never made it upstairs the entire weekend.


I knew what was inside. The two quilts I had sent to Judy to be quilted.

This is Rebekah's. She and Robert are purchasing a new home and will be moving in the next few weeks. I can postpone adding the binding for a few weeks at least.


Judy chose the perfect panto for this quilt. But then she always does.



And here is Sims McGrath. All quilted and ready for binding also. This will be Lemuel's Christmas gift. I wanted him to have something bigger to cover up with on the sofa.


The quilting did not show up as well in this picture. But once again it was the perfect fit.

Thank you Judy for such lovely quilting.

One is ready to assemble.



and one left to stitch




I searched through several boxes and this is the fabric I found. I am still stitching away on these stockings. I would like to finish them before Christmas but time will tell.

I will confess that last night I broke the seal on a jigsaw puzzle. It is set up on the dining room table but Lem bought a mat that rolls up to put it on so it can be moved at meal time. It is so relaxing to walk by and place a piece or two. But then after I have looked for awhile I need to get back to stitching. For me it is the pause that refreshes.

After a chat with Judy, I think I might be getting the knack of bread baking. She gave me some good ideas and this week the bread rose nicely.



Look at that. Aren't they lovely. Lem said that it was the best bread yet. I froze one loaf. Then cut the other one in half and froze it also. The last half I sliced and put in an airtight container. Lem has a sandwich for lunch each day and if there are no leftovers for me to take to work I have one too. Sometimes bread last a long time and sometimes it doesn't. I am ready for awhile at least.


Then I made some hamburger food for the dogs. They alternate between the beef and chicken. I whipped up a batch of biscotti. That needs more work. Just as I was finishing the biscotti, my mixer died. I will confess that it was a Sunbeam, on sale, 20 years ago. I told Lem that if I was going to get another one I wanted it to be a Kitchen Aid.

We did some online research and bought one from Direct Buy with a $100.00 savings off the list price. Sad to say that it takes 4-6 weeks for delivery.


When Lu called I told her of my plight. I had several cookie recipes that I wanted to try. She stopped by with her hand held mixer to help me until I get my new one. I made Peanut Blossoms..............





And a batch of Molasses cookies....................





For supper I even made biscuits. They are so good.............. That funny looking one is what is left over. My mother always let me make my own special biscuit with that.

I spent most of the weekend in the kitchen. I kept all the dishes washed as I went along and rather enjoyed myself.

Since it seems that retirement is so far in the future I thought I would start doing some of those things I was saving for retirement. Like making my own bread.............and making cookes for Lem.......... I might not get a much done but I enjoy every minute of my weekend.