Goodbye 2015

It has been a very busy and sometimes hectic year around here.  We finished our kitchen remodel. We finished the craft room remodel. We did a lot of decluttering.  Teri thought the house looked like it did 20 years ago with the exception of the new kitchen. A few dozen items were knit for charity.  All in all I think we had a good year despite a few bumps in the road. I would like to wish everyone a happy and healthy 2016.  

Cooking Dinner

Tonight John and I used the broiler for the first time. I kinda guessed what I should be doing, after all it is just a broiler. Well, I have used broilers since oh so last century and this was not like any I have used in the past. John started reading the directions as I was cooking. First of all the broiler has a high and low setting, yes really. Apparently the high setting is used for searing the meat. The low setting is used for standard broiling. Oh and chicken must be broiled on the bottom rack of the oven. Over all it took longer to cook the meat, but it came out perfect.

My question is how the simple act of making dinner has become more complicated over the years? After all we have been using fire to cook with since the caveman days. I think I have the closest version of the 1960's Disney/GE house of the future in Tomorrowland vision of the perfect kitchen that is available today. Although I am still waiting for the table that will clear  itself, wash the dishes and reset the table. Not to mention the self cleaning house. I think that we may have been lead astray as to what would happen to the kitchen of the future. Until it arrives I would recommend that everyone read the manual.

Now if I could just find a manual to explain why my sinuses try to drain every night at bedtime.

The Party is Over

We dropped the kids at the airport this morning.  They have arrived at their destination safely. We then headed to Costco to pick up a few items. We put everything away and finished the leftovers for lunch.  Laundry has seemed to have grow exponently today. 

Now that everything is back to quiet, I plan on finishing the rest of the of decluttering. Most is in Teri's room. The down side of decluttering today so far has been finding more partial yarn skeins that I am using for hats.  So I guess I will be making a few more hats.  By the time the house is done, I hope it will be warm enough to work in the garage.  

Car Keys

You know that the visit has ended much too soon when your children return the car keys.  The week went much too quick. I am looking forward to more visits from my very busy daughter Teri. 

A Very Early Morning

This has been a crazy morning so far.  The barametric pressure started dropping around midnight.  By 12:30 I had the beginnings of a very bad headache.  Around 3 am when that began to fade Eric woke up with leg cramps. I took care of that. Then John helped with a full change out.  I hated to wake him, but since the little bump on the 7th I have not been able to do a complete change out of Eric by myself,hopefully pt will fix that soon. 

I am also sure that Eric is doing his part to keep the pipes from freezing this morning by making more laundry. So as my headache fades I will try to fall back asleep to the sound of the washer running.  If the 1st load of the morning does not do it, I have another one ready to go.  

Teri Time

We are getting a brief visit from our daughter Teri and her friend Tej. Eric and Teri are enjoying their time together. John and I are enjoying the time too.  I have been too busy to blog much.  

Fruit Cake

I have finally found a fruit cake that John likes. I used the King Arthur Flour traditional fruitcake mix.  I did add some fresh pecans and extra candied cherries. I also used soy milk and margarine instead of milk and butter.  It was very easy to make. The only change that I would make is to butter and flour the pans  or use parchment paper on the pan bottoms, because the cake did stick to the pan 

It would not be a holiday around here if someone did not get sick. This time it is Eric's turn. He got the tummy bug going around thanks to those who refuse to stay home when they are sick.  All I can say is that it was a long night and the last load just hit the dryer at 8:30 tonight.  His fever also broke tonight.  

We are also enjoying Teri and Tej's visit.   

Another Use and a Fond Farewell

If you have been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that my craft room has had a major design change. What most people don't know is that the white cabinet on the wall also hides a Murphy bed.  The bed is now down in anticipation of Teri coming home for a visit.  I really like the versatility of having a multipurpose room, although when down the queen size bed takes up most of the room. The shellfs that John put up elimated all the bags that use to be on the floor, that way we can add 2 chairs and a foot stool in the room for company.  It seems so strange to me that my darling daughter has now been out of the house and on her own long enough to be considered company. 

I would also like to say good bye to the first pair of socks that I knit by hand. They are now amassing wholes in all sorts of places.  I have the skills but not the inclination or matching sock yarn for repairs.   So at this time I would like to say darn, darn socks.  Now they have been darned. They will not be heading for the landfill but rather they will be part of the stuffing for another dog pillow. 

Now to post the pictures and get on with my day.   

A Finishing Touch

Today Mike Levy from The Blind Guys here in Tucson installed our new Hunter Douglas Vignette Modern Roman Shades with the new Power View Motorization. The instlation went very smoothly and they fit the space to perfection.  The pebble is easy to use and we can even use or pads and phones to adjust the blinds. 

But I need to digress for a moment. John did our homework. He researched every Hunter Douglas shop in Tucson. We interviewed 3 Hunter Douglas shops in Tucson before we picked out The Blind Guys. We are very happy with the results. Durning the day the fabric has a red brown color and at night it looks more brown. 

The smaller blind is run off a battery pack.  The larger blind is running off an AC plug.  All that is left to do is to take down the curtain rods from the last window coverings, that will be done after our vist with Teri is over. 

I would like to make it very clear the we did not receive any condersition from either the Hunter Douglas Company or The Blind Guys.  The money for the  blinds came out of the money we budgeted for the kitchen remodel.  

On another note just when I thought I was over with the deep cleaning, I found more things to recycle. I am also making another trip to Goodwill this weekend. It seems to easier to get rid of things that we don't need anymore.