Back to the Hospital

 

Brother Bob & me.

 

Spent the day at the hospital. Mom went for test after test, so me & Terry, and my brother Bob & his wife Peggy did a lot of sitting around, and talking, and eating (we love that hospital food).

My sister-in-law Peggy, me, and Terry.

 

You have to see this to believe it. I have never visited the 8th floor at Royal Oak Beaumont. I've had people on 2, on 3 on 4, on 6, and I think 5, but this is the view out of the rooms on the eigth floor. It's pretty amazing, a giant central atrium. Pretty to look at, but what is amazing is that everything is fake, even the life size trees.

 

Mom's stuck in the hospital, indefinitely. More tests and less answers. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

 

Terry worked all evening on a kitchen cart he is making me.

 

He had to move downstairs, because it's just too darn cold out in the garage.

 

I guess that's all for today folks.

What a Day...

 

Here's the line at the Sears merchandise pick up this morning, but gosh darn it, we were determined to get that snowblower. Wow, what a mess. Seemed like everyone wanted the same "doorbuster" snowblower that we did.

 

Then we had to call for back up when our tiny sedan would not hold this pre-assembled monster. Terry's brother came to the rescue, with his minivan.

 

There it is, still in the box. Happy Birthday Terry. Never had the chance to check it out, because...

 

 

Mom's back in the hospital again. She had stroke-like symptoms, so they admitted her for tests and observation. She had stents put in her legs (for blocked arteries) back in April, but they could not treat her carotids (neck arteries) due to risk factor, so the doctors took a wait and see approach.

 

So, here we spent the rest of the day, at Beaumont Hospital, in Royal Oak.

 

We'll be back there tomorrow, to see what the doctors have planned for her.

 

Carry on.

 

Happy Thanksgiving !

 

Wow, what a great bird.

 

Great meal.

 

Coma.

Thanksgiving Eve

 

There he is, He's all cleaned up and ready for his big day tomorrow.

 

I took pictures all evening long, so here we go...

 

After I wrestled with the turkey, I made some Reuben sandwiches for dinner. Easy.

 

Made some deviled eggs.

 Put your filling in a baggie and snip off the corner to squeeze out into the egg.

 Makes a neat presentation. 

 

See how easy?

 

 

These are for me and Sandy, as nobody else likes them. Good.

 

 

Pecan Pie, looking good.

 

I've been saving bread scraps all week, and we are ready for stuffing.

 

The pie is out of the oven.

 

Terry was hanging more blinds. Now we finally feel privacy in the bathroom, but I need to find brackets so I can hang the valances back up.

 

Break time... Me and Roxy watched Jeopardy by the fire.

 

Shorty watched us watch Jeopardy.

 

She is having her own special holiday, because she is usually not allowed on the couch without a blanket under her. But I am washing her blanket, so we'll give her a pass.

 

Back to work. Cooked up some sausage for the stuffing.

 

This will be Sweet Potato Casserole.

 

Some Sweet Potatoes, Brown sugar, salt and pepper, melted butter, cinnamon, and three eggs.

 

Whip it up. This immersion blender was a gift from Sandy. Love it !

 

Crush some pecans, and Brown sugar, and butter for a crispy nutty topping, and bake it off tomorrow, and this is my favorite side (besides the stuffing).

 

Three things:

 

I hate turkey, but I sure do love the sides.

 

I wonder if all of this pre-show will make mom hungry?

 

and, finally...

 

my new kitchen is so small !!!

 

*

 

P.S. I am still cooking and blogging, while busy with Project House. Just go to http://www.robinsrecipes.com to find lot's of great recipes.

 

See you tomorrow.

Sorry Honey

 

Today was Terry's birthday, and all he got was a turkey !

 

He works for an old fashioned kind of company, they still hand out turkeys and hams for every holiday. I consider it a huge perk. In fact, he hates his job, but I coax him to stay just for the free meat. In my defense; the turkeys are fresh and Amish ( and huge ), and the hams are always Michigan's finest bone-in, spiral sliced, honey glazed, and huge.

 

Sorry honey.

 

Terry did get another present today, and that was from my mom. She gave him some cash, which he took up to the Home Depot and got himself a garage heater. He was very happy... I'm not sure why the dogs were so excited by it ???

 

Thanks mom.

 

My birthday gift to him is a snow blower, which hasn't arrived yet.

 

Sorry honey.

Buzz Buzz, Can You Hear Me?

 

Terry spent the day out in the garage (cold), and I spent the day in the house, upstairs (warm).

 

He built this shelf, awesome. He had a crappy old metal shelf, that he constantly fought with. It was wobbly, and awkward, and impractical, and he finally listened to me and made a sturdy wooden shelf for some of the garage crap. He's so good at making shelves... little does he know that I have about a million more shelf projects lined up for him... 

 

I finally started laying some tile. I have been procrastinating on this project for days, and today, I just decided to go for it. No real plan, but then I never do have a real plan. I've made up a word for my artistic style... it's called freestyle mosaic, which means that I just wing it.

 

I did realize today that we must hook up the intercom system that my mom gave us (for house to garage communication). Three times, I needed to go out there to tell him something. It's getting too cold for these shenanigans. I want to be able to buzz him whenever I want, and I'm sure that he wants me to be able to. Ha ha ha.

 

Carry on.

 

 

Toasty Warm by the Fireplace

 

Today was a good day. Cleaned house and spent some quiet time with my sweetie.

 

And... we built our first fire in the fireplace. I've never had a fireplace before, so this is a new and scary / wonderful experience for me. I am neurotic and always worried about weird stuff like fire, and smoke, and whatever else could happen, but the fireplace works perfectly, and we enjoyed it.

 

Of course, I sat there and thought about how I am going to retile the front floor base... 

 

Oh yes, always projects going on at Project House.

We Call This Date Night ?

 

This afternoon, we ran some errands for mom, did our own grocery shopping, and ended up at the Home Depot. This is what we call "date night".

 

But...big day, we finally got a mini blind for the kitchen window.

 

Terry does the labor...

 

and I take care of the finishing fluff.

 

Finally, I will get some relief from the mid day sun that beats through this window.

 

Next on our list, bathroom blinds.

 

After everyone else went to bed, I played around with my Christmas fireplace mantle.

 

This picture just looks weird, but I am on to something...

 

No I'm not, I will be fiddling around with this artistic endeavor until New Years...

 

and I will never be satisfied.

The Rain, The Art, and Other Things

 

Bad storms brought much rain the other night, and here comes the water. It comes in all around the foundation...

 

This little river became an ocean...

 

Here is Terry cementing in another one of the old terra cotta gutter pipes. These open pipes lead down to the foundation of the house, where the drains were supposed to lead the water out to the street (I think). What genius came up with that silly plan??? We hope this will help with the water that leaks into the foundation. We'll see during the next rainstorm.

 

For the time being, I am still mopping up the seeping water, from the foundation, and it seems that the water was also leaking through the window frames, down through the walls, and into the basement. Which means, we are contemplating having to get new windows, or caulking the hell out of them and seeing where that takes us.

 

Money pit...

 

Money tree???

 

Don't have one. 

 

*

 

On to small triumphs...

 

These transition plates have been leaned up against the dining room wall since we moved in, and Terry kept saying, "That's a Winter job". Tonight, I said, "It's Winter".

 

He got busy on the living room to dining room transition, and the stairs.

 

Meanwhile, I got busy on my latest mosaic tile project. We made a frame on the base of the landing shelf, upstairs, and now I will produce a mosaic masterpiece here.

 

 

Look at those stairs. Perfect. Those metal transition plates make all the difference.

 

Meanwhile, I am sorting tiles, toying with ideas, and feeling artist's block.

 

I will come up with something... I will. 

I Love This Guy

 

Terry started out the day working on finishing my basement shelves, and moving the lights and switches that were in all the wrong places.

 

At lunchtime, he went out and blew the leaves.

 

Then he cleaned out the gutters.

 

I made soup.

 

Tonight, he was back downstairs, working on the electric.

 

If this daily log seems lopsided, it is. This guy keeps going, and going, and going. I do some laundry, load the dishwasher, and cook some dinner. He moves a mountain, and builds a skyscraper. I don't know how he does all of the things he does, but I sure appreciate him.

 

And I never question why he's ready for bed at 9:30.

 

Just love him. 

Jelly and Projects at Project House

 

Terry and I went to visit my brother, in the summertime, and I just happened to take a picture of the grapes growing on the vines. Who would've thought...

 

that I would receive some yummy jelly from those very grapes. Thanks to Bob and Peggy for this delicious treat, and I actually had some croissants for the occasion. Yum.

 

Terry has been working on my basement shelves. They are looking good, and almost done.

 I can't wait to start loading them up.

 

 

Here is the basement stairway, before my paintbrush got a hold of it.

 

It's looking better already.

 

Just need to figure out what to do with the stairs...