summer 2011

summer 2011

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012
family

Sunday, November 20, 2022

in which the wind swirled around...

 ...and the ominous threat of white-out conditions kept them safely inside.

We have green grass here outside, but it's twenty-something degrees, and the wind is WHIPPING.  Brrr.  The snow is to the north of us, ten miles up the road, blizzard!  It should have kept us home...but it didn't.

What did we, who live in Lake Effect territory, do before RADAR weather and the internet?  Well I guess I remember: we went out and then drove through snow storms.  Today, here at my house, no snow yet.  We drove to the small city south of here because the radar showed snow to the east. 

America's snowiest cities...see that? SYRACUSE, #1! Guess where we live?   Pretty darn close to Syracuse...


Kathryn and Achilles came and picked us up, Rhys stayed home with daddy, for a nap.  We went to a craft store which finally opened, Michaels.  A.C. Moore closed a few years ago, and I miss it sorely.  Well, Michaels was a HUGE disappointment.

This tree was $49.99.  
Sonja and Charlotte Claire...
Miss Camille...

The prices in this store are outrageous.  It was rather crowded,  not easy to navigate, but ouch, like $35 for a throw pillow?  Ribbon was 70% off, but regular price $14.99?  nope.  We weren't the only ones parking the empty cart and walking out of the store empty handed.  

Next stop: Aldi.  Bread, tomatoes (bruschetta, anyone?  the girls love to slice up the baguette and toast it a little in the air fryer, then chop tomatoes, onions, and garlic, and mmm!), little oranges (clementines), cheese, seltzer, a candle, rolls for Thanksgiving, and some 97 cent apple muffins (a four pack!)

Then, Walmart...phew.  We tried to hurry it up, but the superstore is huge, and everything begs to be looked at.  I was shopping for crafts for this week's activity club, and didn't find much...just some scented Christmas stickers, and some blank paper. I do have construction paper and glue and glitter and markers galore, but was hoping for some little Christmas trees they could decorate.   We'll just have to make some.  I did buy marshmallows and pretzel sticks so they can make snowmen.  

Home, ah home...we got a late start today, after a very cozy morning at home, so we got home at 2:30.  I started dinner right away...I cubed up 4 pounds of chicken breast, and added it to a mixture of cornstarch and flour, salt and pepper, and a few eggs whipped up in some cold water,...first dredged the chicken in the dry mixture, removed it, added the liquid, stirred it all up, added the chicken back in, and browned it all up in oil in small batches, two pans going at the same time.  Camille made the rice, I chopped up some small red peppers, a green pepper, and an onion...I microwaved a bag of frozen broccoli florets (95 cents at Aldi) for three minutes, then when the chicken was all done cooking, I added the veggies to the big wok, and stir fried them.  In a small sauce pan, I melted half a stick of butter, ground ginger, a scoop of orange marmalade (jam), some orange chicken sauce, some teriyaki sauce...


Oh my this was good!  I had mine without rice, but shh, I know it's not healthy, not with the flour and cornstarch and browned up in oil...but oh dear it's good!
Grant and Baby Sister, aka Ruth...a good start to the random photo dump of the day...
Grampa and Grant eating popsicles...
Sunny Dum-Dums...
The brownies I made last night out at the music weekend, at church...175 or so were there, due to snow in 
Buffalo, roads closed, some from Toronto didn't come...anyway, I made homemade buttercream frosting, but my mixer glitched...the beaters kept falling off! I couldn't get the frosting to the right consistency!  I finally just frosted them anyway...I didn't stay for dinner, but I think they were good.
Home last night after 4-5 hours working in the kitchen,ahhh...look at Orange Guy!
This coffee is delicious.   You can order it online, he will ship it, not sure how much shipping is, as I just pick mine up...
Random, but thought this about explains it.
Me with Rhys and Ruth...lucky girls to have each other, cousins two months apart.

Tomorrow Achilles and Rhys will be coming over for a few hours as their parents take on an ever challenging trip to the department of motor vehicles.  Moving to New York State is not for the faint hearted,  ha.  Later in the day, I plan to go pick up a new hand mixer I bought from Kohl's...(30% off, Kohl's cash, and $10 a home purchase of $50 or more...)...then a quick Target pick up...I got a fun game for Wulf for Christmas...

My Christmas shopping is going very slowly....ugh.    Oh well.

It was cold and windy today, the kind of wind that makes your face hurt, and has you crying UNCLE, yet no matter that you give up, it isn't going to change anything.  Winter is starting, and you have to acclimate and embrace it, or just be miserable.  You all probably know what I am choosing...have a good evening!!!




9 comments:

Mari said...

We really got slammed with snow in our area of Michigan! Hopefully it melts this week,
We have a Michaels near us and the prices are much more reasonable. I'm sorry yours was a disappoinment.
Your supper looks sooo good!

Unknown said...

Hi Della!

All the snow around you sounds wicked! You are so lucky to have missed it!! We have warmed up thank goodness. It was +7C yesterday! Gotta love that!

We have Michaels here and I rarely go there. When I was knitting I would go for yarn as they had so many different kinds. Now they don’t even carry patterns? How weird is that?

I love all your pictures………..☺️

I believe corruption is like that picture EVERYWHERE no matter who is in power, I really do.

Anyway have a lovely day 😊

Marilyn from Canada 🇨🇦

Michelle in FL said...

Sorry I published my user name under an anonymous comment by accident lol:) Sunny’s face in that picture is so adorable. I love the pics and stories of your pets as much as hearing about your family life:) The food you all make always looks so yummy! Hope you guys enjoy your Thanksgiving!

Terri D said...

We have had a Michael's here in Lakeland and it is ridiculous. In all the years I think I've gone there twice. Your stirfry looks and sounds delicious! I have some marmalade in the fridge and will have to try your 'sauce'!! Have a blessed week!

Julia said...

Hi. I honestly don't remember the last time I went to Michael's. I'd say at least ten years or more. I always felt that it was so crowded with so much stuff that it was overwhelming to me. Happy almost Thanksgiving!

Arkansas Patti said...

Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting. I must say I am totally gobsmacked at the size of your very handsome family. Amazed you have time to blog.

16 blessings'mom said...

Marilyn, glad it warmed up a little, phew! I agree about the corruption. Each one of us is capable of being greedy and dishonest, power-hungry....but somehow the ones who actively give in to those tendencies rise to the top, ha.
Michelle, Sunny is a cute, lucky she is, she's a royal pain sometimes, but I love her so much. I hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving too!
Terri, we used to have AC Moore, it was still pricey but way better. I hope you have a good week even being sick, I'm praying for you!!!
Julia, Happy Thanksgiving!
Patti, hello!!!! I have plenty of time to blog, most days...some days I would almost hear the clock tick, but shh...I got rid of the ticking clock, couldn't stand it...have to have a silent one. I mean, our lives are ticking away, we KNOW that, do we need the clock reminding us? Anyway, with my youngest now 15, I do have more time, except for when the grandchildren bombard us:)

Unknown said...

Thanks for the coffee recommendation. I placed an order! Shipping wasn't too expensive but that could be because I'm on Long Island, NY. Happy Thanksgiving!

Deb said...

I don't have a Michaels store conveniently close to me but even if I did, I wouldn't be going to it because, yes, those prices are crazy. Just like Hobby Lobby. I know, everyone says catch the sales yadda yadda. Well if they constantly have 40, 50, 60% off, why not just lower prices to begin with?

That's funny what you say about 'What did we do before radar and internet?' I think things have gotten more inaccurate now with all this fancy technology. I don't know how many times we've had local weather forecasts, or even alerts, sending people into a frenzy only to have pretty much nothing happen.

I'm a crabby old lady, I know. lol