BEFORE I TURNED OUT THE LIGHTS

SNOW.  BEFORE I TURNED OUT THE LIGHTS LAST NIGHT, snow was falling.  

Gently falling into a ice cold world in Kansas.  

Yesterday, I checked the weather with a  mixture of rain and snow in the forecast so I was expecting something by evening.  

Waking to a light dusting of snow was.....well, what should I say?  I wasn't a HAPPY CAMPER about the temps being so cold yesterday. Coats helped.  Cold wind blowing.

It seems like AUTUMN disappeared way too soon.  Made me a tad bit sad that it has gone to the wayside as I prepare for Thanksgiving.  The shades of orange, brown and deep greens with some yellows has all but blown away.  The trees are baring their nakedness.  I'm never ready for WINTER WEATHER.  Bundle up buttercup.  

As I say good-bye to FALL, the stores and shops are decked out with Christmas decor which helps distract my thoughts of a fading AUTUMN.  I can't help but LOVE the decorating with this part of the calendar year.  Something about the twinkling lights and Christmas music makes LIFE easier to handle. 

I did find a couple of grapevine wreaths at JOANN to decorate with greenery, bright red berries and a few pinecones for CHRISTMAS WREATHS.  Burgundy velvet ribbon will make into beautiful bows as I make plans to morph this color theme to the outside of the COTTAGE next year.  I can see it in my head already.  I'll make the door wreaths this year for our main house that will move to the COTTAGE when we do.  If I can get some more Burgundy velvet ribbon, I'll decorate with it.  The door wreaths for sure will have this velvet ribbon bows.

BURGUNDY RIBBONS for GARLAND will hang on the COTTAGE's front porch CHRISTMAS 2023.  That's a ways down the road, but I think it wise to begin morphing the exterior decorations from here to there since decorations can be expensive for old people like me on a FIXED INCOME.  Still going simplistic.  

I have been boxing up ever so slowly knick-knacks, a few cookbooks and other books off of the book shelf.  I'll be keeping photo albums and family pictures on the shelves until after CHRISTMAS.  This in a small way is making way to move to the COTTAGE.  Very slowly I am saying my good-byes to the HOUSE.  I'm fond of this place.  So very fond.  

Hubby and I agreed that we get one more CHRISTMAS in this house that we call HOME.  Then I will get in full force of packing and remodeling the COTTAGE.  The storage side of the COTTAGE GARAGE is completed.  The muscle racks will be taken over probably after Thanksgiving THEN I can fill the racks with decor.  This is my part in preparing for the move to the COTTAGE. HUBBY will get back to creating the COTTAGE BATHROOM.  I will continue prepping the rooms to paint.  

In January, LORD WILLING, Hubby will work on the completion of the BATHROOM and  I will be painting the rooms.  February probably the same.  March...the front bedroom will have a couple of small corner closets ripped out, ceiling redone, carpet pulled up, the floor replaced and a floor to ceiling bookcase built, paint the walls.  Ta-daah.  Then I will begin to fill the shelves with books, family pictures, dolls.  We will relocate my Victorian Bedroom Set to the COTTAGE. This will probably be the first room of the COTTAGE to actually have furniture in it.

PREPARATIONS IN THE MAKING.

YESTERDAY, Lil Miss had her braces removed.  We took her to her appointment.  To me, it seemed like she didn't have them on all that long.  She got them July 2021 and off November 2022.  She has a beautiful SMiLE.  Wisdom teeth will come out later.

Our St. Louis 12 year old GRAND has braces and our 13 year old  OKLAHOMA GRAND recently got braces.  It seems like braces are being put on children so much earlier than I remember when I was a kid.  I didn't have them, but for sure had glasses.

SMILIN' for the camera with braces on.

BOTH GRANDS recently played in a SOCCER TOURNAMENT.
Gosh they're getting big and all grown up.  

THIS ONE is enjoying being a GOALIE.

THIS ONE has turned ONE!

A tradition for us is to gift our Grand-babies with a rocking chair for their first birthday.  Some years it was difficult to locate children's rocking chairs.  I couldn't believe it was so hard.  Where'd they all go?  We got this one early from Cracker Barrel knowing that.  I forget how many places I went on the hunt for a rocking chair 7 years ago when the GOALIE turned one.  Unbelievable.  It wasn't until a sales man told me that CB had them that I had success.

SOMEBODY got a deer!  
This made our GRAND very HaPPy.

THIS ONE HAS FALLEN IN LOVE and turns 21 this week.  

Have mercy.  Can't be.  Where did the time go?

I suppose that there will be other nights that before the lights are turned out that snow will blow.  It's my understanding that this WINTER is going to be a very cold and snowy one with ice. 

God bless,

~d