Delightful December~AF~Week 1

[dill]

?Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.?
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

[Rusty]

Delightful December~AF~Week 1

Good Morning Delightful Friends,

Dill-thank you for that quote today. I find that indecision is one of my biggest challenges. I have a hard time making decisions....mainly when it comes to personal rather than professional, choices. I think it's wonderful that the treatment center allowed your son to be with you on Thanksgiving. It must have given him so much hope. I hope your turkey pot pie turned out well.

Dream, thank you for posting on the November thread. No, it does not matter where you post in the grand scheme of things as you say...I just wouldn't want anyone to miss your posts, because they are uplifting. I had never heard of the baobab, so I googled it. I totally get how Christmas trees and fake snow make no sense to people in South Africa, and it would be fascinating to see how other countries celebrate the Christmas holiday. I know you know how lucky you are to have a great family and a mum who puts herself out for everyone. My mom's the same way. Enjoy your day in the quaint village....sounds so relaxing.

I am spending the day with my friend who is recovering from hip replacement surgery. She and I worked together at my first job out of college. She was a mentor to me and shielded me from the two calculating and devious men in our office. She's a widow who lives alone...has no kids, and her family is in Detroit, so she's alone quite a bit. I will attempt to make her laugh by taking her out to lunch and reminiscing about the goofy people we used to work with.:H

To all my other friends here: Lav, Star, Cyn, Narilly, Fly, Witts, and anyone I have missed, have a delightful AF Sunday.

[Lavande]

Delightful December~AF~Week 1

Good morning friends

Delighted to be awake & enjoying some coffee wrapped in a blanket - man it's cold :H :H

DTD, we promise to post pictures when the snow arrives, just for you!
Hope you enjoyed your day!

Dill, so nice to see that your son was home for Thanksgiving & with his family!
I've been thinking of you every day & sending you virtual strength & some Lavan-ittude to use as you see fit

Rusty, your friend is lucky to have you near by. Hope you two have a nice lunch. Laughter truly is the best medicine in my book!

Well, of course I never got around to starting the decorating yesterday but I was busy all day. YB is trying to fix the doors on the chicken house, they are basically falling apart. So much for Amish built
I did make a half decent pot of turkey rice soup yesterday. I think turkey pot pie sounds good for today!!!! Turkey, turkey, turkey :H

Wishing everyone a wonderful AF Sunday!
Greetings to everyone dropping by today!

Lav

[DreamThinkDo]

Delightful December~AF~Week 1

Hallo dear friends (and especially Rusty who hunts me down when I stray from this thread:l)

Diligent Dill, thanks for the beautiful quote - you somehow always manage to find something that all of us can relate to.

Rusty, hope you enjoyed the time spent with your friend - it's so good thing to be able to laugh about life.

Lav, I thought of posting pics of "our" snow here, but I know that you will laugh yourselves silly - it's really just a sprinkling of castor sugar, not proper icing. Are you still eating turkey? (Byrdie even complained about the left-over turkey dishes Lifechange and I serve up in the Nest - but you must have read the post. For those of you who don't normally visit the NN thread, LC and I are the "breakfast person" and "coffee person" respectively, and really enjoy our jobs!)

Lunch yesterday was lovely - I stuffed myself on lambshanks. It was a lovely trip - all the canola and wheat have been harvested, and the rolling fields with their shades of ochre are so beautiful when seen against the mountains and the hills.

Have a lovely AF Monday, everybody!

[Rusty]

Delightful December~AF~Week 1

Good Morning Everyone,

I am at home for the next two days so I thought I would just pop in really quick before I get started with my day.

My friend and I were together most of the day yesterday, and we had a lovely time. She treated me to a nice lunch at Chili's and then I helped her do some errands. She lives about an hour-and-a-half away but it's an easy drive and she lives about 45 minutes from my mom so I should be able to check in with her on a regular basis. She has had a hard life since her husband died: she has battled breast cancer, the unexpected loss of her 30-year-career, and now this latest surgery.:upset: At 65, she feels very much alone. I am so glad we have maintained our friendship over the years, even though I didn't actually SEE her until last year. It had been 29 years since I last saw her, but we were able to just pick up where we left off, like neither one of us had been gone in the first place.

Dream-I would love to see the sprinkling of "fake snow" with the castor sugar. We like laughing here.:H I loved your vision of the mountains and hills...especially since none of us here (I don't think anyway) has ever been to South Africa. I'm glad you don't feel like you're being cyber-stalked when I hunt you down on other threads. We just enjoy your company.

Big hellos and hugs to Lav, Star, Dill, Cyn, Fly, SunniGG, Narilly and anyone I may have missed, happy AF Monday!

[Stargazerlily]

Delightful December~AF~Week 1

Good morning to all...

Dill, thanks for starting us out on December, I can't believe it is already the last month of the year. Things are looking up for you and your family, sounds like your son is really ready for change.

Lav, hey, hope you are doing well.

Rusty, good friends are like that, you can get together after a long time and it is just like you saw each other a week ago. How hard to be alone and sick at only 65, that is tough.

My good friend is back in the hospital, with stents now. We stopped and visited with her on the way home from our Thanksgiving trip and she looked grey, dying. I knew it but to see it was another story. So, have been struggling with strong emotions, getting prepared as much as I can. Good I am going to work today, I need to get out of the house.

My Thanksgiving was great, loved seeing all my family and overeating. Hope you are all well and AF.

[Lavande]

Delightful December~AF~Week 1

Good morning frosty friends!

Overcast sky but NO snow predicted, it's supposed to be milder this week

DTD, today will be the last turkey dinner - I truly have had enough :H
My daughter & granddaughter will be here so we'll make something & have fun!
I love the mountains but haven't been near any lately, unfortunately.

Rusty, your friend sure has been through a lot, she must be one strong woman. Great that you can reach out & give her some support

Star, so sorry about your friend!
Hopefully with the stents in place & her blood being better oxygenated her color will pink up a bit - it usually does. I wonder if there's anything else going on with her, that's sad

Hello to Dill & the rest!

I am swamped with work so I'd better get going!
Wishing everyone a wonderful AF Monday!

Lav

[dill]

Delightful December~AF~Week 1

Hi friends, I am confused. I am looking at my starting post and am surprised. I did indeed post that quote, but then after posting it, I went back and edited my post to add comments to you. I'm sure I did that. But I simply must have forgotten to hit the save button because all that I wrote is surely gone! That's frustrating, but I'm sure it was my mistake.

Lav, I'm happy you are swamped with work. Your business must be doing very well. Is a lot of it due to the holidays?

Star, That's wonderful that you enjoyed your Thanksgiving. I'm sure we are ALL guilty of over-eating!:H My pumpkin pie, made from scratch, was delicious if I do say so myself!

Rusty, That's great about reconnecting with your old friend. It's funny how time melts away when true friends come together.

DTD, "diligent dill":H, thank you for that. And thank you for the description of the landscape. Here, with all the muted shades of grays, browns and black, the only color left is the fading green of the grass. Winter is closing in. Indeed it has come early, well before the winter solstice.

I survived the 4 day holiday with both grandchildren home 24/7 but boy! Am I glad that they are back at school and day care today!! I used the time to relax and then went out to do some Christmas shopping. Still have more to do, but I did get a good start on it.

As for my turkey, I simply can't eat it again! I have at least two meals left of it so I will divide it in half and freeze it until I can appreciate it once again later this winter.

Pleasant AF evening everyone.

[Lavande]

Delightful December~AF~Week 1

Disappearing posts are a pain in the butt Dill - it happens :H
Glad things are settling down after the weekend - fun but tiresome!!!!
I finally got around to making a turkey pot pie today - dairy & gluten free of course, turned out pretty good
I will make some turkey salad out of the rest & if it doesn't get used in the next two days then it's outta here :H

[DreamThinkDo]

Delightful December~AF~Week 1

(My) Morning, Friends!

Quick question re turkey: is it on the menu gain on Christmas day, or are those ugly beauties safe till next year?

Dill, strange things happen in cyberland.

Star, sorry about your friend - did she recognise you at all?

Rusty, those friendships are wonderful and the be cherished - imagine not seeing anybody for 29 years and it feeling like yesterday! No worries about the "cyberstalking".

Wishing I could send all of you some apricots from my garden - they are deliciously sweet and tarty at the same time.

Have a lovely AF Tuesday, everybody.

[DreamThinkDo]

Delightful December~AF~Week 1



Castor sugar on the mountain - aka snow. Try not to laugh too much, please

[dill]

Delightful December~AF~Week 1

Greetings friends!
DTD, Is that really sugar on those mountains?!! It makes me laugh AND wonder all at the same time! I also wanted to let you know that altho I don't visit the nest much anymore, that is where I started out and met many good MWO friends. I too used to bring coffee in the morning, so we have that in common. What is the time difference between us, do you happen to know? I am in what they call Eastern Standard Time here in the US. I shall take some time to google this later. I just now finished googling baobob. What a stunning tree! Would love to see one with Christmas lights!

Turkey is a very common meal on Christmas over here, but it is not happening at my house! I'm usually still tired of Turkey by the time Christmas rolls around. We usually have ham at out house. I think that is fairly common.

Lav, I never did make the turkey pot pie. I put what was left in the freezer. I made 3 quarts of turkey broth by simmering the remainder of the picked turkey and I put that in the freezer too.

Star, Rusty, et. al, thinking of you and wishing everyone a happy AF Tuesday. I'm off to make lunches and get children off to school and day care.

[Stargazerlily]

Delightful December~AF~Week 1

Good morning...

DTD, love your house and the mountain behind. How beautiful. It is fun getting to know you, how are you doing on your AF journey? My friend did recognize me, she was at home. Just very ill.

Dill, I hate when I take the time to post and it gets lost. Glad you survived the weekend and how nice to have time to yourself. I am sure your pumpkin pie was scrumptious. It felt good to go to work and eat lightly.

Lav, I talked to my friend and with the stents she sounded like her old self, and will be going home today. Those stents worked a miracle.

I was really busy too yesterday and another busy day today. Feel overwhelmed about Christmas and all the shopping and money. That is why I like Thanksgiving better. Just food and family. I will have to organize and get started this weekend. Does anyone else feel the stress or is it just old scrooge here?

To all, have a great day.

[Rusty]

Delightful December~AF~Week 1

Good Morning, Friends,

Dream-I love the castor sugar mountains....how picturesque, and what a view from your lovely home. Thank you for taking the time to post, and not being (publicly) annoyed with all of us, clamoring for pictures of the South African scenery. I love it....so, thank you.. What do you serve for a meal at Christmas, DTD? Any particular favorites? Thank God for online dictionaries and handy thesaurus since your food and trees are unfamiliar to me. I agree with Dill...I would love to see one of your baobab trees with Xmas lights on it. It might not be popular with your neighbors, though.:H

Star-I am glad you got to see your friend but her condition must make you so sad. Thinking of you and sending cyber hugs. Star, yes, I get overwhelmed at Christmas. I've decided not to give my nieces and nephews their usual checks this year. That will save me about $800 so I will use it to buy a new dishwasher.

Dill-I, too, am tired of turkey by the time Christmas rolls around. My SIL is making a ham this year. I prefer our traditional prime rib dinner at my sister's house.

Star, Dill....I, too, lost a LONG post on Sunday and I was so frustrated.

Lav-I am amazed you could make a dairy-free and gluten-free pot pie. Good for you.

I have caught my niece's cold and although both Christmas trees are up, they are not decorated yet. Later today after the carpets get cleaned.

I have a busy rest of the week so I just want to say Happy AF Tuesday and I'll check in later.

[Lavande]

Delightful December~AF~Week 1

Good morning friends!

Overcast again this morning but mild, not complaining

DTD, CONGRATS on your 50 AF days!
Your picture is awesome, thanks for posting it for us! No a single mountain in sight around here - just cows, horses & more cows :H
No turkey rerun here either for Christmas - switch over to ham for the crowd.

Dill, freezing the leftover turkey is not a bad idea. I just may do that & skip the turkey salad - yay!

Star, I am doing my best to beat back the urge/habit to get stressed out about Christmas. Mostly I'm OK but I do get those occasional Scrooge-like twinges
I am buying gifts for the grandkids & something small for the adults & that's all!

Rusty, I used to give nieces & nephews something for Christmas but once they turned 18, they got cut off :H
The dairy & gluten free cooking & baking is becoming a new habit! Finding suitable alternatives is challenging yet fun too. The best part of all this is eliminating almost all processed food. No canned soups for casseroles now & that means much less sodium, preservatives, etc.

Take time to watch this guys
The Food Matters Free Screening 2013 | FOODMATTERS?

Have a great AF Tuesday everyone.
I need to work, work, work!!!

Lav