Life plods on

 Last Sunday, I canned the tomatoes I had in the freezer. I canned 7 quarts of stewed tomatoes which consisted of celery, onions, tomatoes and green peppers. After the tomatoes defrosted, I had to pour off some of the water but that didn't hurt the stewed tomatoes any. Oh my gosh, don't those look pretty? Not too bad for using a makeshift water bath canner. I can only do 4 jars at a time and they cook for 50 minutes. Next year, I want both a water bath canner and a pressure canner.

 We got a smattering of snow this past week. I am so in the mood for Christmas!!!!! But I have to get past Thanksgiving and cooking for 8 people. I'm intimated already! Pa and I went grocery shopping in Show Low on Wednesday and got all the stuff for Thanksgiving. We have such a small fridge that we will have to fire up the fridge in the motor home for Thanksgiving. I absolutely hate my fridge. It is one of those side by side ones and the veggie bin is about the size of a bread basket. I am a big veggie eater and need more room for produce as I can't run to town every other day to buy fresh produce.

 Doesn't this put you in a Christmas mood? My friend Katie is trading cutting files with me. I met her in Saint Johns for a soda on Thursday and we exchanged DVD's with digital papers and cut files. We went to the pharmacy to look around. From the outside, it looks tiny but once you get inside it is huge! They have all sorts of interesting things to look at and buy. They even have a craft section (how did I ever miss that?) , a sewing section with mini bolts of fabric, gift ware and all sorts of goodies. This was the first time I had been in there since moving here.,

 What can I say. Once I left Illinois, I swore I would never look at snow again. In the 30 years I lived in Vegas, I went to Mount Charleston once in the winter. Now I love looking at the snow. It must have something to do with the fact that I don't have to go out in it. I did survive the winter of 1978 in Illinois where I was stuck in my driveway for a month. The snow was unbelievable that year.

 Here's Jaz in her favorite position. I should get a treadmill and make the dogs run on it every day. We won't mention that I should also!

We had our first Blue Jay visit. Before I could get a good picture, he flew away....darn it. This is the first one I've seen in Arizona. We did have a couple of Robins fly thru this fall on their way to who knows where.
I've been plagued with sinus headaches for the past few days. Now that it is kind of rainy, the headache is finally gone. I  had to put menthol patches on my forehead and temples to get any relief.  Sure glad no one came to the door, they would have thought I was weird! Sinus tabs or asprin did no good except to upset my stomach.
Pa made a wood box to put by the stove. It's only 8 inches tall and maybe 4 feet long. I thought he was going to make a tall box to hold a lot of wood but he said this would hold enough. Funny how our visions differ. He also made an insulated box to put around the batteries in the battery shed to help keep them warm. Eventually he will make a regular battery warmer. They run more efficiently if they are kept warm. Hmmm, why does he put little batteries in the fridge to keep them cold?
On Friday, I ran into town to see "the biggest craft show in the White Mountains" Ok, you could see the whole thing in 20 minutes. I bought two barbed wire candy canes for the Christmas tree. There were no paper crafts so maybe next year, my friend Katie and I can make some things to sell.
I had the nicest surprise. Remember Pam and Bob from Sierra Highlands ranch who came for a visit? She sent me a box of her home made soaps. She  makes them from scratch using goats milk as the base. What heavenly smells come from her soaps! Right now I'm using the Coconut one. Makes your skin so soft and yummy. I can hardly wait for them to sell their house in Cali and move out here. Between Pam, Katie and I, we should come up with some spectacular crafts in the future.
It is supposed to rain today, We've had some sprinkles and heavy cloud cover. I hope it is nice on Saturday. I'm headed to Holbrook for another Stampin Up class. Until then.............