Friday, December 8, 2023

another week gone by


This is what the sky looked like Tuesday night.

Also Tuesday was the outing to Brookwood in which I had a very good time. Our fearless leader couldn't get lunch reservations at the restaurant, busy time of year, so we just did a little shopping, wandering around the gift shop and then the retail greenhouse which was 90% poinsettias, amaryllis bulbs, and christmas cacti.

This is the main hall between the restaurant and the other 'shops' all decked out in christmas trees, ornaments, decorations, gifts, and general holiday stuff a lot of which is made by residents. It leads out to the retail greenhouse


The other retail space has a small art gallery with paintings, bronze sculpture, woodwork, ceramics, glass, jewelry. This just shows about 1/5th of the space.

The hattery.

This room had fancy food items.

There was also an area with clothing which I did not take a picture of. Finally we all wandered out to the retail greenhouse.

I bought two crystals but they are so much bigger than the ones I already have hanging in my window so I may give them away or I may keep the one on the right. That's a quarter for size reference.

Wednesday Rocky showed up to fix the sagging back wall of the studio. When he built out the space we combined two rooms into one taking out a load bearing wall which he thought he had braced sufficiently but sometime during the summer it began to sag. He was also making a trip out to the transfer station so he loaded up my big pile of crap in the shop I was throwing away onto his trailer and hauled it away for me. 

Still picking up pecans and shelling them though my trees are just about done I think. Hard to tell with the thick layer of leaves, have picked up 142 pounds of pecans from just my three trees. So far I have 15 pounds of shelled pecans, have given away four of those and have three more to send out. The rest will be for me. I want enough for two years just in case I don't get any next year. I have no idea how many that would be so I'll shell til I get tired of it and sell the rest along with the ones I've picked up from two neighbors' trees which I don't weigh at all.

Picked up the death certificates and my sister's ashes yesterday afternoon so we can finally settle Pam's estate. The boys seem to have adjusted to Pam's absence and Robin's continued presence.

The only thing blooming now is the cosmos, roses, and the shrimp plant.

Another front is blowing in and the wind is fierce and gusty.



13 comments:

  1. Good to know The Boys are as happy as they can be.

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  2. An impressive sky. Glad that you are able to settle your sister’s estate and get that behind you. Take good care - David

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  3. The death certificates- the holy death certificates without which you cannot do anything. That I remember from Mother's death.
    Looks like a really nice day out with the ladies. I'm so glad you got a fun outing.
    My lord but you've picked a lot of pecans!
    When I woke up this morning, I wondered how it's going having your granddaughter so nearby. I hope that is a sweet thing for all of you.

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  4. I'm so impressed by the amount of pecans you have shelled. A little jealous, too.

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  5. A nice outing with friends. Looks like a lovely event. Wonderful sunset!

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  6. We're having gusty winds, too. You've picked up a crazy amount of pecans! I'm glad you got so many this year given your "dry" years in the past. I'd keep both of those crystals! Can a crystal ever be too big?

    I have never been a fan of a poinsettia.

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  7. Gorgeous sky! I love visiting these kind of markets but can never settle on anything to buy in the end.

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  8. I almost had forgotten, it was so weird but when my father died earlier this year, I had to send a death certificate to my employer in order to get the two days , or maybe it was three, of compassionate leave and it was a real hassle to get that organised prior to the funeral date. In the end I got it on the morning we needed to leave. I would have gone anyway and accepted a pay cut. So I sent it off with a not too kind note attached. The next week, it was returned to me from HR with a really kind letter excusing the rules and regulations and condolences etc.

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    1. That seems crazy! Around here there's no way a death certificate would be ready in time for a funeral. In fact, depending on time, the OBITUARY might not be ready in time (which is what we would ask for if we asked for anything - I work in HR).

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  9. I love that you went on the outing! That's the kind of thing my mother used to drag me to all the time (and I enjoyed, but shhh - don't tell her!).

    That's a LOTTA pecans! Isn't it? Maybe my perspective is off.

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  10. I am so glad you had a nice outing. That place looks like a good place to linger in! Pecans are so expensive, you should try to use them for barter!! My task for Christmas dinner is 2 pecan pies and a huge casserole of mac and cheese. We will be in Homassassa Florida with my daughter and her best frien from middle school and her family. Prime rib is on the menu, but my grandson loves my mac and cheese, so it will fun to watch him enjoy it. This will the first time in 20 years that we have spent Christmas with family and I am very much looking forward to it!

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  11. There have been so many glorious local sunsets posted recently. Even our National Weather Service office has been posting them on their site. I think I finally have found a spot that's close to home where I can get a decent shot of them -- the local VFW! I went over there one day last week to scout things out, and ran into the person who manages the place. She said of course I was welcome to wander in and do my thing, so we'll see. I don't like to drive after full dark any more but this is close enough that it wouldn't be a problem.

    You sure do have a lot of pecans -- I remember when you were a little anxious about whether you'd get any this year. Those photos from Brookwood are a revelation. I had no idea it was more than a greenhouse that sold holiday plants. Thanks for showing us; now I really do want to go.

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  12. Now that is a Texas sky! It reminds me somehow of Lonesome Dove. Thanks for taking us along on your shopping foray. The season really is upon us.

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I opened my big mouth, now it's your turn.