More simple way's to save money..........

Christmas stresses me out to the limit. One reason is money, I always worry we won't be able to afford everything for Christmas. So I came up with a solution that takes all the worry of not having enough money to cover everything at Christmas. I call it my savings boxes.

Dd got a set of boxes given one year and never used them. So I took them and labeled then. I have one for Christmas, which I put $20 a week in there. So that means I put $1,040 a year in there to spend on Christmas. I take money out of there whenever I buy something for Christmas. It also helps that I shop year round for Christmas.

I then set up a Birthday box. Again I put $20 a week in there. Now this pot takes a lot longer to work, as we have certain months of the year that have more birthdays in it than others. So for the first little while, I had to keep adding to the pot to cover the months when there were more birthdays then others. However three years later, I am finding that I always have money in that pot to cover every birthday.

I also have a special occasion pot where I put $10 a week into that. We have had a few special birthdays and anniversaries over the past couple of years, so this money was used for that.

I also put money into our ING account each week for our vacation fund.

Now this works for me, and its the first thing I do when I withdraw money from the bank each week, is put money into these pots. If you find those figures too high, why not start with $5 a week? To my mind even saving $100 towards Christmas is worthwhile.

Another simple way of saving money is whenever you do your banking always make sure the last three digits of your chequing account are all zero's.  For example if you have $155.67 in your chequing account, transfer the $5.67 to whatever savings account you like so that you have $150.00 in your chequing account.  You will be surprised how fast that little amount adds up!!!  I know Lindsay mentioned yesterday she had managed to save up nearly one thousand pounds using this method.

A super simple way of saving money,

The Daily Savings Club.

For those of you who have been around for a while, you may remember this and this will be a refresher for you.  For the newbies out there this is a super simple way of saving a little money without it hurting!!

There are no strict rules to this, you do what suits you and what is good for you.  I will give you a couple of examples of how to do this, and you pick what's best for you.

Its a simple thing I do. I split the year into three, four month blocks. Every day for the first month I put 25 cents per day in the pot. In the second month I put 50 cents per day in the pot. In the third month I put 75 cents per day in the pot. In the fourth month I put $1 per day in the month.

I then start over again, for the next four months, and then again for the next four months. If you do that you will save the following:

January: $7.75

February: $14.00

March: $23.25

April: $30.00

May: $7.75

June: $15.00

July: $23.25

August: $31.00

September: $7.50

October: $15.50

November: $22.50

December: $31.00


For a total of $228.50, all by following that simple plan.


Another thing you could do is the following:


January 31 x 25 cents = $7.75

February 28 x 50 cents = $14.00

March 31 x 75 cents = $23.25

April 30 x $1.00 = $30.00

May 31 x $1.25 = $38.75

June 30 x $1.50 = $45.00

July 31 x $1.75 = $54.25

August 31 x $2.00 = $62.00

September 30 x $2.25 = $67.50

October 31 x $2.50 = $77.50

November 30 x $2.75 = $82.50

December 31 x $3.00 = $93.00

for a total: $595.50, that's pretty good by just putting your change away.

Of course at the end of each month you could put that money into your high interest savings account and make even more money!!!!

The goal of this "club" is to get you into the habit of saving money on a regular basis.  As even if you only put away 25 cents per day for the whole year, you will still have saved up $91.25 by the end of December 2010. 

I think it would be good to start this on January 1st, 2010.  I will post daily reminders for the first month or so, then after that every now and then.  For those of you who will be tempted to "dip into" your box or jar, get a large jam jar or box.  Cut a hole in the top so you can slip your money in it, like a piggy bank, then super glue, tape or seal the lid on so it is a pain in the butt to get it off without a struggle...LOL

Here is a photo of my box that I keep my money in, its on my desk.

For those of you who blog, please feel free to mention this on your blog and lets see if we can get the whole blog world saving!!

Tomorrow, I will talk about another simple way of saving money for Christmas, birthdays, etc, that I have been doing for years now.....

Cooking from your pantry......

I mentioned yesterday how I am participating in a challenge where you try not to buy anything food items for the month of January by just using up what you have on hand in the house?  Well I just wanted to clarify something with you.  You tailor this challenge to suit yourself; for example, if you eat lots of fresh veggies and fruits, then you will be buying fresh veggies and fruits each week like normal.  The same with dairy products, I know for example, I will be buying my bag of milk once a week, along with dh's banana's.  I just want to cut down on buying other stuff.  Now that being said if there is a good sale on something, I will be stocking up on it like normal.  I would just like to see how little I can spend this month.

Now to help you out, here are a few sites which can help you find a recipe with what you have on hand.
For example,

canned tuna

canned chick peas

 cream cheese

When you go to Supercook you can pop in what ingredients you have on hand and it will come up with a list of recipes that you can make using these ingredients.

Another great one is Cookin With Google, same thing, just list your ingredient(s) and they will list a whole slew of recipes links for you.

All Recipe Ingredient Search is a interesting site, as you can also exclude ingredients, which in my case would be celery, as you all know I hate that!!!

This is a super site Big Oven has a leftover wizard function where you list what ingredients you have and up pops recipe suggestions.

Cooking By Numbers I find doesn't give you the variety like the other sites do, but its more interactive and fun to use, I like ticking boxes and seeing what pops up...LOL

Mealopedia isn't as good as other sites, but still worth a mention, it doesn't have the same flexibilty as the other sites, but still has some good recipes on it.

I know I average around $300 to $400 a month on my grocery budget, that includes all cleaning stuff, all paper items, and all toiletries.  I would so love to try and spend only $100 for the month of January. 

I hope this sort of explains things more.  Also if you have any good sites that are worth a mention let me know and I'll include them in this post.  Also please feel free to blog about this challenge on your blog, as the more that join in, the more money everyone will save!!

Now off to do an inventory of what I have in my freezer and pantry!!

Tomorrow, I am going to talk about the Daily Savings Plan for 2010.  For those of you who have been around a while its a refresher, and for those newbies, its a simple neat idea on how to save money on a daily basis.........

Back to reality........

We have a self cleaning option on our stove/cooker for the oven.  So after the turkey/bacon fiasco on Christmas Day,  I put it onto self clean on Boxing Day for 3 hours.  3 hours later the stove is a bit better, but still filthy.  So on Sunday morning, I sprayed it all with Easy Off oven cleaner and that will be my job Monday morning scrubbing the oven. 

Its a smooth/ceramic top on my stove, and that too was filthy; I have no idea why, but anyhow, spent ages scrubbing the top to get all the spots off it.  Then I had to scrub out the laundry sink, as the washer drains into there and it was blocked again.

Then of course the ironing was to do, the fire to clean out and more laundry to do.

By this time I figured it was time for a bit of retail therapy, so we went to the mall.  I needed new slippers, as mine stunk.  When you can smell stinky feet when you have your slippers on, its high time to change them.  Got new underwear, which I badly needed.  Then we popped into Home Depot to price out some stuff for future projects.

Of course had turkey for supper, still got more left, but not too much.  Managed to finish off the leftover veggies, so other than some dessert,  no more leftovers for us!!

I am taking part in a challenge on another site I go on, and thought it was interesting enough to mention on here.  For the month of January, you have to eat out of the pantry/fridge/freezer and try not to spend anything in the grocery store.  Any money you save, you can use it for something else, or better still put in your savings account.  I have another turkey in the freezer, plus a big ham, so I have got a good start.  I thought this would be an interesting challenge.    Also for anyone who decides to take part in this, you have a couple of days to prepare for this......like I have to!!

Bits and bobs; and where did this pop up from?

You know the more I read your responses yesterday agreeing with me about how much work it is for such a short period of time, the more I am determined to so something different next Christmas.  No idea what yet, but I am also going to have a Christmas break.  I put my oven onto self clean for three hours on Boxing Day, and I am still going to have to scrub it down {{{SIGH}}}  The full pound of bacon I put on the turkey made a heck of a mess....so more work there.  So maybe next year we'll just have cold meat, salad and sandwiches...pretend we are in Australia and its too hot to cook!!

I forgot to show you my new Christmas ornaments this year.  The first one is a Waterford Crystal one there is a better picture of it on the link.  It's number 2792/5000, and my mother got it for me.  Its nice but I prefer my Wedgewood one.

My mother also sent me this beautiful Wedgwood one, I can't find one on the Wedgwood site for a better photo.

Finally the kids got me this Wedgwood one, and it is on this site

Needless to say I was very pleased to receive them.  I now have five Wedgwood ornaments and they are front and centre on the Christmas tree.

For the first time in many, many years we were not all up at the crack of dawn to go Boxing Day shopping.  Neither me nor dh really wanted anything and so the kids went out mid morning and were back by 3pm with only a couple of things each.  Me and dh went up to Chapters and Michaels and I got my Christmas cards for next year at Chapters, and picked up my Christmas crackers for next year at Michaels.

We had a full range of weather on Boxing Day, from rain, snow, freezing rain and fog.  It got rid of a bit of snow, but made everything slippery.  At least with it raining, it was a bit warmer.  Both kids went back home on Boxing Day night, and dd took Olive with her.  She never left dd bedroom the whole time she was here, however she did come out of under the bed so that was good.  Meanwhile Molly has got over the excitement of having a house full of people and is flaked out in front of the fire!!!

Finally, for some reason this song popped up in my head and I can't get rid of it....LOL, and I have no idea where it came from???

Christmas Day night............

Well here I am sitting here at 5pm on Christmas Day evening, sitting in front of the fire, full to the gills and ever so contented.  Santa was good to all of us, we all did very well, and the kids were happy with what they received.

The meal was good, as was the company.  I must say though its a lot of work for a short period of time.

Dd brought her cat to stay with us while she was staying with us.  Now Olive isn't familiar with dogs, and isn't that keen of them it seems.  When she saw Molly she arched her back, all the hair stood on end, she started to hiss and swatted at Molly, then disappeared under the bed for the rest of the day.  Molly of course started to howl, but I am pleased to say she has since lost interest in her.

This is a new bird to me that came to feed the other day, I think it is a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet.  Not sure if it is a male or a female, as the male only has its "ruby crown" during mating season.  Pretty little bird though.  The light was really bad as well that day, so this is my best photo.

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas to you all. I hope you have a lovely day with your family. You eat too much, you fall asleep in front of the tv and generally have a lazy day enjoying yourself!!

Skywatch Friday...........

I actually took these last week, I am looking towards the Dufferin Museum and Archives which is close to where I live.

For more Skywatch Friday photos, please click on this link

Christmas Eve.....

Thought I'd show you some photos of our place. Yes it has snowed, and we're in for a White Christmas.

O Holy Night by Josh Groban



Twas the Night before Christmas Poem

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

Some photos and other things....

I made a couple batches of cookies on Tuesday. The first is Cathy's Maple Cookies from the Better Home and Gardens magazine. 

I made sugar cookie's

Sugar Cookies, recipe here  I used the baking sheet below for one lot of the cookies , and they weren't that good............

Look at how fluffed up that Sparrow is, it must have been cold out there....

This is a photo of the female Northern Cardinal, again all fluffed up...

Finally a fluffed up Blue Jay......

On Tuesday it looked like God was sprinkling glitter down from above, when it was snowing, it was so pretty.

I love this song, would also like to see these guys in concert. Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Christmas Canon Rock

Bread Sauce and Stuffing Recipes....

I posted those recipes here last year, so I thought I would remind you of them, just in case you are looking for those recipes.  I am cooking a pre-stuffed turkey for the first time this year.  Never bought one of those before, it's a Butterball one as well, gone all out, as I normally get a "utility" turkey, you know the one with a part missing from it!!  If the part missing is a wing or a leg, its no big deal to us, as no one is that keen on them.  One of the first things to disappear from the turkey are the bacon rolls I attach to turkey using toothpicks.  There are never any of those left, as everyone loves them.  Plus it keeps the breast nice and moist.

I generally smear a pile of butter also under the skin of the turkey just to make doubly sure it's nice and moist.  We're also having the bread sauce, a can of Ocean Spray Cranberry Jelly, I don't like the whole fruit one.  We are having brussel sprouts (yuck!!),  mashed carrots and turnip (yummy), mashed potatoes, and I have a bag of baby potatoes that I froze from the garden.  Of course we'll have gravy as well, and I was thinking of baking a ham as well.......but not sure about that.

Pudding, is some sort of dulce de leche cream pie I bought, along with a key lime pie again I bought it, and either a cheesecake or a trifle which I'll make.  Not sure yet.  Then by the time we have eaten all that, we will waddle over to the sofa; I always wear elasticated pants, just so there is plenty of room to expand.  Some of us will fall asleep, while the others will play on the Wii.........

We eat around 2pm, and we always listen to the Queen's speach to see what she has to say for herself.

A another one from the 80's. Shakin Steven's - "Merry Christmas Everyone"



Here are a couple more of his songs:

More photo's from Downtown Toronto...

One of the things dd wanted to show me, was the Christmas windows at The Bay.  She warned me, they weren't that great and she wasn't wrong.  I wasn't impressed.  These were the best photos I took.  They seemed very old fashioned to me?  Still it was nice to see them

Below is a photo of dd Christmas tree.  It's only 3feet, but she has made a good job of decorating it.  The bow she made for the top, she watched a how to video on You Tube to do that.  Look at all the presents under the tree....you can sort of see some white gift basket to the left of the tree, that's my Christmas present!!!   I wasn't allowed to look at it though!!!!

I made Cheat's Version of Cabbage Rolls for supper on Sunday night, it's such a simple recipe and is delicious.  I can recommend it.  We then had pear and raspberry crisp for pudding, using the pears I had canned and raspberries I had frozen from the summer.  Here is a similar recipe for Apple and Plum Crisp, just substitute the fruits.

On Sunday it was sunny and warm, not above freezing but warmer than it has been.  I managed to clean off the front deck and most of the back deck.  I picked the last of the brussel sprouts.  Hoping to have them for Christmas Day lunch, which we are hosting.  Depending on the weather there will be a minimum of four of us, up to a maximum of eight of us.

Finally, a message for Keith and Joyce, sorry to hear about your mother's passing Joyce.  I will be thinking of you on Christmas Eve.  I am also looking forward to seeing you in 2010.

This one is a real tear jerker, so have a Kleenex handy.......

The Christmas Shoes:

Eaton Centre, Yonge Dundas Square.....

On Saturday night we went to dd's , as dh got a pair of hockey tickets to go and see the Maple Leaf play some other team. For those of you who know me, I don't like hockey, rather watch paint dry!! As the tickets are worth a couple hundred dollars each, he takes either ds or future son-in-law. This time he took future son-in-law, who by the way is hockey mad.

The Maple Leafs did win, whomever they were playing and it was a "shut out," or a "shut down;" or some word with shut in it, which means (as I did ask) the other team didn't score any goals. Pleased they won when dh and future son-in-law were there, as they both enjoyed the game.

Generally the Maple Leafs are crap, mind you so are the Toronto Blue Jays (baseball), Toronto Rapters (basketball), and the Toronto Argonauts (American Football); oh and I nearly forgot about Toronto FC (soccer/football), don't think they win much of anything either!! I don't think any of them win many games, still they all have devoted fans that believe in them, so that's the main thing, right?

Anyhow, while the boys were at the hockey game, me and dd went for some retail therapy to the Eaton Centre. They have the most beautiful tree covered in Swarovski Crystals. I love to see it, and again it was beautiful. My photos do not do it justice at all.

Now dd had lunch on Saturday with her best friend where they exchanged Christmas gifts. Her friend had been to the States and had gone to a Coach Outlet store and picked up dd another Coach bag for her for Christmas; what a kind friend she is, and she is a love.  So we popped into the Coach store to browse and see what they had.  I loved their window display, very understated, don't you think?  I actually like the bottom purse/handbag, I could see dd carrying that.......

Now we had to go to a store outside of the Eaton Centre, which was in Yonge/Dundas Square. I have never been there before in the dark, and it was lovely, so many lit up billboards, and no snow to be seen anywhere!!

We had to pick up a gift card to that store below the billboards. I think its Forever 21 or something?  Here is a link to a clothing site for Forever 21  It doesn't look familiar, mind you, I never had a good look around, as it was so noisy in there, with the music, and I was fascinated with the male store assistants, as they were so good looking and so very gay!!!!  I even commented to dd about that, as they were gorgeous.......but gay!!

See the big green sign for Koodo, that's my cell phone carrier and they have the most stupid adverts on tv, which I just don't get at all...LOL

They had a beautiful Christmas tree and lights in the square, but I just couldn't get a decent photo of them, sorry.

I have more photos to show you, those will be in tomorrows post.  We had a super time and I only spent just over $20 on some liquid soap (5 for $20) at Bath and Body Works, as I love their stuff.  Plus I bought a drink and a brownie for us both at Starbucks, which was yummy!!

We didn't get home until after 11:30pm.  Dh had to be up for work at 4:30am, and that daft dog of ours had me up by just after 6am.........and once I am awake that's me up......so I will be tired for the rest of the day now, meanwhile the dog is sleeping!!

***EDITED TO ADD, I DIDN'T GET TO ANYONES BLOGS ON SATURDAY AS I HAD A MIGRAINE FOR QUITE A BIT OF THE DAY******

Sunday's Post

Another classic, Wham - "Last Christmas." I read somewhere that George Michael is on a path to killing himself with the drugs and his lifestyle, which is so sad.

Our Molly has taken up a new hobby.....

She has now taken up birdwatching, with the help from her mummy!!  I moved the ottaman beside the window so she can sit there.  I then moved the old patio table to the other side of the window, and spread bird seed on it.  She can sit there for ages just watching the birds.  It also alleviates the boredom for her, as it is so cold, so she's not going out as much.

She's watching a Dark Eyed Junco.

Here's a Chickadee feeding from the table, they are so tame, as they fly to the window to take a look at Molly.

A close up of a Dark Eyed Junco, there are a number of them now that come to feed, they are really pretty birdies.

I am guessing this is a regular Song Sparrow, please correct me if I am wrong?

Finally this is a close up of Molly's Paw. It is healing, but it still looks nasty, click on the photo to enlarge it, if you want!!

Chris Rea - "Driving Home for Christmas."

What a martyr I am.......but I do it just for you!!!

I decided to make a start on the Christmas baking.  I made a batch of Chewy Oatmeal Cookies.  The recipe is here and it is super simple and is quick to make.

I then made Rice Krispie squares, here is the basic recipe  I  added Christmas sprinkles, toffee bits and chocolate on the top.

I then found a recipe for Ticky Toffee, no idea where I got it from, but it must be British as its in ounces. So I thought I had better make it and taste test it to make sure it was okay for you to make. I know what a martyr I am!!!

Anyhow here is the recipe:

Ticky Toffee:

3oz Marg - I used marg, but will try butter next time
5oz Granulated Sugar
I can Condensed Milk - my can was 300ml
1 tbsp syrup - I used maple syrup

Method:

Melt marg in a heavy based saucepan.  Add sugar, condensed milk and syrup.  Heat gently, stirring continuously until the sugar has dissolved.   Bring slowly to the boil and simmer gently for 20 minutes, stirring all the time.  Remove from heat and flavour with a little vanilla essence.  Pour into a lightly greased 7 inch tin.  Mark into squares when cool.

Okay now what happened with me when I made it.  I cooked it for 15 minutes and my poor arm was aching, so figured I do the drop a little bit into some cold water trick, and it was rock solid.  So, if I were you I would cook it for 10 minutes, and then drop a little into some cold water to see if it will set up.  Mine is okay if you like rock hard toffee that you have to suck to get it to soften up.  Now one bonus is, it takes you forever to eat a piece of toffee, but it makes it difficult to talk!!

I am a sucker for a camel wearing running shoes (trainers), so of course had to include this version of "We Three Kings."

Skywatch Friday - On a cold Winter's Morning.....

All these photos were taken on Thursday December 17th at around 8am. It was cold enough that any moisture you had up your nose froze.......no need to explain any further right!!!

This is the farm opposite us, and I loved the way the clouds were fanning out behind it. If you enlarge the last one and look on top of the silo you will see a star, that is lit up on a night, really pretty. The three horses were also out early this morning.

For more Skywatch Friday photos, please click on this link

Busy quilting.

I spent part of Wednesday sewing this months block, Buckeye Beauty   I actually sewed the pink one first as I have decided the pattern that they give me, always gives me problems; and as I have more pink material than the black, white and red, I can't afford to waste that material.  So here it is:

With the sashings:

This is the first three blocks all with the sashings attached:

This is the pink and cream one:

Here are the three pink and cream blocks. I haven't attached the sashings yet, as I haven't got the material picked out yet. I don't think I have enough material for the sashings, as it takes 1.2 metre's per colour, and I need 2 colours.  What colour's do you think will look good for the sashings?

It was a lot colder on Wednesday, had to put the fire on just after lunch as dh was saying he thought the house hasn't been as warm.  Meanwhile I was sweating buckets...........oh the joys of those hot flashes!!!

A bit of fun today!! California Raisins - "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer."

Poor Old Molly, Swagbucks and other things...............

Now being a beagle she always has a depressed look on her face; however she has cause to feel down. She went and cut her pad on her paw behind her nail. Now it was her own fault, she was digging a hole down to China again, as she sniffed some Chinese mice and figured they were worth going after!!

So her paw was bleeding, and me being a regular Florence Nightingale I bandaged her paw.  Mind you it didn't stay on long, as it turned out I'm not much good at putting on bandages.  I called the vet's office to see what else I could do, as I said to her, it's not like I can put a bandaid/plaster on her paw.  They told me I could put some polysporin on her paw which I did and she seems to be on the mend.

Not sure if you noticed but on the bottom of the blog is a "Widget," for Swagbucks.  I joined up on November 23rd, and I have already cashed in enough Swagbucks for a $5 Amazon.ca e-card.  I have another 19 Swagbucks and should have enough Swagbucks by the end of December for another $5 e-card.  I am saving them up for something bigger.  Its super simple, and it explains on the site what to do.  If you do decide to sign up would you join up under my referral link please?  If you want to know more about it visit the Swagbucks site, or hopefully I'll be able to answer any questions you have.



I went to my block of the month club today, and got this month's quilt pattern. We are doing a Buckeye Beauty block this month.

No Christmas would be complete without a bit of Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. Listen to the words, quite moving.

Answer to some questions and more photos.

For those of you asking about Molly, her allergies are sort of under control. I have her on one half pill of Vanectyl-P twice a day and that sort of works.   Any less and she scratches and chews like crazy.  I have enough pills to last until the end of the month, and then I'll talk to the vet again.

Back on this post I mentioned we had a strange nasty smell coming from the top of the basement stairs.  Pleased to say we have discovered the source of this smell, it was a dead mouse.  Actually a dead stinking mouse.........dh has a light with a camera on the end of it, and it was behind some pipes.  I had to use tongs to haul it out of there.  So we are back to smelling pretty nice in the house again :0)

On Monday there was a lot of activity at the bird feeder.  The chickadee's were out in force.  We had six Blue Jays at the feeder at one time.  There were some Dark-eyed Junco's and a couple of Northern Cardinals (both males)  and even a Downy Woodpecker (a female).  Sorry I only got the one photo of the Northern Cardinal.

I managed to get another block done for the second block of the month quilt I am making. This one is in creams and pinks. I was hoping to have a couple of different greens in my stash for the sashings.

"Away in a Manger," a classic Christmas Carol, I am not sure who is performing this, it may be "The Southwell Boys Choir"? They have such beautiful voices though don't they?