A very productive week....

I have started typing this blog several times and each time, something happened and I never got farther than the title.  And I kept thinking that tomorrow would be the day and tomorrow came and went with no blog.  The only good thing is that because those of you who have been faithful readers over the last several months became concerned and either reached out in text messages, emails or called.  It was quite nice to hear from all of you.

The truth of the matter is that when we ordered the dining room furniture, I found myself under the gun to get all of the boxes in the dining room emptied.  And in doing that, I was forced to get things set up in the kitchen in order to have room to prepare any kind of food.  So I became quite focused on doing the job of unpacking.  

By the time the dining room was delivered, there were only two boxes in the living room.  One was all of the glass hummingbird stuff that I had collected over the years.  It had lived in a little china display case that had been in the wall in the dining room.  They had carefully packed all of the trinkets in a large dish pack, carefully packed the display cabinet. The cabinet had been locked for safety.  The key that I think belongs to the cabinet no longer opens the door.  But it may be because it is laying on it's side and not upright.  I will be trying that next week.  We cannot mount the cabinet until we get it gets unlocked....

Here is what the dining room looks today...

The dining room is not large.  This table and chair set pretty much fit perfectly.  Enough room to walk around and get seated.  There is a 12" leaf that is folded into the table.  So we could seat six people comfortably, but some will be more in the living room than dining room.  But if we add a couple of folding tables at the end, we can have the Dungeons and Dragon folks over to play here.  Quite a workable solution, if I do say so myself.  The chairs are solid and heavy.  The padding is comfy and the back is high enough that when I lean back, my shoulders are supported.  Rob and I put sliders are the feet of the chairs so they are easier to move on our thick carpet.

This is a picture that shows the dining room as it goes into the living room.  The desk/secretary, that was in my dining room in Parkesburg, is on the in-between wall.  The wood stove is in the front corner of the living room.

It was a toss-up as to which room, dining room or kitchen, needed to be finished first, but with Thanksgiving this week, they both needed to be usable.  The kitchen was finished up on night of the Wednesday before.  I had a half of a dish pack with stemware that needed to be dealt with as well as the stray things that had been living on the counter top while waiting for a place to land.  I had gotten some wire cubes that were going to provide a place for those last things.  So I only had time to get a cheese ball ready for Thursday before falling into bed on Wednesday night.

This is the back side of the kitchen.  There is a sink under the window which is between the dishwasher and the broken trash compactor.  We still use the compactor as a trash can and we will, in time, replace it with a working one.  I brought mine from Parkesburg.  It is set up in the garage.  I will be able to compact trash if we get a really big storm and I am unable to get out to the transfer station.  There are two two-door glass front cabinets.  The cabinet closest to the sink has my Grandmother's china in it.  We ate off of that set for Thanksgiving.  It is the first time it has been used in well over 50 years.  It all made it through this move and the many moves before it with not a single broken dish!!!  The second cabinet is my everyday dishes.

This is the other side of the kitchen.  The fridge is at the far end, the stove in the middle.  The stove is electric with a glass top.  I have been slowly getting the hang of cooking on it.  I have cooked on gas for the last 40 years, so there is a bit of a learning curve.  I am happy to report that I may be getting there as the Thanksgiving meal turned out perfectly.  The turkey roasted in the oven.  The stuffing cooked in the little counter top oven, the mashed potatoes were done in the Instant Pot and the gravy on the stove top.  Kate brought homemade cranberry relish with cranberries that they picked and some baked acorn squash that we warmed up in the oven.  I made Pumpkin Mousse for dessert later in the evening,  It is a very nice kitchen to work in.

These are the last three boxes in the living room.  One is full of newsprint that has been used to wrap up all of the stuff in the boxes.  Rob burns it every time he comes over.  We probably have enough paper in the unopened boxes to get me through the winter.  The box in front is the final box from the dining room.  It has "glass decor" so who knows what it is.  Could be vases that were on top of the secretary or it could be all of the antique glassware that was in the glass side of the secretary.  I already have some new things in there, so I may be purging yet again.

The box in the back is the hummingbird stuff.

I took some pictures of current conditions outside the front window.  We have been having some annoying little snow falls.  Only an inch or two at a time, so the snow blower was not even brought out.  we were waiting for the 6 to 9 inches that was forecast for Thanksgiving Day.  It never happened.  But the trees are coated and it looks like a winter wonderland.... because it is.  Looking out my front window makes me feel calm and warm and cozy.  It brings on thought of hot cocoa with marshmallows on top, warm fuzzy slippers and a Hallmark marathon on TV while curled up under a beautiful quilt.

The trees look like a Christmas Card.  And if you look at the other pictures of the house that I have posted from the window, you may realize that the bottom rail of the fence is now hidden by the snow.  It is not all fallen snow, but a combination of fallen snow and blown snow.  Somewhere in those trees live my moose family.  One of them has crossed through the snow, across the front yard from the opening from the driveway, made their way across the front yard to a small deciduous tree that they must have tried to munch on but instead broke it in half.  Then they walked out of the other side of the front yard.  Life in Alaska.

This is the big tree in the front yard.  Also covered in snow.  It looks like someone sprayed flocking on the tree, getting it ready to sell on a Christmas Tree lot.  But no, it is just some of the fluffy, white snow, that glistens in the morning sun... when we get it.

Speaking of sun... the sun rose today at 10:16 AM and will set at 3:02 PM.  So those of you who are thinking about complaining about how early it gets dark now.... well... don't.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I did.

And now, to straighten out the living room from all of the things that have not yet found homes.  We bought a small sectional and a chair that will be coming on Saturday to complete the upper level furniture.

Then, all that is left is to set up my sewing/craft room!!  Finally!!!