A Bit of a Ramble

A couple of times every year I go through a period where I have to dig deep to find something to write about.  This is one of those times.  I suppose if I lived a life full of strife and drama, there would be all sorts of things to report, but that just isn't the case.  All of my kids and their spouses and a couple of grands are gainfully employed.  Nobody is sick.  Everyone is reasonably happy.  No drama there.  I like it that way.

Youngest daughter is on her way to Oklahoma.  My Granddaughter graduates from Army Basic Training on Friday with Thursday being Family Day.  We are missing Nicki so very much and at the same time are so very proud of her.  I have to sort of smile when reading her letters.  Each letter I receive shows me a more grown-up person than the one I saw before she left home.  After graduation she goes to Texas where she will begin her training as a Medic.  I told her Mom to give Nicki a huge hug for me and I wanted pictures.  Lots of pictures!

This past weekend didn't work out for another Farmer's Market run, but Son says he plans to go early Saturday morning for cranberries, squash, pumpkins and whatever else he can find that I can make use of.  I wouldn't mind getting more apples for canning apple slices.  A couple of years ago I canned some apple pie filling but was not overjoyed with the results.  I do like having pints of apple slices on the shelf and I wouldn't mind having some in the freezer as well.  We shall see what he can find.

I am enjoying the cooler weather we are having here in Minnesota.  That means that I can bake without heating my apartment up to sauna conditions.  I made a double batch of chocolate chip cookies Monday.  One bag of them disappeared.  I think they walked down the hall and into Son's apartment.  :)  I am experimenting with a no-knead bread recipe and two loaves are rising in the kitchen.  If I like them I'll post the recipe.  I just love homemade bread.

I was needing a rug for my living room.  The carpet is old and getting sort of shabby looking.  It is a huge hassle to move everything in order to install new carpet, especially when living in a small apartment with no real place to set the furniture for the installation, so an area rug seemed to be the answer.  However, area rugs are spendy.

Now I was raised by parents who lived through the Great Depression.  They lived by the words, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."  They passed that idea of frugal living on to me.  So rather than go out and spend a bucket of money just for a rug, I started looking around me to see what alternatives I could find.  My gaze landed on an afghan I had made a couple of years ago.  It is large and its only purpose was to look pretty draped over the back of a small bench at the foot of my bed.  I had never used it for anything else.  So on the floor it went.

I have to admit that it is a bit unusual, but it serves a purpose and I rather like the result.  I think I have enough leftover yarn to make a couple more smaller rugs for my bedroom.  Like I have said before, my apartment will never grace the pages of "House Beautiful," but I like it and I guess that is all that matters.

I think the bread is ready for the oven and I am done rambling.  I suppose I may have something a bit more exciting to write about later on, but I doubt it.  When it comes right down to it, I will take my quiet, boring life over those whose lives are knee deep in drama, any old day of the week.