Amber Time,Tuesday's Treasures, Rest and Recover, and a Fresh New Christmas Tree!

Tuesday was a Mother/Daughter Day!
Amber and I treasure our time together and take it every chance we get.

I was up and out of the house shortly after 11:00 dropping off my Christmas packages and cards at the post office on my way to Dallas.

Amber's house always smells so good!

She has candles lit and plug ins and it smells just like 'Amber's house!'

(Her car smells the same way.)

This is the mantle in the play room which will be a den before too many more years pass.

The kids have their own tree in the corner.......

and the tree is decorated with the ornaments they have made or collected.

In the living room I noticed a pretty Christmas painting by Logan.

She was so proud when her mama framed and displayed it.

Back when Amber was little, she just assumed her every piece of art would be hung on the wall.

Amber and Mike have a huge tree in the living room!

While I have more ornaments than I can count and they are a mish mash of Goodwill, memory ones I have had for long years and some made by my children and cherished and hung every year.

Every ornament on Amber's tree is meaningful.

Everyone in the family chooses one special ornament each year.

Amber chose the one on the bottom left corner.

Logan chose the camper.

Mike's is the marshmallow camouflage guy.

Harrison chose the red lantern.

I forgot what Kailey chose......oops.

There are special decorations for when they moved into the new house - their 'forever home.'

A huge engagement ring for the year Mike proposed.

Losing Shiner is still a fresh wound and hearts are hurting.

It was both painful and sweet to see his ornament hanging on the tree.

Jersey is grieving along with the family but has been doing pretty well.

Amber has made sure she has more time in the house and that keeps her from looking for Shiner.

She's used to Shiner being gone from time to time - either for a vet visit or hunting trip.

It will be an adjustment for her.

Jersey and Bandit the cat have had some bonding time together lately and I think they are going to be good company for each other.

This was our movie of choice and Jersey sat at our feet while we munched on a great salad as we watched.

I went with her to pick up the kids after school and then I hung around helping the kids polish off the rest of their lunches. They usually save their leftovers for me.

I left to come back to Irving before the heavy traffic and decided to go ahead and hit up my two favorite thrift stores.

We are fast approaching the winter solstice and I notice on Ma's Looking on the Bright Side that the sun is setting a minute before 5:00.  It wasn't dark when I went into Goodwill but it was dark when I came out! And the birds! There were so many of them everywhere! It was creepy!

I started the day out feeling fine but by the time I walked back in the front door, I was so tired - tired to the bone. I dumped my bags in the living room, talked to Louis Dean for a few minutes in the den and then walked straight to the bedroom, took my make up off and put on my flannel nightgown.

It was 7:30 when I went to bed and I stayed there all night and all the next day and the next night.

Usually I can keep pushing and going but here lately, I think my pusher is broken.

I was starting to get worried about myself. However, I woke up this morning feeling better. Not 100% but better. I didn't feel like staying in bed and that was a good sign!

I was up before Louis Dean and made coffee, puttered around the house and took pictures of my Tuesday Treasures.

I bought this cute little fence hook thingy to use at the ranch.

We can hang our flyswatters, flashlights and mosquito covers on it.

Chicken plates!! 

How could I resist??

I loved this Christmas cup and will be sipping my coffee from it in the morning!

A super cute snowman.....

and a sweet black and white sign for our bedroom.

I found a luxurious bath towel and can't wait to get it laundered.

It will hang in my bathroom.

I may use it all winter!

I scored on this comfy pair of UGGS.

And I will love this cool shirt for fall!

Or maybe before.

Brand new with tags still on it!

A small Christmas glass cutting board.....

and a larger one!

You can never have too many Merry Christmases.

I can never have too many plaid Christmas tablecloths!

SO! Since I was feeling better and we were out of both milk and cheese - and a few other things - we got ready right after our coffee and reading time and headed out for an afternoon of errands.

First stop was Goodwill!

Not to shop, mind you, but to unload an entire trunk load of stuff!!

As we were taking it all out, I noticed a big cargo cart they use to put the donations in so I started putting my stuff in there. A worker came out and said, "No, that is going back on the truck."

There was a huge canvas in it and I asked if they were going to throw it away.

Bottom line - she gave it to me!!!

Now I have TWO big canvases to paint on!

One I found a few years ago on the curb when I was walking the neighborhood.

That one was free, too! It said so - written on the back of the canvas.

Ooooooh......I forgot to take a picture of the canvas screen I bought Tuesday!

It is three sections and well made with a tropical setting painted on it.

I thought I would Kiltz it, coat it with Gesso and paint the ranch on it - from gate to horses to roads to our camper place to the new duck coop and the little tank and on back to the main house and barn to the meadow. Maybe like a Grandma Moses kind of painting but not really. ??

Any way, I am going to look at ideas for truly LARGE paintings!

Then we made a Sam's run!!

We always spend lots and lots of $$$ when we go there so I am not spending another penny if I can help it - at least not on groceries! I bought all the ingreients for Texas Trash and that is not an inexpensive thing to make - especially when you make as much of it as I do!

AND they had their Christmas Trees reduced as well as green garland!

Win! WIN!!

I love the smell of pine!

Of all the charities around, our favorite is The Salvation Army.

I never pass a kettle that I don't drop in some money.

I want to be a ringer sometime. Maybe next year!

I took this picture to show you how Louis Dean got the Christmas tree in the back seat of our car!

See it sticking its top out of the window?

But look at what else I see!

If I'm not mistaken, that box of Juicy Couture fragrance is my Christmas gift.

Louis Dean snuck that in. But I SPY it!

I hope he remembers to give it to me.

One year he bought some perfume for me but couldn't remember where he had put it. 

It was in his truck but he didn't find it until April!

As soon as we got home, I started putting things up and he went to find the Christmas tree stand.

He had the tree up in no time and hooked a wire up to hold it if the wind tried to blow it over.

I put 550 LED colored lights on it and some burlap ribbon.

I think it's beautiful just like that!

We love to look at the colored circles the lights make on the gazebo walls.

We sat there all nice and cozy for awhile with a glass of wine and savored the moment.

For dinner tonight I made chicken and dumplings from a chicken Louis Dean stewed the other day when I was in bed. We ate it while watching a really good movie....

It had a High Noon feel to it and I loved the twangy music.

A good plot for me and some good fight scenes for Louis Dean.

It was made this year and I would love to see more movies like this.

Finally one Louis Dean and I BOTH liked!

I'm not going to push the envelope by staying up too late tonight.

I hope to wake up in the morning feeling 100%!

But if it's as good as today was - I'll take it!!

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