It’s a Little Tree

Posted on December 6, 2014December 6, 2014 by Dusty Roads

The hectic pace continues around here. I no sooner got the boxes emptied out from the kitchen than I started filling them back up again from the china cabinet in the dining area.

No point painting the kitchen and not the adjoining wall. My neighbor has said he will help me move the cabinet which is really a side board and hutch.

Unfortunately for my clutter tolerance I’m not stopping there. I ordered an armoire to put next to the hutch. I’ll ditch the old beat up book case. This will give me a place to hang coats and jackets instead of over the back of a chair. One side of the armoire has shelves so I can put the things from the old book case in there. It’s mostly photography stuff anyway, not too many books. Maybe that will keep them from being constantly knocked to the floor by Mr. Rocky.

I’m still waiting for my electrician who is having some issues of his own. So by extension my kitchen is at a standstill. He says maybe Monday??? Fingers Crossed.

On the upside my heavy winter gear came from Cabela’s and it fits. I think. It’s been a long time since I’ve worn a snow suit so it feels really bulky. I’ll have to get used to it I guess. At least I’ll be warm and it’s camo no less! I’ll be able to get out in the snow and maybe get some really decent pictures instead of hibernating all winter. The insulated boots didn’t come. They are out of stock for the winter. Maybe I can wear extra wool socks in my hiking boots.

With the delays and all the boxes I decided this was not the year to upgrade my Christmas Tree. I pulled the small tree out last night and will dig out the ornaments today. I hung my wreathe on my door so at least that’s done.

It looks like I have a bit of a problem. I usually put the tree on the hope chest but that’s one of Buddy’s favorite places to snooze. As soon as I started messing around there he claimed it.

Taunton, MA, The Christmas City, had it’s tree lighting today at 5 pm. Of course it was raining but they went forward with the festivities anyway. I love that this city always goes all out for the holidays. I won’t try to get there today but maybe tomorrow evening I can take a break and get some photos to show you.

Thanks Buddy. I can see tonight will be a long night!

Peeps are Here

Posted on April 19, 2014April 19, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Last year I was still working at my previous employer and that means I was going into an office every day. We were quite a social group and often had pot luck parties. Around Easter last year we had a Spring party and I contributed a “Peeps Sunflower Cake”. Some of my long time readers may remember it.

Since I no longer go into an office regularly and when we do, lunch is usually delivered, I haven’t done any baking since Christmas. (I’m supposed to be losing weight. Just ask my Doctor). But a few weeks ago I ran across a recipe for another “peeps cake”. I cut it out and left it on the end table.

Every night I’d look at it sitting there. Some nights I’d pick it up and read it. Oh I was tempted to try it. It looked so pretty.

Well I finally gave in. The problem was that once I got into it I realized I didn’t have the right size cake pans. It’s a 4 layer cake and even if a 9″ pan worked I only had 3 pans. I could use the 9″ pans and have skinny layers or I could do the right thing and get 4 new 8″ pans. I’d already been to the store and had all the ingredients. It would be a shame to quit now.

So off to Michael’s Craft Store I went. Sure enough, they had 8″ cake pans. They aren’t cheap! But I consoled myself that I’d have them for future cakes.

I baked the cake after work and let the layers cool completely. In the morning I frosted and decorated the layers. And here’s the end result 🙂

I do love being creative!

And the Winner is…..

Posted on December 12, 2012December 12, 2012 by Dusty Roads

The time is finally here. 3 supervisors from another department converged on our little corner of the work world to view and rate our decorating efforts. The first place team would get a month of special parking privileges right near the front door. This is an awesome prize for those cold winter mornings!

The runner-up would get a free pass for a week of jeans.That’s always popular in this department. Any chance to wear jeans instead of office attire is welcomed by everyone.

The judges strolled around taking notes and then retired to a little enclave to tally their results. This was then turned over to our department supervisors to make the announcement and the judges ran!

FIRST PLACE: THE GINGERBREAD HOUSE to no one’s surprise as this was an engineering marvel. All it lacked was a roof. Covering both cubicles it was a massive effort.

SECOND PLACE: WINTER WONDERLAND was a little more difficult. I thought there were 4 entries that were so attractive that any one of them could have taken the runner-up spot. I was lucky that the one chosen was the one I was involved in.

Now we’ll leave everything up…at least until Christmas maybe New Years. It was fun. Maybe if we do it again next year we’ll get even more participation. That would be fun.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Posted on December 10, 2012December 10, 2012 by Dusty Roads

Around the office the elves are busy pinning and taping. Various displays are beginning to come together. The early birds add the finishing touches to their cubicles while watching in awe as the late-comers throw themselves into their project with deadlines looming.
Every where you look there’s a tree or snowman or wreath or so it seems.

Management concluded that the department supervisors couldn’t be the judges (probably a good choice) so 3 supervisors from another department are being coerced into the role of judges. I wouldn’t want to try to choose. All of the displays are beautiful or symbolic and everyone contributed work, idea, or decorations.

Decking the Halls

Posted on December 2, 2012December 2, 2012 by Dusty Roads

Busy, Busy, Busy. The Taunton Green officially switched on the lights on their Christmas Display on Friday. I was working 🙁 But I’ll get over there for pictures soon. Today the city held their annual Holiday Parade. But once again I was working. 🙁

But all is not lost. Work is sponsoring a cubicle decorating contest. Deadline for setting up the display is next Friday but some of us have started already. So here’s some of what has been set up.