Yesterday we went over to White City to check on my booth and got a wonderful surprise.  I made my rent last month and the first week in Oct I sold enough to make my rent for next month so now everything I sell for the rest of this month is profit.  There is the big fall sale Oct 18th and they always have a big turn out for that with everything in the mercantile  10% or more off so lots of people come over for that.  Some of us have OKed a 20% off.  I would love to move loads of things as I have so many boxes full of stuff to go over there and no room to put them out.  I will keep the booth as long as I have stuff to fill the space and then I will quite, unless I get my doll sewing going again and then I’ll put in dolls and clothes for the dolls.  I did that years ago and they sold well so IF I ever get the time I’ll try it again.  I still have all the patterns and lots of cloth and trim, I just need the time.

I finished James’s Christmas sweater and am now working on Regina’s.  I still need one for Dyhana, Prem Goben, Jaxson and Donna Renee besides 12 more pair of boots for everyone else.  I got 4 pair done this week and started another one so hopefully I’ll have then all done by Dec.1 so I can mail them all out for Christmas.

Monday Regina and I had another good session.  She is spelling her own words some now. Before I wrote the sentence for her and she copied it, Monday she wrote all the small words and I only had to tell her the words she didn’t know and she is getting much better at thinking up sentences that she can spell.  She had forgotten her book bag at school so we didn’t have her math homework to do so we will have to do that today.  When she gets her homework done she plays with the doll house Norman made for us.

The is the finished house.  I could not take the picture face on as there was too much light coming in that window. And even from the other side the light was so bright y0u could not see the house.  On the other side is the bay window.  When she if free to play I move the table out so she can sit behind the house and play with the furniture.  She is learning to pick up everything she uses so when we finish the homework, all of that is put away and her book bag set by the door so she doesn’t forget it and before she can leave all the furniture and dolls go back into their box for the next time she comes.  If she forgets to put anything away it isn’t there the next time she comes so now she is very good about picking things up.  This week I got a bag of zoo animals for the boys box when they come so she will use those and make a zoo on the coffee table next to the house.  She loves the little animals and the zoo so I know she will have a good time with those.  Now all we have to do is get the homework done early.

Yesterday when we went to White City we stopped in at Nelson’s Farmer’s Market.  We are not growing any vegetables here so like to get the fresh ones there.  The broccoli is $2.29 for the crowns which is a good price for here but if I get the 20 pound box I get it for $32 which is $1.60 a pound and it is even fresher and not pick over at all.  So that is what I did. I saved out two crowns for Patty for today and we had one fresh then I froze the rest.  I cut the green flowers from the tops and chop them up fine and freeze those in one cup packages and use those mostly in salads.  They could also be used to thicken soup or in a stir fry but I like them best in a salad as eating them raw you get more of the vitamins and minerals that would otherwise be leach out if they are cooked in water.  Then I chop the rest of the broccoli and freeze those for stir fries, baked with sweet potatoes and parsnips or in soups or steamed with a cheese sauce.  I put them into the freezer in and freeze them before I bag them, that way I can take out a handful at a time without throwing them out and they stay fresher and are easier to use.  That makes meals easier to get as all the prep work is done.  I finished those this morning.  Now next week I will get a box of another vegetable such as cauliflower or zucchini and get those into the freezer too so when my green beans, corn and beets that I canned this summer are gone I will still have a nice variety handy all the time and at a much better price than in the store.  I can also get the tomatoes by the 20 pound box so when my spaghetti sauce runs out I will make more here and share it with Patty and Roxanne.  I do like preserving food so am glad I can still do that!

Nancy, I got the pictures on your memory page but haven’t put the memories you sent in your last post.  I’ll do that this week so be thinking of other things you can remember and I’ll add that also.  I looked for a picture of you to add and the only one I have is you graduation picture so I’ll put that on too, if you don’t mind.  I have ask Carl and Mary Lou for things they remember and hope to get those also.  Patty and Becca are jotting down memories to make a page too so do check out those pages when you have time.  I guess my blog will be “Happy Memories” from now on with no garden to talk about.  Have a great day.