Saturday Meanderings

We are at our mountain cabin. Waking up this morning to the first light snow is so magical. There’s a natural hush outside and oh so very quiet. Not many people are up here this time of year as it is more of a summer destination. The days are filled with warm fires, long crisp walks, hot cups of tea and good books. Our cell and internet coverage is spotty at best so I’m hoping this post gets to you on time. Welcome to the last Saturday Meanderings of November. It’s always a bit sad to see one of my favorite months end as we will now be fully embedded in the holiday crush.

Thanksgiving

I hope you had a wonderful day with family and friends. My husband spatchcock an 18 lb. turkey for just the three of us so happy days ahead with turkey leftovers. Since we had the whole family here a few weeks ago celebrating an early holiday, this Thanksgiving was calm, quiet and surprisingly enjoyable.

Failed DIY Project

My husband sent me this post on Instagram on dyeing pinecones red.

Having lots of pinecones, I decide to try this, following the instructions.

Here is the final result. I certainly don’t see a vibrant red color and actually some of the pinecones had a pale pink creepy residue on them.

They certainly do not look like the photo in the IG post. Not sure if I did something wrong~cheap red food color? I let them soak (submerged) overnight and a half day. Has anyone else tried to do this with success? Next step, I will probably just spray paint them red.

A Few Successful DIY projects

As you know, I am not one who does many DIY projects. But for some reason this week I got the bug because I was inspired by others. Last Saturday, I posted the salt dough ornaments from Eleanor Rose Home. Since I received this wooden mold from Amazon (still awaiting my second one), I try making them.

Here’s a sneak peak because I will be writing a full blog post about this shortly.

I do not know why I’m a bit obsessed about anything gingerbread this year, but I do try my hand at making a plain, brown cardboard house look like one. Again, I want to include this in a future post.

Changing Insurance

Insurance rates in Arizona have skyrocketed since 2020. After the near heart attack I had after receiving our recent bill, I decide to go out to bid for our house, car and umbrella insurance. If you are experiencing high rates, you may want to consider doing this. It is not an easy task, as everything is now done either online or via phone. After 5 hours (yes, 5 hours) on the phone with a new insurance provider, we end up saving thousands of dollars (yes, thousands).

However, since our home was built in 1910, and it’s been standing for over 110 years, the insurance companies get nervous about insuring it. Even though we’ve never filed a claim, they still are always concerned about insuring it properly. I literally spent days this week taking photographs of every room. For the most part, we keep our home fairly neat, but we have a room or two (or three) that aren’t as organized as the others. Of course, I did try and tidy those rooms up before taking the picture. Just what you want to be doing Thanksgiving week. Sigh.

Mary’s Must Haves with Holiday Savings

I am not an expert on Black Friday, Blue Friday or Cyber Monday sales but it appears that now is the time to compare prices and buy what you need.Many things I would recommend are not on sale but I am surprised these items are significantly discounted.

My favorite face moisturizer of all time is 48% off today at $27.00. Not sure how long this sale will end, but yesterday, I bought two of them. See it here.

Our electric kettle at the cabin leaks when you pour it into a cup. I will be buying this one today because it is 29% off at $24.99.

We have this kettle in Phoenix and use it all the time. I’ve shared this with you before but this is the best price I’ve seen so far. See the link here.

My hair is fine and straight and it only has some oomph and body because of this texturizer. A small squirt and applied to wet hair, it adds body after blow drying. Works for both straight and curly hair.

I have literally used this texturizer for years and LOVE it. Today it is a shocking 40% off at $12.00. It’s in my cart!

If you have an Apple Watch, what a deal today for this set of colorful watchbands. They are easy to switch out and compliment your outfit. A whopping 37% off at $11.99. Would be a great stocking stuffer!

My husband loves these LED Mason jar solar fairy lights~which are perfect for adding sparkle your holidays. They are waterproof and hangers are included if you want to use them outside.

At 40% off and priced at $23.99 for a set of 6, you cannot go wrong! See it here.

With the weather getting colder, here is an affordable door sweep weather stopper that will help keep out the cold and keep in the warm. In reading the reviews it also keeps our light and odor too. If you live in a drafty house, what an easy solution.

It comes in 4 colors and is 23% off at $13.99! See it here.

These are the BEST cordless table/desk lights ever! I use them on my dinner table and they cast a nice warm, welcoming light. Multiple colors are available and they are on sale (yes!) at 20% off at $39.99. I currently have 3 which is the perfect number for a dining table with 8 chairs. See it here.

I hate to be a broken record, but we are a big Nespresso family. This machine makes the best lattes, cappucinos, macchiatos and flat whites. Clearly, this is the lowest price I’ve seen it at 30% off at $454.30. Plus there is a monthly payment plan. Still a big purchase, but will be well worth it vs. spending your $$ at the local Starbucks and the money you would save on gas going through the drive-thru. Would be an amazing gift for the coffee lover in your home. See it here.

Getting Older

I often wonder when people feel “old”. As much as I try to remain youthful in my thinking, my body is telling me otherwise. Yesterday, my daughter and I hiked Mount Baldy, a rather challenging, 14.2 mile out and back trail near Eager, Arizona. The weather started out clear and quite cold, with rather high winds. I’m guessing with the wind chill the temperature was somewhere in the 20s.

With four layers on and two sets of gloves, I did feel appropriately dressed for the weather. However, I didn’t anticipate snow and ice on the trail. We hiked 2.5 miles in and storm clouds were blowing in rapidly so turned around and hiked 2.5 miles out. Just before we got to the car parking area, I tripped on a rock buried in the snow and my bad knee fell onto another rock buried in the snow.

A hot bath with Epsom salts seemed to help all the aches and pains…but I don’t like the fact that my body just doesn’t act like it used to. Getting old is not for the faint of heart.

All in all it is a very beautiful hike and getting the chance to do it with my daughter and her two amazing dogs is a joyful experience.

Well, goodbye November and hello December! We head home today and the holiday decorating starts! I hope you are still relaxing after Thanksgiving and wishing you a wonderful rest of the weekend.

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