Errand Tuesday

I needed to get a few things from Sam's today.  I was looking for pork rinds to go along with my Keto diet.  I am not to have carbohydrates, and sometimes you need something crunchy.  These can also be crushed and used as filler for meatballs or breading.  Marc's and Giant Eagle sell them, but they are small bags for $2.00.  I got a huge plastic barrel of them for $5.00.  I picked up a rotisserie chicken, some Tom's tomatoes and some hamburgers.

I went to BooksAMillion and found a book on Keto.  I looked at a lot of them.  I got an armful and went to the coffee bar and perused them all until I found the one I thought would suit me best.

Then I went to Marshalls to look for a purse.  I have been looking for a small one (I use it mostly as a wallet).  I put my money, license, phone and my personal things like nail file, pen, advil, etc.  I have been looking, but today I found TWO!  I bought them both, and will be returning one -- it's really too small to be convenient.

I stopped by Walmart and got some ghee, some butter lettuce, some macaroni salad for Rick.

I came home and picked the chicken, threw the bones and skin in a pot, added water, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, salt and peppercorns and boiled it for a few hours for broth.  I cut up all the chicken and made chicken salad - half of it has pecan pieces, the other half does not.

I ate some of the chicken while I was picking the bones.  Tonight, I'm not hungry.  I read that it's perfectly normal to not be hungry on this diet.  Fats keep you full and it's the main ingredient in this plan.  Rick had a whopper for dinner (he's got to be getting tired of these, but for now he's enjoying them!!

Tomorrow we need to leave for the hospital at 7:00.  Rick is supposed to be there by 7:30 for a 9 am surgery.  He's all showered for the surgery and will wash up again in the morning with the special antibacterial soap they supplied him.  I have a chicken salad wrap ready to go, along with a book, my phone, the iPad for the wait at the hospital.  I pray everything goes by the book.

I need to pick out my clothes and get them ready tonight so I can just get up and do my hair in the AM.

As we used to sing in Girl Scouts, "Day is done, gone the sun, from the lakes, from the trees, from the skies...All is well, safely well...God is nigh"

A beautiful, however chilly, Monday

We are closing in on the month of April.  April is such a beautiful month, and when spring comes (like it did this year) we have ALL kinds of weather.  It can be sunny and hot, rainy and cold and everything in between.  Some years we seem to go from winter to summer; thankfully, not this year.

The trees and flowers are blooming and in full leaf.  The grass has greened up and the world is a beautiful place.

Today is pickleball and as of this time, 9:30 am, we have 15 people signed up!  Big day for pickleball players.

Today I begin my journey of my Keto eating plan.  I went to the grocery store yesterday and stocked up on fats, since fats are an important part of Keto.  I bought heavy cream, Irish butter, lard, coconut oil and olive oil.  This morning I'm going to have eggs, spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes all scrambled together.  The rest of the day will unfold as it unfolds.  We are going out to dinner tonight, so I believe either salmon or steak is in my future.

I will add more of the days happenings as they happen.  Until later...

Well, later is here.  Sigh...

Cris and I went to pickleball, my day to drive.  We had a great time playing, we had 15 people, so we were just shy to have 4 courts.

On the way home, we stopped at Beiler's Market and I bought mushrooms.  I dropped Cris off at home and while driving, I was involved in an accident.  I was at the corner of Rt. 261 and Rt. 43.  I was on 261, ready to make my left turn onto Rt. 59.  I was the 2nd car at the light and we got the green arrow to turn left.  First car went through, then me.  All of the sudden, I felt my car being hit.  A young woman (with three people in the car, I believe 2 of them were children) went through the red light.

No one was hurt, thankfully.  Tomorrow I will call the insurance company.  I am not sure if the young woman had insurance or not.  Sigh

Sunday, 4/28

Well, here it is Sunday!  I got up early, couldn't sleep any longer and what did I do with my morning?  NOTHING!  N.O.T.H.I.N.G.!!  I sat on my butt and played computer games, read silly things on Facebook and drank tea and coffee!  What a waste of time!  Oh, well, it's over and done.

I finally got cleaned up and dressed.  I worked on the Red, White and Hexies quilt and saw a HUGE flaw in the way I laid it out and sewed it and basted it to the batting!  Ohmygosh!!  I feel like banging my head against the wall!!  Bang, Bang, Bang!!!

Do you see any hexagons?  When I was carefully and I mean carefully laying this out on my floor last year, painstakingly labeling each and every piece, I thought I was making a hexagon quilt.  Oh, well!  That's life of a creative genius!!  Hahaha!!  I feel like a mad scientist who had her beautiful experiment go totally SNAFU!

This quilt will be loved.  It will be finished and washed with care and used as a tablecloth (at least that was the original idea).  I will remember that this wasn't the original thought when it was being created, but it is what it is.  It's like giving birth...you think you know what you are doing, but the life of your creation takes off and becomes different than you might have originally thought.

I am starting the Keto diet tomorrow.  I've been watching YouTube videos, I have a book and I'm enrolled in Keto groups on Facebook.  I went to the store today and bought fat.  Yep!  I bought heavy whipping cream for my coffee, I bought KerryGold (Irish) butter, coconut oil, olive oil and LARD!!!  I sure hope I can cut my addiction to sugar.  This way of eating is supposed to get rid of the inflammation in your body.  I'm hoping that besides losing weight, my arthritis pain will subside and I'll feel better.

It's time for me to relax and stop being on a "device".  Goodnight, sleep tight and don't let the bedbugs bite (words we always said every night when we were children).

It's a sunny Saturday!

Yesterday was a miserably rainy, gray and crappy weather day!!  Thankfully this morning brings the sun--not very warm, but it's sunny and bright.

I slept GREAT last night.  I was tired last night...I fell asleep in my chair before bedtime.  I thought I slept well in bed, then I checked my Fitbit sleep chart and it confirmed my suspicions!

Here it is Sunday morning and I have not finished yesterday's entry!  Well, I'll put in the doings of yesterday and get it done.

I got the Red, White & Hexi quilt top spray basted to the batting and instead of purchasing a backing fabric that was red or white, I had some blue paisley fabric that I thought would be ok.  It's all spray basted together and when I looked at it with a different mindset, I can see why I'm not particularly happy with it.  Instead of being hexagons, I have an hourglass shape!  I made a mistake in design and it's not at all what I was expecting.  Well, I was talking with Rick about it -- telling him it was going to stay "as is" and he commented, "Well, you made a new pattern!".  Exactly!  No one will know what my original intent was, and it will be fine. 

I went to JoAnn Fabrics to purchase enough of the outside red fabric to make a binding.  Surprisingly, they even had the fabric still in stock.  Thankfully, although I would have made do with another red -- there are so many different reds in this quilt it would not have made a difference.

We went to dinner with Portia and Arnett; we went to Tip Top in Stow.  Food there is "ok", and everyone seemed to enjoy their dinner except for Rick.  He got the beef stroganoff and it had so many mushrooms it was almost laughable.  I love mushrooms, but upon spearing a couple from his plate, I didn't want more.  Nothing wrong with them, but not very good.  I had a stuffed pepper that was tasty.  Portia and Arnett were on their way to the hospital to visit with their newborn grand daughter, Piper.

(We were supposed to meet Portia and Arnett at Diggers for dinner, but when we got there, they were closed for a private party!  Erin Kish came out to chat with us for a couple minutes.  Angel (her daughter) was in a treatment facility and was going to be getting out soon.  I pray Angel finds a "clean and sober" lifestyle for her future.  She has so much to be sober for, but it's a rough road.

That was yesterday, now on to Sunday!

It's a rainy day

It's been raining through the night.  I didn't sleep well, just because I was hot through the night (no nightmares or leg cramps).  Each time I woke, I could hear the "tap tap tap" of the raindrops on the house.  It's a relaxing sound and it makes me feel very cozy.

It's pickleball day.  Not enough signed up as yet to make up two courts, but hopefully we'll get 8 before it's time to play.

There is an estate sale today (at least one) but not sure how many we will have time to get to.

For now, it's time for me to try and do something with this hair -- it's raining and I'll get "big hair" in the rain.  No need to do much with it, the weather will take it's toll!

Till later --

Before the rain...

It's supposed to rain most of today.  I want to get a few things done, but that doesn't mean I jumped out of bed and got busy!  No, I love my retirement lifestyle and that includes sitting and drinking coffee and playing computer games for at least an hour in the mornings.

However, Rick was catching a few zzzz's and I decided to go outside and transplant a hosta to a bare spot and do a few things outside.  I got them done and am back in before it rains.  It's 11:00 a.m. now and Rick is out with Sophie going for a walk.  I finished a game of Alpha Betty and now I'm going to get upstairs and hopefully finish piecing Red, White & Hexies quilt flimsy.  Hope I can get it all pieced and pressed.  If I can get that done, I'll be very pleased.

Till later...

Well, it's now 2 pm and I have the quilt top all pieced together.  I don't have it pressed yet, but it's all in one piece!!  Hurray!

What day is it? What day is it? It's WEDNESDAY!

Pre-op testing for Rick today.  They went over all his meds, gave him an EKG and a chest xray.  At this time, he's scheduled for May 1 at 9 am surgery, but that is not set in stone.

We came home and I fixed my boy a ham sandwich and then I went out to clean up leaves out of the flower bed behind the house.  I got all scratched up (and bloody) from the azalea bush, but after washing them good, they stopped bleeding.  Rick was going to mow the grass, but since I was out there working, I went ahead and mowed the back portion.  I went inside to scrub my nails and wash up -- it was THREE PM!!!  I had an appointment for a pedicure with Hanna at 3 and I was late.  I called to apologize and reschedule.  She said it was fine, come on in and she had time to do my tootsies.  My right big toe nail was ingrown and it was really sore.  It hurts like crazy when she has to do lots of work on my toes, but it's necessary.  I really need to go once a month -- any longer and I have more pain before getting them done.  The podiatrist said that going to the nail salon was just as good as going to him...they both do the same thing for my awful, thick toenails.

It was a beautiful day today!  The sun was shining, but it was chilly.  While I was working outside, it was fine -- when you are moving and working, you don't notice the chill.  When I came home from the nail salon, we sat outside on the deck for a little while.  I finally said (and I had my coat on) I need to go inside!  I wore my coat in the house and wrapped a blanket around my legs until I warmed up.

Sleep tight

HAIL Tuesday!

Wow!  We had hail today.  I was running errands and the sky turned DARK and a huge bolt of lightening flashed!  I love storms, but I was not going to be around for this one.  I went to Montrose and missed it, but Rick took photos of the hail that was on the ground.

Rick got a new battery for the Pontiac and it works.  Main Street Auto said the old one had a "charge" but not enough to crank the motor to start it.  He went to Auto Zone and had to argue about it.  The guarantee was in effect, but the guy there grumbled about giving him a new one.  He got it, he installed it and his car runs again!!  We put Sophie in the back and went to Sheetz to fill the tires with air.  Sophie doesn't like riding in the "race" car!!

I pulled my trike out of the garage and rode it around the block!  The wind was blowing and my hair was a'blowin' in the wind.  Felt good!

Tomorrow Rick has his pre testing for his surgery.  I have a pedicure appointment at 3:00.  Hopefully we can get the back yard mowed--it's growing by leaps and bounds!

Peace

Here it is -- Monday, again! So grateful

Monday again!  It's going to be a beautiful day and I'll be playing pickleball for part of it.

The hospital called to set up pretesting for Rick's upcoming surgery.  He goes on Wednesday to have his checkup and get all ready.

I skimmed all the fat off my chicken broth (that had turned to consumme).  Then I heated it so it was liquid, measured it and poured it into a zip lock bag and tucked it back into the fridge so it would gel up again.  It will go into the freezer with all the chopped chicken I froze yesterday.  When we need/want soup, all I have to do is throw it all together, add some cooked wild rice and vegetables and have a healthy chicken soup.  I found that having canned or dry soup just won't cut it for me when I'm sick or getting ready for a medical test.

I had a card to mail and wouldn't you know it -- the envelope was the WRONG size for the card.  Now, I would normally just get out my paper cutter and trim the card down a bit, but this was one of those musical cards and I wasn't able to do that.  So, upstairs to my sewing/craft/messy studio to see what I could do.  I came down with a beautiful envelope, all ready to send the card.  Thankful that I am "crafty" enough to figure things out and come out with an envelope that looks nearly professional!  (Haha!!)

On to the library to pick up a book I had on reserve.   It's titled Mister by E L James (the author of 50 Shades of Grey).  We'll see if I like it.

Cris will soon be here to pick me up for pickleball.  We have 16 signed up -- it will be fun with that many.  Rhonda won't be there because she's at her father's house to stay with him while her brother (who lives with him) is gone.

Dinner tonight is Paninis.  Butch loves their Panini Boy sandwich, Jerry likes their pizza, Rick usually gets a patty melt and even Cris usually finds something she likes there.  I will get a salad and hopefully I'll tuck my own salad dressing in my bag.

Easter

Such a wonderful day to know that He is risen and we are all offered eternal life if we just believe and repent.  Thank you Lord for your many blessings.

I am so sad today.  Most of the people I know spend Easter with their family.  I am not doing that this year and it leaves a huge void in my heart.

Miss Treva is 9 today!

Happy, happy birthday, Treva!!!

I miss you, so very much -- way too many miles between me and my grandchildren.

Tutorial on printing quilt label and why I wash fabric before sewing

I'm putting this here, hopefully to make it easier to find when needed!

To make my quilt labels on the computer, here is what I do:

Fuse cotton to freezer paper and cut to 8 ½ by 11 inches.  Design your label on your computer.  Insert your cotton/freezer paper correctly in your computer and print.  After printing, press completely to set the ink.  You can now cut your label to size and peel off the freezer paper.  Turn the edges under and press.  Hand sew to your quilt.

If you would rather have a fusible label, peel the freezer paper off your fabric and fuse Wonder Under.  Cut and fuse to your quilt back.

People often ask if/why they should wash fabric before starting a project.  These are my feelings on that:

I'm a washer. I wash every piece of fabric that comes into my house, with the exception of charm packs, layer cakes and jelly rolls. You never know what has come into contact with your fabric prior to bringing it home. Storage facilities can have rodents/bugs/dirt/oil, you have chemicals, etc. I also wash a finished quilt. I have handled it, my cat sometimes wants to do an inspection and I use spray basting, spray starch and occasionally Elmer’s School Glue; so a quilt (in my mind) is not finished until it is washed and dried.

QUILTING VIDEO – Sharon Schamber - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2hWQ5-ZccE

Fun (but no pickleball) Friday

Today is our usual pickleball day, but there were not enough people available to play, so we went a different route for today.

There was an estate sale in Cuyahoga Falls (off of Portage Trail, past State Road), so we went to that and I bought a basket to use for the hose on the deck.  The other sale was in Uniontown and sounded like mostly furniture and pricy collectibles.  So, we went to Summit Mall and shopped.  Both Cris and I wanted to purchase some new clothes.  I bought NO clothes!  I tried, I really did!  I tried things on, I looked and I found NOTHING that I wanted to buy.  Cris found bunches of things to buy!  She got some capri pants, a couple of breezy linen pants and several tops. She even found shoes!  After shopping for clothes, we went to TJ Maxx and she got some sugar-free coffee syrups.

I forgot -- I DID buy something!  I bought Rick a piece of tiramisu!!

I left the house at 9:40 this morning and didn't get home until 5:45!  Long day, but it was fun.

Gorgeous Thursday!

As I said  yesterday, the deck is ready for use!  (Could have used it before we did all the cleanup, but now it's all clean and the furniture is placed in it's assigned seat!)

I went out this morning to get the newspapers.   The sky was dark and the sun was not shining - yet.  We had to be at the doctor to meet with Rick's surgeon at 10:15 and when we left the appointment, it had been raining.  The sidewalks were wet, but the rain was done.  It's just gotten more beautiful as the day goes on.  Rick's set up for surgery on Wednesday, May 1 to repair his hernia.  It's the first opening the surgeon had and my advice, as always -- Let's get it done asap and get it over with.  Doctor said 7 to 10 days of very low activity and after 10 to 14 days, he can get back to his normal activities.

I sewed for a little while and now have 19 rows of the Red, White and Hexies quilt sewn together.  There are 13 more rows to go and then the flimsy will be done.  It's not my favorite quilt, but it will be loved.

I brought down the plant that Kelly gave me several years ago for Mother's Day.  It's a gorgeous plant and it thrives outside during the spring, summer and autumn.  Come winter, I try to baby it, but it loses all it's leaves and looks like a bare vine.  This year, nearly all the leaves fell off (as usual) and last month I put it in the south-facing window in my sewing room and flooded it with water.  It didn't lose all the leaves and there is new growth!  I put it outside on the deck today and cut off the deadwood places.  I will only have a few (those that bring me joy) plants on the deck this year.  Last year I had too many and I didn't enjoy them.  This one, my jade tree, a wandering jew, two Christmas cacti and the hoya (from my dad's plant) are all the plants I'm going to tend to.  Those and perhaps a Swedish ivy that Kelly and I supply cuttings for each other when we need.

I think a Walmart run is in my near future (today).  I want to pick up a hose (the kind that all crumples up when there's no water in it) and a tiny skillet for frying eggs.

Rick's off to walk Sophie.

My purchases from Walmart did not include the tiny skillet.  I have seen them, but not today!  I got the skrinky hose, some root beer and a beautiful planter of Johnny Jump Ups!!!

Rick mowed the back yard and weed whacked the clumps of grass that were growing in the rest of the mind.  He's working on taking the battery out of his Pontiac -- I like seeing him engaged in some sort of activity.

I cooked dinner for him.  Sauteed chicken and rice with green peppers and onions.  He enjoyed it and that makes me happy.  Before fixing dinner, I made bones for Sophie and put them in the freezer.  There's enough stuffing for maybe 4 more, but I'm out of empty bones!

Life in Pieces comes back on television tonight and I'm looking forward to watching that!

Good night, sleep tight -- sweet dreams...

Beautiful Wednesday

It's a beautiful day!  High 60's with sun!  My kind of weather.  We worked on the deck this morning, uncovering deck furniture/washing the tarp that covered it all.  The floor needed scrubbed from all the winter debris that had accumulated under the stored tables.

I bought Rick (and me) a WORX power washer for Christmas and we were going to use it today, however, the batteries needed charged before we could use it.  Manual labor for today!!

It's mostly clean and we came in to have lunch and a little rest.  I have the railings to finish and bring up the chairs from the carport where they have been for the winter. I'm eager to be using the deck!

I'm doing better with my healthy eating.  I've got to be mindful to do the right thing, not the "want" thing when it comes to food.  Hard to do until you can get you emotions on track.  (Hate that my emotions get in the way of taking good care of myself.)

Wow!  We got the deck all ready for use!  It's so nice to have it spruced up and all clean!  I am one tired woman tonight, though.  I might have overdone it a bit near the end, so a couple of Advil and dinner sure helped me feel better.  Rick got his new glasses today.  There was quite a difference in the prescription, so he's getting adjusted to them.

I need to paint a rock or two for the deck.  I have one with the year 2017 on it...think I'd better make one for this year and even one dated last year!

Tomorrow Rick goes to the surgeon to see about having his hernia repaired.  After that maybe I can get a little sewing done on the quilt.

G'night

Tuesday, April 16

Today was my day to go to JC and try to restart my self care.  Tomorrow, after stocking up on necessary things, I will start.  Control.  Limits.  Kindness toward self.  Forgiveness

I went to Sam's and picked up a couple of rotisserie chickens and took the meat off.  Chopped up most of it to use for toppings for Sophie's breakfast starter.  I will make a rich chicken broth (not today) with the bones and stuff left over.  Onions, celery, garlic, carrots will make a delicious broth for when I'm ready to make the broth/soup.

I made a few bones and froze for Sophie...should do the rest of them tomorrow and have a stock pile of them, that will be good. All the filling is made up, just have to stuff and freeze.

Dinner at Texas Roadhouse tonight with Portia and Arnett.  We had a nice meal and Portia is doing pretty good.  She still has a long way to go, but she's working hard to get better after having both knees replaced.

Not an exciting day, but a good day.  No fun photos to post, but every day isn't filled with things to snap photos of!

God bless and guide me, please.

Notre Dame Cathedral is on fire

How terribly sad that Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is on fire.  It was built in 1163 and it's a horrible fire.  I looked up what time it started and it was 5:50 pm Paris time.  It's now 10:48 pm and it's still raging.

I came home from pickleball and while I was putting my things away in the kitchen, I could tell something was wrong in the world.  The voices on the television sounded like devastation  -- it reminded me of how television sounded (without seeing a picture) when the Boston Marathon had the bombs and even 9/11 in New York.

I am so sad and I have no words to express my sorrow.  My prayers for those fighting this fire and for the people of Paris.

God bless

Spring weekend

Yesterday, Saturday, I started my yogurt; I love making my own yogurt.  I know it's fresh, I love the smell when it's incubating.  I'm not sure why I like the smell of it as it's incubating, but somehow it's a fresh/earthy/comforting scent.  I start it early and leave it incubate for 11.5 hours, then put the whole pan into the fridge until tomorrow.  Tomorrow I will put half in the strainer to make Greek yogurt, the other half will get strained later or just eaten as is.

After getting the yogurt started, I needed to purchase a gift for our 5 year old great great niece.  I don't know what toys she has, so off to Target I went!  I went to the little girls section for clothes, thinking I would get her a little "tutu dress", but I didn't see anything right away and the little girl purses caught my eye.  So, it was a darling sparkly pink purse and a little wallet.  Cute gift and I added a pack of M&M's, a packet of tissues and a dollar bill.  Quick shopping and easy!!

We went to the party and stayed for a little while.  Ilsa (from Frozen) was there!!!  She was so beautiful and all the littles were following her around and listening very carefully to all the things she was telling them.

This morning, Sunday, Sophie was playing and "lost" her little ball underneath the television.  She wasn't able to reach it to get it out, so I got on the floor, stretched as far as my arm would stretch.  With the help and the extra length of the flashlight, I got her ball.  As I was down on the floor, I got really dizzy.  I often get dizzy (crazy inner ear bones) but this time I got so dizzy I got nauseous.  UGH.  I feel better now -- couple of hours later -- but still not tip top.  Somehow, when you get that way it can disrupt you for a while.

I made up the "goop" for dog bones for Sophie, I'll fill them in the next few days.  She still has 2 in the freezer, so there is no big hurry.

Dog bone filling

Combine the following ingredients into a 2 gallon zip lock bag:

23.5 oz . kibble, pounded or ground to break it up well

3 cans Iam's Lamb and Rice dog food

2 cans green beans, in the blender to liquify

2 cans pumpkin puree

1 dog food can of hot water (rinse cans with this water and add to the "goop"

Mix well (in the bag, so there is no big mess to clean up.  Just zip it shut and work the ingredients until well mixed).

This much filling will fill about 30 bones.

In a little while, we will go to WalMart to get some groceries for the week and I'll probably go to Marc's to shop for lunchmeat, cheese and check out Aisle 1.  (Gotta love Aisle 1!!)

Hope Rick thinks of what he would like for dinner...he's so bad about planning meals.  I usually wait till the last minute for him to make up his mind, so often he just gets fast/take out food.

It's supposed to storm later this afternoon, so in a little while I want to move my lettuce containers so they don't get flooded and ruined.  The lettuce seeds are just beginning to emerge, so a huge rain would surely ruin them.

I am on the lookout for a new hair dryer/styler.  I saw one online at Target and my app showed it was in stock in Aisle 10.  Guess what?!  NOT there!  After I went there, I went to Marc's and picked some cheese and a few other things.  We were going to go to Wal Mart, but we had tornado warnings and time kept slipping away.  No Wal Mart today, perhaps tomorrow I will get what's left on my list.

Well, another weekend has come and gone.  Monday will be here in the morning, Lord willing, and that brings pickleball to my schedule.

Peace out!

Pickleball and out with Cris Friday

We took off today a little after 10 am to hit a couple of estate/moving sales and then pickleball.  No estate sales were listed in the paper for today, but we went to one garage sale in Tallmadge, Ohio.  I bought a drawer to hold Kcups -- we already have one, but I stacked them and we'll see if we like them that way.

We had lunch at Aladdin's Restaurant in Akron, we shared a chicken salad roll up sandwich and it was so good.

On to pickleball.  We had fun and I am now tired!

I unloaded the dishwasher and walked Sophie for a very short walk to meet Rick as he was coming home from Pete's.

What to have for dinner...what to have for dinner.  I have no clues as to what Rick would like...

No photos for a while, photos won't load.  

Thursday, April 11 is Happy Pet Day

Today is Happy Pet Day and here is Sophie and Lily!  I had big plans to add photos, but for some reason, I am unable to upload the pictures.  :(

Rick had an eye doctor appointment this morning.  His eyes have changed and he needs new glasses.  This afternoon we went to Chapel Hill Mall to the LensCrafters store and ordered new lenses.  After that, I picked up a foam soap dispenser for the bathroom at Bath & Body Works.  It's really pretty and think it will look nice in the bathroom.

I cleaned up leaves from the north side of the house that were left over from late fall and winter.  Little by little we'll get things cleaned up an looking good.

Jennifer called to thank us for the Easter package of goodies.  That made it quickly to them.  I'm assuming Kelly's kids got theirs, but I haven't heard from them as yet.


Peace

Today (Saturday) I am able to load photos, so here are our furry girls!

Wazzup with Wednesday!?

Ahhh, Wednesday -- HUMP Day!  I don't know why, but I love the camel that represents Hump Day!!  Camels are so interesting -- certainly not a graceful-looking animal -- but kind of "so ugly it's cute" kind of thing!

Today I got to work outside a bit and cleaned up all the debris in the main flower bed.  Leftover leaves from fall/winter.  It looks nicer and Rick suggested we call our "Handy Mike" to do the mulching for us.  I think it's a good idea, neither of us need to breathe in any more irritants than necessary.

God bless and peace be

Tuesday fun

Today I am getting my hair done and I'm excited to do that.  Not only do I go to the beauty shop and get spoiled by getting highlights more highlights and a trim, I'm meeting with my friend Marty and having lunch prior to that.  This is my new "look"!!

I need to get the packages in the mail to the kids so they have their Easter treats and money.

First thing this morning (thankfully not while I was still in bed) Lily threw up on my bed.  I stripped the bed after cleaning the "goop" up and tossed them in the washer.  Sheets are now in the dryer and the blanket is in the wash.  What a gross thing!!!  Haha!

This quilt is NOT mine, but I love the design and the simplicity of it that I wanted to post it to remind myself how much I like it and I want to make one similar.

Monday Stuff

Monday, Monday..can you hear the Mamas and the Papas singing?  One of my all-time-favorite groups!  Rest in peace, Mama Cass!

Today is a restart on my healthy eating.  I fell off the wagon and keep skinning up my knees trying unsuccessfully to climb aboard.

I have a few things to do today before pickleball with Cris at 1 pm.  I want to get my Easter goodies in the mail to the family.  I need to purchase any remaining items and pop into the bank for some crisp five dollar bills.  I won't mail yet, that will probably happen tomorrow.

On my errands I met some of the most cranky, rude people.  It was like 10 am so I'm wondering how people get so crabby so early in the morning.  Oh, well...

Pickleball was lots of fun!  I played hard, not necessarily good, but I made some great shots and really messed up some shots, too!!

Dinner tonight was at Applebees with Cris, Jerry, Butch, Rick and me.  We laughed a lot and had a really nice time.

Chatted with Anna and Hadley tonight, one of the highlights of my day!  I love that we connect on an almost-daily basis.

I packed the box to send to Jennifer and family.  I'll get Kelly's box packed up tomorrow and hopefully mail them both off.  These are the bunny treat bags I made!

I need to leave home by 11:45 to get my hair done and I'm so looking forward to getting "beautified".

G'dnight, sleep tight and God bless!

Sunday, April 7

I started the day early enough for church, but Rick was sleeping so soundly, I didn't want to disturb him.  I am wanting to go back to church, it's been several years since we've been.  We had several issues with the former pastor and until he moved on, I was unable to go to worship at my childhood church home.  It's left a void in my life, and I've prayed about it endlessly.  It's hard to look up to your pastor when he's done so many things that were hurtful to you.  I know he is a man, nothing more and he shouldn't keep me from my worship, but even though I forgave him, I cannot forget; nor do I want to trust him with my feelings.  We now have a new pastor and I want to get back to my church roots.

It's another beautiful sunny morning, with rain due to move in this afternoon.  I'm showered and ready to move on with my day (with the exception of being dressed, I'm so lazy about getting dressed!).  Think I'll  go out on the deck and have another cup of coffee.

We are going to visit the Gregory family at 11:00 this morning and taking donuts. Portia had both knees replaced and she's going through a lot to regain her mobility.  She has a good/wonderful frame of mind, but pain can be so depressing.  We love the Gregorys, so we'll chat and enjoy our time together.

Yesterday we painted the inside (and outside) of the leaky fountain with the Flex Seal paint.  I tucked the fountain under the carport for the night, but I'll get it out and let the sunshine help cure it.  It will most likely be several days (or more) before we are ready to set it in place and fill it with water.

I have a floater in my right eye and it's making me a little crazy!  It was in my peripheral vision and has now moved into the middle of my vision.  I keep reminding myself that it's a normal thing, but it is frustrating to have it in the line of sight when I'm trying to read, etc.

Beautiful day!  It's now nearly 5 pm and it's still beautiful outside.  I got some leaves raked from the gutter at the street and all that is cleaned up now and looks so nice.  Also planted some lettuce seeds, we'll see how that goes and if I can grow some lettuce for our salads.  The neighbors were out, the we got to say our springtime hello!  Rick took Sophie for a l-o-n-g walk...so good for them both!  Our visit with the Gregorys was nice, but Portia is having some difficulty with her emotions...I think it's pretty normal, but it's upsetting for her.  Hopefully her gp will see her tomorrow and they can figure it all out.

God bless and goodnight.

Finally a warm, spring-like day!

A warm, spring day.  Tomorrow has been forecast with rain and gloom, so we'll enjoy today!

We worked outdoors a bit, trying to fix up the fountain that leaks.  We tried to find a new one, but didn't see anything similar to our old one and we love it.

I purchased some rubberized paint called Flex Seal -- it's advertised on TV, so it must be good, right?  Haha!!  I'll let you know how it works when it's all finished.

New Beginning!

Time has come for Part 2 of Time for Mimi!

Lots of things are going on. I've been working on the Red, White and Hexies quilt/table cloth that I started last year about this time.  It was to be a hand-stitched project.  I did quite a bit of it by hand,in the car...but alas, progress came to a halt and it sat.  And sat...

I have been working on it and piecing is over halfway complete.  I'll insert a photo here tomorrow, it's late evening now and tomorrow I'll feel more refreshed and find the photo!  NOPE, can't find it now, I'll post it when it's all done!

I made 6 "bunny bags" to send Easter treats to the grandkids.  A photo of those will be inserted tomorrow, too!!  Haha...I'm tired for today.  Here's a photo, not of the bags I made, but the tutorial is  from the blog Sew Can She.  It's a wonderful blog, please stop over there and browse a bit.

I have been in a lot of pain the last few weeks.  My shoulders, hips and knees are giving me fits.  I hate taking pills for pain--ibuprofen and naproxen don't seem to do a lot to relieve the pain, plus it seems to give me symptoms of dry mouth.  Yesterday, I was feeling pretty down about hurting so much and thought it might be time to go to the doc and lay my cards on the table.  Maybe it was time for heavy-duty arthritis meds, maybe I should think about medical marijuana.  For some reason, I thought I'd try Tylenol.  I feel so much better!  Not completely pain free, but so much less pain.

Rick has been diagnosed with a hernia.  He actually diagnosed it himself, but the doctor made the same diagnosis and he now has an appointment scheduled with a surgeon on April 18.  Rick really doesn't want to have surgery, but his friend Peter said--you will WANT to have the surgery, it's not going to get any better by itself!  Friends are such a blessing, in so many ways!

Today was Pickleball and we had so much fun!  Keith Ginnetti played with us, because we only had 7 players.  It's fun when he plays--he's a fun young man and we get mini lessons from him at the same time.  I am the DJ and supply the music so we can dance and be silly (at least I dance and be silly)!  Today Rhonda Kerzie bought me a little gift -- a faceted bird to hang in my garden, it's supposed to draw butterflies.  It was sweet of her, she wanted to do something nice for me because I go out of my way to do the music and other nice things for people at pickleball.  (She also bought a frog in a yoga pose for Jane, the yoga instructor who is having a grand daughter very soon.

We went to dinner at Eddy's in Stow tonight and Rick had the fish; I had the jumbo shrimp.  I'm full!  Feels like my food is swellin' in my belly!

Enough for tonight, tomorrow photos will be inserted in the appropriate place.

Good night, sweet dreams and God bless