We were told there would be sunshine...

Sigh...

The weatherman said we would have some sunshine today.  I'm sure the sun was shining, but our clouds kept it from shining down on us!  Oh, well...

Sophie had a beautyshop appointment today!  She looks beautiful!

I've been washing flannel.  Washing, rinsing, washing, rinsing!  Red flannel bleeds and bleeds, it also makes a LOT of lint.  I've washed and rinsed it for two days.  It's now dry and folded and I've been washing some of the other flannels I bought to make bibs and burp cloths!  I still have a couple more to wash, but they are dark and I'll have to find more dark things to wash along with it.

Absolutely no sewing was done today.  I want to do the Moda #3 Blockhead block, but that will have to wait until at least Saturday.  Tomorrow I am playing pickleball and going shopping with Cris.  If I don't sew on Saturday, I can sew during the Super Bowl.

I've been working on our Christmas tree lights.  I bought a Light Keeper Pro and it's worked on some of the light bulb sockets, but a few of the sockets don't fit into the device.  Sigh...I will work on it a little more another time, but I may not finish it.  We may just put more lights on it next year.

Chicken, rice and cauliflower casserole was our dinner tonight.  It was really good.

Relaxation is on my list of things to do the rest of the evening.  I have a root beer on my side table and I see a cup of tea in my future!

G'night

Dreary weather, a little shopping

I was told by the eye doc that I have dry eye and need to use Oasis Tears.  It's a little pricy, but I'm supposed to use it twice a day and as many other times as I can.  To cut costs a little, I bought some Rohto drops and I think I'm allergic to it.  My eyes have been hurting all day.  If it's still bad tomorrow, I'm going to run in to the eye doctor and be sure everything is ok.

Today has been gloomy.  A little drizzle and no sun.  The worst part of winter in NE Ohio is the lack of sunshine.  Hopefully tomorrow we will see a little of the sun to warm our spirits.

I made a trip to Joanne's to pick up some fabric for bibs and burp cloths for a shower gift.  Flannel was on sale for 60% off, and that's what I wanted to make the items from.  I bought a nice plaid flannel to make Rick a new bathrobe for next Christmas.  It's kind of a grayish/blue/white masculine plaid.  I think he will like it a lot.

When I got home, I zig zagged the edges and tossed the red fabrics into the washer to get rid of the excess dye.

Portia called (rather late in the afternoon) and asked if we had dinner plans.  I had taken chicken out of the freezer and was going to fix chicken and rice (rice for Rick) and a cauliflower casserole for me. I put the chicken back in the fridge and we will have that tomorrow.  We went to Belleria for dinner.  I had meatballs and a salad and it tasted so good.  I wanted to have a gin and tonic, but they only serve beer and wine.  I came home and mixed myself a drink and I'm nursing it along.

Goodnight...H

Tuesday...

Well, I forgot to post yesterday's post yesterday!  So, I have two posts today...what a dodo I can be!

Nothing earth shattering happening here, but a few things did happen today.

I puttered around in the sewing room today.  Straightened up a few things while looking for some finished projects I had stowed away.  I found a mostly-finished wall hanging about random acts of kindness...I finished that up and it will be my pay it forward gift for Kathleen Ross.

I planned out some bibs to make for Ashleigh's baby.  I have a pattern and made some decisions on what to make and what I need to make them.  I DID complete two burp cloths and 2 bibs, but the bibs need either buttons and buttonholes or snaps to complete them.

Laura Chegas, someone I know (very distantly) put a post on Facebook asking if anyone had an old sewing machine they wanted to get rid of.  She's buying a new machine and they will take a trade in, whether it's in working condition or not.  I have an old Janome that doesn't sew well...I've been waiting to figure out something to do with it, so I have offered it to her.  She is coming to pick it up tomorrow during her lunch hour tomorrow.

Kelly, Jennifer and I have been texting about our girls' trip to Florida.  It's all coming together and it looks like it's going to be fun.  We sometimes don't get along when we are all together.  I'm guilty of just saying "I don't care what we do, whatever you want is fine".  I need to be more vocal and express my desires.  Kelly and Jennifer both have strong personalities and are very different.  I love them both so much!  I'm so excited to go to Florida/Epcot/wherever else in Florida we go!!

Pictures tomorrow on the items I completed.

G'night from H

Last Monday of the month

Wow, I've been productive already this morning!  I got up a little before Rick and made coffee, fed the cat, fed the dog and scrubbed the animal watering station before filling it for today.

Then, I thought...we need more quiche for mornings.  Sometimes I make 2 quiches, cut them up and put in sandwich baggies so they are ready to grab, heat and eat for quick morning nourishment.  We are going to be going on vacation before long, so I don't want too much, but enough to make it to vacation and not more.  I browned up sausage (kept some to top Sophie's breakfasts) and made quiche.  I would normally wash, dry and put away the dishes used to make the quiche, but I got lazier and put everything except the sausage skillet in the dishwasher.  The quiche is in the oven now, smelling up the house with deliciousness!

Today is pickleball.  I believe I'm fully recovered from my respiratory issues, so I should be able to play the whole time.  I did play the whole time, but my game sucked canal water!!  My first two games were good, then I got progressively worse as time went on!  Oh well, I had fun and got exercise, laughter and dance all rolled into one pickleball session!

On the way to pickleball I stopped at the $ store and bought a gallon of bleach and some sponge hair rollers to add to the thickness of the ones I bought from Amazon.

Dinner tonight was my choice (mine and Rick's) and we are going to Applebees.  I'm hungry!  Only an hour to wait and I will get my grub!

-H

Sunday wrap ups!

I got a couple of projects done! 

First, I finished Moda Blockheads 3, block 2 done today!  I like it and I'm very pleased with my efforts, my points are spot on!

I also finished the garden flag for Reba Bishop.  Stitches From the Heart, a Facebook sewing group I belong to, was running a "swap".  I signed up and chatted a bit with my recipient and decided what to make for her.  Reba is a professional seamstress and it would be easy to be intimidated by her skills, but I, too am an accomplished seamstress.  After thinking about this, I am not intimidated, I'm eager to send her my creation for her.

I made ribs for dinner.  Ribs with little roasted potatoes!  Dinner was delicious.

We went to Walmart to get a few groceries, we didn't need too much.  It was good that we got out of the house for a little bit.  Sophie threw up in the car.  Poor baby, her tummy doesn't seem to be too good lately.

 Oh, by the way, while working on Reba's garden flag, I was testing my project on some scraps of the Sunbrella fabric.  That stuff MELTS!  Just look at this iron!!  (Good to know that when I left the iron cool, all the melty goo got hard and just peeled off!

Lily is sitting on my lap, sucking up my warmth and I'm getting her warmth, too!  It seems to work well for both of us.


G'night, H

The kids are coming!

Kelly's family is coming!  They hardly ever come to Ohio to visit us and we are so looking forward to having them come.

They should be here about 10:30 or so.  Scott has some "fraternity business" he need to attend to and Kelly and the kids will come to our house.  Some (or all, but not Rick) are going to go to the Fashion Museum.  We'll have lunch, and celebrate milestone birthdays for me and Rick.  I don't think they will be here long, at least I know they are not planning on staying overnight.

Fun day!  Kelly and the kids came after dropping Scott off at his meeting.  Vivian went to the car and brought Rick's and my birthday gifts.  We got a photo album of the Snyder family.  Rick got a Visa gift card and I got invited to go to Epcot to "Drink Around The World"!  I think Jennifer, Kelly and I are going to Orlando in April!  I'm excited.  Kelly told Rick that part of his gift was the girls taking me away for a few days!  Haha!

We (except for Rick and Nathan) went to KSU Fashion museum and we had a really good time.

 After the museum we went to lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings.  We were going to go to Ray's, but it was super busy.  We had a fun time chatting and laughing, lunch was good and then we parted ways.  Rick and I came home, the Snyders did a little shopping and headed back to PA.

It was a really nice day.

After we got home, I went upstairs and sewed a bit.  I put lights on one of my sewing machines and I think I'll like having things more illuminated. 

We ordered wings for dinner.  I wasn't too hungry so we split an order.

H

Eye doctor visit and more

Rick had an appointment with the eye doctor today and he's doing fine.  He's been "released" and is now ready to get new glasses.  After the appointment, we drove to Aurora Farms Premium Outlet mall and he got two sweaters at the Haggar store.  He had been wanting a new brown/beige sweater and they had one.  He also got a blue sweater, they had it in a gorgeous cranberry red color, but not in his size.

We are going to go and get glasses this afternoon. I got new glasses and so did Rick.  I am going to get us sunglasses/progressive lenses from Zenni.  I've been working on mine all evening, but my order is in the cart.  Tomorrow we'll work on Rick's.

I scored free tickets to the Akron Home and Flower Show for Crystal and me tomorrow.  There is also an estate sale, so we will do that, too.

Kelly and her family will be coming to Kent (and our house) on Saturday.  It seems like forever (at least many months) since they've been here.

We went to Rockne's for dinner and it was sooo good!

I'm all snuggled in my nightie and robe with a kitty on my lap.

H

Accomplishments of the day

I'm feeling much better today!  I went upstairs to get some things done and I did, I did!

My friend, Kitty, texted with me and showed me how to make hanging kitchen towels.  I made two.  (I still have to sew on the button), but I think these will go to someone in the Pay It Forward challenge.

The garden flag swap in Stitches From The Heart is coming up and I had my idea, my fabric but it wasn't in the works.  Terri Silver made me some vinyl letters to put on it, but sadly, vinyl does not and will not adhere to Sunbrella fabric.  Bummer.  I am going to make applique letters from the letters shown.  I am hopefully going to peel them off and use them to make the appliques.  I'm pretty happy with the way it looks, just a little disappointed the letters Terri made won't work.

Dinner was Freshetta pizza.  Easy peasy!

I bought two new teas and I like them both.  Berry Zinger and another one, think it's Bigelow blackberry and cinnamon.  Both are herbal and decaffeinated.

Helen

A not so busy day

I'm fee.ling better than I felt yesterday, but I am not up to par.  I'm going to try and listen to my body and take it easy.  My chest still hurts a little, but I'm just a little punkish.  So, today I didn't do much.

I did go to the post office and mail Beverly's wrap and fingerless gloves.  I sent her a photo of the tracking information and told her to expect the package on Thursday.  Sure hope she likes the gift.

After the post office, I swung by Marc's and picked up a few things.  Jumbo size eggs were $.99 a dozen, so I got 3.  They had a darling stuff elephant, so I bought that for my great great nephew who is expected to make his earthly debut in April.  After that, to WalMart to pick up the things on my shopping list.  I took my time and got a new dry shampoo and another hairspray.  I bought a couple of things to pack for our next trip.  Always like taking hand wipes and other incidentals.

I came home and rested even before putting things away.  I had a little lunch and then rested some more.  I had a manicure and pedicure appointment and remembered that I wanted to go to the Dollar Tree.  The nail salon, Marc's and Dollar Tree all share the same parking lot.  So, before my appointment, I went to Marc's and picked up two pounds of Bob Evan's sausage to make quiches.  I darted into Dollar Tree and got two dish towels and two potholders to make towels that hang on the oven handle.  My friend, Kitty, told me how she made them and how quick and easy they are.  I've wanted them for a while, so for $3.00, I get 2 towels!

I got a pedicure and a manicure with some fancy new product.  I think it's gel, but they paint your nails with something and dip your nails into some powder.  Then under some ultraviolet light or something and they are supposed to last for 3 to 4 weeks.

I ordered wings from Buffalo Wild Wings and we picked those up about 6 and that was dinner.

So much for my exciting day!

-H

Monday, Monday...

Don't you just love The Mamas and The Papas?  When I hear one of their songs on the radio, I always turn up the volume and sing along.  I find that by turning up the volume, I drown out my own off-key voice!!

Monday means I am playing pickleball this afternoon and this evening we have dinner with my sister, brother-in-law and my brother.  Tonight's restaurant choice fell to my sister and we are going to a newly opened Mexican restaurant.  Most of our Mexican restaurants around here are pretty much the same.  I most likely will have their taco salad, minus beans.

I got a crazy outfit for my birthday from my sister.  It's a pickleball outfit and it's LOUD, just like I usually am!!  Here's how I will look playing today...

I am going to leave a little early for pickleball and stop at Joann's to purchase some Wonder Under (for the welcome wall hangings I will be making for some of my pay-it-forward gifts) and some white on white fabric that I love in most of my sewing projects.  I may also get some muslin...a staple fabric in my sewing room.  I got 4 yards of Wonder Under (60% off) 3 yards of white on white cotton (40% off) and 2 yards of bleached muslin (40% off).  Good deals, plus I got to use my 20% school employee discount!!  Yippee!

I played pickleball for just under an hour.  My lungs/chest started hurting.  I don't believe I'm getting sick again, but after shoveling snow this morning and then pickleball, my lungs kind of burned and felt sore.

I went to Hartville Thrift store on my way home.  I got a toy for Sophie and a wool jacket that I'm going to cut up and use as a wool pressing mat.

Dinner was at Coyote's, a new restaurant between Kent and Ravenna and it was soooo good.  Beautiful inside and the food was delicious.

Home, in my nightie, kitty and dog have had treats and now kitty is on my lap as I enter this post.  Life is good.

OH, by the way I bought a Bright Board (light box) to use for my applique projects.  Terri Silver also brought over the letters she made for me to use in the garden flag I'm going to make in the next few days.

G'night, H

Cold weather, sewing and Sunday!

This is my Moda Blockhead block.  It's the first in a series of 56!!  For some reason, I did a lot of picking stitches on this.  I was not good at following directions and it wasn't a smooth block to make.  However, it's done and I think it looks pretty!

I worked on my Love, Family, Friends wall hanging for Debra.  It's all done, just have to sandwich, quilt and bind it.  I made the label on the computer this afternoon.

I also wrapped the houndstooth wrap and fingerless gloves for my pay it forward to Beverly who lives in NJ.  It's all ready to go, just have to wait till Tuesday when the post office will be open again.  I made a card and envelope to enclose with it.

It's super cold!  Only 16 degrees and with wind chill feels like -1 degree.  That's crunchy-snow cold!  I took the trash cans to the street and cleared the driveway of what little more snow accumulated and my hands got super cold, even with gloves on.  This evening we went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse in Stow.  My steak was delicious and they have the best green beans! Once we got home, I changed out of my clothes into my nightgown, bathrobe and furry slippers.  I'm all cozy, now.  The dog and cat have had their treats and now they are playing with each other!

Rick's watching football and it's nearly 7:30.  I'm contemplating going up to the sewing room and sandwiching the wall hanging for Debra, but I think I should just relax for the evening.

Winter weather is here

The weather forecasters in our area warned us that we were going to have some rough winter weather.  Boy were they right!  We got some lake effect snow, some rain and we had to clear the sidewalk and driveway.  It's going to freeze tonight and if we left that slush on the driveway and walks, we would have to chip ice because it would be so dangerous.

I shoveled the driveway myself.  Rick's breathing issues are much worse when it's cold and he exerts himself.  He came out and wanted to help, but I get a little testy because I don't want him to make himself sick - or worse.  He did clear the deck of the slush and he had to rest often.

By the time I got the driveway clear, I was soaked.  It was raining and it was so gross outside.  When I came in the house, I was exhausted.  I didn't even want to talk, I was that tired.  I ran a nice hot bath, fixed a cup of tea and slid into the tub to drink my tea, have an Adkins bar and read a book for a while.  I haven't had a long bath in years.  Seems I'm quick in the shower and get ready to roll.  Not today and it sure made me feel better.

We had ham sandwiches (leftover Christmas ham from last week), baked beans and root beer for dinner.  It was delicious!  Very seldom do I not leave the house, but I had planned to not leave today...the roads were bad this morning.  I may not leave the house tomorrow, either!

I did some sewing.  I got the Love, Family, Friends wall hanging put together.  I need to put a couple of heart appliques on it yet.  Then to sandwich it and quilt it, make a label and bind it.  Then ship it off to my friend.  I also made a pair of fingerless gloves and started on my Moda Blockhead block.

It's late and I'm almost off to bed.  G'night

-H

FRiiiiiday!!!

Friday!  The best day of the week if you are employed.  Being retired, all days are like Friday for me...a great day.

Today was my day out with my sister.  We took in two estate sales...there aren't many estate sales this time of the year.  I found a basket for using at Christmas time for a gift basket.  We had lunch at Aladin's Restaurant in Highland Square area in Akron.   (Delicious, as always.  I had the Chicken Salad Rolled.)  Then we went to the movie -- Little Women.  I was sadly not thrilled with the movie.  It was ok, but I thought it would be better.  The movie skipped around in time and I don't really like that.

When I got home, I took Rick to Pete's bar and I dropped off a bag of dog poo to be checked for worms.  Nope, no worms in our Sophie, so all is good!!  I went back to get Rick and we headed home and stopped for dinner at Longhitano's.

I am now in my nightie, cozy under my snuggly blanket.  Sophie and Lily have had their treats and it's time to relax.

We have a winter storm warning.  It's supposed to snow 3 or 4 inches, rain, snow some more and then get colder.  Tomorrow should be a mess...thankfully we don't have to go anywhere and can stay snug as a bug in a rug.

-H

Nothing exciting, but good things!

Yesterday, Tuesday, I had lunch with Terri Silver.  We went to Bricco and we had such a nice time, chatting, eating and chatting some more.  She's going to be grandma again!  Her daughter, Rachel, is expecting a baby girl in July!  Wonderful blessings!

Later in the afternoon, Rick and I went to Walmart to pick up a few things.  We called Buffalo Wild Wings before we left the store and picked up wings on our way home.  It was an early dinner for us, about 5:15!!

I sewed a little later in the evening and that was it!

Today Rick and I had eye doctor appointments.  Mine was a regular eye checkup...checking on my strangely designed optic nerve.  I got a good report, no problems and I got a prescription for new glasses.  Rick's eye is healed on the outside, the inside is still healing and he is now on a steroid drop three times a day to help with that.  The contact lens was removed (with lots of tugging, numbing and an extra doctor to get the lens out of his eye).  He goes back next week to get a recheck on his prescription, then we will both go and get new glasses before our upcoming vacation to Cancun.

I finished the letter blocks...Love...Family...Friends.  I have Friends all pinned down, wet and drying to hold shape (blocking).  I ran out of the background fabric, so I made a quick trip to JoAnn's to try and find another fabric with a close value.  I found one that should work; the edges were zig zagged and the fabric washed.  I will work on the Love, Family, Friends wall-hanging quilt for my friend Debra a little more tomorrow.  I will need to find an applique of a bird, flower or heart to make the hanging a little more interesting.

Tonight we went to dinner at LaTerazza for Mexican food.  It's been a long time since we've been there.  It was good.  Now we're home, I'm in my nightie and settled in for the night.  I hope to sleep really well tonight.  Last night, Sophie had to go outside in the middle of the night.  Later, Lily woke me up crying so I thought she was sick.  My Fitbit sleep reading showed not a lot of sleep!

Goodnight

Sunday and Monday happenings

Sunday was a good day...heck, most of my days are good days!

We had Christmas ham for dinner.  We bought the ham to have at Christmas, but we didn't cook it until Sunday!  It was very good and we have a lotta ham left for sandwiches, soup, recipes, etc!  Rick made his famous baked beans and they were delicious.

I sewed a bit and made the word "Family" for a quilt.  I'm not thrilled with it, but it's for someone who will appreciate it.  I will also be baking a word "Friends" and "Love" to go into a wall hanging for this friend.

Today, Monday, I have been kind of lazy.  I didn't do much this morning, but did play pickleball this afternoon.  I had fun seeing pickleball friends and played for most of the scheduled time.  I stopped early because I "felt" a little bit of a strange feeling in my chest.  I'm not sick any longer, but I don't want to overdue things and make myself feel worse.

Martha Pifer texted Terri Silver and me that she won't be able to make our scheduled lunch tomorrow.  Terri and I will still meet at Bricco and have a fun lunch.

We had dinner at Paninis tonight with Butch, Cris, Jerry and us.  Butch is back from his Florida vacation with Gail, her family and Heather and Jeff.  He had a nice time, but he was tired and glad to be home.  Cris is feeling better from her surgery.

When we got home, we treated our furry kids to tricks and treats.  Then I went upstairs and got the word "Friends" done -- all except the S.  Tomorrow I will tackle the S and hopefully do "Love" and put it all together.  Pictures to follow.

Sitting here with Lily cat on my lap, so it's time to say,

G'night...H

Saturday ramblings, pay it forward, but not posted until Monday!!

Today has a big To Do List!

It's going to be in the mid 60's today...a lot of rain later, but hopefully dry enough for a while so we can get our Christmas lights down and packed away.

Yesterday I purchased ground beef to make meatloaves for the freezer.  So that's on my list, too.

I am doing a Pay It Forward this year.  My unmet friend, Nancy Stevens who is from the Philadelphia area) put up a challenge.  Sign up on her Facebook announcement and she will make something for me during this calendar year.  I need to post the challenge and make something for each of the three people who would like to participate.  Beverly Keubler from New Jersey signed up, Tanya Titus from my town, Kathleen Ross from pickleball who lives in Florida are participating.  After my slots were filled, Debra Hirsh from Columbus and Peggie Klein from Florida expressed interest.  I will make something for them, too!

I enrolled in a Spring Swap in the group Stitches From The Heart.  We are making a garden flag for one member of the swap.  I am sewing for Reba Bishop, the leader of our group and a seamstress by trade.  I have decided the design and purchased the fabrics for her garden flag.  I need to wash the fabric well...I got bright colors (which she said she loves) and I want to make sure they don't "bleed" if the flag gets rained on--highly possible!

Rick feels like he's getting sick.  I need to keep an eye on him...if we need to call the doc on Monday, we will do that.  We have Cancun coming up in early February and he might need an antibiotic to help him fight this off.  We'll see.

Friday, fun & errand day

Usually on Fridays I go out with Cris.  We go shopping, a tag sale/garage/estate sale, lunch and pickleball.  I went to get Cris this morning and we were going to run an errand to JoAnn's for me, have lunch and see a movie.  (She had surgery on Tuesday)  We were heading toward JoAnn's to get fabric for a garden flag I need to make.  We got as far as the Acme and she asked if I would stop there so she could go to the bathroom.  When she got back to the car, she was almost in tears and sadly asked if I would take her home...she was in pain and not able to spend the day with me.  She felt so bad, but it's totally understandable.  I reminded her later that her surgery was only 3 days earlier.

I took her home, ran to the Dollar Tree store, Marc's and made a return to Target.  I ran over to Kohl's to see if they had a pair of leggings in a smaller size than the ones I got a day or two ago.  (Checked the online kiosk.)

I stopped at another store and purchased fabric for the garden flag.  I ran through McDonalds to get a burger (no bun).  The person who gave me my meal was a former student.  She remembered me and told me how wonderful I looked...she graduated nearly 15 years ago.  Boy did she make me feel good!

I came home, put things away and rested a bit.  At 3, I took Rick to Pete's so he could play pool for a bit.  I ran to Ollies, looking for a book,  The Monster At The End Of This Book.  Sadly, they didn't have it.  Then to TJ Maxx to look around, I didn't purchase anything there.  Then to Giant Eagle and picked up groceries and other items on my list.  Back to Pete's to get Rick and see Peter, then home.

Portia called and we made plans to go to dinner.  We picked them up at 6 and went to Rockne's.  I had a delicious gin and tonic and a nice salad.

Not an exciting day, but a tiring one.  I find that running errands is fun, but it is energy zapping.

G'night...H

Rick's birthday!

My sweetie is 3/4 of a century old today!  Hard to believe it, but he is.  In this photo, he's scratching lottery tickets that our daughter and her family sent to him as part of his birthday gift!  Not one winner in 5 tickets!

Today I baked him some dinner rolls.  I also made him a cheesecake from the recipe Vanilla Bean Cheesecake in the InstantPot.  We haven't tasted it yet...later tonight.

His eye is slowly getting better, but I'm so thankful that it's BETTER.  It was so bad for so long.  I pray it continues to heal and when we go to the doctor next week he can have the contact lens removed and the eye will be healed.

Dinner tonight at Exit 38 (our funny name for Cracker Barrell!)  I have a gift for him and will give him that when we get home.

Prayers for all of us to be healthy, happy, safe and loved.

--Helen

The To Do list

I've taken to keeping a to do list.  I don't accomplish everything on it within the day, but I just move the item(s) to the next day.  The list grows, but it's nice to know that I have it written down and keeps me thinking I'm not forgetting things that I (we) want to get done.

I've been purchasing several embroidery designs and most of the ones I purchase aren't too expensive.  Sweet Pea Embroidery Design has some beautiful designs and they have an "add on" design of a koala bear.  All the money from the sale of that design goes directly to WIRE, an organization that helps with the well being of the animals affected by the Australian fires.

I would like to purchase that design, but to do it, I need to purchase another design that's $15.50.  Not too bad that $5.50 goes to directly to the charity.  However, there is another design that I would like to purchase that's also $15.50 that I would like to make for my Pay It Forward.  Decisions, decisions, decisions.  I'm letting those things sit in my cart overnight...I'll think about it again in the morning.  Boy am I glad I left those things in my "basket".  I decided that I didn't really need the table runner design...the person I was going to make it for has access to do the same thing.

Today was busy and I'm so glad that I'm feeling MUCH better.  I went to Walmart, Goodwill and to return a movie.  I made egg roll in a bowl for dinner and it was delicious!  Rick had chili and corn bread, so we both had delicious dinners!

I made two panels for the purse I'm working on.  Only 2 more panels to go and then I can go on to the next portion of putting it together and making a lining.

Tomorrow is Rick's birthday.  I made the graham cracker crust for a cheesecake.  Tomorrow I will make the Vanilla Bean Cheesecake that's made in the InstantPot.

G'night...

Feeling better

Yesterday I needed to get out of the house a bit, so I left about 2 pm and went to pickleball to visit with my friends there.  I'm not ready to play yet, my cough gets really bad when I do too much.  After visiting, I went to return a couple of items that I got for Christmas and knew I wouldn't wear.  After that, I dropped in at Beiler's Market and purchased veggies to make Egg Roll In A Bowl later this week.  I stopped at JoAnn's to pick up some mesh fabric to make some produce bags.  Then, a quick stop at the gas station to fill up the tank.  I got home JUST in time to get Rick and head off to dinner at Applebee's with Cris and Jerry.

Boy was I tired after the afternoon of galivanting around!  We rented the movie, "One Upon A Time In Hollywood" and I couldn't stay awake to watch it all.  We had seen it before when we were on vacation and enjoyed it, but I was just so tired.

I slept in the recliner again last night due to my coughing.  I cough more when I lay down, less when I'm sitting up sleeping.

I offered a Pay It Forward on Facebook.  Nancy Stephens (Blogging Near Philadelphia) started it.  I signed up and she is to make something for me sometime this year.  Three people signed up for me to make something (and they are to make something for three people).  Beverly Keubler, a friend from FB who lives in New Jersey; Tanya Titus, a teacher from my high school lives right here in Kent; and Kathleen Ross, a pickleball friend who lives in Florida signed up.  I had a couple others express interest, but I limited it to three people.  Peggy Klein and Debra Hirsh will also get something from me, but I didn't tell them!!

Rick has a haircut appointment today and I spent a little time in the sewing room.  No machines were turned on, but I did some organizing and planning.  I'm enjoying spending a little time there, thankfully.

Happy New Year

Let's try to do better at blogging in 2020!

I'm going to back track a little, going back to just before Thanksgiving.  Rick had his left cataract removed on Tuesday, November 26.  It was a difficult surgery and he has had a lot of issues because of it.  Tuesday night he hardly slept...his eye was excruciating.  I called the doctor on Wednesday and we got into to see her.  The pressure had gone up to 45 (normal for him is 8-12) and due to the pressure there was tons of pain.  The pressure was relieved (by poking a hole in his eye to let the fluid drain out) and he was put on extra medication to keep the pressure down.  Friday after Thanksgiving, the 29th, he went back to the doctor for a re-check and the pressure had remained down. He had another appointment to check on his eyes on December 4.

On December 3, Rick went to Dr. Lis.  We have several appointments coming up to deal with his teeth.

On December 11, Jennifer's cat Lucy passed away.  We received a call from Jennifer about 5:15 a.m.  Her passing was not unexpected, but when you love an animal, it hurts like heck.  Lucy was 19 years old.

Rick had another appointment with Dr. Lis on December 11, too.

December 12 was the Christmas Party at the Board of Education at Kent Schools.  It was nice to see some folks, but not a lot of people attended.

On December 13, Cris came to sew.  We are making a blanket for her great grandson, Cooper Everett Bonina.  We are having tons of fun making appliques (elephants) for the minky blanket.

On December 18, we went to the RHS Christmas Party at the Venice Café.  We are recognizing fewer and fewer people at these functions.  So many folks have retired and those that we know seem to be grouped together, eating; not mingling with others.  We may stop going to these.  We also went to Cirque Dreams at the University of Akron.  We love Cirque d'soleil, but this performance was scaled down so much that it lost a lot of it's charm.

December 19, Sophie went to the beauty shop, Rick had another appointment with Dr. Lis and we took Pete and Beth's basket and had dinner with them at their house.  Sophie loves to go there and she gets the run of the house.

On December 21, we went to The Kent Stage to see First Snow.  It was billed as a tribute band to Transiberian Orchestra.  It was, in actuality, a heavy metal band with black makeup and clothing and gargoyles on stage.  They played a FEW of TSO's songs, but we didn't care for the show and left after an hour.

On Monday, December 23, Rick had another appointment for his eye.  Dr. Foster said he had an extremely dry eye and gave him Tears to put in his eyes twice a day.  He also had an appointment with Dr. Lis.

Tuesday, December 24, we went to Todd's home and celebrated Christmas Eve with them.  It was really nice and we enjoyed seeing that side of the family.

Christmas day we opened our gifts and then set off to go to Kelly and Scott's house.  We had a really nice time.  That night, Rick started having more eye pain.  First thing the next morning, I called the eye doctor and we got in to see Dr. Foster.  He now has an abrasion on his eyeball, and he is allergic to the Tears drops she wanted him to us

e.  She gave us Refresh Plus (no preservatives) and he is to go back on his antibiotic eye drops 4 times daily.

On December 26, Sandra Wierzbicki passed away from a fall down her stairs.  She had a brain bleed and died very quickly.  So terribly sad.

December 30 was my birthday.  I played pickleball and Todd came (he's in town because of Sandy's passing) to the tennis club and brought flowers and balloons -- arranged by Jennifer.  That evening, Cris, Jerry, Rick and I had dinner at Bricco (my choice).  I had a delicious meal of shrimp and scallops with an amazing risotto.  Cris got me an outfit for pickleball, a new and beautiful umbrella and several glue sticks.  (I use a lot of glue when sewing for temporary hold and she thinks it's funny, so she got me 6 new glue sticks!)  Rick ordered slippers for me, but they aren't in as yet.

December 31 was a quiet New Year's eve for us.  Rick's eye is not doing well at all...it's so hard when your eye is painful.

Now to 2020...January 2, rick goes to Dr. Foster again for his eye.  The abrasion is actually worse.  She put a contact lens in...he wears it 24/7 and it's supposed to protect the scratch and also hold the medicine like a sponge.  We are hoping this will help.  (It is helping, but the eye is still really painful.)  I am coming down with a lot of chest congestion, so I went to see Dr. Uhall.  He suspects I have strep throat because of my swollen glands, firey red throat and the chest congestion.  I am on an antibiotic!  Sandra Wierzbicki's funeral is this evening, too.  So terribly sad.

On Friday, January 3, Rick again goes to Dr. Lis.

Saturday, January 4 is kind of a blur...I was so sick when I woke up that Rick was really worried about me.  I pretty much just sat around and rested.

Sunday the 5th, I went upstairs to sew and look for a pattern.  I overdid it and I'm really tired and coughing more than I was.  Dinner will be leftovers...nice to not have to go out.

Ok, I'm now caught up on some of the past doings.  Now to try and keep blogging and keeping track of things.

Signing off...