JP's Birthday Pie and a Funny Face

Hi there everyone. Hope you all had a great Memorial Day!!! We did...we worked all day in the yard. I finished cleaning the garage...least we can walk in there now. JP cleaned my fountain, put some algae stuff in, so it doesn't turn green. He cleaned the gutter above the pond area and hung blue Christmas lights. He also cleaned and vacuumed the car. (Hard to believe we have had this car 4 years now....wow time flies.) We sat in different places in the yard and rested and talked. The park bench, the swing.....I think we rested more and talked then we did work. I cut some rhubarb and made "Honey-Rhubarb Chicken with Asparagus and Fingerling Potatoes" A recipe from Blue Apron that I will actually be making this week when the new order comes.

YOU GUYS!!!!! Was that ever a great recipe!!! The chicken was salt and peppered then fried in olive oil. The sauce was rhubarb, vinegar, roasted garlic cloves, squeezing the garlic out of their skins. Honey, 1/4 cup water and butter was added to the fond from the cooked chicken. Salt and pepper added.......then the sauce was poured over the chicken. Yes, I would make this again and again as long as the rhubarb holds out!!!!

May 17th was JP's 70th birthday. Sorry I am so late in sharing. I ended up buying him this chocolate cream pie. I did not realize it, but I bought the exact same pie last year for his birthday.....who knows, I may buy him this pie again for his next birthday.

It is really a delicious pie.....that we both enjoy!!!

Yes.....that is supposed to be one of his smiles.....he just does not take normal pictures for some reason. I really don't know what he is looking at, it certainly was not the picture taker!!!!

He blew the candle out.....not sure what his wish was for?!?! If he even did wish.....maybe for more food!!!! I think I made him Spare ribs in the pressure cooker....man, those were good too!!!

Well, I suppose I will close here for now. I must get dressed so I can take Kylie for her afternoon walk. Otherwise she will sleep the night away. I think the older she gets the more sleep she wants. I am so sad for her....her sight is going and her hearing also. Old age snuck up on her so quickly!!! Her sniffer still works...but the Doctor said to keep an eye on her....she could wander off and lose her bearings.

Can you believe it....this is the LAST day of May???? Wow! As one blog friend said, "Before we know it, Walmart will have School Supplies for sale.....! You all have a great day and keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

All Gave Some, Some Gave All

Hi there everyone. It's the Memorial Day Weekend.....where did May go??? I hope as you celebrate this day of Freedom, that you remember those that went before you. That died, that you might live in a land of Freedom from those that might destroy this great Nation. Some of those people are right in front of us. How scary to think that there are so many people living in this country that would rather live under Socialist and Sharia Laws. I sure do not understand the thinking of these people.

"All gave some, Some gave all" I just heard the announcer on NASCAR say that.  That's not my saying.

I thought I would post some Patriotic cards for this Memorial Day weekend. In this 1st card, it's a copy of someone else's, I am thinking I want to make about 10 of these cards for the Hospice meeting scheduled this Friday. I do have the red lines and some stars to add to the card. My card will most likely look much different then this one. I like the looks of this card, very clean....I will probably add my Happy 4th stamp.

I made these cards last year for Hospice.....I am always looking for new ideas.

Another copy of a 4th of July card. Looks easy peasey to make also. I need to Photo-copy this card and the first one so I can take it to my studio (in the basement) and make 4th of July cards.

Our weekend will mostly involve working in the front and back  yard. JP is pulling weeds for me in front of the porch.....my rose bushes were getting chocked out from the tall grasses growing. There is still a lot to pull. The rain from today made the weeds easier to pull. There is still so much to do. I guess I should not cry about what has yet to get done, but rejoice over the things that are done.

Our pond still needs to be cleaned out, I wanted to hear the trickle of water this weekend so I brought out a big red plastic container and put some water in it and the water fountain.........and Wa-La the sound of a water fountain trickling.

By my red park bench I have a little fountain that runs by solar. Picked that up at the plant sale for one dollar. It's really cute. I will take a picture tomorrow. Yesterday I was working in the garage, trying to straighten up a bit....how does one garage get so messy with just 2 people and 1 dog????

Anyways, some where's between all the working and sitting and trying to enjoy the day. on Saturday...the mosquitoes found me and bit up my arms and ankles....geez all I have been doing for the last 24 hours is itch and scratch. I took an allergy pill a few hours ago. Tried Noxema, Vick's Vapor rub, Absorbine and hot water (that feels good and very soothing.) See, I just put some Absorbine on my ankles and the itch stopped. YAY!!! I should be better tomorrow. I was reading the Vick's keeps the mosquitoes away....I need to try that tomorrow. A dab behind the ears, elbows and knees and where ever else bare skin is showing.

If it is a nice day tomorrow, I may cook on the grill. Well, time to close, it's almost 10:30 and the race is still going. Monday starts the Stanley Cup Finals the Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins are playing......I am hoping Nashville wins, even though they beat the Blackhawks in the first round.....the Predators have never won a Stanley Cup, I am always for the underdog.

You have a great weekend and keep looking up....better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Pretty Flowers and JP's 70th

Hi there everyone.....Hope you are having a good day!! Well, today is JP's 70th Birthday. He said he never thought he would ever make it to 70....yep, we are just a vapor. Here today and gone tomorrow. 

I will probably go to the store and find him a chocolate cake or some specialty chocolate pie....not sure yet. Maybe buy him a plant that we both can enjoy. I probably should buy him a new pair of work pants too. But I will wait till I get a coupon from Shopko...spend $50 and get $10 off....my favorite kind of deal.

Have not decided yet what his special meal will be....probably steak, mushrooms and potatoes.....I would like to get one of those Cowboy Rib eye steaks......and do a reverse sear on it. Put it in the oven first then sear on a fry pan.....sounds interesting.

I finally took some pictures of these lovely pink variegated tulips. They almost look like peonies don't they??? So pretty.

A few more views of these tulips. I need to put another layer of red mulch down, the weeds seem to make their way through the mulch....gerrrrr.....hard to keep up with the weeds.

My cute little pansies. I have some yellow pansies planted in planters on the front porch. Last night I planted red petunias. Tonight I pulled some snow on the mountain and some blue bells.....they look like weeds right now....so now is the time to be rid of them. Laid some mulch down but could use another layer. Oh well.....a little bit each day, I might be done by Fall.

We may order some more mulch, have not decided as yet. It's much easier to order 2 yards of mulch then buy the bags...you don't know from where that mulch is coming from and if it is diseased. Here, we buy this mulch that is actually recycled pallets and then dyed red. They use a magnet to release the nails. 

We have about a wheel barrel and a half left so that is not enough to finish what I want done in the front and back yard. My yard will really look nice when it finally gets done. I hope I am not just dreaming....that eventually it will be reality.

Well, I think I shall close this post for tonight so I can post it tomorrow on JP's Birthday. You all have a great day and keep looking up~~~better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Cards, Hospice Meeting, Mother's Day and Pops

Hi there everyone. Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday. Mine started out fine, I was blessed with a friend that gave me a personal Cricut for $30 with case and 4 cartridges and maybe even the cartridge that came with the cricut. With this cricut I will be able to use it without my computer, which will be nice. No pictures yet....I need to set it up and figure out how to use it as well.

In these next few pictures are some of the cards I made for Hospice. The cards above are the funny Tim Holtz Crazy Bird set. I got the die cuts for these birds....maybe I will use them more. No more fussy cutting for me. This yellow bird is probably my favorite of the six birds...easy to color too.

My vintage golfer about to hit a golf ball. I made these cards into Father's Day cards as were the yellow chick cards above.

These cards were what I made up for my secret stamper lady....I sent the stamped pineapple, rose and leaves. Colored them in and added a gem. Added a feather and circled die cut and embossed folder for the background. I inherited 2 rimes of yellow card stock and 1 rime of yellow paper....so yeah, you probably will see lots of yellow cards coming out of my creating mind.

In the above picture are the Father's Day favors I made. At the meeting we slipped Hersey candies in the favor. Usually we put little stickers on them saying they are from Hospice....but I guess the stickers were not made up as yet. I thought I had taken a picture of ALL the favors together, that were made up, but for some reason there was no picture.....gosh, maybe I did not press the button to take the picture??????

In this picture we are looking through the cards each one of us brought.....maybe getting new ideas from each other and oo-ing and ah-ing the cards as we looked. Next meeting will be June 2nd, so we have 3 weeks to get some cards together.....I better get my rear in gear....then we will have the summer off till September and we need to have Halloween cards made......yikes!!! I think that is why my days fly bye.....I am always on to the next holiday before this one even comes.

I did not finish my Mother's Day blessings. After the Hospice meeting, I drove Betty home, but before we went to her house, we stopped off at a second hand shop and I bought myself a purse and a couple of tops.....oh and a cute little teapot which I mishandled and dropped on the ground and it broke. I will glue it back together and just use it for decoration....maybe it won't be usable again. (that part was NOT a blessing)

We went to Woodman's, a really big store that I very seldom go to. BUT...I probably will go there again, I found my favorite bread there. A big loaf of Turano Bread that makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches...oh yum!! Oh and I just saw a recipe using this bread to make (French) Italian toast......trying this tomorrow morning.

I bought a few other things, that I don't see at the other stores I visit...I always have fun shopping!!! I was really enjoying my Mother's Day weekend and thinking, gosh....what did I do to enjoy all these blessings?????

Then Saturday came.....the phone rang. A call from a lady that has been in contact with my step-father in Las Vegas. He died in his sleep, in his own apartment on his easy chair. That's the way he wanted it and he got it. I won't be going out there....no reason to. He had made plans with this lady that she would take care of everything....she sort of adopted him and my mother and became their daughter. Taking my place.....oh well, I never did have good feelings about this whole situation. But who am I......nobody!!!!

Can you sense some anger there??? Yes, there probably is, when I think back on all the things that Pops did to me, the things he said to me, the way he controlled me and made me angry, to the point that I would only stuff the pain and say "he will never hurt me again" only to be hurt again and again. Nope, I am not sad for him, nor do I really care.

He wanted me to call him "Dad" one thing he wanted to hear me say....I said you are NOT MY DAD and I will never call you DAD!!! I had one Dad....You are Pops and that is what I will call you. He said, I figured you would say that and chuckled. ERG....he made me so mad!!!! And when he said he loved me, I was always forced to say....I love you too....but did I mean it??? I am not sure.

So here we are today....I hope he is happy where ever he ended up. The lady is going to take his ashes and spread them in the mountains of Las Vegas along with the ashes of my mother.....hope they meet again, where ever that might be.

Sunday came and we went to church...good service and lovely worship....our gift on Mother's day, two little red petunia plants....I shall plant them tonight in between the rain drops. I think I will get some white and blue petunia's and organize the petunia's in red, white and blue in the planters.

Well, time to close here and go walk Kylie....the sun is out now after a little rain. Talk to you later and keep looking up better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

My First Paper Pumpkin Kit From Stampin'Up

Hi there everyone. How are you all doing? I have been busy...and 5 days behind in posting something on my blog...slacking a bit. Been working in my gardens and not taking a whole lot of pictures. I should take some tulip pictures before they all start pooping out. The tulips are so pretty this year and so vibrant. I counted my tulips and I have 95 tulips growing.....really that is lots to me.  I do have a pot of tulips that were given to me for Easter....need to plant them soon.

Been busy making cards for Hospice also....which is where I should be right now, down in the basement making cards for Hospice. We have a meeting this coming Friday. Been working on Father's Day cards....I will take some pictures of them. We also will be making Father's Day favors with a Hersey Nugget inside. So I need to make 20 favors with a ribbon holding it together. Oh, it might take an hour to make them.

So in these following pictures, is the Stampin'up Paper Pumpkin Kit I received for April. This is the first time I ordered a monthly kit from Stampin'up.

This is what the cards will look like when I start to play with this kit. Been too busy to even play with these cards. I just want to take my time and savor the moments while I play with this kit.

Lots of neat things came in this kit. Card stock, envelopes, ink, stamps acrylic block, color pencils, paint brush for water coloring, embellishments and glue dots. Probably by the time I start working on this, the next one will be sitting at the door.

I just realized.....I sure can keep myself busy doing things, can't I??? Gardening, card making, cooking with Blue Apron.....but, not as busy as other people who can run circles around me. I think I have slowed down a bit. I have decided to only work ONE hour outside, anymore and I am worn out and exhausted the next day. Perhaps by Fall, everything I want to do will be done by then.

I am hoping the weather stays cooler this summer and not get too, too hot. Guess I don't want to invest in a new air-conditioner as yet.

Well, time to close here, need to get my cards done for Hospice before Friday. Have a great evening and keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

3 Blue Apron Meals

Hi there everyone. How are you all enjoying the first couple of days of May......already it is the 3rd day of the "Merry Month of May"!!!

Monday I took Kylie to the Vet for her shots and a check up. They intended to do a full panel of her blood, but their machine was acting up. So all that blood they took from Kylie, needs to be taken again. We went in today for more lab work. Poor, poor Kylie, they have to poke her again.

But hopefully things will be well with her. They are going to check to see why her hair is so yukky...she might need vitamins. Plus she has gained 4 pounds, not good. Kylie is also blind in one eye and the other one is not so good. She needs to have her teeth cleaned this next fall.....I better save some money for that. Otherwise, for the age she is...she's doing well I guess. We will know more after the blood work.

The blood work came back, everything is normal except the numbers were a little high for her liver and kidneys. We need to go back the first of June for another blood test and if the numbers are still high, there is a medication they can give her....but otherwise everything is OKAY!!! Doctor said she should be getting enough vitamins in the food she is eating, so no extra vitamins.

Blue Apron sent me a box of food....these meals really looked so good to me and they actually were very tasty. This first one "Spiced Beef Pitas & Garlic Labneh with Arugula & Date Salad" I wanted to do this meal because it sounded like a Greek Gyro and it sure tasted like it too. Very good, I will definitely make this again, using beef.

"Seared Cod & Crème Fraiche Sauce with Potato, Cabbage and Olive Hash" Now this was a really delicious meal, I think what I liked the most about this one was the combination potatoes and cabbage mixed together. The potatoes were diced then browned  with olive oil, salt and pepper for about 5 minutes till the potatoes were slightly softened. Then the sliced cabbage was added, a little more oil, salt and pepper. Stirring 5-7 minutes or until the cabbage has wilted and the potato has softened. Chopped up green olive was added then topped with chopped up almonds. This was so good, I made it again the next day. (but without the olives and almonds.) 

The fish was coated with rice flour and fried...the whole meal was delicious!!! The sauce was marinated shallots and lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. The crème fraiche was added to the shallots and served as garnish for the fish.

"Taiwanese-Style Chicken with Jasmine Rice, Crispy Shallot, & Cilantro" This dish was really yummy. The rice was cooked. Shallots were fried in rice flour then set aside. I then fried the red sliced cabbage in the same pan the shallots were fried in and set that aside. The chicken was cooked and shredded.

 The sauce was magic.....2 Tbsp. Soy sauce, 1 1/2 Tbsp. sugar 1/2 cup water and as much Chile as you like....I just used 1/2 of the Chile without seeds....there still was a slight hot taste but not overwhelming. I loved the fried shallots....had a nice crunch to the whole dish.

If you are interested in any one of these recipes, you can just type in the name of the recipe in your browser, click and up will come the recipe, look for the one that will take you to Blue Apron.....I just tried it...works.

Well time to close here for now. I already started a new post about the Stampin'up Paper Pumpkin Kit I received a week ago, but have as yet to make the cards....that is coming. Friday I am getting my new Tim Holtz Crazy Bird die cuts AND something new....Brusho's, I can hardly wait to play with them, I can't wait to show you the backgrounds that will be created by brusho's....oh boy!!!

You have a great evening and keep looking up ~ better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise