Hi there everyone and a Happy New Year 2020. I am making this post the last one of 2019. Can't believe this year has passed by so quickly. Now I know why my mother always said to me, "don't wish your life away, Louise, it will go fast enough!" Now I know what she meant.
Following are some pictures from 2019. You will have to forgive me, for in 2019 I didn't take a whole lot of pictures. Once you see one snow picture, you've pretty much seen them all, unless you are in a different place. For Louise, that was not the case. We stayed pretty much put in one place, home.
So go grab a cup of coffee, tea, or pepsi, cause this will be a long post.
So I guess there was snow in January and February (didn't mark on my calendar or take pictures.) Along with the snow came a lot of changes, as you can see with the butterfly above. Butterflies change from the cocoon to beautiful butterflies....maybe we do too.
January brought financial assistance in the way of food from the Salvation Army and Energy Assistance. Along with disconnections of AT&T Phone/internet and TV. It was costing way too much. House taxes were due too. Signed up with Spectrum, what a hassle between the two companies, honestly.
February started out with a bang....our car would not start. Battery died and there was lots of snow. The one glimmer of fun I had was watching my Chicago Blackhawks on TV and the internet. And, making my cards.
March seemed to be going well, things were calm and quiet (as my mother would always say). Then Kylie got sick and I took her to the Vet. Xrays and blood work. She had a mass and they didn't give her good news. Just love her and keep her happy with lots of walks, hugs and kisses. Then the car broke down.....again!!!
April brought Dr's appointments for JP and I. Tax refund and Co-pays and bills due. Does it ever end? Nope, not till we die or get raptured. The water was shut off a couple of times during April so the City could rip up our street for sewers and laterals. The street will be a mess like this in 2020 also. In the mean time, we have a bill of $1500 to pay up in the next 5 years that will be added to our house taxes for this mess.
May brought more Dr's appointments again....never ending when we get older. Netflex got cancelled...which now I find is actually a blessing. Saving $$ for one thing, and also not so much time watching movies...oh because there is hockey till June at least. Got a couple of Aflac refunds for our Dr's bills. That helped a lot.
June brought vegetable and flower seed plantings. Vitamin B-12 shots for Louise and a mammogram and the last grooming for Kylie. My favorite store closed....Shopko.
July, my eyes started itching, took some allergy pills, least the mosquito's did now bite me to death. That very sad day arrived on the 12th, we had to put Kylie down. I lost my best little friend. A very hard day, it got so bad, I had to carry her outside to go tinkle and potty, and carry her back in. Kylie was blind and partially hard of hearing. The treats stopped a couple of days before she died, she wasn't interested in them any more and she had a couple of seizures. The last seizure was that day....it lasted much too long and she did not know where she was. Broke my heart. The hardest thing was calling the Vet and taking her in. We buried her in the back yard.....it's been 5 1/2 months now, and I still miss her.
August, tending to flowers and vegetables. Sort of just going through the motions of living. Kylie's death knocked the stuffing out of me...still miss her terribly. JP and I celebrated 46 years of marriage. We did nothing special.
September. This beautiful Fall Clematis starts blooming, it looks like a blanket of snow. There were a couple of Dr. appointments for both of us. I ordered a Blackhawk hat and JP's brother and SIL came for a visit and brought me a Chicago Blackhawk flag.
October, The Hawks started their season October 4th. Let the games begin!!! Mary and I started working on getting a cookbook put together. The two below were books I put together in '84 for the church I was going to. In '95 another cookbook for the Salvation Army. So I said to Mary, why don't we put a Fundcraft Cookbook together to raise funds for Josh's Scholarship Fund and off we went. When it is all said and done, we should have raised $2500 profit for the fund. She collected recipes from friends and family and friends of Josh's. I started typing, typing and more typing into the programs that Fundcraft had set up. Oh and also along the way, I was making cards for Hospice. So between typing, card making, watching the Blackhawks....was very busy.
November, Birthday month....yep, turned 73 and had to get my license renewed for another 7 years. I will be 80, will I make it to that age....I don't know. Dr. appointment for my A1C...too low, 6.2, Dr. wants me to go back up to 7.0, so he cut down one pill. Colored my hair and cut it too. Yeah, I do that every now and then. The grey was getting TOO GREY!!! We never did get all the leaves raked up because we had a snow storm, going to be a mess in the spring. Hockey games through out November and I still miss my Kylie.
December, here we are, the last month of the year. Put up the Christmas tree, ornaments and village. $60 came in the mail from Aflac...bonus from all our Dr. appointments. Hospice at Denny's and they bought us card makers breakfast. Lots of Hockey games...Hawks aren't doing so good, but I have high hopes for the last half of the season....they just could make it to the playoffs, b/c we have two great goalies. We will see, time will tell. I signed up for Energy Assistance again, 2 months will be paid, hopefully January and February, 2020. That will help. Still typing recipes and getting the book organized. We will probably send the book in the end of January, I should be done with recipes and organizing and such. We will have about 275 recipes, give or take.
So, today is the 31st. Nothing is planned. I will put some herring, cheese and crackers out, maybe some pickles and salami too. There is a hockey game at 8pm Blackhawks and Calgary tonight…..so you know what I will be doing. After the game I will watch the New Year come in New York and watch the ball come down.
Time to close this post....if you are still with me, I applaud you, such a good friend. You have a great new year. May 2020 be your best year yet. May you live with Jesus on your mind and in your heart. Keep looking up, better days are coming.
Cheers and blessings ~ Louise
PS...this post will take 17 minutes to read, give or take a few. That's how long it took me read and do a few corrections. See ya!!!
Hi there everyone, how fast this month is going. So much JOY this month I can hardly stand it!! Not sure why I am putt-sing around so much. My cards are not finished. Still have my little tree to decorate and the village to put up. Oh and cookies to make, of course. Maybe I will get "my three kings" up tonight. Paper Mache statues I made 52 years ago...goodness they are old. Let's see if I can rustle them up. Nope, they must be on another SDHC disk. Maybe I will take another picture of them.
I am still working on putting recipes into the Fundcraft program. There might be about 75 recipes to go yet. I was going to type some in tonight and was told by the Company, "Sorry, your time is up. You must contact the company to change the date for entering recipes" We told them the first of December.....well, trying to get recipes from people is like pulling teeth. Everyone keeps forgetting to give you their recipes and sometimes you have to go back 2 and 3 times to remind people about giving you a recipe or two. That was my problem back in '84 and '95. Things have not changed, and it's still the same in 2019.
We had to get at least 200 recipes, I think by the time we are done, there should be at least 250 give or take a few here and there. So now we are figuring that ALL recipes should be in by December 31. So we can start filling out the forms, getting pictures ready and submit the recipes. It would all have to be done by January 15th. Hope we can make it. I have to make the call tomorrow to change dates and ask a few more questions.
Here is a recipe for you, that will be in the cook book.
Angel Macaroons
1 pkg. (16oz.) Angel Food cake mix
1/2 c. water (yes that is right)
1 tsp. almond extract
1 c. sweetened shredded coconut (opt.)
1/2 - 2/3 c. chocolate chips (opt) (or mint, butter scotch, etc.)
Preheat oven 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat cake mix, water and extract together with **beater on low for 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Fold in coconut. Drop by Tablespoonful @ 2" apart onto parchment paper, lined on a baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned, 10-12 minutes. Remove paper with cookies to wire rack to cool. **You can beat the mixture with a spoon by hand, don't have to use a beater. (these cookies will be soft after bake.)
I am not sure this recipe will be in the cook book, but I tried it and it is really goooooood!! It's called:
Best Burgers and Fries Seasoning
1 Tbsp. Basil
2 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. parsley
1 tsp. celery salt
2 tsp. chili powder
2 Tbsp. garlic salt
4 Tbsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. pepper
1/2 c. salt
1 Tbsp. cumin
Mix altogether in a mason jar. Good on burgers, fries, chicken, fish, pork and vegies. (for this recipe, I doubled it already, so if you want, half it.)
Well, time to close here, getting late and I need to work on moving a few recipes around. Have a good week and talk to you later. Hopefully I will have all the Christmas stuff done and cards in the mail when I come back. Keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise
Hi there everyone, how you all doing??? Can you believe it...December already, how did that happen? Guess I should start putting a few things up for Christmas. Well, I have this snowman on the front door so far. Put my Christmas finger tip towels up in the bathroom. Maybe I will pull out the Christmas tree tomorrow. I still have to do my Christmas cards yet. Don't know why I am so late ?!?!?!
Thinking I would like to make some Christmas cards like this one below. I did not make this card, but I can try to duplicate it. I guess I just like the pink and white colors, very soft looking. Wish I had that jolly snowman though, he is really cute.
So, the Hawks are playing the St. Louis Blues tonight. St Louis Blues are Stanley Cup Champions this year. So everyone wants to beat them, but then the St. Louis Blues want to beat all the other teams. Hope not tonight.
I called the plumber today, our toilet is not working properly. Plumber says it needs a new seal. We had this toilet installed in 2015....this is the 2nd time we have had to have it repaired. (Our last toilet lasted 24+yrs. with no problems). He will be here tomorrow. Gosh, I hope it is not too expensive, I am trying to get bills paid down, not add to them. Oh well, guess that is life.
I am going to cut this post short...the game is about to start in 10 minutes or so. When the game is over I will PS you the score at the end of this post. You all take care, see you later. Keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise
PS. Hawks lost 4 to 0 not a happy game at all. I think the Hawks are in last place in the Central division. Gonna be a miracle for them to crawl out of the hole they got into. But nothing is impossible.
