Pork Spear Ribs....Yummy Good!!!

Hi there everyone.....how is your Wednesday going so far??? I guess I am caught in a "time warp." My mind is still in May. Look at that calendar......it says June 7th already!!! So far this week, we have been whacking at weeds....where did they all come from? I have also run out of mulch and we need to get some more in the next few weeks, guess that depends on finances too.

Our car needs to go in for some work. I decided that I am not going through another summer without air-conditioning. So we will have that fixed and also have the exhaust fixed.....it sounds like a race car. When JP comes home from work at 1:30am you can hear him from 2 blocks down.....geez the exhaust is loud!!!! So that will be next Tuesday that the car is going in for work.

Kylie has not been feeling well lately. The Vet wants to do a liver panel on her. That will be $55, so I guess that will be sometime this week or next. And JP....well, he has another appointment with the prostrate Doctor next Friday...they are calling it "active surveillance" as JP does have cancer, but does not want an operation. So the Doctor is watching it to make sure it does not grow or spread. Lovely.....

The only way to calm my spirit is by EATING!!!! I found a great way to make ribs in my Power Pressure XL....man these are good!!!

As you can see, I used cayenne red pepper, Hungarian Paprika, salt, brown sugar and oregano for the seasoning.

Rubbed the seasoning all over the ribs. Then put the ribs in the pressure cooker for 30 minutes. Let the steam build up, cook and let the steam out. Oh...I did pour a little bit of BBQ sauce on the ribs before cooking and after cooking too.

So here is the finished product.....looks pretty good...yes??? Good enough to eat!!!! I did stick the ribs under the broiler for about 5 minutes. This will most likely be on the menu more often, especially when I see ribs on sale. I will do the ribs on the grill to see how that works...probably delicious!!

I got a new addition to my stamping stuff a couple of weeks ago. A Personal Cricut for $30. It came with a carrying case, 4 cartridges, pens and needle for cutting and a new cutting mat. Such a deal, I could not pass it up. Since then, I have bought two new cartridges, banners and envelopes. I must remember to take some pictures of the Cricut.  Sooooo, I think that is what I will be working on this summer as it is cool in the basement and may be too hot for this old lady to be outside this summer. Ah....who knows what I will be doing......as the weeds never stop growing. I just know if the spring when this fast how much faster will summer go????

Well, time to close here, must got get breakfast...I think 2 soft boiled eggs with toast and strawberries is on the menu. Had that yesterday and it kept me full for most of the day.

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

Doing Christmas - Cards, Eggs & Votives

Hi there everyone. Gosh...Christmas is getting away with us isn't it....8 more days and all this rush, rush, will be over with. I have everything done that needs to be done. Decorations up, cards out, cookies made.

I did make some interesting cookies the other day and they were very simple...I should take a picture before they all disappear. Ritz crackers, spread with peanut butter then made into sandwiches,  dunked in melted chocolate then covered with sprinkles and refrigerated. I already gave some to the Schwan's man...he said they were right up his alley. He likes Ritz crackers, peanut butter and chocolate....who doesn't huh????

My next project will be to make "MaMa's Cookies" I had a taste of them this past Wednesday at our Card Making Christmas Party. One of the ladies who is from Denmark, made them...gosh were they good, like little pancakes. Lis gave me the recipe after she changed it from grams to ozs. Think I will make them tomorrow or Monday.

In the above picture are the little votives I made for the ladies. Aren't they cute. The die cut is from Tim Holtz, called "Trees" I then ran some vellum through the cuttlebug with the embossing folder from Stampin'up called "Snowflakes" (I think) I added a punched out circle for the moon. Glued the trees and vellum together and wrapped it around the votive. They liked it....Betty wants to borrow my die cut....she must have a great idea to use with it. Can hardly wait to see what she comes up with.

In the above picture are the cards I gave the ladies or close to it. (these cards are going into my Etsy store after I do this post.) I brought samples of the paper and showed them how I made the tree....I am sure they all will be making these trees also.

This is what I brought to the party. "Angel Eggs" or famously known as Deviled Eggs. Betty had Ham, buns and cranberry sauce. Sue brought bacon wrapped chestnuts in BBQ sauce. Lis brought the Mama Cookies and Joan brought crackers and liver paste.....everything was delicious and all blended well with each other. I am thinking there were no calories in any of the food we ate....lol...kidding of course!!!

These are a few of the cards we made. The chickadee in the top picture. Colored in with Copic markers....Betty gave us bow makers that she made....so we can make our own bows now. She also gave us a BIG spool of ribbon.....I got yellow ribbon. So you may just see many cards made with yellow ribbon. A good Easter and Spring color.

This card was absolutely beautiful. The picture does not do it justice though. The background is gold sparkle paper. The poinsettia was stamped with "Staz-on" on one side of the acetate and we colored the other side with copic markers. Otherwise mixing Alcohol ink with Staz-on would smear. Sure is a beautiful card. I may just keep this card and frame it. Lis made a beautiful card also that is worthy of being framed....I have a bunch of frames in the basement. That should be one of my projects this winter, framing cards.

Apparently I did not take a picture of the other cards that were made. That will be for another post in a few days. I was only able to make 3 cards....the 4th card, I had to leave otherwise I would be late getting home and making JP's lunch and fixing him something to eat before he leaves for work. Sometimes.....it is just plan hard sharing a car....but in the end, it is cheaper....gas, insurance and car repairs would be doubled I guess.

Well, I guess I will cut this post short....it's getting kind of late and I need to get downstairs and ride my bike for a couple of miles. Been very laxed in doing that lately. I really need to try and lose 10 - 20 pounds this winter. I know I would feel better and maybe my blood sugars would not be so high.

Well you all have a great evening and relaxing Sunday....keep looking up ~ better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

This Week........

Hi there everyone. Hope you are enjoying this wonder fall like weather....I am. I see a lot of yard work in my future these next few weeks. I think I shall have to cut back on some gardening for next year....not so much or so I say now.....lets see if I stick to my guns!!!

So this past week I received a couple of convo's via my Etsy Store. The lady wanted 6 of these flamingo cards, 3 thank you and 3 birthday. I have been diligently working on these cards the last few days....once they are finished I shall put them in my store for her to pick up...hopefully she will follow through. Sometimes I never quite trust someone that has no history of buying from Etsy stores and I seem to be the first one. Oh well, the cards are still mine if she does not pick them up. Oh and plus she wanted a price cut....can you believe that??? I am not sure what people expect, I told her it would take me a week or so, because each card has a lot of work in each card and hand colored too!! So, needless to say, I will not be making that much on these cards.

Today I attended the funeral of this young man....Joshua, the son of our Pastor and his wife Mary. Gosh this was a sad time. He died in a car accident last Sunday. I made this card for Joshua last year when he graduated from High School. Needless to say, there was a very long line of people and most of them friends of Joshua's from school and work. There were pictures surrounding us of Joshua....he lived a full life.....that he did. He will be missed very much.

Here is another big daisy blooming in front of our house. I started this guy from seed. I wonder if heaven is full of Sonflowers?!?!?!

A drawer full of "rose moss"....they are finally starting to bloom. The squirrel likes to dig around here and pull up the little plants......gosh I get so mad at those squirrels.

My swan.....usually she gets geraniums planted in her.....this year....inpatients and just left her in the shade. She is starting to look really pretty.

Last but not least.....a lonely little Black Eyed Susan in amongst star Clementius. Many, many stars and one lonely one daisy.

Here is what the side of my porch looks like right now....is not this gorgeous or what???? When the flowers die and the leaves turn brown, we will cut it all down to it's bare stems, I might cover it with some leaves, but not a lot. She grows like crazy...I even cut her back some  this summer and she took off!!!! Don't do a whole lot of fertilization either, gosh if I did, who knows where she might go...up on the roof?

So this week, I have a mammogram...not looking forward to that. I just don't like my boobs squished....nope, not a whole lot.  The nurse told me it would not hurt as much...my last mammogram was 11 years ago and things have changed a lot. I sure do hope she is not lying to me....don't like liars very much!!!!

Well, time to close, I have some ribs in the oven, slow cooking, it is time to put some BBQ sauce on them, so we can eat about 7:30, kind of late....but the funeral took some time to get through. Then when I got out of the funeral....JP had been waiting in the car, he left the lights on and wore the battery down.....so no juice to get home. Joshua's brother-in-law gave us a jump and we were able to get home....whew, answer to prayer.

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

O.C.T.O.B.E.R.

Well, here we are in October....what happened to the summer???? Did I miss it or something???

I have some really good news.....FINALLY we are going to get some results on our roof. We got a call today that next week will be when they start working on it. Do you want to hear something funny??? It was 3 years ago this month and next week to be exact that we had our roof worked on the last time. Maybe this time, the leak can be caught.....I sure do hope so, I am SO tired of catching water drips from a leaky ceiling.  Rain is predicted for the next couple of days....so hopefully it won't be downpours of rain.

Today I am making the BBQ chicken in the crock pot. I used the marinara sauce adding ketchup, brown sugar and Worchester sauce. Ummmm, it tasted really good. JP will have the chicken over toasted tortilla's, chicken soup, salad and fruit.

I guess in the next few days, I will start bringing in my plants and ceramic animals for the winter. Our first frost will be this weekend...hopefully I will get a few more tomatoes to ripen before that happens.

Well, this will be a short blog for today...you all have a great day tomorrow and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

What's on the Agenda This Week????

Hi there everyone, hope you enjoyed your day. Today was a little chilly, in the 50's and cloudy with a little drizzle....the leaves are falling quickly. Burrrrr it's feeling like cold weather is upon us today. I'm thinking I should start bringing in my ceramic animals soon, so they don't freeze their petunias. Hahahaha!!

Roasting some vegies in the oven right now. This is an old picture, but you get my drift. On the cookie sheet tonight are green peppers, garlic, carrots, zucchini, broccoli and a few tomatoes seasonings are olive oil, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper. I will roast the vegies till done, pour them into a pot of canned tomatoes and cook till tender and soft.

Next step will be to blend with my immersible blender. I might add a little wine to the pot and the rest of the spinach I have in the frig. The finished product will look like this below picture. I will be cooking up some ravioli for JP tonight, along with a salad and garlic bread. If there is any sauce left, I might freeze some and then use some for a pizza.  I noticed on www.mybizzykitchen.com she entered a contest, 1st place is $10,000. "Pizza My Way" Pizza contest by Sebastiani Vineyards.....all you do is make the sauce and crust, take a picture of the pizza and yourself, tell how you made the pizza and enter....Humm...may just try it...."one may never know unless that one tries"

Well, I just tested some roasted vegies and sprinkled a little Parmesan cheese on the vegies. Not bad, not bad at all.

The end of this week.....I think Chinese Dumplings or Potstickers will be on the agenda (hope I can get some in the freezer). I already have the napa cabbage in the fridge....hopefully the cabbage will last that long. If not...there is always some other dish I can make, like cabbage and tomatoes, that's always good.

Festival Foods has a sale on Chicken breasts and Beef Burgundy roasts this week. I found a really easy recipe, called "2-Ingredient Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken" for the crock pot. Chicken breast and BBQ sauce (homemade or bought) cook for 4 hours. The chicken will pull apart....okay I am in for that...anything easy. The beef burgundy roast sounds good too, using this same technique.

For a change in bread, I might try making Pita Bread. Never made Pita bread, but I suspect it will go well with the BBQ Chicken and roast beef.

What else is on the agenda for this week? Make a few cards of course. I found a really neat technique using alcohol inks and glossy cardstock. Should be fun to try it. I have a month to put together 50-75 cards for Hospice....so that should be on my agenda for the month of October.

Ordered some new stamps from Stampin-up. So I will be looking forward to receiving them in the mail. Also ordered a kit to make my own stamp....have been wanting to do something like that, so yes, I will be looking forward to receiving that in the mail also.

Time to close this blog...golly...only one more day left in September.....where oh where is 2014 going too??? Have a great day and keep looking up!!!! Cheers - Louise