Well....wha'du-ya know??????

Hi there everyone.....well....wha'du-ya know???? Came home from church, went on the computer and WOW!!! I had a transaction from Etsy!!! Yay that made my day. It has been awhile since something last sold. Now I just have to wait to see if the transaction goes through and it was not a fluke. I tried emailing the lady and her email failed and did not go through. So I convoed her through Etsy....shall see if she answers. I can tell I am her first seller that she is dealing with. I hate the thought that this could be a scam or something. I just won't send the item till I know the transaction goes straight into my account. Guess I should be a little bit more trusting, but I am not.

Yep.....Monday is upon us again.....GRRRRRRR!!!!!! We have a Net Health nurse coming tomorrow, she is going to check out our meds, do blood pressure checks, blood sugar, check my feet and ask questions, listen to our hearts and what ever else. I guess she will want to know about the tests and operations I had this year too. Oh and talk me into a mammogram....next year thank you after I pay for these past medical bills. Least now, she can't tell me to have a colonoscopy, cause I had that one already.

Tuesday, I have to take my computer in for a check up, it's been over a year since this computer was checked out as it seems a little sluggish on some programs. But on other programs, she works fine. Also, I will have Windows 10 installed professionally. It seems I have to check with HP to see if the settings are okay to install 10....sounded too confusing to me, so I decided to take it in. I possibly will have the Office program installed for $150 and MAYBE the Adobe program too.....not sure as yet. So if you don't see me for a few days, that is why. We are getting an up-grade.

So, here is another funny dog "Monday Morning" picture.....aren't they funny???? Maybe this is what I will look like on Tuesday though. Who knows.

I saw this doggie picture a few months ago....thought he was a cutie....I love fries, I think that is my excuse too...exercise is just too hard, I would rather a few extra fries. I have lost some weight, 40 lbs since last year this time. I do feel better and would like to lose another 10 lbs. But since my Hernia operation, I have noticed a few lbs creeping back on the scale......oh-oh....I better say STOP LOUISE!!!!

But I enjoy my cooking way too, too much....last night I made a roast in the oven with baked potatoes and Brussels sprouts. Oh my, it was delicious. I had marinated the roast for about 30 minutes then sliced some mushrooms and sat the roast on the mushrooms, then covered the roast with tin foil and set the oven at 500 degrees and baked the roast for 10 minutes then turned the oven off and let the roast sit in the oven for 1 hour. After an hour I took it out and OH MY was that meat tender and still pink on the inside, delicious roast!!! Yes, that is the way I shall cook my beef roast from now on....perfecto!!!!

Next Sunday, after church I will be going to a Stampin'Up Camp....can hardly wait. I ordered a stamp set already and got 15% off on the set if I ordered it before the 23rd....so that was a good deal. The stamp set will help me make my Christmas Cards this year, which will be very simple.

Well time to close here.....I was going to make this a short post....but I guess it did not make it into the "short" category, did it??

Have a great week and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

Finally.....Did Some Stampin'

Hi there everyone. Well, FINALLY.....I did some stampin' and marbling. After many moons, finally got downstairs and did something creative. It took me awhile to even get started, don't know why, maybe something in my brain is not firing, who knows what happens to the brain when you are put to sleep for a colonoscopy and hernia surgery, back to back. My motivation has been slow to fire up.....but tonight.....the juices were flowing!!!!

Here is the card I made tonight, kind of a fast one using the "Shaving Cream and ink" technique.  It was really lots of fun, once I got the hang of it. I think next time I may use alcohol inks....might be less messy.

Here's what my left hand looked like after playing with the shaving cream and inks.

Here is a sampling of the different papers. Made quite a few as you can see. I was able to use the shaving cream on quite a few pieces of card stock and got quite a few different colors.

Here's what my right hand looked like after playing the shaving cream and inks.....pretty messy?!?!?!? Oh but lots of fun!!!

What you do is, cover a paper plate with shaving cream then dab the shaving cream with dots of colored inks. Then swirl the cream with a stick to marble it. Lay the card stock on top the shaving cream and press down. Then pull the card stock off the cream. Lay it down on paper towel for a few minutes, then take paper towel and wipe off the cream from the card stock and you will get these lovely marbled pieces of card stock. I added different colors and more shaving cream to get the different affects......but as you can see.....my hands took a beating. Perhaps next time I will use rubber gloves.

Some of the tutorials I watched on YouTube said, alcohol inks would work, acrylic paints and food coloring.....I shall try those also, just to see which is less mess on the hands. This is an old technique, as I found it in a 2002 "Stamp It!" magazine.

I was going to make an apple pie tonight, but decided not to, as I was afraid the pie doe and apples would take on the colors that were on my hands. So I shall wait a day or so, just so the colors will fade from my hands. LOL.

I did manage to make that potato cheese soup this morning....oh yum, was it ever good. Guess I better write down the recipe....it was a keeper.

Well, it is getting late and I need to get some sleep.....I think I wore myself out tonight....did way too much. PLUS I straightened my stamping area and found some mouse droppings.....uge better get out the mouse traps!!!!

Have a good day and keep looking up!!! Cheers ~ Louise

Still Taking It Easy

Hi there everyone. Well, as you can see, I am still taking it easy.....does not this picture below look like a place you would like to be.....forgetting all your worries, fears and woes.....I would love to float in some water in a warm place about now.

Another place to get lost in....some paradise far, far away!!!!!

Yep....we have yet another 3 days in September......this sure has been a tough month for me. I am glad to say I am feeling much, much better. Went to see Doctor Flanagan this last Thursday and she said things are healing well, but I still need to take it easy for another couple of weeks. Guess I never realized how much surgery can take out of us. And then, to have back to back surgeries, the colonoscopy on the 2nd and the hernia surgery on the 3rd. Oh my.....someone told me today at church, that was a lot of different things being pumped into my body....it's no wonder it takes 6-8 weeks to recuperate and get the body back to normal.

Well, I can rest a little bit more I guess.....but I am getting antsy. I am just glad that I am not sick like I had been for the last 9 months....every month I was getting stomach pains, throwing up and diarrhea. The lady at church also said, it sounded like the intestine was strangulated by the hernia and it is a good thing it was caught in time. Yeah....pretty scary I guess.

We stopped at Spranger's Apple orchard today on the way home from church and I got some Mollies and Cortland apples. Both will be good for an apple pie or two. Maybe next week, we will stop for some more, and maybe get a pumpkin for a few pies......yum, does that not sound good???

I am thinking I will make some potato cheese soup tomorrow......sounds good, found a simple recipe for that on www.Cooks.com my go-to recipe place for yummy recipes.

Another thing I will be trying this week is: the shaving cream and ink technique to make backgrounds for my cards....sounds like a fun project.....maybe this is what I need to get me back into making cards again. My inspiration and motivation has been lacking for the last couple of months. Guess I need to get back on the wagon and start making a few cards for my Etsy store and for Hospice. Have not been to a Hospice meeting for over 3 months and the next meeting will be in November.....so I have a little bit of time to make a few cards for that.

Well time to close here and go make some cereal for myself....or something. You all take care and keep looking up! Cheers ~ Louise

Hernia Update and Blue Apron Meals

Hi there everyone. Sorry for the long absence. Guess I just did not feel like doing my blog. My only excuse is having surgery last Thursday for this hernia....I am so amazed how this hernia could cause so much Gut pain and just not feeling well for all these months.

So to update you on the colonoscopy and Hernia Surgery.....

I ended up having a colonoscopy last Wednesday. Dr. Flanigan thought she had seen something more in the CT Scan (from Friday, 8/28, there actually was a cyst on a kidney, 2 gallstones and the hernia was the size of a plum, she also saw a suspicious black spot in the intestine) and wanted to check it out more by having the colonoscopy. Well thank God....there was not anything there. I was so amazed by the Doctor that preformed the procedure. He came into my room before the colonoscopy, told me what he would do and what would be expected and then he asked me if he could pray with me....I said, yes!! I just wanted the peace of God to be with me and he prayed for that. I was far more at ease with this one then I was with the first colonoscopy to say the least. The first one, I woke up in the middle of it and felt the pain in my stomach. The Doctor realized I was awake and put me back to sleep. Guess that is why I just did not want to have another one and managed to put off a second colonoscopy for 14 years!!!!

So the colonoscopy was on the 2nd at 7:30 am. I went home after that about 12:00 and rested the rest of the day. Then came back to the hospital the next day at 5:30am, they prepared me for the operation....the waiting was the hardest and the anticipation. Got to watch TV and they gave me warm blankets. We decided that I would stay the night as I just did not know how JP would be and if he would be able to care for me. We made the right decision.

So they wheeled me into the operating room and prepped me, moving me from one bed to the other. My arms were apparently tied down, the nurse said we are going to give you something......and that is the last thing I knew.

Waking up was not so easy....I remember ice chips being put in my mouth and my name being called quite a few times.....oh the blessed sleep. I finally came to and was wheeled out of recovery into a my room. I did rather enjoy my stay at the hospital. JP showed up about 8 or 9pm and stayed till 10pm. As I said before, I am so glad I stayed at the hospital one extra night. I was able to eat, my first meal was an omelet with cheese, mushrooms and spinach and toast with peanut butter and jelly.

So, I went home about 4:30pm. It was decided that JP should take another day off from work. Dr. Flanigan wrote a day-off permission slip so he could watch me for the evening. He had to take that to his employer, by the time he got back, I was ready to go home.

Well, it has been 9 days since the surgery and yes, I am still in some pain and taking pain pills although not as many as in the beginning. Yesterday, 2 all day and maybe today it will be 2, will see by the time I am ready to go to bed. I am getting around now and walking more each day. Hopefully next week I can take Kylie for a walk.

In the following pictures are some of the meals I was able to muster up. The first one is my absolute favorite, so easy to make. JP helped me by making the vegies. I cooked some chicken in the "Nu-wave" and some quick frozen mashed potatoes. It was a very good meal, although it knocked me out for the rest of the evening. We made this pie on Labor Day, so yeah, it was a Labor of Love!!!!

"Tomato & Goat Cheese Pie"

"Fresh Lemon Linguine with Summer Vegetable Sauce & Seasoned Ricotta"

 

I made this meal on Wednesday....see my new bowl....it's a corel dish, I think the meal looked rather nice. This meal was "okay" probably not one of those meals I would make again. Although I did rather like the idea of making the quick tomato sauce with tomatoes and squash, though I may use zucchini next time.

 

I like that I am getting different ideas on making new dishes. Sort of expanding my horizons.

 

Now this meal was really good, I made it tonight. Loved the Freekeh and the way it was cooked, I shall have to look for it at the stores. Not even sure what nationality it comes from. But yeah....this meal was really good and I am sure JP will like me to make this one again.

"Crispy Catfish & Freekeh with Corn-Cherry Tomato Saute &Marjoram"

My next box from Blue Apron comes this Thursday...I am looking forward to it and it will have some great new recipes. If you are interested in receiving a free box of food from Blue Apron, let me know as I was given a chance to give 3 friends a box of food. Just leave a comment that you are interested and I will send your email to Blue Apron Here is their site.



Kylie, nesting on my chair with our new purple blankey, that both of us enjoy.

Last but not least here is Kylie, being a good nurse to her mommy. She has liked that I have hung around the house with her.

 

Well, I better close this blog down....it has gotten pretty long and wordy I suspect....but hey...it's been 16 days since I last posted...must be a record for me.

 

You all have a good evening and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise