Hello?? Anyone There????

Hi there everyone. I know, I know, it has been awhile...like January 7th that I last blogged??? I have no excuses, just trying to live life without Jay and wonder what my next step is and still try to keep sane in an insane world!!!

In the above picture, those are my Lilly of the Valleys, always pick and bring them in for a touch of spring in the kitchen to look at whilst I do the dishes. And even though JP is not here, for some reason I "still" have many dishes to do???? But eventually they do get done, in phases.

I have been doing some cards here and there. Still make cards for Heartland Hospice along with a few other ladies. The last couple of months we have been able to meet together, otherwise we were following "Covid 19 Protocol" and not meeting or just dropping cards off at a place and they were picked up by the Card Coordinator.

The cards above were from a "Stamping Up" kit from 2017. It was a fun kit, apples, strawberries and blueberry cards. I still have some checked background left over so I can make more cards like this. 

The card below is a die I have had for years....makes for a very pretty card. I can't remember how I made the colored background. Experimental ideas using different techniques that get stuffed in a box and forgotten about. This is going to be my challenge this summer...take old dies and stamped images and turn them into cards. I really have a lot of stuff. AND, 3 months to make cards for Hospice meeting September 2nd. I have a feeling that time will go FAST!!!! 

Below are my Irises that grow in the front yard. It was so windy the last couple of days that the poor flowers blew over. So, I cut them down and brought them in to enjoy for a few days. I have so much to do around this house. The neighbor next store cuts the grass in the front of the house. During the winter he was shoveling the snow. I will tend to the backyard with my manual push mower....I can handle that. If I do a little bit each day, I may catch up, by that time it will be fall.

I am going to make a few more of these cards, so pretty and they can be any kind of card I want them to be. The one below is a sympathy card. I am going to use a Thank you card like this for the main post picture. You should see it in the next day or so.

So my life has been up in the air for the last 10 months since Jay's death. I have not been able to handle being a "widow" that still sounds foreign to me. I have been told not to make any big decisions for at least 1 year. After that, not sure where I am going. What with the way this world is going, do any of us know where we are headed?? I only know, through this all, my faith in Jesus Christ and Him Crucified is the only way to go...there is much comfort in knowing him as Lord and Savior of my Life. I think I am learning how to depend on Him and Him alone...which is where He wants us all to be. 

That being said, I shall close here. Hopefully I can keep up with this blog and add new cards maybe once a week. I have moved my stamping space from the basement to Jay's old room. So it is handy just to walk in, sit down and make a few cards. Works for me and I don't have to climb stairs.

You all take care and take JESUS!!! ~ Louise
 

Happy Birthday, Flowers, a Cake, Food and Captain Serious

Hi there everyone. Hope you are having a good Merry Month of May. My month has been VERY shaky, to say the least. I try to tell myself everyday the above Meme.....but I am only human, not perfect as yet. As much as I want to give up, I can't. JP is wanting to give up, as he is very tired of all these physical and mental health issues he faces daily.

JP's birthday was yesterday, 17th, he is now 74 yrs old....yep an old man now. He got a 3 birthday cards, a call from his brother in Hoffman Estates, and a few birthday wishes from the doctor's office. I bought him a new pair of slippers that look like street shoes, he can slip them on and off with very little effort. Never got a chance to make a card for him. Forgot the cheese cake in the freezer....tonight will be okay I guess.😍

This week-end was really a tough one. I had to call the fire dept. to help me pick JP up off the floor in the bathroom. We were doing a Cath. and over he fell, that was early Saturday morning. Then early Sunday morning, I had to call again (as per his nurse that comes weekly). This time he was transported to the ER. All his vitals are perfect, BUT he needs his meds changed, the Doctor in ER says he has dementia. There needs to be a follow-up with the regular doctor and the physiatrist.

Above is a picture of my pretty tulips that opened up like roses, they are so pretty in the sun light. 💓

To continue on with JP's problems and mine, (as I am the caregiver). JP has had 4 eye doctor appointments. All confirming he has Melanoma in his right eye. The next appointment will be in Green Bay at St. Vincent's Hospital. Do not know when that will be as yet. If you would please pray for JP. We are living day by day, I just can't go any farther then the next hour.🙏🙏🙏

This was a cute Valentine's cake I got for JP......sorry to say, he was really GOOD!!! He was devoured in a day!!!😊

So once I find out when the appointment is, Community Care will find a ride for us up to the Hospital in Green Bay and home again. (I hope). The last two trips to ThedaCare Hospital in Neenah, a car-pool picked us up.....really nice people, and they helped me get JP in the car too. So helpful (the first ride, the second ride, the caregiver and car driver both got JP in the car).

In these two pictures, is a meal I made for JP. He has to have soft food, so I thought stuffed peppers would be good on a sheet pan. It's just hamburger, rice, egg, bread crumbs and seasonings stuffed in green peppers. The asparagus has oil, salt and pepper then I cut up onion, covering the asparagus. Oh and those orange strips are sweet potatoes. So everything was soft, then I covered his food with gravy. The above picture is before it was baked, below after it was baked. Yummy meal. 👍👌😀

I guess I will be getting help to find a place for JP to live, where he will get 24/7 care. He is getting very hard for me to care for and I am losing sleep, staying up with him during the nights to make sure he does not do anything crazy, like fall. 

On Monday's, Wednesday's and Friday's a caregiver comes to watch JP for 3 hours, while I can go to the store, or just get away for some free time. 

On Monday's a landscaper comes to cut our grass. (the neighbor took advantage of the situation (yesterday) and had the landscaper cut his grass also).👎I did not like that situation, but who am I???? My other neighbor did not think that was right either, because this neighbor is capable of doing it himself!!!!! Oh well, that is people for ya'!!! I asked the landscaper if this neighbor paid him and yes he did. I just did not want this neighbor getting a free grass cut on my dime....you know what I mean????👎💢😝

So now I guess we just wait to see what happens next. Tomorrow, I have an appointment at 11am to get my blood drawn for the A1C...it's been 6 months since the last one. At that time, the A1C was 6.3 which was good, I have a feeling it will be much higher with all that has been going on.....I hope not though. JP has an appointment at 10:30 with the doctor as a follow-up from his ER visit. Also the eye doctor wants JP's doctor to know what is going on. Sure glad they keep in contact....I have had to explain everything, cause JP can't remember anything.😢😭😩

Thursday, I have to take the car in for it's oil and grease job plus get some new tires for the front. JP says I do not need to do that, that they are fine. I am still going to have them checked. JP has not driven the car 5-6 months now. I do the driving. They will have the car for most of the day. Then call when it is ready and they will pick me up in the car, driving back to the service station, then I can have the car.

At 2pm I have a virtual meeting with our Insurance Co. to up-date  our insurance....hopefully there won't be a lot of changes and the price won't change much.

Friday the caregiver will come at 1pm, hopefully giving JP a shower and clean clothes and I can take off for a few hours. She also washes my dishes, if there are any (which there usually is), she vacuums, washes the floor, cause JP pees the bathroom floor a lot. She folds towels, doing little things in keeping this place clean. She is a real help.😌😌😌Much relief to me.

So this handsome hockey player is in need of prayer. 🙏🙏🙏He plays for the Chicago Blackhawks and he is the Captain of the team. He has been out of commission this whole season. He has been dealing with an illness that has not been diagnosed as yet. His complaint is that he is weak and lethargic and nothing else has been said. His name is Jonathon Toews. The Blackhawks did not make it to the Play-offs this season. Covid 19 messed things up for all the teams. Well, the next season starts in October and hopefully Covid 19 is just a passing thought.

Time to close here, if you are still with me, I hope you will pray 🙏🙏🙏 what the world needs most is prayer, never ending prayer!!!!

You all take care and keep looking up....better days are coming and when the trump sounds we are on our way to meet JESUS!!! 

Cheers ~ Louise

PS had lots of fun playing with the emojies today....you just may see them a lot more!!!💚💛💜💙💖

Is It Still 2020????

Hi there everyone. Hope you are having a good year so far. This might be a short blog, or it might be a long blog, depends on how wordy I am today.

January has really been a very eventful month so far and not completely for the good. Oh there were a few blessings along the way for sure, January has not completely bottomed out yet.

One awesome blessing I received was that I was gifted with a Simple Living Air Fryer!!! I had been wanting one for 6 months. But never really had the money (figured I had to wait for the stimulus)....first things first, the bills have to get paid first. I really love this air fryer. I have made french fries, potato chips, steak and mushrooms (yum), chicken, hamburgers and onions. Oh and I boiled small potatoes cut them in half, then mashed them, sprayed them, seasoned them and put them in the fryer, 15 minutes @ 400 degrees. After cooking, topped the crunchy potatoes with sour cream.....oh yeah, happy days!!!

A fellow blogger, My Bizzy Kitchen sent me this air fryer via Amazon. It was such a surprise, and I am really enjoying it. Dinner tonight will be chicken and those mashed potatoes. YUM!!!! Thank you Biz, I love this machine and have figured out how to work it.

Another blessing is "Weatherization" came into my house to do some work. More insulation in the attic, 2 new fire alarms and a carbon monoxide alarm. They changed 24 energy efficient light bulbs. Checked out the furnace. AND, this Friday I will be receiving a brand new Energy Star Refrigerator. My refrigerator is 15 years old. So this will be a good thing. I have to clean it and empty it of it's contents...of course, figured I would do that tomorrow and as long as it is cold, I can keep things outside. I shall see. 

Looks like this blog is becoming a wordy one, cause the really big problem we had this month is JP has been in the hospital since last Thursday. Dinner on Wednesday (13th) was french fries and a hot dog, bun and soup. JP's habit is not to eat things hot, so the food sat on the table for an hour till it was cold. He was eating the hot dog, did not chew it completely and swallowed it whole. Then he started chocking and spitting up, this went on all night. Little did we know he was close to pneumonia also. I called 911 about 7:30 am. (14th)JP was taken to the hospital and he has been there ever since. He might be home today, but I have not heard as yet. He is dealing with a few other issues and I guess they are working on those also. 

With Covid 19, I am not able to visit JP at the hospital, which makes it even harder and I have to go by what the Doctor or nurses say. I probably should call the nurses desk today. The last nurse I talked to did not give a whole lot of info. JP calls every day, but he kinda skims over things and can't remember a lot.

I have managed to clean a bit around the house, looks pretty nice right now. Dishes done, wash pretty much done, shopped last night so there is food in the house. Vacuumed, dusted etc. Not sure I will have time to do much when he comes home. I guess my new job description is "care giver". Guess it was that all along, but I did not realize that.

Another sad thing happening, my Chicago Blackhawks have not won a game yet. 4 games played and the same 4 games lost. They came close to winning last night, but hey, there is 52 games yet to play. I shall root for them through it all. I am sure there will be some wins along the way.

So now you know why I titled this blog...."is it still 2020"  personally I don't think 2020 left. 2021 is just a continuation of 2020. Not sure I am liking this New Year, it's not started out on the RIGHT FOOT....get it??? Lol

I am cooking some green pea soup with a ham bone in it. I am getting whiffs of it right now, can hardly wait. Think I will look up a recipe and see what spices I should put in it. So you all take care and stay safe from the Covid. If you think about it, do pray for JP and I. Just not sure what is around the corner for us. Keep looking up cause better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Flowers, Bunny, Curbs, and Hockey

Hi there everyone ~ how you all doing??? Well I thought I would try to get one more blog done in July....have been very negligent in my blogging this year...guess there's not a lot to write about during a quarantine. But, little by little things are getting back to normal, what ever that is?!?!? 

So, here are a few flowers growing in my garden...above is my new Walmart Hibiscus plant....so pretty!! It is in a pot, so hopefully I will be able to keep it for the winter in the front room window.

These are my purple clematis's, always so pretty to watch them grow. They are also growing by my front porch.

This is my choir of Bee Balm....aren't they pretty? It's either the flowers or leaves that tea can be made from....I will have to check that out on the internet. Yep....you can make tea with both the flowers and leaves. I will have to go out tomorrow and collect some flowers and make tea. Some of the benefits of Bee Balm, the tea has the capability to cure cold and flu, coughing, nasal problems, nausea, digestive problems, headache, vomiting and other common sicknesses. 

I wonder, do you think Bee Balm could cure Corona Virus???

A bunny in the back yard....he seemed pretty tamed, cause he didn't move to fast when I came up on him. Too interested in what he was eating I guess.

So on the 21st of this month the new curbs went in. We still cannot get out of our driveway though. We never got the memo that the curbs were being done, "park your car on the side street." So we sit, hopefully this week, things will change and I can get out to do some shopping. We are running low on a few things.

Oh YAYYYYY! Hockey is starting August 1st. This covid 19 sure did ruin a lot of lives. I can't imagine how it was for all these hockey players being quarantined and not be able to play the game they love and enjoy!!! I really missed hockey. But now it is coming back and hopefully the Blackhawks will win the Stanley Cup. There will be 24 teams vying for the cup, I am praying for a good outcome. Least they made it to the playoffs...even if it was by default.

Well, I guess it is time to close this blog for a few days or weeks. It seems July was not to busy....which is fine with me. The weather has been really hot, running in the 90's and all I want to do is just keep cool. I found the basement is cooler, so I have spent some time down there. Although I should be spending time doing cards....rather watch TV. I better get cutting though, cause our first Hospice meeting since March will be meeting September 4th. 

Take care and keep looking up.....better days are coming. 
Cheers~ Louise