The Last Week of February

 Hi there everyone....hope you are having a great February. I am still living in 2020 I guess. No new changes and we are just plodding along going from day to day.

Here is a "little funny" I found today on another blog. Made me laugh a little bit....yeah, that's me alright. Might be good enough to put on Facebook too.

Things have not progressed a fast as I would like, JP is still a very needy person and just about all my waking hours are about him. As I sit here looking at my desk calendar, we have been very busy with nurse visits, Doctor visits, Hospital procedures, and Catherization's. I cringe at the thought of what the Dr. and Hospital bills will look like when they start filing into my home. 

I think the nurse visits will end this Thursday and two Doctor appointments so far in March, after that I am not sure what will happen. I know we are going from short term care to long term care. We will have nurses coming again, BUT they will be helping me with taking care of JP. and giving me, the caregiver, time off to take care of things that need to be done for Louise. Not sure yet what that is but I will take it.

JP will now go on Medicade, not sure what that all entails, but I will pay $29 a month home care and if there is reason to put him in assisted living that will be taken care of (I think) I might have to also pay room and board, but at this point, not sure how much. I Do have a few people walking me through this, thank God for the ADRC. Time will tell how this all pans out. Will keep you updated.

In the mean time.....who are these people????? They all live in France. Stephanie (2nd from right) owns a beautiful Chateau de LaLande. She started a YouTube Channel just before this pandemic started. Stephanie has been a blessing to many, many people around the world. All these other people in this picture are people that help Stephanie and live with her at the Chateau. From Right to left, Selmar (jack of all trades), Stephanie, Phillip (another jack of all trades), Marie (in the back, married to a 2nd co-owner of the Chateau, in the forefront her son, Antone) Behind Antone, Mari (Florest and cook), Nati (assistant for Stephanie). Behind Nati is Michael (#1 co-owner of the Chateau) and then David who visits and helps with designing of the garden and lake.

They all have a place and do what needs to be done to renovate this beautiful Chateau. Just type in: "Stephanie at The Chateau Diaries" and this will take you to all her Vlog videos. Once you go to her channel, you may be hooked and go to all of her other videos. A very lovely, gracious woman who knows how to bring the best out of everyone she meets.

Here are some cute little squirrls.....they need a caption: this one...."Shoot da puck!!!" What is your caption????

This one is: Yeahhhhhhh the Hawks Winnnnnnnnnnn!!!!! What's your caption????

Yep....Hockey game tonight. Hawks are playing the Columbus Blue Jackets. (note: you know how the Columbus Blue Jackets got their name??? That's where the Civil war uniforms were made for the North...Columbus, Ohio.....interesting fact....eh???)

So anyways the Hawks play tonight, I shall have to watch hockey on the internet at Volokit.com, the game is streamed with lots of buffering at times, once the buffering stops then I can watch the game in enjoyment.

If you haven't noticed, my You Tube visits and Hockey are my "get-a-way" places where I can forget the problems of the day. Well you all have a great rest of the day and also a great rest of the month of February. Take care and keep looking up, better days are just around the corner!!!!! Cheers ~ Louise

Secret Stamper Images Pt. 2

Hi there everyone....how's life by you? Well, here we are the first day of Summer!!! Hip-hip-hoo-ray!!! The weather is lovely today, I like it when the weather is in the 70's....so comfortable.

So in my last post I said, I would continue my secret stamper images in 3-4 days....today is day 4 so I thought I better get my rear in gear and do what I said I would do.....(gosh there sure are a lot of "I's" in that last sentence.....6 I's!!! 

November....Tis Thanksgiving of course. I sent the turkey, my card is on the right, secret stamper card is on the left. My background is a napkin....one of my favorite ways of making a card. Glue card stock with a glue stick then layer the card stock with a single layer of the napkin and smooth it out like you would with wallpaper. Makes for a nice effect. I have quite a collection of napkins for every season just about.

December......I sent the green wreath...my card is on the right and secret stamper is on the left. I am always amazed at how the secret stamper comes up with a completely different idea....always fun to see.

In January, I sent the spider holding a heart, thinking in advance for Valentine's Day of course. I liked her little verse. "Your friendship lifts my heart!"

February, I was thinking ahead to Easter with my card on the right and secret stamper on the left. I sent the background. She came up with a great idea for sure.

For March, I sent the green frog. I love this card..."I am hiding, can you find me?" The frog was a digital off the Internet. I cut him out then layered him, cutting his leg and eyes out, then layered him on some succulent patterned paper. My card is on the right, her card is on the left. 

April was the Dragonflies. I had a bunch of these dragonflies colored in, so I thought it would be fun to see what the secret stamper would come up with. My card is on the right, hers on the left.

So there you have it....we have started a new session already....May and June with July coming up. I better start thinking about what I will send to my secret stamper for July. Something summery, I am sure!!!

If you have noticed on my blog....I have not added any more cards to my Etsy store. The items that are still in the store all expire in September. After that, I will be closing my store. I will have been on Etsy 10 1/2 years and only had 67 items sold. I have decided, it's not worth it for me anymore. Everything is for a season, and I guess my season on Etsy has passed. Etsy is also making a few changes and I guess I just don't feel like jumping through the hoops with more learning curves....nope, not no more. That's okay, I was never much of a good entrepreneur. I have tried many times to sell things. I have made cards, crafts, etc. grown vegies and sold eggs, or sold for someone else (ie. Mason Shoes, Herbalife). Guess I am just not a good salesperson. So, I guess for now on...I will just donate or give away.....that's what people like much better, everything for free. Maybe I have been dealing with a bunch of liberals and didn't realize it. Now a days….you just don't know.

On that note, I will close this post for today. Stay tuned, next post will be either about my little garden or the cards we made at Betty's. Talk later, have a great evening and keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

WOW ~ Last Day of February!!

Hi there everyone. Hope you are enjoying the last day of February. Where did that time go. Was keeping busy with card making, organizing income taxes, losing weight on the Atkins/Keto diet and keeping my blood sugars down. Yeah, it's been an okay month. Looks like March will come in like a lion with cold....hopefully go out like a lamb.

The above card is a sample of a birthday card I made for the oldest nephew...he'll be 9 years old. I will take a picture of the card in a few days. I decided to make 4 of these cards for the 2 nephews and 2 nieces. That will make things easy, won't have to think of 3 more ideas.....keep it simple, sam!!!

So our back yard is in very bad shape. It flooded out.....what a mess!! This is the worse, it has ever been in the 26 years we have lived here.  We live in the lowest part of the block. So all the rain water drains into our yard. Last year was bad, but not as bad as this. 

It rained all night last week and the water spread into the pond area. The yard was under water completely. Thank God it did not spread into our basement. I can't imagine what people are going through when there houses are under water.

Looks like an ice skating rink....now if I had some ice skates, I could have tried it out!! This would have been great when I was younger....I loved ice skating, but I fell in a hole and sprained my ankle and never skated again.

The flooding spread back into my fire pit area. There's no grass growing back there, now I think the whole back yard will be like the fire pit area. I put some grass seed down last summer....but nothing grew. Guess I will try again.

As of the last couple of days, the weather has been in the 40's so the ice melted quite a bit. Our yard is starting to look normal again. I will be glad when Spring arrives and things start turning green again.

I have some good news about my Atkins/Keto diet. This morning, when I checked my blood sugars, I write everything down on a sheet. Also figured is my weight. So, I lost 1 pound in February....that's not much. BUT when I started this diet on 7/5/17....the grand loss is now 22 lbs. Not bad for this old girl. My Doctor will be happy. Hopefully my A1C will be in the low numbers too.

Well, time to close here. Have to go finish working on my taxes. You have a great day March 1st...hope the Lion does not roar too loudly in your area of the country. Keep looking up ~ better days are coming, soon!! Cheers ~ Louise

February ~ What's UP!!!

Hi there everyone. Wow....February and what's up??? Thought I would add another picture of the peony stamp I bought from Altenew. This one looks like it might be a water color rendition of the peony. Looks like fun. I do have the die cut that goes along with this stamp. So most definitely I will have to try this effect.

Started working on my income tax....first I have to go through the files, cleaning everything from 2017 out and start the year fresh....out with the old and in with the new I always say!!! (and I have a lot of OLD to throw out ~ upstairs, downstairs and in the garage.) Maybe 2018 will be my "throw out the junk year." After living in this house for almost 27 years, we have a lot of old to throw out, no doubt.

Otherwise, it looks like February will be quiet....for now. I really need to get some cards made.....looks like Valentines day is coming up soon, an anniversary and birthday at the beginning of March. 

Hospice meeting March 2nd....things might be a bit easier this month. As I finally made labels to place in the cards rather then the regular inserts. So if there happens to be a card with a saying inside, rather then take it out and replace with the Hospice insert, I can just place a label at the bottom of the saying. This might save some time, making life easier.

Well, think I will close here for now....it's 12:03am....time to go to bed. You all take care and keep looking up....better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

There is Still Time.....

Hi there everyone. Well....it's Friday, where did this week go to??? So fast, the days are going. We are so busy wishing our lives away, always looking forward to the next season, the next day off, the next vacation, the next holiday, the next meal, the next football season, the next I-phone, the next, the next, etc. It's no wonder the days and weeks fly by so fast.

There is still time to leave a comment on my blog to get your name added to the bowl to receive this lovely vintage looking Valentine Card....just for you!!! Yes, Sunday, February 8th I will pick 4 names from the bowl, every comment left is a chance to win. So if you have left 6 comments, that is 6 chances to win....2 comments, two chances. I will contact those that won on Sunday night. If I have your address, then great, if not I will need your address to send this card. On the 9th I will post the winners who won. Who knows, if all works out.....I may just do this for St. Patrick's Day also.


Been busy making St. Patrick cards....and getting ready for Hospice on March 6th. Need to have put together about 75 cards, St. Patrick, Easter, Thinking of you and Thanks You's.  What's really been fun is that I can still use my heart punch to make the shamrocks....such fun, each shamrock requires 3 hearts and the stem is punched out with the heart punch also. I will show you the St. Patrick cards later ,as that will be for another post in a week or so.

Not much going on at the moment. Started the income tax dance....that always takes me awhile to get motivated to do....tend to procrastinate on it, I have to have my part done by March 10th and then take the paper work to the accountant to finish. No.....I cannot do my own....it's so hard to understand the language on the tax forms, I would mess it all up. Better to have someone who knows what they are doing.

Well, time to close here, need to go to bed. It's 2:05am. So good night and I hope Friday, February 6th is a good one for you all. Keep looking up!!!  Cheers ~ Louise

Comfort Food....Yummmmm!!

Hello everyone....how you all doing today??? Well, this is the last day of January, now where did this month go??? Onward and forward to February and possibly a bit of a warmer month???

In the midst of all this cold and snow and stuff, I made some "Comfort Food" today. Don't ask me why this is comfort, but it is something that was made alot when I was growing up. Mostly in my teen years, when my mother married into a Ukranian family. Not even sure what this is called....but I sure did like it, and now it tastes even better.

Umm....I will just call it "Fried Bacon and Hot Cabbage Slaw" So today, this is the way I made it: (I say today, because the recipe changes from time to time, but this is the basic recipe.
1 Tablespoon bacon grease (or fry some bacon and use that for this dish)
2/3 cup broken up pieces of bacon
1/2 head of shredded cabbage
1 small onion sliced (this can be optional)
1/2 cup marinara sauce (I used the rest of my left over vegie marinara sauce)
1/4 cup of water

So I fried the bacon and grease in a Dutch Oven. When hot added the cabbage and onions and mixed with the bacon and grease. After the cabbage is cooked down a bit add the marinara sauce and water (you can also omit the marinara sauce and just do the bacon and cabbage alone and it is goooooood). Turn down the heat to simmer and cover. The heat from the dutch oven will keep the cabbage cooking. Ready to serve right away. It didn't take long to make cause I was dishing it up for JP's lunch in no time, along with fish and potatoes and a smoothie.

Boy this was a good recipe. Yummy and very comforting. I am not sure what the calorie content is, but it is good and filling. Well, I am going to close now and go finish my dishes. Tonight I am going to make some cards for my Etsy store....maybe a set of 6 birthday cards. Talk to you later and keep warm and cozy with some of your favorite comfort food. Cheers ~ Louise

OOOhhhhh...Doing the Etsy Tap Dance in the Cold!!!

Hi everyone.......hope you all are keeping warm these last couple of days. I didn't leave the house "a-tall" Nope, too cold for me. The weather is going to warm up by this weekend, maybe 20-30 degrees warmer then it has been, (shorts weather here in WI). I was listening to a weatherman the other day on the radio and he said that after the warm-up, in 10-15 days there will be another "polar vortex" coming through and we'll have -0 degree + weather again....oh uge. I hope he is wrong. The up-side of this cold? February and March tend to be a bit warmer by 10 - 20 degrees.

Well, today I am doing the Etsy Tap Dance!!!! Yayyyyyyy!! Sold these leaves today PLUS 275 more leaves. The lady ordered 12 packs of 25 leaves!!!!!

So, as soon as I get done reporting my sale, I shall go downstairs and punch out some more leaves. I might already have 150 leaves punched out. While doing the leaves, I am also punching hearts out....that may be something someone could use for Valentine's. Have to think ahead all the time. Maybe I will do some stars too.

Tomorrow I will take the package to the Post Office and have it weighed to find the exact postage. Then contact the lady, letting her know the leaves are finished and she can buy them on my Etsy store. Then off they will go to her home residence in sunny CA. (maybe I should pack myself up in that envelope too...hahahaha!!!!

Well, time to close and get cracking on this sale. So keep looking up and keep warm, sunshine and warmer weather is right around the corner.
Cheers ~ Louise

February~~What's on Your Calendar??

Does You Sink Anybodis Can Sees Meeee?

So I am sitting here, watching the Baltimore Ravens and San Fransisco 49er's. I really didn't care who win's.......but now I seem to be rooting for the Ravens.....mostly because the 49er's beat the Packers!! BUT, the lights went out and now the 49er's got 2 touch downs within minutes........Boooooooo!!! Gosh those 49'ers are so cocky!!! Well, I am still hoping for the Ravens. I will let you know who wins at the end of this blog. It just may take that long for me to finish. One thing is for sure, I am sure loving these commercials.....just saw the one for RAM....Paul Harvey speaking about "God Made a Farmer" that was a good one!!!! Go Ravens!!!!!!!

So, what's on your calendar this month??? My calendar is pretty much blank at this point, but for sure I have to get my taxes done this month. Gosh I hate that job of getting everything together to itemize. Once I get going and get organized I will be okay....it's just getting started that is the hardest.

Kylie has an appointment to get her "shower and shave" on the 7th, hope it is a nice day and no snow. I think we have had enough for a while, would be fine with me if it all melted. Well, it will be 2 months since we had Hyko put to sleep, I still have not gotten over it, and Kylie still looks for her friend. She does not like to be alone. I bought Kylie a little white doggie for Christmas and she really likes it. I think she needs a white doggie for downstairs to keep her company when we are gone. Maybe I will make a trip to Thrift store this week to find her a stuffed friend to keep her company. (oh oh 49ers just scored again!).

The second Tuesday of each month I usually go to Betty's for card making, $14 to make 4 cards. 9am is pretty early for me, especially when I go to bed at 2:30am in the mornings. Once I get rolling I am fine. I like going there, cause I get lots of good ideas and the fellowship is good too. I have some cards that I am working on....birthday cards for little kids. Once I get some done and under my belt, I shall post them here and in my Etsy store. I bought some punched out balloons in multi-colors to add to my "Kid Birthday Cards", looking forward to receiving them soon. Will be sending out my Valentine cards in a few days, certainly have alot made and some new ones in my Etsy store: www.cards4ubylouise.etsy.com

I guess one of the things that needs to be taken care of this month, is a Dr. appointment for me. Had my blood done on the 14th of Jan and tests came back that my blood was elevated. Dr. wanted me to come in to see him.....have not made an appointment as yet, why is that always hard to do. Not too anxious to see him, my blood pressure always goes up when I have to see him. We joke that it's the "white coat syndrome" but he usually does not wear a white coat. I think just the thought of seeing him, my body stresses!!! Hey did you know that "stressed" spelt  backwards is "desserts" maybe that is what I need to eat before I go into the Dr's office...a delicious dessert!!! Maybe not, my blood sugars would probably skyrocket!!!!

The score: Bal 34 ~ SF 31 in the 4th with 1.42 seconds to go....................Go Ravens!!!!! What an intense game....11 seconds to go....now 4sec. Looks like SF is praying really, really hard, such intense looks on the faces of the players........who's going to win?????? RAVENS WIN!!!!!!!!! NEXT YEAR'S WINNER'S IT'S THE GREEN BAY PACKERS!!!!!!! GO PACK!!!!

Time to close this blog for tonight and get it up for tomorrow. You all have a great week and a great month, hope it is not too stressed.....if so, have lots of DESSERTS to counter act the stress! So keep looking up for  your redemption draws nigh. Cheers ~ Louise