JP's 71st. Birthday!!!

Hi there everyone. Hope you are enjoying May....it's going quite fast isn't it? Well, we celebrated JP's 71st birthday on Wednesday....just him and I. His brother called in the morning and sent a card also. This is the card I gave JP....a vintage boy wishing him a Happy Birthday. He wondered who that was, and if that was him?!?! NO JP....not you!!! I didn't make it specifically for him, it's just one of the many cards I've made, that I happened to like, so I gave it to him.

This is the present I gave him, you probably have seen it on TV. Got it for $40, it has the whole Bible on it and plays continuously till you stop it or change the verse or chapter. It also has some meditation songs on it. I am sure JP will not listen to the songs, but I will. Sorry the picture is so blurry...but you get the drift.

It's King James Version. So JP likes that, and the voice of the reader has a slight English accent....which I like. Easy listening.

I bought JP this little 6" New York Cheese Cake from Festival Foods. Lite a candle and he blew it out....make a wish, I said, and he gave me the stink eye and said that was superstition!!! Oh geez Jay.....then name a blessing!!!

This sure was a yummy cheese cake, will buy this again. Only $6.99. It was on sale....so I am not sure what the regular price was....but for a birthday cake for two...not bad.

See the cards in the back? The one on the left is the one I gave him...the middle one, his brother gave him, the one on the right, our insurance man gave.

So here we are, piece's of cake cut with strawberries and whip cream. No calories here, right????

This is what is left.....actually half of that cake left, JP had another piece last night and this afternoon....probably another piece tonight. OOOOO and I have to have a piece too!!!

Tomorrow I am going to a plant sale, hope I can find the same tomato plants I got last year.....they were the best tomatoes ever!!! "Beef Steak", the plants got SO BIG and had over 50 tomatoes, that was 3 plants. Maybe this year I will get 2 plants.....it was a very good year for tomatoes!!!

I think we are going to have a nice weekend....so I may work in the yard and try and clean things up a bit. Bring my ceramic animals out from the shed. There's enough for me to do....maybe too much. If I take a little bit at a time, it won't be bad, but I want it all done right away. So I can enjoy the summer, is that possible???

Time to close here...the Schwan's Man will be coming soon and Hockey is tonight, the Vegas Golden Knights and Winnipeg Jets....it should be a good game!! Kylie wants to go for a walk too.

Talk to you all later, keep looking up cause better days are coming, whether here, there, or in the air!!! Cheers ~ Louise

PS How do you like my new background.....I needed a change and a new look. You may see me change the background many times. BlogSpot was so limited in their designs, Glad I found this site. I have about 26 new backgrounds to try...so stay tuned!!!
http://thecutestblogontheblock.com

Fall Flowers and a Steak Dinner

Hi there everyone.....WOW can you believe it????? October 1st....where oh where did September go??? I always remember that song that Frank Sinatra sang...at this time of the year.

"September Song"
When I was a young man courting the girls

I played me a waiting game
If a maid refused me with tossing curls
I'd let the old Earth make a couple of whirls
While I plied her with tears in lieu of pearls
And as time came around she came my way
As time came around, she came

When you meet with the young girls early in the Spring
You court them in song and rhyme
They answer with words and a clover ring
But if you could examine the goods they bring
They have little to offer but the songs they sing
And the plentiful waste of time of day
A plentiful waste of time

Oh, it's a long, long while from May to December
But the days grow short when you reach September
When the autumn weather turns the leaves to flame
One hasn't got time for the waiting game

Oh, the days dwindle down to a precious few
September, November
And these few precious days I'll spend with you
These precious days I'll spend with you

Well, now a trip to my yard of Fall Flowers. My yellow rose (of Texas). She doesn't get very big during the summer but she sure does produce some beautiful flowers.

I bought these two mum plants at Walmart @ $1 a piece....and just thought to plant them together....thinking I better go out and give them a little bit of water after I do this post.

This is my gorgeous star Clementius....I am not sure that is her real name but she sure does produce some luscious flowers.

My Black Eyed Susan's just keep producing all Summer and Fall long and surprise me growing in different places.

My $5 mum plant....I bought this one at Festival Foods. I need to plant it pretty soon.

Last but not least.....a Blue Apron meal, we had the other night. Seared Steaks and Roasted Potatoes with Balsamic-Glazed Mushrooms. This was really a delicious dinner and the meat was really tender, potatoes crispy and the mushrooms out of this world. Nothing is mentioned in the title about the fried kale.....that was pretty good too.

I haven't talked much about my Blue Apron meals, only because I have not been ordering them that much. I have been very picky and choosey with what I buy. JP does not like spicey, so my options are usually limited. Blue Apron likes to spice things up a bit. So I either cut it out or add just a little.....but if he can taste the spice, he does not eat it. The older he gets the harder it is to cook for him. So....sometimes it is just best to stick with the basics that have no spice.

Well, I best cut this post short.....have to go walk Kylie while it is still light out and then get dinner cooked. I do have a new recipe to share with you. Maybe in my next post. A Power Pressure Canning XL recipe....Pasta Puttanesca in 6 Minutes. It was soooooo good!!!

Tomorrow we find out the results of JP's test from his Prostrate Biopsy last Monday. The appointment is at 12:15 so please keep us in your prayers.

Have a great day and keep looking up better days are coming.

Cheers ~ Louise

Hey.....7 Days into March Already!!!

Hi there everyone!!! Wow....7 days into March already, "time do fly by fast when we're having a good time???" I'm not so sure about that saying and if I believe it.  As I sit here typing and looking at my calendar, which is right be side my computer. The days are filled and I guess I have been busy.

Today we took our income tax stuff to the accountant. I have been going through papers, bills, receipts, etc. since February and working right up until this past Saturday (with a lot of procrastination in between) I finally finished.....YAY!!! We celebrated with a piece of chocolate cake last night. No, it didn't look like this....but was just as good.

Today we celebrated again by stopping at "The Taste of Windy City" and got fries, Gyro and Windy City Special with hamburger and gyro meat.....whew....the special was all I ate for today, filled me up good!!!

A tray of food at the Taste of Windy City in Appleton.

Windy City's Gyro and the fries below.

I think when we go to pick up our tax stuff.....and if....we are getting a refund, there will be another stop at "The Windy City"....yes there will!

Been working on cards....a new batch for the Hospice meeting this next month, April 7th. Our past meeting was on the 3rd. of March. I took a lot of cards that were already made up and used those...now I have to get some new ideas for the next batch. I will be working on Easter and Mother Day cards this time around.

The Chicago Blackhawks played Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and won all 3 games. So I was glued to the TV watching the games, although I could only get the 3rd period for the Friday and Saturday games. It's almost as good as being there, but not quite. #72 is my favorite player...Artemi Panarin.

Went shopping Thursday, on the north side of Appleton to Shopko and Festival and Friday, on the west side Walmart, Sam's Club and Hobby Lobby. I have to keep my shopping down to a minimum, only a couple of days a week.

Tomorrow, I will just do some house work....I finally took down the Valentine decorations and now have St. Patrick decorations up. Maybe tomorrow will be a "surprise day" and just do whatever comes up....seems like I have a lot of those days.

Time to close, JP will be home in 10 minutes, so I better get something going for his dinner. You have a great evening and keep looking up~~~Better days are here again. Cheers ~ Louise

Another BA Meal and More Snowmen

Hi there everyone. Hope you had a wonderful weekend. I did, yeah it was my 69th birthday...we did nothing special, but I was able to do what I wanted. Instead of going out to eat, I made this wonderful meal from Blue Apron see their link here. "Seared Chicken & Roasted Sweet Potato Rounds with Chestnut and Brussels Sprout Pan Sauce." Oh my, we were both oohing and ahhing at the same time. This was such a good meal. JP loved the sweet potatoes cooked the way they were. Sliced then placed on a pan, oil, salt and pepper and baked for 20-25 minutes at 475 till tender and browned. The Brussels sprouts were deleafed and pan fried with chestnuts then the butter, lemon zest  and sauce was added. I did add the onions also.

The chicken was pan fried, patted, salt and pepper then floured on both sides till browned. The bottom picture was plated with both chicken breasts and the vegies, so we just ate up the whole platter. YES....I would make this again. I suspect if you type in Seared Chicken and Roasted Sweet Potato Rounds....you might get a recipe from someplace. I think I shall have to try that, just to see what happens. Try this recipe, you will truly love it.
Note: yep that is what happens...you type in the name of the recipe and it will take you to the Blue Apron recipe....perfect.

So here are some of my snowmen cards that I have put up in my Etsy store. These cards were lots of fun to make. Made from Christmas napkins then I just used speckles to emboss the snowmen. Each card is $3.00 so 4 cards = $12.00 + shipping $2.50.

The cards in this next picture, I will put up in my Etsy store tonight. Made with Christmas napkins and speckled. These cards will go for $9.00 + shipping.

In the two pictures below are the cards I sent off in the mail today....took a picture of them so I could remember what they look like, and make them again. Gosh, I may have to buy a set of speckles....running low on red and green.

There were 9 different Snowman cards.....love, love them all. In all I sent 21 cards, there was a set of 8, a set of 4 and a set of 3.....Hope she likes them.

I bought my turkey the other day.....just bought a breast and will roast that on Thanksgiving day. We'll have dressing, gravy, cranberry sauce (the real stuff, not canned) bean casserole and baked potato. If I get out to the store again, I want to get some sweet potatoes and cook them the way I did in the first two pictures....roasted....gosh they were good. We will probably have pumpkin pie or maybe cheese cake from Festival foods....yes, we will eat well and there will be left overs for a couple of days......we truly are blessed beyond measure.

Well, you have a great Thanksgiving and enjoy your family and friends. Keep looking up, things will get better.
Cheers ~ Louise

Chocolate Please..........

Hi there everyone. Hope your Sunday evening is special and relaxing. My husband is on a "pity party" right now, and seems to like blaming me for his problems. Although he says it is not, I still feel guilty. So my evening is not so special and relaxing. I think I will go hide in the basement and make some cards till the storm passes by.

Lately the "lemons" have been falling in abundance!! "Sweetest Day" came and went yesterday and my "supposedly sweetheart" did not acknowledge me or the day, he's not very romantic. Oh Well. Finally I reminded him and he said, "what do you want??" I said, no card, no flower, how 'bout a nice "Prime Rib from Festival Foods???" He said, "okay"...huh!...maybe I should ask for some chocolate too?????

We went out to eat today....that was nice. I had a "freightliner omelet" 3 eggs, cheese, fried potatoes and bacon and rye toast. Gosh was that delish. I took half of it home for breakfast tomorrow, or lunch. I did not do my smoothie this morning so I must more then make up for it tomorrow. I have lost a couple of pounds...but not enough to say "I am losing weight" because of my smoothies every morning.

Oh well....I guess a smoothie a day will hopefully keep the Doctor away. I do feel better, so that is a plus. My blood sugars today was 110 this morning....good numbers for me.

The roofers may show up this week and work on our roof.....I hope....the weather is suppose to be nice this week. I will keep you posted. We still have lots of leaves to rake in the back yard. But we have 2 more leaf pick-ups, so we are ahead of the game at this point. I have a leaf blower, so that makes the chore a little easier.

Let's see, what more lemons can I give you today that deserve some chocolate?????  My husband says there is dirt in our drinking water....and does not want to drink it. He wants a Brita water pitcher....okay I said, I will buy a new one for myself, in purple and you can have this one. Oh goodie, I have been wanting a new colored Brita pitcher....Chocolate!!!!!

I am not so sure where this blog is going, or where it went, maybe it is a bit of complaint here and there....but what are blogs for but to get things off our chest. I do feel better though, so thanks for listening.

You all have a good evening and enjoy your week.......don't blink your eyes too long cause these two weeks will fly by pretty fast!!!
Keep looking up and enjoy some chocolate this week!!
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

A Doggie Smile Works Wonders

Hi everyone....how did your 1st day of October go?? Hope all went well. It was such a beautiful day...almost heavenly, wish all days were like this.

Well, we are having JP's family for company this week-end. So much to do, so little time. "Keep Calm ~ God's Got It" I must remember that as that is what my T-shirt says and my checks, to remind me everyday!!!

Planning for roast beef sandwiches, cole slaw, potatoe salad and chips, relish tray and apple pie. I might make salsa too, with corn chips for an appetizer. The original menu was hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill....but, it looks like rain this week-end. Festival Foods has Burgandy spoon roasts on sale.....they are the best! So I will be putting that lovely roast in the crock pot and let it cook for 12 hours.......oh I can taste it already...Yum!!

Well, time to close this blog for today, need to get downstairs and start riding my stationary bike and get into that habit again. Maybe make a few cards too. You all have a great evening and may October 2nd be bright, sunny and breezy and no big problems looming in the future!! Look up for your redemption draws nigh....Cheers ~ Louise