O.M.G. Where Did June Go????

Hi there everyone....hope you had a great JUNE! But, but, but, this is the last day of JUNE ~ where oh where did JUNE go?????? 

I did manage to get a few plantings done though, have already had some lettuce and a few radishes. In this planter above and below, I planted Italian green beans (they are flat instead of round), radishes, lettuce, and a cucumber plant. I tried some chive seeds, but the seeds must have been old. They did not grow. I have another planter like this on the other side of the yard, that has some new seeds for chives planted, so we shall see.

Here is another view of the beans....hoping to have lots this year. Last years crop was a handful a day...never enough to can or freeze. Maybe this year will be different.

Got my little ponds working, there has been plenty of rain lately, enough to fill the pond up. I still have to get my ceramic animals out.....just a little slow in that area. Maybe this week. As you can see in this picture, there is a few weeds and the leaves still have to be raked up. Maybe I will just leave them and cover with some new mulch....I don't know, still have to decide.

This little fountain is over by my other planter, it's a solar fountain, so it needs LOTS of SUN. I can see it from my kitchen window....fun to watch. Still have lots of work to do here though. A little bit each day may get all the summer work done...I hope.

I do have another fountain on the front porch...that one runs constantly, although I do not have it on today....listening to the rain fall was fine by me. Wish I lived by a water fall....I do love the sound of water splashing or falling.

So in the next 3 pictures are some plantings from seeds. Below are Zinnias...one of my favorite summer flowers.

Another batch of flower seeds.....marigolds. Guess I will have to start transplanting some of these seedlings soon.

Another favorite are these Morning Glories, they will get the morning sun. Will be nice to see early in the morning. Around the planter are purple violets, weeds and a few volunteers tomato plants. 3 of them, they were in this pot last summer, a few seeds must have planted themselves....that's okay.

So there you have it a little tour of my gardens....still much to do, with many, many weeds to pull, THEY never stop growing, do they?!?!

Time to close here, have to go make dinner for JP....I made chicken stew in the crock pot yesterday....so he shall have left overs. I am dieting again, hopefully to lose 10-15 lbs. this next month. I am doing the Keto diet which really works for me. Total loss of lbs. since July 2017, about 35 lbs. I have not been strict on the Keto so naturally the weight loss is very slow. This month, I will really work hard at it and see what comes from it.

You all have a great 4th of July weekend and enjoy the fireworks and family fun. Keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

14 Days Into 2019

Hi there everyone....14 days into this new year and it has been hectic and frustrating!!! Without going into too much detail, as I look at my desk calendar....everyday has something going and I am already POOPED!!!!

The last day of 2018, we had to call the plumber AGAIN. A leak under the sink and water dripping on the floor. The pipes were plugged to the tune of $264 and we still owe $40 from the last visit....the toilet was leaking down in the basement. A drip, drip, drip, every time the toilet flushed and oh did the basement smell. I thought we were in the clear for awhile and then the leak under the sink started the last week of 2018.

JP has had quite a few days off from work...the last week of December which meant a very small check for this month. We barely had enough $$$ to pay the mortgage. Not sure what next month will bring...but we will see.

I signed up for food help once a month at the Salvation Army. Yep....that took a lot for me to do. 17 years ago I worked at the Salvation Army and was helping people with getting food....now I need the help...it is quite humbling, that is for sure. So Friday I signed up and was taken into the warehouse and walked through the aisles. My cart was full and weighed out at 112 lbs of food. Guess I will not have to go shopping for a while, except for medication, paper products and Kylie's food.


Saturday, I had Spectrum come and set up the tv, internet and phone. I am cancelling At&t and Directv. Cost wise, I was paying $225 a month. Spectrum will be $75 dollars cheaper. Now I have to get used to the new numbers. Just looking for ways to save money. Tuesday I will be signing up for Energy assistance....will see how that goes. Hopefully I can get a few months paid, and that will help. Hopefully....by the end of the month I will have enough $$$ to pay our house taxes. Since JP went part-time it has been really tough making ends meet.

Maybe this is why I have not been blogging a whole lot....just have not felt like it as there is nothing exciting to write about or take pictures of.
 
 I got a new used stove last month....so it has been a joy to cook again. I made some 30 Minute Dinner Rolls, that were really good. Following is the recipe: Hope you can read it.

Last week I made "IHOP" copycat Buttermilk pancakes. Oh my gosh.....were they delicious. I am going to make more, but I will have to use regular milk and add a little bit of vinegar to make the milk sour....that should work.

My only enjoyment has been watching the Chicago Blackhawks on TV and computer....only wish they would start winning more. But I am getting into the other teams and only hope the other teams don't beat the Blackhawks....it's been an interesting season though.

Card making has been at a minimum lately....Valentines and St. Patrick cards....cleaned out my stash so there are lots of cards for those two holidays. Just have to put inserts inside the cards. BUT my printer is not working, so I may not have enough inserts to put in the cards.....I tell you, there is always something to hinder me from doing what I need to get done.

Health wise....we are still plugging along. JP still gets his arm pains, people who don't know him think he is having a heart attack. Then he tells them he has been getting these attacks for 8 years and has been to 5 specialist, none of them could point the finger at the problem. So, we live with it. 

Kylie still deals with her blindness and hard of hearing, but she seems to be doing better and loves to eat, go outside, sleep and walk around the house bumping into things. When it is not cold, we go for walks, but since she can't see that well, we never quite make it down to the corner because she is already heading back the other direction. Funny how a dog's life can change so radically.

As for me, I am still on the Keto diet (part-time), it works for me. I want to lose another 20 lbs this year. That is doable. My Doctor will be happy with me. My A1C is 6.2....next appointment is May, so I need to keep working on that. I still deal with a sciatic nerve problem on the left side of the butt. Gosh, it hurts when I get up in the morning and can barely walk....after an hour or so it gets better. Guess I am stuck with that pain for the rest of my life.

Well, now that I have completely bored you to death with all my problems, I shall close here for now. No telling when the next time I will be here. But I will keep you updated now and then. So until then, keep looking up because I am very sure, better days are coming soon and very soon. Cheers ~ Louise

Cards, Hospice and Plantings

Hi there everyone. Sorry....I have been missing again, living life can sometimes get in the way!! We have had a few doctor and dentist appointments along the way, since my last post on May 3rd.

JP had another tooth pulled again. Pretty soon he won't have many teeth left in his mouth...my cooking skills will have to change to accommodate his toothless mouth. Plus, the Doctor said today his cholesterol was getting a little high, which means we have to lower that with a different meal plan. (Doctor wanted to put him on medication, but JP did not want to be put on more meds.....more meds means more side affects.)

More fish and chicken, less red meat and maybe cut down on the carbs. That would help me a bit, then I won't have to cook two different kinds of meals. What he eats, I can eat and what I eat, he can eat. We have 3 months to work on his diet and I think, 6 months before I see the doctor again for my A1C and lose a few more pounds. My A1C was down a few points. 6 months ago it was 6.7 the 1st of May it was 6.2. I attribute it to the keto diet. Less carbs that turns to sugar. Maybe JP will find more energy in his step, he always seems tired.

So these following cards are what I made last month at Betty's. I really love the card above, plumbers tape placed on card stock and run through the cuttlebug. Then we took alcohol inks and dabbed on the tape. Added the butterfly and embossed the birthday wishes verse. Pretty easy peasy.

This is a really cute card. On the front of the card you see the frog taking a dip into the water. As you can see, acetate was used, stamped on ovals, the inside of the card is the frog coming up for air....funny card...we all laughed when we saw this card.

This was an easy card to put together. The little bird was colored in with copic markers and cut out. The green was white and we colored it, stamping the dots and star flowers, adding the thank you and speckles for embellishments.

The card below was another easy card. Colored the flowers and stamped the verse and added the ribbon. Love the colors.

Wednesday we have another session of card making at Betty's, I always look forward to making cards and getting new ideas. 

I have 3 weeks to get more cards made for Hospice, then that will be our last meeting till September. We get the summer off...that is always nice, then I can leisurely make cards and get geared up for the next session and Fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas! Gosh....time do fly when we make cards according to the seasons.

I have done a little planting....onions, radishes and spinach.....not too sure the spinach seeds will grow, as they are vintage '92, just thought I would try. I did buy some new spinach seeds today....tomorrow I will plant them along side the old seed and see which grows 1st......any guesses??? I will show you in the next post my planter, I am pretty excited about it and maybe getting some vegies this year.

Well, time to close here....it's getting late and I am getting tired. Talk later. Keep looking up cause better days are coming around the corner. Cheers ~ Louise

I Love This Last Post of July......Yayyyyy

Hi there everyone. I don't know about you, but this month of July was a really tough one. Financially, spiritually and emotionally oh and physically!!!. I love this post because it's the last one of July and hopefully August will be a little bit more forgiving.

So where does one start???? Well here's a good place.....July 5th I got on the scale and decided to start another DIET!!! This time with Dr. Atkins. It's a high protein, low carbs, low sugars and sodium. And the weight lost??? 10 lbs!!! Dr. Atkins was very popular back in the 70's and 80's. Some where's in between there, I tried the Atkin's diet for a while...but did not stick to it. 

There is another diet out there, called the Keto diet. They say it is Dr. Atkins on steroids....not sure why. Guess I will have to compare the two and see what the difference is.

Going into August I want to try for another 10lbs. I will let you know how things go. Also, on August 22nd I have another A1C blood check. So I would like to see those numbers down and controlled. My eventual goal is to have lost 50-75 lbs and controlled blood sugars and blood pressure. So I don't have to be on medication anymore. Plus I have lots of clothes I could finally wear again. 

Financially.....Our Mortgage Co. decided to sell us to another Co. after 15 years.....I was bummed. We had to jump through a few hoops. My previous Co. did not even inform us, when suddenly I get a letter from the new company. Almost threw it out, cause I thought it was junk mail. We were given 3 days to make the change. If mailed before the 12th then send mortgage to the previous Co. if mailed after the 13th mail to the new company. Geez, talk about confusion. So I made the check out to the previous Company but then thought I should send it to the new company.....no, bad move. I called the new company 2 times...then it was decided I should stop payment and mail a new check to the new company, registered mail. Needless to say our mortgage payment was very, very late.

We are going to get a privacy fence put up in our yard by habitat for humanity. We had to come up with 10% of the fencing. The other 90% will be paid back when and if we sell our house. Which we are not planning to do at this point in time. 

The last payment for our house taxes was due this month to the tune of $420 which was hard to come up with, but we managed. In the midst of that.....to drum up some extra money, I finally wrote some claims out to our Ins. Co. AFLAC came through with $400.....that sure helps a lot. I still have a few more claims to fill out for 2017. They might even pay for my surgery in January for my eye lids.

Needless to say all these problems caused much stress and high emotions. I took a few pills I got from my Doctor that calms the nerves.

Spiritually speaking, In all this, I wondered where God was......sometimes it is hard to see the hand of God in my personal life. I guess that is why hind site is better then fore site. Looking back I will be able to see God's hand in all that took place in July. But right now...it's kinda hard.

Well, time to close here. JP will be home in 20 minutes, so I better get his dinner cooked. Which I already made. Stuffed chicken breast with asparagus and cheese....gosh the chicken was tender. Oh suppose there will be fruit and fries and toast. Sounds good, huh??

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

Cheers ~ Louise