A "Making" Kind of Day

Hi there everyone. How is your Saturday going???? Thought I would take a minute or two to say HI....and just report I am in a "Making" kind of day. You say "What?" Yeah, so far I have:

• Made a Rhubarb Pie
• Making "Slow Cooker Ropa Vieja (Cuban Beef) in my Power Pressure XL. I had ALL the ingredients, so why not make it.
• I also will be making my bed, changing sheets and putting a new foam mattress on it...hopefully that will feel better.
• I will be making some dried tomatoes today.....green tomatoes this time. Have lots of green tomatoes that may not get a chance to turn red before the first frost.
• I will be making a few cards tonight. I am hoping to get a card and note out to a "survivor of the mass killing" in Las Vegas today....have the note typed, just need to find a nice card and send it off to the Hospital.
• Making some iced tea right now.

Yeah.....so much to do and so little time.

 Last week I made this lovely dish from Blue Apron "Seared Steaks and Roasted Potatoes with Balsamic Glazed Mushrooms" Gosh, this was good. I made two other meals from Blue Apron, but this is the only one I took pictures of.

I am in the midst of reading this book, "Killing England". If you love History, this is the book for you. I picked it up at Sam's Club after hearing about it on the Sean Hannity show. There are some really interesting facts....did you know George Washington had hemorrhoids and had to sit on a pillow while riding his horse. POOR MAN!!!! I feel for him. Back then, there was no Tucks or Preparation H!!!! Gosh, and I am sure he did not carry around Kleenex or toilet paper, not even the soft kind. What did they use back then....leaves, cotton material....ouch!!!! Poor George!!!

I am only in Chapter 1...so I am just beginning this journey. But so far it has been very interesting. Bill O'Reilly and his co-writer go into a lot of history, they go into the archives of many places, Valley Forge, Monticello, Mount Vernon and the Independence Hall to name a few places where they got information for this book.

The men and women of those times were fighting for their freedoms just as we are STILL fighting for our freedoms now.....nothing new under the sun is there????

Well, I better go, or I will not get all the things done that I want to and will have to carry over to Sunday. Have a great day and keep looking up.....better days really are coming.

Cheers ~ Louise

Solar Sun Fountains and Kylie

Hi there everyone....hope you had a nice Father's Day Week-end. We had a nice one. Quiet with a little bit of work mixed into it.

JP's Father died in the 90's. My father died in 1961. My step-father just died last month. I got through it though with not too much pain and sadness. Pops has lived in Las Vegas since '86 and I probably saw him 4 or 5 times in 31 years. The last time was when my mother had died in 2001 and I went for her Memorial and her ashes were spread in the mountains of Las Vegas. A lady friend (who they grew close to and called her their daughter) spread my mother's ashes and she planned on spreading Pop's also. She knew I would not be coming out there, so she would take care of it. End of a chapter in my life.

On to happier news. So this is part of my back yard....it's coming along nicely. I bought this new Solar Sun Fountain, in the red planter. It came all the way from China....really cute I think....I moved it today, so it is in more sun. Doesn't work well in shade.

This little fountain, I picked up at a Plant Sale in May. Paid $1 and the pond container was free. The above fountain......$30 and the container $15.....my splurge. Love my Flamingos, they like the pond too.

Kylie came for a visit while I was playing in my little garden. Yesterday I finally put up my bamboo fencing for a little bit of privacy from the neighbors stuff that I have to look at everyday from my Kitchen window......sometimes gets depressing. The  neighbor lady says that sometime this summer they will be putting up a taller privacy fence.....can't be soon enough for me. I will take pictures of my new bamboo fencing as soon as I get the second section up. What I have done so far....looks really good.

I might have too much in this little section, but when I sit on my bench, I am always looking at everything and deciding if something should be moved or a weed pulled....sitting on my bench does not last long.

Looks like in both these pictures that Kylie is enjoying the little fountain also....probably the sun feels good on her back. I should take lessons from her on how to just stand around and relax.

I have one tomato plant growing in a pot....it's getting pretty big and needs lots of watering. Beefsteak...looking forward to those BLT's.

I have some Beefsteak tomato plants growing in the front of the house and one between the two garages. This year I shall see which place grows the best tomatoes....I want to get a cucumber plant....but have not been able to find one. I wonder, is it to late to start some seeds???

Went to Menards today and got a Wave Petunia plant, Sweet Basil plant and a Mosquito plant....sounds interesting. I might plant it by my park bench, so I can enjoy my backyard. There is still so much to do....like I said, by the time I get things done, Fall will be here...oh well.....then comes winter and we start all over again.

Well, time to close here, it's going on Midnight and I still have not gone downstairs to work on a few cards. I got another Paper Pumpkin Kit from Stampin' up yesterday and made a few cards from that kit....I should take some pictures real soon.

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

Cheers ~ Louise

Cards, Hospice Meeting, Mother's Day and Pops

Hi there everyone. Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day yesterday. Mine started out fine, I was blessed with a friend that gave me a personal Cricut for $30 with case and 4 cartridges and maybe even the cartridge that came with the cricut. With this cricut I will be able to use it without my computer, which will be nice. No pictures yet....I need to set it up and figure out how to use it as well.

In these next few pictures are some of the cards I made for Hospice. The cards above are the funny Tim Holtz Crazy Bird set. I got the die cuts for these birds....maybe I will use them more. No more fussy cutting for me. This yellow bird is probably my favorite of the six birds...easy to color too.

My vintage golfer about to hit a golf ball. I made these cards into Father's Day cards as were the yellow chick cards above.

These cards were what I made up for my secret stamper lady....I sent the stamped pineapple, rose and leaves. Colored them in and added a gem. Added a feather and circled die cut and embossed folder for the background. I inherited 2 rimes of yellow card stock and 1 rime of yellow paper....so yeah, you probably will see lots of yellow cards coming out of my creating mind.

In the above picture are the Father's Day favors I made. At the meeting we slipped Hersey candies in the favor. Usually we put little stickers on them saying they are from Hospice....but I guess the stickers were not made up as yet. I thought I had taken a picture of ALL the favors together, that were made up, but for some reason there was no picture.....gosh, maybe I did not press the button to take the picture??????

In this picture we are looking through the cards each one of us brought.....maybe getting new ideas from each other and oo-ing and ah-ing the cards as we looked. Next meeting will be June 2nd, so we have 3 weeks to get some cards together.....I better get my rear in gear....then we will have the summer off till September and we need to have Halloween cards made......yikes!!! I think that is why my days fly bye.....I am always on to the next holiday before this one even comes.

I did not finish my Mother's Day blessings. After the Hospice meeting, I drove Betty home, but before we went to her house, we stopped off at a second hand shop and I bought myself a purse and a couple of tops.....oh and a cute little teapot which I mishandled and dropped on the ground and it broke. I will glue it back together and just use it for decoration....maybe it won't be usable again. (that part was NOT a blessing)

We went to Woodman's, a really big store that I very seldom go to. BUT...I probably will go there again, I found my favorite bread there. A big loaf of Turano Bread that makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches...oh yum!! Oh and I just saw a recipe using this bread to make (French) Italian toast......trying this tomorrow morning.

I bought a few other things, that I don't see at the other stores I visit...I always have fun shopping!!! I was really enjoying my Mother's Day weekend and thinking, gosh....what did I do to enjoy all these blessings?????

Then Saturday came.....the phone rang. A call from a lady that has been in contact with my step-father in Las Vegas. He died in his sleep, in his own apartment on his easy chair. That's the way he wanted it and he got it. I won't be going out there....no reason to. He had made plans with this lady that she would take care of everything....she sort of adopted him and my mother and became their daughter. Taking my place.....oh well, I never did have good feelings about this whole situation. But who am I......nobody!!!!

Can you sense some anger there??? Yes, there probably is, when I think back on all the things that Pops did to me, the things he said to me, the way he controlled me and made me angry, to the point that I would only stuff the pain and say "he will never hurt me again" only to be hurt again and again. Nope, I am not sad for him, nor do I really care.

He wanted me to call him "Dad" one thing he wanted to hear me say....I said you are NOT MY DAD and I will never call you DAD!!! I had one Dad....You are Pops and that is what I will call you. He said, I figured you would say that and chuckled. ERG....he made me so mad!!!! And when he said he loved me, I was always forced to say....I love you too....but did I mean it??? I am not sure.

So here we are today....I hope he is happy where ever he ended up. The lady is going to take his ashes and spread them in the mountains of Las Vegas along with the ashes of my mother.....hope they meet again, where ever that might be.

Sunday came and we went to church...good service and lovely worship....our gift on Mother's day, two little red petunia plants....I shall plant them tonight in between the rain drops. I think I will get some white and blue petunia's and organize the petunia's in red, white and blue in the planters.

Well, time to close here and go walk Kylie....the sun is out now after a little rain. Talk to you later and keep looking up better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Random Pictures and Thoughts

Hi there everyone, hope you are having a great Summer. I can't believe how fast this summer is going. It's been a bit too warm for me....but I have not melted yet. Should not complain as winter is just 4 months away and it will come soon enough.

So today's post is just going to be some random pictures I picked up here and there and thought they were really cool to look at. I love this "flower bed" if I ever run across an old bed, I will make one of these in my back yard......and of course it will be called "Louise's Flower Bed".

I was looking at Pinterest and pinned a bunch of Flamingos.....I sure do like flamingos....did you know they come in different colors? This, I did not know. It depends on what they have eaten....usually we see pink flamingos. But they come in blue, green, yellow and red....so interesting. (Maybe that should be my next post...."Flamingos in Color".  Below is a cute little baby flamingo and it comes in grey.

Another group of pictures I pinned were roses. So many pretty roses in so many different colors. Purple roses are my favorite. I certainly would find a place in my garden if I found a purple rose to plant.

I thought this was a neat picture. I do have a door in my backyard.....I really like this idea....think I will ask JP to haul out the door so I can paint it blue like this one. Just another project for me to do....maybe I better finish what I have started.

On hot days.....I think I would like to jump in this stock tank and cool off a little bit....I wish I had the space and privacy in my back yard to have a little pool.....some day maybe.

A bouquet of Black Eyed Susan's from my garden for the dinning room table.

And this is a card I found on the internet....I love that little girl. Found out it is a digital print and not a stamp. So I bought it and have it saved in my computer. Made a bunch of copies and will be making some cards like this in a couple of weeks. Isn't she pretty? I think the copic coloring is what makes it though. It looks like water coloring.

So there you have it, a few pictures that have caught my eye and thought I would share with you. I guess my life is not very exciting, just kind of regular....but that is okay.

I think in the next few days I will be making some Apple-mint jelly. It seems like an easy recipe. I brought in some mint leaves, I have some apple juice in refrigerator so, we shall see how it goes.

Today, August 2nd was the birthday of my mother, she would have been 90 years old. She has been dead 15 years now....time sure does fly. Sometimes I miss being able to talk to her....but we were so far apart for many years. She lived in Des Plaines, Ill. JP and I moved to Ladysmith, WI in 1976. Then she moved out to Las Vegas in 1986....so yeah, we have been a part for many years, we would talk to each other on the phone maybe every 4 to 6 weeks...I did go out to visit my mother and step father about 4 times and stayed a few weeks each time. It was hard to be out there and leave JP by himself, cause he did not want to go out to Las Vagas.  So yeah, we were not very close like some mothers and daughters are supposed to be.

Well, time to close, I have to get some dishes done before JP gets home and get something ready for him to eat. Not sure what that will be yet. Keep looking up, better days are coming.
Cheers ~ Louise

90th Birthday Card and Roses

Hi there everyone. Hope you are having a good evening. I thought I would do a short post tonight....I do believe this is my 700th post....goodness how time flies. Doing nothing special, nope, no give-a-ways. Maybe on my 750th or 800th post I will do a give-a-way or something...who knows.

So in these two pictures, are the card I made and sent to my step-father in Las Vegas. He said he wanted to make it to 90 and then he could die. I said, nay, you will probably go to 100!!! He says he prays every night that God will take him, but he doesn't. So I said, maybe he has got something more for you to do....no response. I thought this saying was very approapoe (well bummers, the spell check is not working) for him. "Life isn't a matter of Milestones...but of Moments"

In these next three pictures are some of the roses growing around my house. I think I would like to get a red rose growing. Hopefully this fall I can get one going someplace. I give my roses a shot of coffee....they really seem to like that. Someone said to try Epson salts....not sure what that does, but that is next on the agenda.

This rose was planted probably 20 years ago...it has its good years and bad years....must depend on the weather. But every year I cover white plastic around the base fill it with leaves. This seems to be all the protection it needs in this Wisconsin weather.

This is a pretty yellow rose, it sits next to the rose above and seems to like it's place. I guess my flowers are loving to bloom where they are planted.

This pretty "long stemmed" white rose gets the same treatment as the others, coffee, water, and leaves in the fall.

Yep....I think I will look for a new place to plant a red rose....something to work on this summer....geez...what is left of it.

Well,  you all have a great evening and keep looking up.....better days are coming. I am going to make Kylie some hamburger and rice...she has not been feeling well and she likes rice and hamberger to eat....so does mama with a little bit of taco sauce on it. Yum!

Cheers ~ Louise

Food and Father's Day Cards

Hi there everyone....hope you are have a great Sunday and a Happy Mother's Day....weather was mighty fine today. We went to church, I got a little purple petunia to plant some place. Made a Blue Apron meal "Spring Chicken Fettuccine with Sauteed Asparagus, Kale & Rosemary"  (It was "ok"...but not great) Then I sat down to watch some hockey and fell asleep. I really should have been outside doing something, but never made it....took Kylie for a walk and now here I am finishing my post that I actually started last night. Maybe in a little bit I will go downstairs and do some cards. (After I make my rhubarb pie though)

The running of the Kentucky Derby was yesterday....I was watching #10 Whitmore (the jockey caught my attention, always winking at the camera) and #13 Nyquest (named after a Detroit Red Wing hockey player) Nyquest WON!!!! He was at 2-1 and paid $6.60 (guess I would have made $4.60 betting $2.00 to win...hahahahha). When I was still living at home, (in the 60's) my step-father was a gambling man and we went to lots of sulky races in Maywood and regular horse races in Arlington Heights....yep, I did a little bit of betting.) Sad to say, my step-father lost a lot of money because of his betting. Guess that is why he lives in Las Vegas now....so he can play his games)

In these two pictures are some recipes I made from Blue Apron last week....as usual, they were delicious. The above recipe is: "Zucchini & Parmesan Quiches with Red Leaf Lettuce Salad & Pink Lemon Vinaigrette"

The spinach was cooked then pressed to get all the liquid out then chopped. The zucchini, diced and cooked with garlic and seasoned with salt and pepper. Eggs mixed and crème fraiche, lemon zest and 2 tablespoons of water whisked together, the zucchini and spinach whisked together and poured into the pie shells and topped with shaved Parmesan cheese. While baking at 425 degrees for 18-20 minutes (these were small pie shells, a larger pie shell might be 40 minutes)

The salad was chopped and the vinaigrette is a shallot-lemon juice mixture with salt and pepper to taste and slowly whisk in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until well combined. Combine with the lettuce and top with the rest of the shaved Parmesan cheese.

This recipe is "Grains of Paradise-Crusted Steak with Mashed Plantain, Collard Greens & Ginger Peanuts" Yum the steak was pretty tender this time around....and now to find the Grains of Paradise seasoning....gosh that was good.

Something interesting about this meal was the plantain....I rather like this fruit/vegie, not really sure what to call it...looks like a banana but is more tougher and you can boil or fry them and they are so good. In this recipe, they were boiled then mashed, butter, lime zest, salt and pepper was mixed in then set aside.

The steak was seasoned with salt and pepper and the crushed grains of paradise then pan fried to your desired doneness then left to rest.

Crushed peanuts and ginger were cooked together and set aside. Collard greens were cooked down. Parsley and the juice of a lime, oil, salt and pepper mixed together and served as a sauce for the steak.  The mashed plantain was dished out, then topped with the collards and then the steak and peanut crunch and then topped with the herb sauce. My this was pretty tasty, for sure.

These next four cards are the Father's Day cards I made for Hospice. I probably will make some more of these cards to give to a few men.....I like the hot air balloon card the best and probably will make one to send to the step-father in Las Vegas. He is going to be 90 years old in July....so maybe one of these cards will be a birthday card for him also.

Someone gave me the stamp for this next card, it's been sitting around for 4-5 years and finally used it....looks like a stained glass window card, sorta.

And last but not least....my golfer....I have had him for over 10 years at least. He has been on Birthday cards and Father's Day and I always seem to pull him out every couple of years with a different idea.

So there you have it....another day in the life of Louise...just doing time till Jesus returns for his church....can't be long now what with the way things are going on in this world. Just when you think you  heard it all....something else takes the cake. Sometimes I wonder where people are getting their brains. Don't you? How in the world do we keep sane in an insane world????

Well, I am off to go bake a rhubarb pie. You all have a great day and keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

The Day After.......

Hi there everyone. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Mine, it was quiet....but as I get older, I like it like that. My family is pretty much gone. My daughter lives in another state on the east coast and is busy with her own life. My step-father is in Las Vegas and busy with his life. JP's family is in Chicago and....busy with their lives. That leaves us pretty much alone at Christmas, and like I said, we like it like that.

This was our Christmas dinner and it was scrumptious. The main course was from Blue Apron their site. This was a "Spiced Roast Chicken & Collard Greens with Maple Butter & Thyme" Oh my, this was extra delicious. I never cooked with collard greens before and we really liked them. The greens were cooked with onion, salt and pepper, the chicken layered on the greens and a cooked sauce of butter, maple syrup and vinegar poured on the chicken. The right combo of tastes. The Chicken was fried, skin down till browned then roasted in the oven till the meat reached 165 degrees in the breast and thigh parts. I most certainly would make this recipe again and again. I shall be looking forward to my next whole chicken cut in half.

So we had the chicken with collard greens, baked potato with sour cream and chives, bread dressing with chicken gravy and cheese cake for dessert. Yum.....a very good meal to say the least.

Here is a snap shot of all our presents under the little tree.

And.....a picture of my presents. 6 tins of different teas. A new spice rack to organize all my Penzy spices. A new copic marker carrying case. A brand new (el-cheapo) purple watch. AND a new WOK.....healthy meals, here we come.

JP got a pair of slippers (need to get a larger size), socks, Amaryllis plant and 10 little bibles to pass out to truckers. He'll probably get a pair of jeans also.

Kylie got a pair of boots.....now we have to train her to wear them before the snow flies, she will love us for that. Oh and she got some soup bone chewy's.....right now she is hiding her bone so no one can find it....then she moves it to another place, then another place. That bone sure is keeping her busy.

Well, time to close and get to organizing my spices. You all have a great day and enjoy these last days of 2015. Keep looking up....
Cheers ~ Louise

Christmas, Pizza and Cards......

Hi there everyone. Goodness, it has been a week since my last post...time is a'flying! Hope your Christmas plans are shaping up and you are getting everything done that needs to get done. When you are finished you can "R-E-L-A-X" and enjoy the season and the real reason we celebrate this time of year. Yeah, all the fan-fare and busy-ness of the season sure can take our eyes off of what is important.

Have you not heard????? "JESUS....is the reason for the season". I am glad I don't have to worry about getting presents for everyone.....just a few gifts for JP, Kylie, sent off Pop's gift in Las Vegas, got my cards made and sent off, baked cookies and decorate the house.....whew....almost done with 9 days left till Christmas. Why do I put myself through all this busy-ness???? I don't know why, guess I just get caught up in it all, trying to make Christmas special even though it is not that much any more. It's for the kids anyways.

So in the picture below is my little Christmas tree....this year, I decided the tree will be in all blues....hard to tell that the blue and white lights are on...but they are. I have the same blue and white lights on the front porch....so pretty. After Christmas I will put up red and white lights for the Valentines.....love my little Christmas tree, it is so very hard to take downstairs after the season. If I could find green and white lights, I would leave my tree up till St. Patrick's.....hahahahaha!

In the picture below is my Blue Apron pizza...gosh was this ever delicious....I shall make it again. "Roasted Sweet Potato & Caramelized Onion Pizza" and oh....it was so yummy the next day too. Sweet potatoes were peeled and sliced and layered on a cookie sheet, a little salt and pepper and olive oil for 12 minutes or so at a 475 oven. Then cooled and transferred to a bowl. The pan was then used for the pizza dough, spread out to the size I wanted then topped with the béchamel sauce, 2 T oil, 2 T flour and cook, stirring 1-2 minutes till golden brown, milk, lemon zest and 1/4 cup of water was added then the juice of 2 lemon wedges and seasoned with salt and pepper. The sauce got thick and then spread on the dough.

Then topped with the sliced sweet potatoes, caramelized onions, garlic, oregano and fontina cheese. After the pizza baked, the arugula and remaining cheese was added to the pizza. Oh yum...I will do this again. If you would like the recipe just google the recipe name and google will take you directly to Blue Apron and the recipe and you can make this pizza yourself. Again...it was absolutely delicious.

In the picture below is a card a made for a blog friend. Her husband just died recently. I think this has to be one of the prettiest cards I have ever made....was really happy how this card turned out.

This card is for the groomer who does my Kylie's hair every 8 weeks. I picked up a new cuttlebug folder....if you can see it...little paw prints. The snowman is a Christmas napkin and the doggies are stamped, colored and cut out.

This is another new Cuttlebug folder and all I did was use speckles and smooch pens.

In this card, I used some plumbers tape, ran it though my Cuttlebug then added a die-cut tree and stars for decorations. If you can see it, there is a ribbon running down the middle of the card.

The picture below is another Christmas napkin. I use the first layer of the napkin and lay that on a piece of card stock that was covered completely with a glue stick. Smooth it out as best you can without tearing the napkin. Let it dry then cut it the shape you want. I then added speckles to pop out the candy cane, snowman and holly leaves.

I this picture, is the same technique....but I used a Christmas tree. A friend gave me some of her napkins....this is one of them and guess what....she will receive her napkin back in the form of a Christmas Card. I guess that is called "re-purposing".

So tomorrow is my card making outing at Betty's. We are all suppose to bring something to eat that will go along with her pulled pork....oh yum. So I will bring a "Grains and Quinoa Salad" and "Cucumber sandwiches" (of course...pictures to follow soon).

Well, time to close here....the debate is starting and I need to watch that. Finish my Quinoa Salad and type a few letters tonight to friends.

Have a great evening and keep looking up....things will get better.
Cheers ~ Louise

Cabbage and Rain

Hi there everyone. How has your week gone....I am not sure where mine went...but it went fast!!! I still have not gotten any pictures of my house and all the improvements that were made...still working on that. BUT I am thoroughly enjoying everything Rebuilding Together did. Pat still has to come back and finish up a few things. He is waiting for a warmer days to paint the front door, put the fan up and finish some electric work.

In today's post is a cabbage dish I made....this maybe on the agenda to make more of this tasty yummy dish. My stepfather made this all the time. He called me last week to let me know he had been in the hospital for 3 weeks....he fell off his mobile chair and broke his neck.....gosh that is so hard to believe for me. The Doctor wants to put him in a nursing home....but he does not want to go.
Pops has always been stubborn that way. He lives in Las Vegas....so it is not like I can go see him and talk sense....he wouldn't listen to me anyways....I am just the step-daughter.

So in these two pictures are the cabbage dish he would make. Fried cabbage and onions in bacon grease. Added some frozen tomatoes and crumbled bacon a little salt and pepper and in the bottom picture I chopped up some spinach....something Pops would never add. All in all, it was really very delicious!!!

In the picture below.....there was so much rain on Sunday the street flooded in front of our house......sure hope the sewer is not plugged up.....As the cars passed....they all made sure they went through the water spraying it up on the sidewalk!!! Watch out, children at play.

Yep....lots of rain and lots of puddles and it looks like more rain is coming for the Memorial Day weekend. One good thing though, with all that rain that fell.....

I am so glad to say our ceiling DID NOT LEAK!!!!!  Yay!!!! I am still moving things back into the kitchen a little at a time.....but maybe less things will enter the kitchen to clutter it up. I bought some new curtains and want to get some tiles for behind the stove...to make it easier to wipe the walls which get so greasy.

Well time to close here...have to go do some dishes and get dinner ready for JP....pork spare ribs in the crock pot and potatoes, salad and fruit. Have a great day and keep looking up!!!
Cheers ~ Louise