Oh My...Last Post for the Month of July!!!

Hi there everyone. Can you believe it? The last day of July, I think it was just a few days ago that it was July 4th.....right?!?! The summer is flying by way too fast. I am still working on my yard, planting, painting, pulling weeds and what ever tickles my fancy. Sometimes I just prefer to be lazy and do NOTHING!!! I read someplace, that in retirement, everyday is Saturday.....I am still waiting for that, guess I have not been retired long enough....lol!

So, Sunday I cooked on the grill. I am surprising myself, I've grilled more this year then I have in previous years....not sure why, one reason might be that I moved the grill to the patio area rather then in front of the garage.....seems more cozy here and I can sit on the chair and watch the fire. The walk into the house is shorter...…(ha, by a few steps). 

I have chicken (from Sam's Club) was marinated and sprinkled with my homemade seasoning....soooo good! The red potatoes were halved, sprayed with avocado spray, seasoned with my homemade seasoning. I then put them in the microwave for about 15 minutes then put on the grill. I should have taken a picture when the food was done....potatoes and chicken browned perfectly! I just finished up the last of chicken about 30 minutes ago. Good meal with plenty of left overs for JP's dinners. This definitely will be a regular for the grill the rest of this summer.

 So now I will take you on a tour of my back yard.....mind you, there is so much to do yet, probably by the time I get everything done....it will be late Fall and time to put everything in the garage and shed. In the above picture, I have one cherry tomato plant growing....gives me a handful of tomatoes almost every day. My white rose bush died....we will have to dig it up one of these days.....no rush.

In the above picture, I have 3-4 bean plants growing...yep have gotten some beans off the plants. In the black container above the beans, I have a basil plant growing. I took a bunch of leaves off, rinsed them, and placed them on the chicken, cooked a little bit longer, then put mozzarella on top of the basil and chicken...oh yes!! A little marinara sauce helped also.

See those purple and red drawers and broken brown chair? Eventually I will fix the chair and spray paint it and the drawers will eventually have shade flowers growing in them....any ideas?

Here we are at my pond area....love this part of my yard. I need another layer of mulch to brighten things up. See the ceramic cow down in the right corner??? I will be spraying her white with black spots, she will be a Holstein cow. I think she was originally all brown and the paint wore off....time to repaint.

A few hosta's and inpatient's growing in my pond area. Not a lot of sun shines in this area....it's mostly shade. See my Flamingo's....love Flamingos. 

Here is my little sitting area....although I have not had time to sit, cause every time I sit down on my red bench....I see something that needs to change or moved some place else. See my tires? Been spray painting them and growing things in them....still not done. I have a tire that I will paint bright pink. That will be a colorful addition. Bought a "popcorn hosta" and it will go in the pink tire.

This is my second planter that I received free from Habitat for Humanity. This one has beans, pepper plant and a tomato plant. I am planning on planting some chives, and lettuce and maybe some spinach.

If you have made it to this point, I congratulate you and hopefully I didn't bore you. 

In this planter are onions, carrots, a new planting of radishes, beans, pepper plant and cucumber plant that is really producing an abundance of cucumbers. As I mentioned in a previous post....these plants get the morning and early noon sun.

So there you have it. A walk in my garden. I have a few more pictures to share, but that will come in the next post, hopefully within the week.

Talk to you all later, have a great week and coming weekend. Keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

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

JP's Lunch Today

Hi there everyone....just a short post for today. I think I made the best lunch for JP today. French toast with bananas, maple syrup, topped with whipped cream. His eyes bugged out when I put the dish on the table!!! I am not sure I have made this for him, at least not like this.

He said it was almost as good as Perkins, if not better!!! I guess that is a compliment. I was watching "Long Lost Family" last night and the girl looking for her birth mother said her adopted grandmother always made French toast EVERY day.....I thought, jeez I don't even make French toast hardly ever. So, today I made French toast.

I made enough so that I could have a bite or two....sure was yummy good. I wish I had JP's metabolism....he can eat all he wants and not gain much weight....me, I just have to look at this picture and the pounds soak through my eyes on to my body!!!

So here is JP's plate after a few minutes.....I am sure glad I got to have some. Told him I will make it again. I think Kylie enjoyed some of this too.

Tonight's dinner is going to be pork loin roast with potatoes, carrots, apple and celery in the pressure cooker. It took more time to put it together then it did to cook. But, the end result was delicious. I had to taste test it before feeding it to JP....right?

I think I am enjoying cooking with the pressure canner. This summer I shall try canning some tomatoes in my pressure canner. Depends on what I get a lot of this summer.

The Chicago Blackhawks are playing right now. The score is 4-4 with only 14 minutes to play. The Hawks lost a big game Saturday, 7-0.....I was really upset....but then I think they were even more sicker. Maybe they need some French toast!!!! Still a 4-4 game with 4 minutes to play. Looks like we are going into Overtime......5 minutes of play and then the shoot-outs. I like the shoot-outs, each team picks a player to shoot against the goalie, whoever gets 3 goals wins!!! So I sure do hope the Hawks get this one. NOPE Hawks lost 5-4....(sigh)

After the game I will go downstairs and ride my bike for a couple of miles, then work on some cards. I still have till April 7th to get my collection of cards together for Hospice. At least this time I shall not be under pressure.

Wednesday, Betty and I are going to Sam's Club for a hot dog. Sam's has the BEST hot dogs!! Betty has had knee surgery on both her knees, so she is looking forward to the outing. I offered to bring her a hot dog....but she asked to be picked up to go there....okay, it's a date!!!

This post sure did turn into a long post....was supposed to be a short one. That just goes to show how wordy I can get....oh well. So, have a great evening and keep looking up ~~~ better days are coming and maybe the Hawks might win their next game on Wednesday with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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

Last Day of November

Hi there everyone. It's me, just peeking in for the last day of November.....where oh where did this month go???? According to my calendar....it was a busy one, something going on everyday. No, don't want to repeat it. Wish I was a duck and everything would just slip off my feathers and not penetrate. Just frolic in the sun, playing in the water with not a care in the world....yeah, it would be nice.

Went to Sam's Club today and picked up a few things. They have the best hot dogs....so I picked one up for JP and I for lunch. You get a tall drink all for $3.10....such a deal!! So I got some olive oil, chicken breast, Red Quinoa and Chia Seed Chips, cheese, kielbasa, frozen Mango's and baking potatoes, oh and fig newtons.

I love Sam's chicken breast...they are so big, definitely enough for two people. Now I am looking for a recipe to bake using them....think I have some marinade in the cabinet, shall marinade it and bake.

Tomorrow, is another shopping day. Picking up my new glucose monitor at Shopko, take Kylie to the groomer, then pick her up. Get some eggs...1 1/2 dozen for 68 cents and a $10.00 box of dented & broken bags of food (if it's there for the taking). Oh and some bread and JP's LaCrox water.

Friday is Hospice meeting and we are meeting at Denny's for breakfast, then pass the cards around to look at. We meet once a year at Denny's and Hospice pays for our breakfast. For all the work we have done to make cards for them.

After Denny's I need to go to the Christian Book store and pick up two vials of "Rose of Sharon" anointing oil for Pastor Ron. Walmart, Bed and Bath, Hobby Lobby (better get my coupon before I go) Whew....tired already.....thank goodness Saturday is around the corner.

Well, now that I have completely bored you.....I shall close here and go marinate my chicken breast.

Have a great night and talk tomorrow maybe.....have to finish up my cards for Hospice and put the inserts in....then I am done. Have a great night and keep looking up....better days are coming.
Cheers ~ Louise

Hospital Visit, Prayers and Cards

Hi there everyone. How did your Friday go today??? I was pretty busy. JP had an appointment with the Urologist today. He had an ultra sound and biopsy of the prostrate. I guess they are looking for cancer. His brother had the same procedure and there was no cancer, so hopefully it will be the same for JP. Prayers for JP would be appreciated.

A special treat for us...I bought some pop-corn and a cup of coffee at the Hospital. Our next visit, next Wednesday to find out the results....maybe we will hit the Hospital's "Market Place" for a hamburger and salad....shall see how things go AND if I have $$$ for that day.

We got home about 11am, I took a nap till 1pm then got ready to take off for shopping and pay some bills. Hit Sam's Club, Hobby Lobby and Pic N Save then home. For some reason, I was feeling a little bit queasy with hot flashes in Hobby Lobby....whatever that was I do not know. By the time I got home....very tired. Uge old age is not for whissy's.

Following are 4 cards I made at Betty's last Friday....yeah, I am a bit behind. But I really have been busy making cards for Hospice lately, mostly Christmas cards. I should have enough to send out personally, put in my Etsy store and give to Hospice with some left over for next month.

So with these two cards, the top card is embossed with a cuttlebug folder and little die cut birds glued on, a bow tied and the flowers have speckles dabbed on them. Very simple yet beautiful.

In this Christmas card.....the background embossed with a Christmas folder then die cuts for the fiddle player, holly and Noel were glued on the card and a bow added.

This was really a nice technique. The picture was colored in with copic markers....any colors we desired. then after that we inked the picture with versa mark, then covered with embossing powder and heated to get that glass affect. Die cut birds and a stamped "Happy Thanksgiving" were added. Which reminds me, I need to get some Thanksgiving cards made too.

The last card was a snowman, colored in with copic markers and speckles to enhance the snow. Sequins were added to embellish the card and make the card look like a "snow-globe" Cute huh?!?!?

As I am typing this post....watching the Cubs game which is still playing, I did turn on the Hockey channel and watched the Hawks beat the Devils in overtime 3-2. So now I think the Cubbies should win too.....couple of more endings....Go Cubs!!!

Tomorrow is SATURDAY...my favorite day. We really need to rake leaves and cover the rose bushes. Maybe I need to take some tomatoes of the vine if they did not get frost bit. I was covering the plant for a couple of  days....time to do that. Where did this month go???? November is right around the corner, along with my birthday on the 21st and I shall be 70 years old......OH MY!!!

Time to close this post for today....I will come back on the 31st with 3 Blue Apron meals that I cooked this month, oh and maybe a video from YouTube.

You all have a great day and keep looking up, cause better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Last Day Of September???????

Hi there everyone.....OH NO it's the last day of September!!!!! Where did the summer go????? Now I definitely know what my mother meant when I would say as a child, "I can hardly wait for Christmas, my birthday, summer, vacation, watermelon, etc." My mother would say, "Don't wish your life away....it will come fast enough!"

So yeah....don't blink, or hold your breath, time flies by so-so fast!

I have been diligently working on my cards.....the last couple of days has been Christmas cards.....yeah, it is that time again to get some cards made for Christmas. They are turning out pretty nice, but I still have not switched gears yet. Maybe when the snow flies, will I get in the mood. I will get some pictures taken in the next few days so you can see what I have been up to.

Sunday I am going to a Stampin'up camp to make 4 cards and see the new Christmas catalog. I might order some die cuts....not sure yet, we shall see. So my next post I will show you the cards I made AND if by chance I won a door prize, a picture of what I won.

So today I went to Sam's club to pay my bill and I got stopped by an At&t sales person. They asked if I was happy with my service and would I like to pay less then what I am paying.....why YES I WOULD!!!! She asked me what programs I liked to watch...I mentioned the Chicago Black Hawks and the other guy said......Go Hawks, turns out he is from Chicago and has been in this area for 4 months....naturally he asked how long we have been in WI....."since 1976" I said. Yep.....40 years we have been in WI. We have been here longer then in Illinois...there is nothing I miss about Illinois, but I do miss watching my Blackhawks.

So anyways....I think I got a good deal. My bill will be lowered $60.00, I get a $300.00 gift card from Sam's Club, At&t will come out to my house to set me up with a NEW recording box and remote. They give you refurbished equipment which means they break down and need to be replaced. All because I am a Sam's Club member. Yay....I did something right. At first I was not going to give them the time of day....but when they said my bill could be lowered, who does not want that to happen...it sure would help in these days....that is for sure.

So now my gas and electric bill has been lowered $27.00 and my At&t bill has been lowered $66.00. That's $93.00 more in my pocket....not bad huh?? I need a good deal now and then....this will be a money saving deal.

October 12th the Blackhawks start their season.....can hardly wait to watch them. I might have a few more channels in this deal....so maybe I will be able to catch a few more games. After watching the Hockey World Cup games....I do think I might be able to watch the other teams too....this will be a fun winter of hockey!!!! BUT you must fear the Feathers.....cause the Blackhawks shall win the season and get the Stanley Cup.....yep you heard it 1st from me.....lol!!!!!

Well, time to close here till OCTOBER. Hopefully I will be a bit more diligent in posting on my blog....guess I am leading a boring life. Have a great day and keep looking up ~ better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Last Day of October

Hi there everyone....well can you believe it? It's the last day of October....wow, wow, wow!!! I won't be participating in the Halloween doings today and tonight.....I don't dress up (I look scary enough), don't turn the porch light on and pass out candy to the "tricker-treaters". Nope, no scary pumpkins on this front porch, just two "pumpkin pie" pumpkins, to make pies with for Thanksgiving dinner.

I do have my reasons......first of all, I resent being scared and isn't that what Halloween is about??? Second of all, I will not help to promote diabetes and bad teeth for little children and big kids. Thirdly, have you ever realized how many people, children and animals are sacrificed on this very evening? NOPE I am not a believer in this PAGAN HOLIDAY!!! So there you have it, my reasons for not supporting SATAN!!! Galatians 5:19-21..."and they that do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." You must read the "whole" of those 3 verses to get the  complete idea of what God is saying.

My box of Blue Apron food came on Thursday. I made some chicken soup from a chicken from Sam's Club and made this wonderful cheese sandwich and salad to go along with the soup! Man, was this delicious!!! The recipe card says, "Brie & Pear Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Brussels Sprout, Arugula and Hazelnut Salad" I love that I learn so many new things and use different items to make a lovely meal.

The sandwich was sourdough bread, with slices of brie cheese, with slices of a pear and sage leaves on top of the cheese. Then grilled in a pan. This was so good, the sweetness of the pear and sage and cheese balanced each other off. The salad dressing, on the other hand was so good, I could have eaten a whole bowl of salad by myself, but needed to save some for JP's dinner.

A tablespoon of honey and the juice of one lemon, salt and pepper and 2 tablespoons of olive oil, mixed together and poured over the salad. I omitted the hazelnuts as I am allergic to them. JP ate them all....which was fine with me. I might try this dressing on a regular salad....asap!!!

So Yeah, I would give this grilled cheese sandwich 5 Stars!!!!! I will make it again and again.

I had my computer fixed and got it home Thursday. And yeah, I am still trying to learn all the new things about it.

I was going to blog yesterday, but found I could not download my pictures from the camera into the computer.....URG!!!!!!! Finally in desperation I called Office Depot and got Josiah, the Tech guy that fixed my computer. He gave me a few steps to follow...1st, using the SDHC card in the camera and inserting into the computer. finally I got the pictures downloaded. Darn, I sure did like the way 8.1 worked better then this Windows 10 in that area.

I personally don't see why some things have to change, but I guess "man" is not happy unless he is about changing things, to make things better (?) but inadvertently he makes things worse. Oh well, that's my pet peeve for the day.

This morning I went to turn on the computer and then I could not get on the Internet......I tried and tried, even pulled the plug on the machine. Nope, it would not work. Again, in my conversation to Josiah.....he said to type in Internet Explorer then take that icon and put it on my desktop.....as you can see, I am on the Internet. I tell you, all the hoops one must jump through to get something figured out.

One of the other things I had done to my computer was, finally I had the "office" program installed which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Not sure how much PowerPoint and OneNote will be used....but who knows. I really wanted a Photo Shop program installed but Josiah said my computer would not or could not handle it. Oh well, guess I have to figure out another way to fix my pictures and add words and stuff.

After church tomorrow, I am going to the Stampin'Up Camp. I wondered how I would pay for part of this and it was neat that God, provided the money for me to go and make some cards and buy a stamp set. A friend called me to ask if I would cut her hair.....sure I said, and she gave me $25....I used to be a hairdresser back in the day, yeah, there I times I wish I had continued, but things change and so does life. But anyways, I still cut my hair and JP's hair, so I am still not out of the game. JP and I joke around about how much he owes me in haircuts and tips....yeah, big time!!!!!

Well, I guess I better close here for now, tonight I want to finish making my Hospice cards. Have a meeting on the 6th, this Friday. So just a few more cards to make and I will have at least 50 cards to donate.

You all have a great evening, maybe I will see you tomorrow with the cards I made at Stampin'Up Camp. Keep looking up!!!
Cheers ~ Louise

Before and After ~ The Pond

Hi there everyone. It's a lovely day today. Paid a few bills and went to Sam's Club. JP ran out of oatmeal, peanut butter and prunes....I like to buy in bulk, it lasts longer that way. JP likes his oatmeal every morning. Peanut butter on apples, bread or by the tablespoons and 4 prunes a day.....to keep the doctor away???? Oh that's right, I forgot his apples!!!! Well there is still tomorrow.

So today I thought I would do some before and after's. The above picture was taken March 21st....as you can seen not much was growing. I wanted to get some pictures taken before "Rebuilding Together" people came. I think in this picture the pond is turned over....kind of hard to see. Nope....not turned over, I have it sitting up right.

The above picture was taken last summer 2014. I still had the pond sitting on top of the ground and the rocks built up around it.....it worked nicely, but a little unclassy looking. The goose did not mind though, as long as he was near the water.

In the above picture is "After" Rebuilding Together people came and fixed my pond and added an electrical outlet on the outside of the garage. They dug a hole and placed the pond in the hole and built the rock around the pond.....Mr. Goose is most happy now and can actually reach into the pond for a drink of water. You can't see him from here....but Mr. Frog is perched in his happy place and ready to jump in. I shall have to get a better picture at a later date. The Rebuilding people added flowers and red mulch. Yes, it is very, very pleasant out by the pond......I shall enjoy my backyard this summer. As long as the mosquitoes stay away and don't bite me.....geez they are mean this year.

I have added some new lights to my yard......I love the twinkling of lights at night time. So pretty.

Well it is time to walk Kylie for her evening walk. For tonight's jobs to accomplish, I have my spices to unpack and put in the cabinet and my antiquey things to put on the shelf above the refrigerator. Gosh I guess next place to work on is the basement. I have yet to make a few cards......have just been so busy re-nesting, have not had time to make cards. Hospice meeting is next week and I have no cards to give to them....oh oh!!!

Tomorrow is my appointment with the dentist for a "deep cleaning" he will be doing half my mouth.....Novocain and laughing gas are on order for me so I don't get too nerved up. Hope all goes well and I can be so relaxed that I doze off.

Hey....'da Hawks are playing the Ducks tonight....so I need to watch that and record "American Picker" one of my favorite shows. So you all have a good night and keep looking up!!!!
Cheers ~ Louise

November~~~It's My Birthday Month!!!

Hi there everyone....YAY...it's time to celebrate my birthday ALL MONTH!!! Yes, I will, and because I am one year older...I shall try to do some special things all this month, to celebrate this mile stone in my life.

Yep...never thought I would make it to 68...when I was younger, 68 was so far away..."and aren't people in their 60's ready for the rocking chair and nursing homes???? They are sooooo very old!!! (I thought) Well, I still feel pretty young, but my body is telling me otherwise. But, I shall keep on keeping on as long as I can.

Some things that I am planning this month are:
1) Hospice meeting on the 7th, will be taking about 75 cards.
2)Stampin'Up Camp on the 9th - new things to learn.
3)Card Making on the 13th - new things to learn.
4)My Birthday on the 21st - 68 years old.
5)JP got the 21st off, so we shall eat out and I will get a free steak.
6)A book sale at the Library on 20th and 21st
7)Need to make an appointment at the Doctor's (uge) - no rush.
8)Thanksgiving on 27th....no plans...probably a small turkey for us.(I love all the things that can be made with left-overs)

One thing I am looking at buying is one of those blenders that makes smoothies and hot soups...that just might be up my alley. I saw one demonstrated at Sam's Club but they were asking $275. Gosh the soups were good, and the smoothies, out of this world. I shall have to check it out more thoroughly my next visit to Walmart.

One thing that happened in October (that I am rejoicing about and it was sort of an early birthday present) is that we finally got our roof done. It had been leaking for over 11 years. To my dismay, the kitchen ceiling has been getting worse and worser. About 6 tiles have fallen and you can see where the ceiling is sagging in. The ceiling fan has tilted to the side a little...I had such a fear that the ceiling would cave in and day light would show through.

We had an agency called "Rebuilding Together" come and redo the back part of the roof. The cost of the repairs was taken care of by donations to the organization. They help Senior Citizens who cannot afford to fix their homes, they also help Senior Citizens stay in their home, building ramps if needed, fixing things around the house. So in these two pictures you see our little house and the scaffold that was put up. The scaffold really helped us, cause JP was able to go up there and rake the leaves off the roof plus cut some branches that were laying on the roof. It made it easier for the men to work....it's amazing how God works things out for us when we least expect it.

I wish we had gotten this construction company in the very beginning. None of this would have happened and we would not be dealing with a leaky roof and ceiling. They did a great job. If and when we can get the ceiling done, I will be calling them to do the job. It's comforting to know we have someone we can call that will do the job right!!!

I did check with our Insurance Company.....they would not be able to fix the ceiling....it has to be a "sudden or unexpected" crisis and this roof/ceiling crisis has been going on for 11 years. What we should have done in the very beginning, like right after the ceiling started leaking was call the guy who did it and have him come back and fix it....he sold his business......it was too late!!! We have been caught between a rock and a hard place all these years.

So now the roof is fixed and I can live with the ceiling the way it is, as long as it does not LEAK!!!!!

In these two pictures you can see we had lots of leaves. We are still in the process of raking and cleaning up the yard before Winter and the snow starts to fly....uge....I am praying we don't get a lot of snow this year. Our snow blower is not in the best of condition, so JP will have to shovel the snow. Our neighbor has a blower but his knees are bad. Who knows we may have to pay someone to do our drive-way. One day at a time....no sense worrying now...so that is why I am praying...not too much snow God.

Well time to close this post for today....it's kind of long and you are probably yawning and skipping over a lot of my boring ramblings. Well, you have a great week and keep looking up!!
Cheers ~ Louise

Birthday Cards and a Smoothie

I was asked to make a card for a man in Hilbert who turned 105 years old this week. Put the card on Facebook and thought I should add it here too. So what do you think??? Been having lots of fun making these cards, cause no two have been alike. I just picked up the "model T Ford" stamp at Hobby Lobby. So when I was asked to make the card, just so happened, I had the stamp.....good timing!

This is the inside of the "105 year old" card.

Here is a look at another one of my "Children's Cards" for a 9 year old. (that's a long way from being 105!!!). I can make this for a little girl also.....the ideas are endless, as long as there is a stamp, there is an idea!!! I will be putting this card up in my Etsy store in about a week or so. I think today I am putting #7 in my Etsy store today. The card will be for $3 + postage ($5 total). I should be charging much more for these cards as I put a lot of time into them. But I figure postage will cover that. I guess this is just a labor of love on my part and hopefully lot's of people will enjoy my cards and I will see a few more orders for them.

Had a smoothie this morning..........didn't exactly have THIS ONE. The above picture is one from a few weeks ago. BUT it looks pretty much the same........GREEN!!!!
Today's smoothie:
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 T Chobani yogurt (chocolate or any flavor you desire)
3-4 strawberries
handful of kale (what fits in the cup)
a few leaves of mint
a few sprigs of parsley
Mix altogether and enjoy!!

I bought a smoothie recipe book at Sam's club and found a few smoothies I want to try. There are so many recipes out there....guess it is just your preference as to what you want to drink.....they all look great. For me it is what I have in the house at the the time. Guess I will always have strawberries, blueberries, bananas, spinach and kale.....so that will be my "go to" every day.

Well, today will be a quiet day....guess I have to take my Christmas tree down.....it has Valentines on it right now.........thought about a St. Patrick's tree. Saw some Easter lights at Shopko yesterday and thought well, why not an Easter tree!?!? Don't think the husband would go for that though.

Took the taxes in yesterday.......now the wait to see if we get a refund.....hoping, hoping....please be kind Obama!!! Have to work on bills and balancing the check book today....another chore that takes awhile. There's never quite enough money to cover the bills....but it always seems to work out at the end of the month for some reason. Miracles upon miracles!!

Well, time to close here for today. Time to go make JP's lunch and get him ready to go off to work. You all have a great day and enjoy the weather that comes upon you. We are starting to get some of that snow that is hitting the midwest and 10 inches for Chicago. Guess we are getting snow-showers, better then rain-showers, ceiling doesn't leak with snow-showers.
Keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh!!
Cheers ~ Louise