Well, Hello June!!!

Hi there everyone!! Yes, I know, been awhile since I last communicated on this blog. Just been a lot of this and that going on. Doctor appointments, changing meds and checking blood pressure. Don't know what is worse, changing meds and stopping a few others which changes and discombobulates my whole body....now I am dealing with swollen ankles because the diuretic was discontinued, uncomfortable to say the least!!! Oh well, not a happy camper right now. Next Doctor appointment is the 18th.

Yeah, signs of old age, I guess. Would rather stay at home then go out and mingle with people and drive around with maniacs on the road who speed around me, because I am going the speed limit!!!!

Next Hospice meeting we will meet in September. So, we have the summer off, no rush making cards and I can work outside. I have lots to do and have had a bit of help with the neighbors. Will have to take some before/after pictures of their work and mine.

Here are the cards I created for Hospice. The meeting took place yesterday, and now I'm taking a break from everything, essentially doing NOTHING!!! The cards showcased are foiling cards. I purchased some new red foil and lace toner cards. The flower design was crafted using two different punches at the Thompson Center.

Once again, we see foiled cards, two birthday cakes, and birthday wishes set against various backgrounds.

Creating these cards was enjoyable with the use of 3D embossing folders and vellum, followed by processing them through the Cuttlebug. You apply color to the bottom side (the indented side), for which I used Copic markers. Once fully colored to your liking, you then sweep black ink over the colored bottom side, from top to bottom, achieving the coverage you desire. Afterwards, you can adhere it to the card and affix your chosen verses.

It's fascinating to see the evolution of this blog. The initial two paragraphs remain untouched, penned by my own hand. The subsequent three paragraphs, along with this one, were crafted by "copilot." While the words were altered, the essence remained intact, and arguably enhanced. It's curious to observe the outcome of this paragraph. AI is becoming increasingly ubiquitous. Initially, its presence on this blog eluded me, but upon engaging with it, I found the articulation to be superior to my own... hence, I'm inclined to let AI articulate on my behalf...haha!

What fun, the above paragraph cracks me up, makes me sound very intelligent to say the least!!! This is me speaking....lol!!!

Question: Shall we let AI speak for us now!!!!

Well, I think I shall leave you now with this question to ponder. Talk to you later, maybe I will try for another blog this month just for the fact of having another round with AI and letting it rewrite my paragraphs. Hope you have a great June, don't let the bugs bite you too badly. Cheers ~ Louise

More Cards in My Stash!!!

Hi there everyone, how's it going with you??? September is right around the corner...where did this summer go to???? 

My husband and I would have been married 50 years yesterday, August 27th. I still remember what we were doing that day, of course, every woman remembers her wedding day!!! Mine was kind of weird, as JP was racing cars and just could not take time off for a wedding. So, we got married by the "Justice of the Peace" in Chicago at 11:00am. When we came out of the courthouse, JP went to get the car and there was a ticket on it, good grief!!!! The day was hot and sunny, I think we might have gone out to eat. No, our family was not there, as they did not appreciate the way we got married, they had already said, "It would not last!!!"

At 3:00pm we were signing the papers on our new little house in Arlington Heights. I had told JP I would not move into that house unless we were married, otherwise he would have been very happy had we never got married. He was very unconventional to say the least!!! The paper saying we were married, and the ring meant nothing to him. Oh, I had to buy my own ring, because he had no time for that!!! Oh well, water under the bridge. Here it is 50 years later, I guess we did okay, his racing ended after we got married in 1973. He got the Track Championship with fastest car which still stands for that year, because the track was torn down in 1980 or so.

Now on to some cards I made for Hospice. I am definitely into these lovely butterflies; they make such a nice card that can be used for anything actually. I used yellow vellum for the background and the butterflies in black with pearls colored yellow.

This next card was done the same way but with blue vellum and gems embossing them.

Both these cards were done with a corner embossing folder and cut out with a die. The top card was covered with silver past and rubbed on gold paste to enhance the rose, flowers and center of daisy. The bottom card, I rubbed on the gold paste and enhanced with the silver paste.

These two cards are a sampling of the Veterans cards I made, the top card was strips of paper layered on a pattern and embossed with button as the center of interest. It's kind of like and "Iris" fold card without the folding of the papers. 

The second card is a napkin glued on to cardstock and smoothed out like wallpaper and then embellished with the "Freedom is not free" and blue stars. We will be making Veterans cards every month now because these cards will be going to the Vets that take that plane ride to Washington DC to see the Wall and out to Hawaii to see Pearl Harbor.

This last card is another Christmas card I will be making for this Christmas. It's a stamp which I colored in with copic markers.

So, there you have it a few more cards for Hospice, our next meeting is September 1st, so I have quite a few cards in my stash for the next few meetings. I just need to add a verse of Happy Birthday or Thinking of you or Thank you in the rest of the cards.

I have been getting a few vegies from my gardens. Beans, cherry tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and dill. Actually, the chipmunks have gotten quite a few of my tomatoes, here's hoping they get a stomachache after eating too many tomatoes!!!!! I kind of gave up getting tomatoes from my garden.....not like the old days when I was not so hard to garden around my house.

Well time to close here, need to get some things done around this house and water the plants outside. All those putsy everyday things to do. You have a great day and keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Some New Cards

Hi there everyone, hope you are enjoying this HOT summer!!! I have no air conditioning, so it really gets miserable warm in this house. Oh, I have the fans going, ceiling fan, floor fan, little fan by the chair, yep, fans a blowing everywhere and no place to cool down. I also have one of those little artic air conditioners, but it in no means cools down a room, it does cool me down while I sit by my computer. Today, the artic conditioner is not on, as it is still kind of warm or at least not HOT in this house, but comfortable.

So, today's cards, some were made at the Senior Center and some at home. The butterfly card (above) was made at the Center. People donate a lot of stuff, and this butterfly die was a donation, I sure do like it, it made a lovely card. Think I will make some more diagonal cards at home and when I go to the Center, hunt up this die and cut more like it, hopefully it will still be there and did not walk away.

The above cards, the diagonal grey with leaves was made at the Center. The other card I made at the Center a couple of months ago. Now the bottom card, "yellow daisies on a black background" is a new die I bought from "Scrapbook.com". It came with a 3D embossing folder and the die to cut out the corner flower. My technique was to use the Tim Holtz Distress inks and with a steeple brush (hard bristles) color the flowers and leaves. I have also tried gold and silver paste and smeared it on the flowers. Those cards will be in my next blog.

Now these two cards were a lot of fun to make. They reminded me of the "Iris folding" technique. They were made at the Center and finished at home. The top card has a pattern to follow, and the strips cut out to fit within the pattern. I made quite a few of these cards last night in different colors. The butterfly card was made at home. One of the ladies that comes to the Center brought the pattern and directions to make more of these cards. Now if I can just figure it out, I will make more of these in the coming days.

Here is my new Christmas card using the iris fold techniques. The "falala" die was free with my order to Scrapbook.com. Will have to make a lot more of these in the next coming days. I have to make Veteran cards for the Hospice meeting September 1st. So, I think I will make Veteran cards using this method. Fun, fun, fun in the next few days.

Well, there you have it another round of card making. I extended my stamping room to the dining room table as it is a bit cooler in the dining room. My stamping room is a bit stuffy and too warm to make cards, so I just go in there to get supplies. I also extended the dining room table to make it a bit larger. The table can sit 12 people, well that would be about the length of the dining room, so that would be WAY too big for this room. I shall have to settle for this size in this room. Lots of fans blowing on me so it makes it bearable, making cards.

My little garden is starting to produce, YAY!!! Onions and greens, dill, 1 cucumber, got some green tomatoes that the chipmunks found and green beans!!! Hot dog and green beans for lunch today....Yum!!! I noticed I have lots of cherry tomatoes growing, if they make it, just need to remember to water them, they let me know when they are thirsty, they wilt!!!

Another funny oneliner from Brenda's blog; "Big shout out to my fingers ~ I can always count on them!!!"

Well time to close before this gets toooooo long of a blog. Talk later and keep looking up, better days are coming!!! Cheers~Louise
 

Some Flowers Around the House

Hi there everybody!!! Been a while since I last blogged. Thought I better get something going here and flowers came to my mind. Been doing a lot of cards lately but have not taken pictures of them yet. So, a few pictures of my perennial flowers should be in order. 

The below flowers usually bloom around September 1st. The vine is still growing and is not even quite up to the banister. I like this flowering vine; I call it a "Star Clematis" because the flowers look like stars. It gives me lots of privacy on the front porch.

These guys, JP used to call them the "choir" their real name is "Bee Balm" they have taken over the whole garden. The red flowers make for a good tea. They should be blooming in the next few weeks.

Here are my "Black-eyed Susans" I love them. They have been showing up every year in this spot for the last 8 years. The bottom is this year's growth this month. The top picture is from 2016. The blooms will last 4-5 weeks or until a bad storm knocks them over.

Here are my lovely pink peonies, the plant has gotten very big, I really need to cut the plant in half and put the other half someplace else. Never have done that though, the thought is there though. Well now the blooms are done blooming, and it is time to cut back the plant.

Now, this is my "Mystery Rose Bush." I think when I planted it, it was supposed to be a white rose. 2002 when we had the porch replaced, it got trampled on by the workers and did not grow for a couple of years, I was going to dig it up but then the next spring, it started to grow. All it did was grow green branches which we would cut down....I guess it went wild for quite a few years. The last couple of years it started blooming these pretty red roses near the bottom of the base of the plant for the last few years. This year it has bloomed more flowers than ever before. I hope it blooms all summer; we will see. I never took very good care of it all these years cause I did not know what it wanted to do. I have been watering it now and maybe I will give it some "Miricle Grow" just to see what it's next step is. Yes, it is a "Mystery Rose."

Now, here are my ever-faithful purple clematis. They are right next to the "Star Clementis" so these bloom way ahead of the white flowers. Wish they would last all summer, but no they don't.

Well, there you have it a slight change from the cards but all so pretty as cards. Flowers growing around my house (ha, along with the weeds). I will miss these flowers if I should have to sell this house, hopefully not for a while though. We will see, glad I don't know the future, that is in God's hands.

You all take care and enjoy the summer if I don't return to blog. But if I do return to blog, it will be about cards. Talk to you later. Cheers ~ Louise

Computer Problems

Hi there everyone. Hope you are all having a wonderful September. Summer went by way too fast. Well, this post will be VERY short. It seems I am having a problem with my computer. I wanted to give you a few pictures and a short paragraph or two. BUT, for some reason Blogger keeps on telling me "Blogger is not responding" and won't bring up my file of pictures. So, no card pictures this time around. So boring.

Facebook is doing the same thing to me..."Facebook is not responding" and it takes a couple of minutes for Facebook to start working before I get all my newsfeeds. 

Just not sure what is wrong....wonder if somehow I got a virus, but then I thought Norton was taking care of things for me. I may have to take this computer back to the store and get it cleaned. ONLY, if I can get it done for free. Maybe there are a few programs that are bogging down this old computer. Tomorrow I will pull the plug and see if the computer resets it's self. Getting very frustrating how this computer is working soooooo slooooooow and not responding properly!!!

So if you do not see me for awhile....let it be known, I am having problems with this computer. I will try to comment on your blogs if Blogger allows me to. You all have a good Fall and keep looking up ~ hopefully better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Last Month's Card Making @ Betty's

Hi there everyone...yes that is right, these are the cards we made at Betty's last month....I guess I am a little behind, as this Wednesday is another session of card making....my how time flies. I have not figured out where this year is going? Going so, so fast. Haven't even finished my outside work yet. Tomorrow, it's suppose to be a little bit cooler, so I might do some stuff outside, like paint another tire and plant my Popcorn Hosta in it....yes, I am still planting things. 

Need to start another row of lettuce soon, gosh the lettuce I planted in the spring was good, a little sesame oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, stevia...makes a good dressing along with cherry tomatoes and radishes from the garden....heaven!!!!!

So these are some of the cards we made last month...I even took pictures of them right after I made them. To make sure I would post them right away....nope, that did not happen. I like the verse, "I hope thistle cheer you up." with purple thistles in the jar colored with copic markers. Cute, cute.

Cute little possum laying on a hammock, colored with copic markers.

This ladybug was fun to make. Betty said she saw a sample of it on Pinterest and duplicated it....I do that a lot....I see a card I like and duplicate it with the stamps I have on hand...never quite looks the same....but close.

When I used to be a hairdresser, I could duplicate hairdo's. The lady would come in with a picture of what she wanted to look like and I almost always would come close. Of course it always depended on the head of hair I was working on. If the picture of the lady had real thick hair, the lady wanting that hairdo had thin, fine hair.....would be kinda hard to make it look like the picture....but I tried to please.

You probably recognize this card, as it is my header card...I thought this was a very pretty card. In order to duplicate this card I would need the die cut of the tree....the trees in the back ground were stamped and embossed then the tree was dabbed with brown and black to make it look like a birch tree. All was done on iridescent paper to give it that shine.

I just got done cutting JP's hair, he was getting pretty shaggy. Gave him a pretty short hair cut, using the clippers and trimmed his beard too...this cut should last till about September or October....he has had free haircuts since 1971, when we first met and he has never tipped me....HA....cheap, cheap!!!!!

UPDATE: Sitting at my computer and noticed $2 by the lamp...I said, "what is this for?" JP says, "it's your tip!" Oh my goodness, my first tip from him in 47 years!!!

Oh, I need to tell you....I have been dieting for over a year, watching and writing the things I put in my mouth....yeah, it's been tuff, but I am glad to say as of today....I have lost 26 lbs....it's been a very slow process. But, hey, I did not put it on fast.....it was a slow process of gaining a pound here and there. I am hoping to eventually eliminate all these pills I am taking for diabetes and high blood pressure. The Doctor says he wants to see "less of me" at my next visit. Meaning he wants to see me weighing less then what I have....I think I might be able to accomplish that....at this point.

Lately I have been making Dr. Atkin's shakes in the morning and it seems to hold me over till the evening....I will take it. The shakes are so delicious, I put a half frozen banana and handful of frozen strawberries, a few ice cubes and the shake....mix it up in my blender and "wa-la" a delicious, thick shake that I have to use a spoon with....soooooo good.

Well, it is time to make JP's lunch as he will be leaving for work in about an hour and half. Talk to you all later, keep looking up as better days are coming....you just watch!!!! Cheers ~ Louise

Secret Stamper Images Pt. 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Still Taking It Easy

Hi there everyone. Well, as you can see, I am still taking it easy.....does not this picture below look like a place you would like to be.....forgetting all your worries, fears and woes.....I would love to float in some water in a warm place about now.

Another place to get lost in....some paradise far, far away!!!!!

Yep....we have yet another 3 days in September......this sure has been a tough month for me. I am glad to say I am feeling much, much better. Went to see Doctor Flanagan this last Thursday and she said things are healing well, but I still need to take it easy for another couple of weeks. Guess I never realized how much surgery can take out of us. And then, to have back to back surgeries, the colonoscopy on the 2nd and the hernia surgery on the 3rd. Oh my.....someone told me today at church, that was a lot of different things being pumped into my body....it's no wonder it takes 6-8 weeks to recuperate and get the body back to normal.

Well, I can rest a little bit more I guess.....but I am getting antsy. I am just glad that I am not sick like I had been for the last 9 months....every month I was getting stomach pains, throwing up and diarrhea. The lady at church also said, it sounded like the intestine was strangulated by the hernia and it is a good thing it was caught in time. Yeah....pretty scary I guess.

We stopped at Spranger's Apple orchard today on the way home from church and I got some Mollies and Cortland apples. Both will be good for an apple pie or two. Maybe next week, we will stop for some more, and maybe get a pumpkin for a few pies......yum, does that not sound good???

I am thinking I will make some potato cheese soup tomorrow......sounds good, found a simple recipe for that on www.Cooks.com my go-to recipe place for yummy recipes.

Another thing I will be trying this week is: the shaving cream and ink technique to make backgrounds for my cards....sounds like a fun project.....maybe this is what I need to get me back into making cards again. My inspiration and motivation has been lacking for the last couple of months. Guess I need to get back on the wagon and start making a few cards for my Etsy store and for Hospice. Have not been to a Hospice meeting for over 3 months and the next meeting will be in November.....so I have a little bit of time to make a few cards for that.

Well time to close here and go make some cereal for myself....or something. You all take care and keep looking up! Cheers ~ Louise

Blue Apron ~~ My New Order Came

Hi there everyone. Hope you had a beautiful day....it was gorgeous outside today, wasn't it???? I heard the sound of the locust today, I just love that sound, it reminds me of those lazy, hazy days of summer when I was a kid. All I had to do was enjoy the summer and play before school started the Day after Labor Day in September. Yeah....those were the days!!!

So, in my post yesterday I mentioned I was waiting for my next order from Blue Apron. It came about 7:00 pm in a refrigerated FedEx truck. Makes me wonder just how long my box from last week actually sat on that neighbors porch. Because the ice block was partially melted. The order that came today....nope, the ice had not even started to melt. So everything in the box was still cold.

Here is what the box looks like...... it felt like Christmas when it arrived.

I Pulled everything out of the box and laid it all on the table....looks pretty good huh?? So dinner tonight will be "Vadouvan-Spiced Lamb Burgers with Crispy Curried Zucchini Rounds" and fries and fruit. JP was VERY ok with the menu for tonight. Gosh, I love cooking!!!!

The 2nd meal in this box is "Chicken Milanese with Summer Corn, Cherry Tomato and Cucumber Salad" The 3rd meal is "Cod & Miso Soba Noodles with Multicolored Cherry Tomatoes & Eggplant" Can you see the beautiful eggplant and zucchini in the picture....yum!!! I like that there are different things in the box that I have not ever tried. Been in such a rut lately, I think this new experience will help me spread my wings a bit. I get so tired of cooking the same stuff week in and week out. This will put some pzazz into my cooking.....I think!!!

I was sitting on the porch this morning, getting some sun on my legs.....they are still very white!!! So for a half hour I sat on the steps and took a few pictures of the pretty sky and clouds. What do you see up there......I think that is a turtle......maybe a duck, maybe a kitten????

Gosh, can you believe today is the last day of July.....where in the world is this summer going??? Next week Wednesday I have my second cataract eye surgery at 8am or so. I have to be at the clinic by 6:50 am to sign in and change clothes, and get that WARM blanket put on me....that is such a comfortable feeling. The lady that sang on the phone to me "Pack up all your cares and woes, singing low, bye, bye black bird" will be there too. She said she would have a new song for me. Will be fun to match the voice on the phone with the real person.

Well, I guess it is time to go walk Kylie around the block, the sun is going down, so it won't be too bright on my eyes. You all have a great evening and see you in August!! Cheers ~ Louise