Hospice Cards for February 3rd.

Hi there everyone, been awhile since I last blogged. No sorry's, just not much to talk about, I guess. Since Jay's death 16 months ago (now where has that time gone?) life has been quiet but there has been a lot of hoop jumping for me. And I do so hate the hoop jumping at times. Going around and around and getting no place.

Making cards has been at a minimal because the inspiration has been probably at about 45-50%. I look at a lot of ideas, but none click. I had a lot of Christmas cards made for Hospice, but then, I came down with the flu, or was it Covid, or was it a virus....I just don't know, but I was out of commission for 6 weeks, after which I finally started feeling better. It took a lot out of me, wonder where I would have been if I had not gotten that one shot, no, no boosters, just one shot and I got it when Jay was about to enter the assisted living. I thought, better get the Covid shot or assisted living people won't let me in to see Jay. I did run into a couple of times that the nurses almost did not let me in to see Jay, but only after they realized who I was and who I was visiting.

So, I missed the December meeting and now the next meeting is on the 3rd so for the last couple of weeks I was into making Valetine cards and using different techniques as you can see by some of these cards.

The 1st card is embossed, and I just added a cardinal at the bottom....pretty simple. The 2nd card is an old valentine card that I ran off on my copy machine, then fussy cut and glued onto some fancy background cardstock.

Now the above cards were kind of interesting to make as it was an idea from Simon Hurley. I found my stencils and placed the stencil on cardstock and taped it down so the cardstock would not move. Then smudged with ink where I wanted color, lifted the stencil and "wah lah" this was the result. Check out Simon Hurley on YouTube, he has lots of great ideas.

"Sending BIG hugs" card is from a card kit from the UK. I have had this in my stash of stuff to make for a couple of years and finally put them together. Sent 2 cards off to someone in VT and one to WI. They were so cute; I could not resist.

Valentine cards are so much fun to make. These are a few I put together with odds and ends I had sitting around. Of course, the bottom two are copies from the original Valentine cards which I copied, fussy cut and glued to the background.

Now these were fun, the backgrounds are from a pad of cardstock, probably in my stash for a couple of years and finally used the cardstock. The flower is from Stampin Up. Embossed with gold, pretty flowers with many ideas for using it.

Now this was a fun technique and another Simon Hurley idea. Using a 3-D embossing folder, the inside of the folder was inked (ink the indented side) then spray with water, place cardstock in folder and run through the cuttlebug or whatever machine you have. Take out of the folder and let dry and run the process over again. I am going to try this technique today with another 3-D folder I have using multi colors. Want to see how it works.

Last but not least, I had these 4 prints from wherever I received them, cut them out and placed them in a frame, simple but pretty. Well, now I suspect, if you are still with me, you probably got bored and clicked on to the next blog....that is okay, this is getting pretty long and anyways I am ready for it to come to an end. I need to get started on doing some work around the house.

So, I had 61 cards made for the January meeting and now that I have an extra 4 days to make cards, I shall try for 75 cards total. That would make a record for me as I usually make 50 or so cards.

Well, I shall close this blog before it turns into a BOOK!!! Here's hoping the weather by you is not so cold and with little snow. It's supposed to be sunny and cold here for the next 5 days, that will be nice. You all have a great February and keep warm and looking up, Jesus is coming soon!!!! Cheers ~ Louise
 

And the Countdown Begins - 28 Days Till Christmas!!!!

Hi there everyone, hope you are having a good month. Can you believe, Christmas is right around the corner. 28 days and counting. Our days are flying by. Thought I would show you my Christmas tree from last year. It was up for 4 months and had 3 lives!!!! 

A Red, White and Blue Christmas and very patriotic. Love the glow of the blue. Put up in December, then changed over to......

A Valentine's Day Tree. I usually move the tree to this corner, after the village gets put away. Everything is red, of course. Then by the middle of  February, the tree turns Green for...….

You guessed it, St. Patrick's Day!!! But notice my red elf....he seems to like this tree and keeps watch all 4 months. Finally after March, I take the tree down....I have toyed with the idea of leaving the tree up for Easter....but I am finally tired of the tree, and away it goes, down stairs and packed away for another year.

This is Kylie....she was barking at me. She is blind and hard of hearing (sometimes) other times she can hear. She can hear me clap my hands and knows pretty much to follow me. She is going on 14 years...I thought we were going to lose her a couple of months ago, but she snapped out of what ever the problem was. I think the Vet thought she had cancer and was not giving her much of chance. I just changed her dog food and give her real hamburger and chicken with rice, chicken or beef broth and scrambled eggs. That's pretty much her diet, along with milk bones and special cuts as a snack.

I kind of thought I would not put the tree up...only because I have not felt like it.....but then, this could be Kylie's last Christmas.....maybe I need a few more pictures of her and her Christmas tree.

This is my snowman on the front door....guess it is time to put him up.....awww shucks, maybe I will repent and change my mind and put a few decorations up. I really need to get some cards done to send out....I am thinking of cutting my list down, and put a card up on my blog and facebook….wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and hope everyone sees it. So many times I send a card out and NEVER receive one back....sort of tired of that. Is that the spirit of Christmas? I don't know, maybe I am the one with the problem.

Oh yeah....I finally, after 4 months got the money for a new/used stove. It will be delivered December 8th...I can hardly wait. I really miss putting something in the oven to bake. For the last 4 months I have been using a hot plate, George Foreman grill, crock pot, microwave and Nu-wave....which has worked. But so many recipes call for baking and I could not bake.

For Thanksgiving I made a turkey breast in the crock pot, bread pudding, mashed potatoes, corn, gravy and a pumpkin pie....in the microwave. Have you ever heard of a microwave pumpkin pie...it was pretty good. I shall give you the recipe in my next post.

Well, time to close here....tonight I have to make a few cards. Hospice meeting next Friday....so I better get cracking here. You all have a great rest of the month....see you in December. Keep looking up, better days are coming (I hope). Cheers ~ Louise

Carrot Cake, Macaroons, Yummy Potatoes, Steak and Pumpkin Pie

Hi there everyone. Hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather. Guess that will change by this weekend.....the snow is coming. I knew this was too good to be true!!! But the early spring sure did feel good, didn't it???

So I started this post the day before Valentine's.....here are a couple of recipes that caught my eye.

Carrot Cake for 2. I am not very good at making cakes for some reason. But, this cake was pretty good, the taste was there but it came out like the leaning tower of Pizza. Carrot cake and cream cheese frosting. JP ate most of it though....I have to watch my sugar intake.

In this picture you see the back side of the carrot cake and chocolate Macaroons. A simple recipe from the package, I just added the chocolate chips and cocoa.

Chocolate Macaroons. 2 2/3 cup coconut, 1/3 cup sugar, 3 Tablespoon flour, 2 egg whites, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Mix together coconut, sugar, flour and salt. Then mix in egg, and almond extract until blended. Bake on a greased and floured cookie sheet, drop by teaspoonful for 20 minutes at 325 until edges are golden brown. Remove from cookie sheet to wire racks to cool. As I said, in this recipe I added maybe about 1/3 mini chocolate chips and 1 Tablespoon cocoa.

Baked Potatoes - this was delicious!! Oh gosh....I lost this recipe, and not sure where I found it. But I seem to remember the potatoes were peeled and diced. Onions and bacon mixed in, sprinkled with salt and pepper and olive oil. Baked at 350-400 till browned. If I ever run across this recipe, I will be sure to post it again.

Hardcore Carnivore Black Steaks. I leave my steaks on the counter till room temperature. Makes for a more tenderer steak. Fry 3-4 minutes on each side will make for a medium pink steak....yum!!

I made a few Pumpkin Pies. One for us and one for my friend Betty. I cooked down a pumpkin from Halloween, had it sitting in the kitchen. Baked the pumpkin in the oven, scooped out the meat and froze it in freezer bags. Time to make the pie, defrosted the meat, 2 cups on pumpkin, cup of milk, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix in a blender and pour into a shell and bake 400 degrees for 15 minutes turn down the oven to 350 for 45 - 50 minutes. Easy Peasy Pie.

Well, I shall close this post for today.....hope you enjoyed the recipes. Have a great night and keep looking up~~~better days are here again. Cheers ~ Louise

And the Winners of This Lovely Card are.....

Hi there everyone...hope you are having a good day. So we got home from church today, and the first thing I did was pick the 4 names out of the bowl. And....these are the winners of this lovely Victorian Valentine card.

1 - Patricia - www.patricia-heythereitsme.blogspot.com
2 - Tina - www.kittykatkards.blogspot.com
3 - Brenda - www.inkspiredtostamp.blogspot.com
4 - Biz - www.mybizzykitchen.com

Hope you will visit their blogs also.....I visit them daily, always looking forward to what they have posted and getting some new idea, whether it be card making, food making, exercise or just a little encouragement in daily life.

Tina recently posted a great recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Mug Cake....oh my was that DE-LISH-OUS!!!!! Oh and she makes some really neat cards and sells on Etsy too.
Biz posts wonderful ideas about food, dieting and exercise...she is a daily visit....and I must have something to eat before I read her blog because I drool over the food she makes!! She has entered a couple of Recipe Contests and is a contender to win 10k for a pizza she made. Can hardly wait to see if she wins!!
Brenda always has great ideas about making cards. She lives life day by day tackling the problems she deals with living with a husband who has Alzheimer's.
Patricia took a wonderful cruise to Alaska....it was so refreshing, felt like I had gone there too even if it was via blogland. She posts lots of food too, along with everyday life.

So there you have it, the winners. I will get the cards addressed tonight and sent in the mail tomorrow. Hopefully you will see your card by Valentines Day and the Pony Express moves swiftly through the bad weather that is coming soon.

Have a great night and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise