Ohhhhhh Is Anyone There???

 Hi there everyone. Thought I would drop a line or two. Yes, I am still alive and kicking. As you can see by the dates on the pictures below, they are 5 years old, but they are Fall pictures, so I am using them today.

I have not been much into a blog mood, only because not much is happening in my life. Since JP's death, (1 year, 2-1/2 months) everyday just seems to blend into another. I have tried to get a lot done around the house, but sometimes I just find myself sleeping. I get plenty done in my mind, but my body does not cooperate.

Next month, 11/21 I will be 76 years old. WHERE did that time go to?? Never thought I would make it to this age.

Well, to update you all. I had my garage sale and made about $140.00 which did help in paying some bills. The sale was back in June. I thought I would have another one in July, August and possibly in September. But I decided not to. June was enough for me. I am still in the process of cleaning the garage and ridding myself of all the old garage sale stuff that did not sell. I gave "Good Will" 6 banana boxes of stuff already with 2-3 more boxes to go. 

I have decided I am NOT going to sell and move out of this house. And would like to stay here for as long as I can. To down-size, pack and move just sounds like too much stress and a hassle at this time in my life. I am not under pressure now, as I was even 6 months ago as I have made plans with the City to begin paying my property tax which will now keep me from foreclosure in two years. 

I have had a few other financial situations cleared up, so my future looks a little brighter, that's if this country does not go down the tubes with inflation, high gas and food prices and every other crisis that comes up. 

It has been hard to keep my nose above water these last couple of years what with the Pandemic, JP's sickness and death, trying to make ends meet has been a challenge. But God is Good, and He takes care of His own.

I had a really good garden this year with tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, onions, dill and basil. I am in the midst of drying the dill and basil. I think the beans are done as it was my second planting. I brought in my green tomatoes, and they are ripening in a dish pan. 

My card making has been at a minimum lately, have lots of ideas, but seem to find other things to do. Cooking for myself is not fun. When JP was alive, I cooked much more, always trying something new and different. Now I just cook what is easy, fast or not so healthy. Hamburgers, hot dogs, salad, fries, steak, beans, broccoli, and corn. Chicken when I can and porkchops anything that can be made in the Air Fryer or microwave. My Air Fryer is my new friend.

My car has a gas line leak, so it has been sitting in the driveway this week. Monday, I have to take it to the service station, hopefully there is enough gas to get it there and has not all leaked out. Then the guy won't be able to work on it till the 20th, maybe sooner. Hopefully the bill will be affordable.

Well, I guess that is all for now, this was going to be a short blog, but I guess I am just too wordy. You all have a great rest of the month...I am sure it will go fast. The days are flying by, enjoy them while you have them. Keep looking up!!! Better days are a comin'. Louise

Mmmmm Strawberries

Hi there everyone. How are you doing today? All is well here....my strawberry plants are producing...oh my, I am in love. They are not the biggest in town....but they are good to the very last berry.

Yesterday, I saw a Robin enjoying him/herself....I wondered who the culprit was that was eating a few berries. Sitting on my porch, I found out who it was. Gosh, I had no idea that Robins ate anything other then worms!!!! Now I know.

You like my blue bowls? I picked then up at a garage sale...they also have covers. I can use them in the microwave for steaming vegetables and heating food....I shall have to try that soon. For now, they are good for my strawberries.

Nothing too much is going on today. I finally straightened out the garage yesterday, now it is an organized mess. LOL! Today I need to plant my Rose Moss, cucumbers and more zucchini in the front of the house. I will then have cucumbers and zucchini planted in 3 different places. One of those 3 places has GOT to produce some fruit for me this year. I have quite a bit of shade trees around my house, so it makes for some tough growing. I lost my apple trees....they did not get enough sun.

So, we shall see how things go this year. The plants in the front of the house will get sun pretty much all day....that's where the strawberries are. So if the strawberries are thriving....maybe the cucumbers and zucchini will too.

Well time to go do a few things around the house. You all have a great day and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

Monday, Monday

Hi everyone....how is your Monday going so far??? Mine?? Okay, I am taking it easy today (hahaha) as I do every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc, etc through to the next Monday. Not really though, it's a beautiful day here in Wisconsin, at least this part of Wisconsin. Sunny and blue skies and the temprature is 62 degrees, perfect!!!

Well, we had a wonderful visit with family on Saturday. They were here for 6 short hours then headed back to Chicago. Original plans were that they would stay the night in a hotel...but it was Green Bay Packer weekend and there were no hotel rooms to be had in Appleton. So they left early in the morning to get here. Leaving at 6pm to get home.

JP and I have made trips like that also, leaving here early and going down to Chicago to visit then coming back the same day, it's about a 3 1/2 hour drive if you don't stop much....JP likes to drive, so it never bothered him. But, that was when we were in our younger years. Maybe now, not so much.

So we went to BJ Clancy's, it's a nice place that JP and I like to go to on our Birthdays...where one or the other gets a free steak meal. So we thought it would be fun to go there with the family. They seemed to like it, food and service was good. Sorry, no pictures.....gosh I didn't even get a family shot for some reason, what was I thinking????? I am a "picture kind of person" and what, I only took two pictures??????

It was raining all day....that was the crumby part, it was coming down in bucket fulls when we got to the restaurant.....and we all got wet!!! But we laughed it off. Now if they would have come yesterday, it was a beautiful day.......what a difference a day makes, but a perfect day for the Packers (oh Packers won, beating the Detroit Lyons 22-3).

So this week, I may have a 1 or 2 day garage sale, as long as things are still set up and maybe next week also. All depends on the weather though. According to my books I did the same thing last year, it was a little chilly, but I did sell a few things. The less I have to put away, the happier I will be.

Well, I think I shall close here, I am sort of wandering around, so you all have a great day and a great week and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh.
Cheers ~ Louise

Garage Sale This Week and That New Friend

Hi everyone. Well, it is Thursday and Friday is a comin'. I spent 6 1/2 hours in my garage sale today, only making $5.50...uge, I sure do hope tomorrow is better, I am looking at possibly 8 hours. Saturday, maybe 4+ hours. Last year at this time, I found that Thursday was not a good selling day and that Friday was better....so, I am looking for tomorrow to be a good day. I will let you know how things turned out.

So in this picture you see I am selling my cards for $1.00 each, Plus some stamps. 7 cards have sold so far with many people looking at them. Two people wanted my business card. One lady said she would call me when she needed some cards....we'll see what happens. What with postage going up to 49 cents soon...there may not be a lot of mail going out in the near future.

In this picture is a table full of stuff, I would say that about 1/4 of the stuff is gone........which is a good thing. I did add some stuff today, most of the stuff is going for $1.00, 2.00, 3.00, 50 cents and 25 cents.....not a bad deal.

These pictures were taken last week, so there is still lots of stuff on the tables. Although there is less at this writing.

Well....bad news....we will not be getting that "New Friend" Henry....(sad face). Plans fell through and the lady that was giving us Henry will be keeping him instead. She was going to get two more birds and those birds will not be coming to her, so Henry will be staying with her after all....(sad face again). It took me awhile to get used to the fact that we were going to get Henry, then in seconds, a phone call comes and disappointment settles in.......oh bummers!!!! Oh, such is life, things are given and things are taken away....sometimes even desires and thoughts are taken away to be put on the back burner.....something I will never understand. It is a good thing that God's thoughts are not our thoughts, and neither are our ways, God's ways. All we need to do is "believe" that God knows what is best for us and flow with it.

Well, time to close for tonight. You all take care and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh. Cheers ~ Louise

Cards, Flowers and Garage Sale Stuff

My newest card is in my Etsy store. "The Flying Duck 2". I love this technique, really a lot of fun to do. Using the duck template, I stamped a scenery stamp on card stock, then dabbing around the edges of the duck to finish it off. Embellish any way you would like.



A cluster of beautiful mums in my front yard.



The last of my brown-eyed susans. Hopefully next spring there will be an abundance of daisy's growing.

Still have some garage sale stuff for sale. A lady emailed me who saw my ad on Craigslist and wanted to know if I still had some plants and plant stands, pots and stuff. Took some pictures and emailed them to her....take it all for $20....haven't heard from her yet. Guess I was supposed to mark it all for "FREE"

Taking my computer in on Friday to get cleaned and more ram put into it. Gosh, sure do hope this all will help. Been fiddling with this computer, typing a few words at a time into this blog......good thing "Nashville" was on so it didn't matter how long it took for this machine to do it's thingie.

Well, time to close, need to get the husband's dinner going, ride my bike and do some dishes so you all take card and take Jesus and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh.
Cheers ~ Louise

Sweet Baby......and a "Star" Clementis

Sweet little baby from the past...............not really sure where I got this picture, must have been on the Internet someplace. I tried saving her along with some other old pictures to a CD, but it would not work. So, just moved the sweet baby to my pictures and then I thought the baby needed to go on my blog.....so here she is.

My computer is still not working the best, but it is workable. Deleted a few things, removed a program and defraged. Moved some files and cleaned some files. Well, hopefully the memory sticks will show up on Monday so I can take this computer in for a thorough cleaning and the memory added.

JP and I cut down my Star Clementis today......gosh was that ever a mess. Never cut down the old growth last Fall, so the new growth grew over the old and the vine was humongous this year. As you can see in the above picture. "Star" in all it's glory. During my garage sales, people would ask me what kind of flower the vine was and I didn't know. Then one lady showed up and said, "Oh your star clementis is beautiful, I have one just like it, what are you doing to care for it?" Wasn't really doing anything except watering and a little bit of fertilizer was all.

So today, we chopped it all down. Hopefully it will grow back in all it's glory. Next spring I want to dig up a few roots and bury them in the backyard and get these beauties growing on a fence that needs some flowers. I have a purple clementis growing in the back yard, maybe I can get a few cuttings and start them along side my star clementis...........we'll see. Really need to think about rearranging my backyard. I might be getting a fountain with alot of flagstones, so I need to decide where to put the fountain.

Well, it's time to close for the night so you all keep looking up for your redemption drawth nigh.

Cheers ~ Louise

Sunny and 50 Degrees....One More Sale!!!

So, I have decided to have another Garage Sale tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be nice, 50 degrees and sunny, good day for a sale and I have a LOOOOONNNGGGG way to go to get a new computer. So another garage sale is needed. The stuff left is dwindling, not sure I will lower the prices, as most of the stuff is already marked down at 25 cents and 50 cents to a $1.

I need to put an ad on Craigslist tonight. I was surprised last week that a few people showed up and they said they came because they saw my ad on Craigslist.com. So I think that is the way to go. The signs work too, but a lot of people come and go, cause they found they were here already. Sooooo, if this is my last sale, I surely will miss doing this....BUT....if the weather is good next week, I just may do it again, stay tuned for next week.

The Vice-Presidential Debate is on right now, Biden sure is laughing a lot....is that a nervous laugh (?) or is he laughing because he thinks Ryan is lying a lot.........Not really sure, gosh they sure are arguing a lot. Body language says a lot, will most definitely have to listen to Rush, Sean and Mark tomorrow and see what they have to say.

Will be glad when this Presidential race is over and the results are made known November 7th!!! Sort of tired of all this lying by all these politicians.....wish they could get their act together and stop playing like kindergartners and 1st graders!!!

"Build a bridge and get over it"!!!

I am making a "hash browns pizza" with sausage and cheese, onions and peppers. Made it a couple of weeks ago and JP really liked it......guess it is a keeper. Will have to take a picture and download to the computer and place it on my blog next time around. Well, it is time to close for now, so you all take care and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh. Cheers ~ Louise

My 170 Mile Challenge and Garage Sale

So, I am on another Challenge for this month..........riding my stationary bike 170 miles. The challenge started September 24th and ends November 2nd. Not sure how well I will do with this challenge, so far I have traveled 41 miles. If I put on 30 miles this week and discipline myself to go 5 miles a day, the mileage will be 99 miles left to go till November 2nd, this might be doable. But I have been VERY lazy the last couple of weeks for some reason. Need to really snap out of this. Don't know if it has something to do with my blood sugars or blood pressure. Blood sugars were normal today (for me) 130 and my weight was down 1 lb. BUT my blood pressure was up pretty high. No, don't really want to say, as I may not have the hang of taking my BP properly, still practicing. 

Doctor had taken me off ALL medications this past May because my liver was stressing. So, Blood pressure and diuretics, vitamins, cholesterol and diabetic meds eliminated to get the liver back into it's normal state. Which must have happened because I haven't had any problems and have actually felt better. The body begins to heal it's self, which I think is the plan of God.............why oh why do we fool around with something God created perfectly????? I will never know.

Probably going to have my last garage sale this Friday. The weather will be cool, like 52 degrees and sunny, at least that is what the weather man predicted on Sunday. Soooooo, we shall see. It has actually been fun to do, as the garage is still set up, but really needs to come down as JP wants to get the snow blower out and get it fixed.

Still have alot of nice things out to sell, but did sell half the stuff and put alot of stuff out for FREE!!! People like free and would rather see ALL your stuff FREE..........geez, got to make some change for the pocket......still trying to get enough $$$$ for a new CPU as this computer is slowing down quite a bit!!!! So far I have made $222 (not bad) but I still have a LONG way to go to get a new computer.

Well, need to close here, as I need to work on balancing the check book and pay some bills this week. JP has another Doctors appointment for his arm and the dogs need to get groomed. We need to prepare the front and back yards for winter too. So you all have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh. Cheers ~ Louise

Making Sloppy Joes & Another Garage Sale

Had another garage sale ~ today only ~ about 12 noon all that had sold was $10 then...........up drives a man on a motor cycle and says "this could be your lucky day" he ended up buying $50 worth of stuff. I had an old violin that he bought and some other old stuff that had been sitting in the basement. By the end of the day the tally was $84!!! Well, I am $500 away from a new computer. This computer that I am on is about 8 years old and runs very slowwwwwwww!!!!! I will probably do a few more garage sales the next couple of Fridays, everything is all set up, so I might as well, of course it all depends on the weather. Of which one can never be sure which way the wind will blow!!! Also, there will be less stuff to put away till next spring and have another garage sale..............hopefully by then I will have my new computer!!!

Oh Yummy, Sloppy Joes have turned out very good. We are helping some friends move tomorrow from their condo on the lake to a very lovely house on the river. My job is to make the Sloppy Joes and direct  traffic at the old place and clean cabinets. I will add coleslaw to the menu. As Sandi will be adding calico beans and chips. Brownies and chocolate chips have also been added to the menu.

Well, me thinks I will close this blog for today and I need to make the coleslaw, talk to you soon and keep looking up for your redemption drawth nigh.  Cheers ~ Louise

Garage Sale ~ a Success!

Facing West...............cards, pop corn, cups, house ware, books,  DVD's, CD's and lots of nic-nacs.
(All these pictures were taken before the sale started)

Facing East...........coffee, tea, water, soda, planters and music all day.

Facing North west............house-wares and misc. stuff.

Facing North-east............stamps, nail polish, earrings, Herbalife, sleeping bag, yarn, cups and cards and DVD's and etc.

Garage sale was a success........I think. Sold $115 worth of stuff @ 25cents to $1 with a few things at $2, $3, $4 and $5. Still have lots of stuff to sell though. Counted the people too (estimated) 92 visitors. I figured I put in about 30 hours setting up and opening and closing. Made a whopping $3.82 an hour plus I was sooooo tired on Saturday, after the sale shut down I sat down on my lazy boy and napped for 3 hours!!!

Well, I am figuring that I will open my garage sale for the next couple of weeks, depending on the weather, on Friday only. I found Thursday was a very weak day for selling and also Saturday. Friday was the big seller day. So, as long as I am set up and the weather cooperates, next Friday, 28th is the day to sell. I can handle one day....whew, stuff that I could do with no problem years ago has become a very laborious thing.....I sure was a tired old lady after this one. Not sure if the ad I put on www.craigslist.com helped, but I will certainly do that again, just in case it did work.

So you ask.........."What'cha going to do with all that money you are making at your sale???" Well, to answer your question.....I need a watch and the rest is going towards a new computer. (Ha....that's if it doesn't burn a hole in my purse first.) This computer is close to 8years old and I was told by a computer guy at Office Depot that computers don't last more then 4 years. But then I have a friend who's computer lasted 14 years, so go figure.

Well, being I was so involved in my garage sale this past week, my Etsy store lacked a some TLC. Soooo this next week I must get some NEW cards up and going and get my Christmas Cards going too!!!! It's almost October....yikes!

Mail came.....we were just invited to my nieces christening of her baby in Chicago on October 7th.........man, October is filling up and we haven't even gotten there yet. It seems for the last couple of months JP and I have been visiting Doctors alot lately and each visit requires a Co-pay and that is surely wracking havoc with our finances of late. Going to Chicago for the weekend would involve $400-$500 for us. Renting a car (because our car would never make it), putting the dogs in a kennel for the week-end and who know what else, gift, cards, money?????

Well, that answered that problem.....JP just got home from the Physical Therapist for his arm pain ($30 co-pay a visit) and read the card and said we are not going, can't afford it......guess I will just send a card and money, much cheaper then $500.

Time to close this here blog for the day..........you all keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh and the return of Jesus is sooner then we all think!!! See ya later, cheers ~ Louise

What Can I Say............It's Monday!!



What can I say...........................

Another week is going to pass us by, don't blink. This is "Garage Sale Week" for me, hope I am ready for it. Almost have it set up, now the pricing begins.....UGE! We bought some sealer for the driveway, didn't want to see anyone trip and fall entering the garage. Guess in order to make a little bit of money, you have to spend a little bit of money.........$16.00??????

JP also put some cedar chips down around the house. We had heard that doing that, keeps the bugs and varmints away from the plants.....possibly a little late in the season, but it is worth a try and something that will happen for sure next spring. I have this squirrel that likes to visit and dig holes in my planters, he doesn't even care what is planted, just as long as he get HIS stuff planted and does he ever make a mess........darn squirrel!!!! but one plus is that the cedar chips smell wonderful to me, maybe it reminds me of Christmas!!!

JP hasn't had any arm pains since 7:30am this morning.....well that is about 17 hours of freedom for him. We never know when the attacks come. Sometimes he can have as many as 10-15 a day and now like today, nothing. Hard to figure it out. Sure gets tiring to watch him suffer. When he goes to the chiropractor things seem to calm down a bit, cause he stretches those muscles so the nerve isn't resting on the disks. Although the disks are degenerating (whatever that means).

So JP has to correct his posture by sitting on a round pillow between the chair and his back. He also does exercises for his back. All this stuff is from the Physical Therapist. The chiropractor has JP putting a heating gizmo on his neck and then exercising his neck back and forth.............well, we will see which of the two works the best PLUS a little bit of prayer helps too!!! JP has appointments with the Physical Therapist for the next 4 weeks, twice a week at $30 a shot for Co-pay. The Chiropractor is $20 a week, these co-pays are going to drain us financially, for sure!!! Plus we need to get JP in for an eye appointment.

Well, I need to go to bed, been a little tired today and this may be a busy week.............May be???.........I think it WILL be!!!

You all have a great week and keep looking up for your redemption draws closer and closer!!!
Cheers ~ Louise

Pretty White Flowers from My Garden and a Garage Sale

Don't even know what these are called, but they have taken over the whole side of my front porch.

Beautiful white Rose!

A Pretty White Zenia!

Almost all white with splashes of blue Morning Glories!!!

This is just the beginning of my beautiful blooms this summer. With Fall almost upon us, the flowers are showing all their glory....God is so creative, there is no way that "Man" can duplicate God's handiwork!!!

Well, I have been diligently working on my garage sale. I thought possibly I would get one day this week to sell, but no, just not finished bringing stuff up from the basement. Do I have that much stuff??? Goodness, I need to have a garage sale every 6 months to get rid of the things I just needed to have but don't need now?????? Does that make sense? Still have to mark everything with a price. Going to sell  161 cards, Happy Birthday, Thinking of You and Seasonal Cards for $1 each. I have some stamps, CD's, DVD's, cooking stuff and glass ware, some exercise stuff, a rocker, bike rack, dog kennel and a lot of misc. stuff.

I am hoping that I will make a good hunk of change, as I am needing a new computer before this one conks out on me. The Home Depot guy said my computer is way over due. Computers last maybe 3-4 years. My computer is over 8 years old. It is running VERY slow, so maybe it is time to replace it. SOOOOOO a garage sale is needed to unload and renew!!!!

Well, I need to close for today, get some work done on my Garage sale. The sale will be next week, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.....that would be long enough for me. Will probably place an ad on www.craigslist.com as the ads are free and maybe just maybe I might get lots of people to stop by.

Need to make a run to WGR for my free whisk and Salvation Army for free bread (got a box of banana's to dry too)........so need to close. You all have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption is drawing nigh!!! Cheers to you ~ Louise

Coffee and Taxes and Garage Sales

NOT!!!!!

Now that will get your attention......hahahahaha!!! So how is your day going? Just by reading Facebook and a few blogs today, I have noticed a few people have already been out running or baking or resting. ME, just contemplating what I'm going to do next, after doing this blog. {Well, as you can see, I changed the look of this blog, for 1 thing. Do you like it, looks a little antiquey, like me!!!}

Going to have a garage sale September 20th and 21st, am hoping the weather will be fine, if not I am sunk. I could try for this next week-end I suppose, but would really have to hustle to get stuff marked and set-up. Much depends on the weather, no one will come in the rain, I wouldn't.

Retirement has been very busy for me.......don't know where I would fit in working if I was still doing that. And, how in the world did I do it all those years of working and keeping a house and all the other things I was involved in......just don't know. I didn't even have "kids" added to the quota. Just a husband and lots of animals along the way. I guess we do what we have to do at the time we are doing it!!!! It all works out in the end like the wash on Monday mornings!!!

Well, I better get going if I am even going to accomplish a few things today, like try at least getting the garage cleaned and ready for the Garage sale. See ya' later and have a great day in what ever you do today and keep looking up for your redemption drawth nigh!!! Cheers to all ~ Louise