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

RHUBARB-FLOWERS and VEGIES

Hi there everyone....where did July go????? Now it is August, time sure does fly by quickly!!! I have not been doing many cards, but I bought a few things from Spellbinders which should be coming this next week....so maybe I will get some inspiration. This will be a treat, as I have not splurged on card making supplies for at least 5 months.) Hospice meets September 6th, so I better get cracking soon, and get some cards made.

A friend gave me a bunch of rhubarb last week (he has 23 plants), so you know I got a lot. I turned most of it into sauce. In this picture below, those are "Rhubarb Bread Pudding Cups." 
First I made the sauce: 
5-6 cups of chopped up rhubarb
1 to 1-1/2 cups sugar (recipe called for 3 cups sugar)
1 package strawberry jello

Now here is the trick...mix the rhubarb and sugar in a bowl and put in the microwave for maybe 7 minutes. (more or less depending on your microwave) It should be cooked through. Add the jello and mix. Can't resist...a few teaspoons went into my mouth...have to make sure it tastes right. So yum-ee

Next step, spray the bowl, place croutons in bottom of little bowls, pour a couple of tablespoons rhubarb sauce on top of the croutons. Mix 3 eggs and milk or cream together (you could add a few shakes of cinnamon) and pour on top of bread and rhubarb. Poke with fork to make sure egg mixture is spread evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. When egg mixture does not wiggle on top, it's done. Cool a bit. Top with ice cream or whip cream.....YES!!!

So in these pictures are some of my flowers. Here are my brown eyed susans….last years flowers did not do well.....this year there was an abundance. I love these flowers.

In the back yard are my Bee Balm and purple Clematis. So pretty when I look out the back kitchen window. When the storm came through, they got knocked down....oh well, next year they will be back. We call the Bee Balm our "choir" there are so many of them.

My little rose bush....adds some nice color in the front yard.

My Italian Beans....gosh I love these beans....they are more flat, rather then round, I like the taste of them. I have been microwaving then, adding butter and some garlic seasoning.....very good.

The picture above, you see my zucchini plant, (finally got 3 zucchini's so far) and 2 tomato plants. the one on the left is a "Big Girl" and the one on the right is a called a "Mortgage Lifter" Lots of tomatoes on the Big Girl, not many on the Mortgage Lifter yet. Looking forward to BLT's!!!

So here is the pretty pink rose the vet gave me for Kylie.....when we buried Kylie, I gave here the rose and her teddy bear.

I am still missing this little girl.....I cry almost every day. She was with us for 13 years....very hard to forget her. I don't know what hit me yesterday, but I had a break down....and cried and cried. It's only been 3 weeks today, since she left us. I hope she is happy and running around, chasing her rabbits and squirrels and butterflies.

Time to close here, gosh, it sure feels like Saturday, but it's only Friday night. We might be going to an annual scholarship fund raiser tomorrow....not sure yet. I guess we can go for as long as we want, cause there is no puppy dog to get home to and let out.

Have a great weekend, talk to you later. Cheers ~ Louise

JP's 71st. Birthday!!!

Hi there everyone. Hope you are enjoying May....it's going quite fast isn't it? Well, we celebrated JP's 71st birthday on Wednesday....just him and I. His brother called in the morning and sent a card also. This is the card I gave JP....a vintage boy wishing him a Happy Birthday. He wondered who that was, and if that was him?!?! NO JP....not you!!! I didn't make it specifically for him, it's just one of the many cards I've made, that I happened to like, so I gave it to him.

This is the present I gave him, you probably have seen it on TV. Got it for $40, it has the whole Bible on it and plays continuously till you stop it or change the verse or chapter. It also has some meditation songs on it. I am sure JP will not listen to the songs, but I will. Sorry the picture is so blurry...but you get the drift.

It's King James Version. So JP likes that, and the voice of the reader has a slight English accent....which I like. Easy listening.

I bought JP this little 6" New York Cheese Cake from Festival Foods. Lite a candle and he blew it out....make a wish, I said, and he gave me the stink eye and said that was superstition!!! Oh geez Jay.....then name a blessing!!!

This sure was a yummy cheese cake, will buy this again. Only $6.99. It was on sale....so I am not sure what the regular price was....but for a birthday cake for two...not bad.

See the cards in the back? The one on the left is the one I gave him...the middle one, his brother gave him, the one on the right, our insurance man gave.

So here we are, piece's of cake cut with strawberries and whip cream. No calories here, right????

This is what is left.....actually half of that cake left, JP had another piece last night and this afternoon....probably another piece tonight. OOOOO and I have to have a piece too!!!

Tomorrow I am going to a plant sale, hope I can find the same tomato plants I got last year.....they were the best tomatoes ever!!! "Beef Steak", the plants got SO BIG and had over 50 tomatoes, that was 3 plants. Maybe this year I will get 2 plants.....it was a very good year for tomatoes!!!

I think we are going to have a nice weekend....so I may work in the yard and try and clean things up a bit. Bring my ceramic animals out from the shed. There's enough for me to do....maybe too much. If I take a little bit at a time, it won't be bad, but I want it all done right away. So I can enjoy the summer, is that possible???

Time to close here...the Schwan's Man will be coming soon and Hockey is tonight, the Vegas Golden Knights and Winnipeg Jets....it should be a good game!! Kylie wants to go for a walk too.

Talk to you all later, keep looking up cause better days are coming, whether here, there, or in the air!!! Cheers ~ Louise

PS How do you like my new background.....I needed a change and a new look. You may see me change the background many times. BlogSpot was so limited in their designs, Glad I found this site. I have about 26 new backgrounds to try...so stay tuned!!!
http://thecutestblogontheblock.com

Fences - Old and New

Hi there everyone....Hope you are having a good week. It's been a little rough here. JP had to have a tooth pulled last Thursday and was off work both Thursday and Friday. Yesterday, Monday, he had a biopsy on his prostrate and was off work. Today he went to work...guess I will find out how he did when he gets home. The results of his biopsy will be next Monday. We are praying that the results will show no cancer. 

On Monday the 11th we had a new fence put up.....I am really loving it. The above picture is the Old fencing we put about 5-6 years ago.

In this picture we got the green fence all taken down and the ground raked and brush cut down. See that clothes line pole???? It got taken down too....I always thought it was on our property, but it actually was on the neighbors property. Guess I will have to think of another way to hang clothes.

Here are some of the men that worked on putting my fence up. Volunteers from Habitat for Humanity.

Wa la.....here is the finished product.....next year we will either paint it or stain it. I bought some mulch, so I want to lay some down along the fence, hopefully keeping most of the weeds down.

I put my old grill in front of the fence....a couple of benches that were left curb side by the neighbor across the street. He helped us carry them over to our place. We didn't have the fence up....so glad I got them.....they sure did add to the décor.

A little bit of a closer look.

It has been fun decorating my back yard.....already looking forward to Spring....is it here yet???? Oh, that's right it is still fall.

I invested in this pretty mum plant, will have to dig a hole and hopefully save it for next year. That's my ceramic squirrel I made when I still worked at The Salvation Army. We had a kiln in the basement and lots of things to paint. I made this squirrel, a frog, two turtles and a rabbit and they all come out in the spring and back in the shed for the winter. That was almost 30 years ago....time flies!!!

I did some canning of tomatoes tonight....haven't canned in eons. My two tomato plants out front of the house have produced an abundance of tomatoes. I have frozen some, dehydrated some, made spaghetti sauce and tomato soup, a few BLT's, stuffed tomatoes and fried tomatoes and lots of salad's. It's been a good tomato year here.

Well, time to close here. JP will be home in about 10 minutes so I better heat up his tomato soup and dinner I made for him. You all take care and keep looking up....better days are coming. 

Cheers ~ Louise

A Few Cards and Vegies From the Garden

Hi there everyone. How you all doing today??? Hope you are enjoying August. July was kind of a rough month for us....so I am taking August one day at a time and trying to get over the hurdles as they come. In between the hurdles, I found some time to make a few cards. Sorry about the lighting on a few of these pictures. I tried something different....guess I won't do this again. I thought the lighting from above and the side lamp would do the trick....but no, it didn't.

So anyways....these cards are from the stampin'up  Paper Pumpkin Kits. They are really neat cause all the supplies are in the box to put these cards together. I probably will donate these cards to Hospice, maybe keep one for a sample. The "hooray" is a wooden piece that really adds to the card. The circle is covered with washi tape. The card itself already had the watercolor mark on it and the I stamped the star bursts and saying "it's your day" on the card.

The American Flag card is a napkin glued on card stock. I just added the Thanks stamp. I have made quite a few of these cards for Hospice. They will be given to the War Veterans in October.

Another couple of cards from the Stampin'up Paper Pumpkin Kits. This was July's kit....Watermelon's. Again, all the supplies are in the box to create these cute cards.

From the same box, the stamp to make the watermelon and the inks too. I like the watermelon stamp. You could make a gift bag with the supplies or turn the bag into a card like the two cards on each side of the bag. The two cards at the bottom, used the left overs from the bag.

AND....vegies from the garden!!! I can't believe I FINALLY got a zucchini!!! I have tried so many times to grow these guys....to no avail. I planted this plant right on the side of the house. There happens to be a bee nest real close by....I guess they pollinated at least ONE zucchini!!! The tomato's are doing wonderful in the front of the yard....two bushes are producing more then I ever have seen I will take a picture of the tomato plants tomorrow. I have so many stakes trying to hold the tomatoes up with lots of old nylons.

Well, time to close, it's going on 2am and I am just finishing this post, (took me all night). JP is home and eating his dinner. Chicken soup, steak, potatoes, corn, cucumbers and a bagel. You all have a good night and keep looking up better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Cabbage and Rain

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Few Things On Next Week's Agenda

Hi there everyone. Hope you are having a good evening and your week-end will be a fun one. Can you believe March is just around the corner....whew time does fly by. I think I'm going through "Winter Fatigue" (that would be "just getting tired of the winter blahs") although JP said it was just "Cabin Fever" either way, I am looking forward to Spring and walking outside and getting some fresh air. Lately it has been way too cold and snowy for me or Kylie. I have noticed it is getting lighter and lighter at 5:00....yay...pretty soon we can start walking again.

I was looking at Pinterest and saw some things I would like to try...that's always a fun thing for me to do. Don't these sandwiches look really good below....yum. I think the recipe said a slice of toast, with mayo, tomatoes and avocado with melted cheese....mmm. Sounds good to me.

Here are two drinks that I might try....they sound so refreshing don't they? If they worked and did the things said....it could be worth it. I do have some frozen lemon and mint ice cubes in the freezer. Need to get some ginger....maybe I could use a tsp of ginger might work. Looks like the drink below could be made tomorrow for breakfast. I have all the ingredients. Maybe I could turn it into a smoothie???

These two beautiful cards....I just love. I am going to a Stampin' Up Camp on Sunday. So I know for sure, one of my purchases will be this lovely butterfly. So pretty. Oh, there are a few stamps I will be buying also. Maybe the set on these two cards.

I saw this cake today....mmmm....it sounded delish. The cake is baked in a cast iron pan...now that is interesting to me. I printed the recipe out...so if it works I will surely put it on my blog. I think it is diabetes worthy...I will just cut down on the sugar, like from a cup to 1/2 cup. If I can handle it and not get tempted....and maybe two bites at a time, leaving the rest for JP.

Doesn't this little dish look yummy.....grilled tomatoes on a bed of spinach, a poached egg and grilled portobella mushroom....nice breakfast, lunch or dinner right????

So there you have it....some cards, drinks, desserts and food I plan on making this next week. As for soups.....I have a recipe for Chinese Meatball soup and Basil Tomato Soup and Turkey Meatballs.....sound good??? A few other recipes I need to try...Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken and Eggs baked in Portobello Mushrooms. I may also try a recipe that I have not made in a very long time, Tuna Fish Casserole. JP will be eating well this next week, don't 'cha think???

Time to close and go do some wash and ride the bike. I hope you liked my plans for this next week.....maybe this will help me get past the "Winter Fatigue" phase.

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

Made a Few Things Last Night ~ 4 Sanity's Sake

Hi there everyone, hope you are all doing good this lovely last Wednesday of October. Where did this month go??? I know, I am always asking that question. The older I get, it seems the days zip by so quickly, I wish I could get a handle on this retirement part of life. After working for over 40 years, I guess I feel I must be doing "something", cause if I am doing nothing I must be lazy and sitting on my thumbs. Oh well, so yesterday about 3pm I gathered myself together and started making things.

I made a pot of "winterland" Roobius tea (sipping on it right now). I usually send JP to work with a large cup of hot tea. So he received this tea yesterday and today. Do you notice the Popsicle stick trivet?? I made that years and years ago. I am almost thinking it is over 55 to 60 years old and that I made it when I was in either Brownies or Girl Scouts.....My mother kept it for a long time, then I inherited when she died. I have kept it in the china cabinet for these last 13 years. Cleaning the drawer out, I thought is was time to start using it. What am I saving it for????

In this picture is my cranberry water. I have been buying a bag of cranberries every time I go shopping. I rinse the berries, then put them in a microwave glass pot with one cup of water and some organic coconut sugar, cover and cook in the microwave for 5-6 minutes. Let them cool a bit then mushed them with my pastry masher and Wah-Lah! Cranberries!!!! Then I take a couple of large tablespoons of cranberries, a packet of stevia and pour filtered water in the bottle, mix together and I have some wonderful cranberry juice. Sometimes I even add this juice to my smoothies in the mornings IF there is any left, as the husband likes this also.

So I am still working on those two large cabbages  I received about 2 weeks ago. This last cabbage, I cut up and made this awesome cabbage dish. My stepfather used to make this all the time and now I do. Fried some onions in bacon grease till the onions are translucent. I added some garlic to the pot too.



In this picture I have added the cabbage that I had soaking in a little salt water so it was already soft and easy to work with. Cooked it down a bit and added some caraway seed and pepper. (no need for salt as the cabbage is already salted) Then I added some of my tomatoes from the garden (yes, I still have a lot of tomatoes from my garden which are slowly turning red for me.) I should have taken a picture of all my tomatoes. It was a very good year for them....so I was pleased.

In this picture is the almost finished cabbage dish. Added some fresh and frozen tomatoes and red peppers from the freezer, and some already cooked bacon from the freezer, mix it all up and you have this wonderful cabbage dish. MMMM I think I shall have a bowl of this tonight.


So while I was doing the cabbage I decided to cook up my small spaghetti squash in the microwave. 10 minutes was all it took and I was able to cut the squash up like in the picture below. Why did I cut it like that? I read someplace that cutting it length wise causes the strings of spaghetti to be short. If you cut it like I did in the picture below the strings of spaghetti will be longer. Honestly, I did not notice a difference. After I seeded them and stuck them in the oven to roast, I then was able to scoop out the squash..........now what to do?????

Well, I did not take any pictures, but I made some tomato sauce with my Roma tomatoes, nope, no pictures. I par boiled them, then dunked them in cold water, peeled them and squeezed  the seeds out. Mushed them up, added spices, water, garlic, onion and then added the spaghetti squash. I turned it into Italian sauce.

Today's lunch for JP was the Italian tomato sauce over macaroni and hamburger patties along with some fruit and salad. He eats well, as you can see.

Well, time to go walk Kylie before it gets too dark. It is 5:39 pm. Daylight Savings starts this next Sunday (Nov 2nd). So this time next week it will be DARK OUT!!!! Gosh, I wish there was no Daylight Savings....I like the light!!!!!

Have a great evening and keep looking up. Tonight I will be working on making some cards. My next post will be a few cards I have been making....yep.....I like to make things I guess. This keeps my Sanity!!!!! LOL!!!
Cheers ~ Louise