Category: My Life

Here we are again. Already it is Thursday and there is truly a lot going on. Here is what I find myself involved with.

1. I remembered to stop by the Veterinarian’s Office and get Greta’s pain medication.
2. She has a disc in her neck that slips out from time to time, and one dose of Meticam and a good night sleep and she is back to normal the next day.
3. I came home to find that Hubby was still watching the TV in his robe.
4. I swear that HD TV makes you lazy! All you want to do is watch it!
5. I found that there is a DVD of Carly Simon’s Concert on Martha’s Vineyard! So I ordered it!
6. Next week if you hear singing coming from my house, that’s me singing along with Carly!
7. The humidity returned on Wednesday afternoon. I feel so sticky!
8. I decided to make a pot roast for tomorrow. So I pulled out the roast to thaw.
9. I seldom make pot roasts in the summer, but I sure have a hankering for one!
10. Friday I go in to have my tooth reexamined. It is still bothering me, but I am doing my best to save it.
11. My Mom broke her foot and really is not able to take care of herself.
12. Thankfully, my sister was able to get her into a rehabilitation facility.
13. Does 2012 seem to be flying by for you too?

1. In your opinion what’s the most important job in the world? Oh, and parenting is a given so besides parenting, what’s the most important job in the world?

I take great pride in being a good homemaker. Not just raising kids, but making a home for them and for my husband. I spent the past weekend canning jelly for the winter. I have canned 8 cases of jellies, and frozen gallons of tomato sauce for the winter. In this day and age, where food prices are rising, the fact that I provide for my family in this way fills me with pride. I also cook 99% of our meals from scratch. I enjoy it, and my husband tells me how important it is for him.

Nourishing the mind and the soul and the stomach!

2. Share a favorite or not so favorite memory from a childhood birthday.

My birthday is in November and I don’t recall any big birthdays because we would celebrate with family a week later at Thanksgiving. But as an adult, my sister gave me a surprise party with my parents, (Dad was still living) and my Uncle George (he also was still with us), cooked my favorite meal, and my daughter, Mandy and cousin Janet all showed up! Great birthday!

3. Peanut butter-crunchy or smooth?

Either way is just fine. I love peanut butter!!!

4. William Butler Yeats is credited as saying, “Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure nor this thing nor that but simply growth, We are happy when we are growing.” Your thoughts?

I don’t agree. I cannot believe how happy being a grandmother had made me. It’s such a pleasure! Perhaps personal growth can make us happy, but not solely so.

5. What’s something that makes you cringe?

When I see a parent being cruel to their child. I want to rush over to them and tell them to take 5. Step back and then think about what they are trying to accomplish. I have only stepped in once, and that was in a grocery store where a grown woman was slapping a three year old!

Having lost a child, I think I’m more appreciative of children and their needs then a lot of parents. Some of these people feel like their kids are a burden, rather than a gift!

6. Name a song that always puts you in a good mood?

I love this song because Carley Simon and I share the same vocal range!

7. The answer is yes. What’s the question?

Do you want to: go on a cruise? out to dinner? or shopping?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I woke up today (Tuesday) to rain. The remnants of Hurricane Ivan. I love rainy weather. Since all the operations on my eyes bright sunlight is painful. So I really love my rainy days!

Twenty four jars of Concord Grape Jelly!

Monday, that’s what I spent my day doing. After cleaning the grapes on Saturday and pressing them on Sunday, I found myself on Monday actually making the jelly! I started at 9:30 and didn’t stop until 3 PM! All that time spent on my feet, stirring the jelly.

I learned the hard way, years ago, what happened when you didn’t follow the recipe and stir constantly. The mixture would quickly bubble up, overflow the pot and then set like candy on the top of my cook stove! What a mess!

So, today I made sure I stirred the juice, while it cooked into the tastiest batch of jelly I have made in many a year!

I’d been worried that I would not have too many jars, but 24 is great. I like to make up baskets of jelly and bread, for gifts at Christmas and birthdays! Needless to say, my family is thrilled, as the Grape Jelly is their favorite!

Later in the afternoon I made a nice fresh spaghetti sauce with a lot of vegetables for our supper. I still need to do the dishes and then, my day is done! Thank goodness!

Our host is Gattina. Come join us and tell us what YOU did this past weekend! After all, you never know when you will need an alibi!

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The weekend began with my back still out. This made for a very quiet Friday and Saturday, that I filled with movies. I’m afraid that when we unlocked the HD in our TV, we unleashed a monster! Both Hubby and I are really enjoying watching every program we can, which is broadcast in HD. Even movies we have seen a million times before. Let’s just say, it’s wonderful.

On Saturday I cleaned Concord Grapes so that on Sunday I could cook them down and start preparations for Grape Jelly. We have enough Grapes for two and a half batches of Jelly. Not nearly enough for my family. They would eat this jam daily if I could produce it. Sadly, this year is a small year for our grapes. Like almost everything in our garden, the grapes did not fare well.

I have really been enjoying watching the US Open Tennis! Thank you Direct TV for getting me set up so quickly. It has been a joy!

Sunday, I woke up and my back was actually feeling better. I’m able to move, breath and bend without pain. Thus showing me that the doctor was right, all those years ago, when he told me that occasionally I would have those two discs slip a bit, but to avoid surgery at all costs. Which I have. Lord knows, I do not need any more surgeries, if I can possibly help it!

Oh yes, on Friday afternoon, when I was walking Arnie and Anneliese outside, I suddenly heard a loud crack! The top of the nearest Peach tree had literally cracked from the tree, under the weight of the peaches it carried.

We were heart broken, but what can you do? Nothing.

Hubby has been picking the peaches from the tree this weekend, and then he will have to prune away the broken wood. Sad…so sad.

Today we will take all the grape juice and get it cooked up into jelly. Hubby always helps with the canning. It’s one of the things we really enjoy doing together.

Happy Labor Day Everyone!!!

I woke on Saturday morning, in pain. It’s as simple as that. I didn’t want to bother Hubby, so I got the dogs together and came out to the familyroom/kitchen. I turned on the coffee, and then walked each dackel, Fritz just goes off on his own, as he never strays far and let’s face it, with my bad back, he would pull me and kill me.

I dragged myself back in the house and after pouring myself some coffee, went back to my chair, heating pad, and putting my feet up with a pillow underneath my knees.

I turned on the TV (something I do a lot now with the HD TV) and the first Harry Potter movie was just starting. The first movie and the last movie are my favorites of the Harry Potter Movie Series. I was watching this when Hubby got up and together we watched young Harry Potter learn to be a Wizard! (In HD! How great is that?)

I tried to stretch when I got up, and use heat when I could. I have done no heavy lifting, and I have not strained my back today. Yet somehow, it is worse. Should it not resolve by Tuesday (after the Labor Day holiday) I will call my doctor. Until then I will take anti-inflammatories and hope for the best.

I managed to make lunch, and then plan an easy dinner for us, as Hubby has been working picking Concord Grapes. I am hoping to have many grapes to make jelly with, as I am, quite literally, down to my last jar!

So I have my fingers crossed that by tomorrow my back will have magically gotten better and I will be able to do what needs to be done with the grapes. Then Monday would be canning day! At least Hubby is really good at helping me with that.

The grateful edition!

And…here we go!

1. You don’t have to be wealthy to be rich in the things that matter.
2. But it’s the little things in life that tell me that I am loved.
3. Basically, I am a happy person, who asks for very little in my life.
4. How I interpret something, may not necessarily be how you interpret it.
5. In this way, perhaps I am happier than most. Being close in my heart to those I love is all that matters.
6. I believe that one day, all those that I have had to say good bye to will once again celebrate my life with me.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to watching more HD-TV tomorrow my plans include doing some laundry and cooking some meals and Sunday, I want to get ready for it…make the grape jelly from our Concord Grapes!

I woke up on Wednesday morning and found I could hardly move! I crawled into the bathroom and the pain in my back shot through my hips and up my spine. I managed a shower, and I dressed because gosh darn it, Wednesday is Weight Watcher Day and I wanted to weigh in! I just knew I’d lost weight!

I told Hubby to get up and wait for the Satellite Installer. Then I slowly walked down to the car. I drove to class and weighed in and found a nice loss of 1.2 pounds, and then I left and came back home! I grabbed my heating pad, and the dachshunds and sat down in my chair with my feet up.

I cancelled my dental appointment and rescheduled. I held off calling to cancel my eye exam on Thursday, hoping my back would feel better as the day went on.

The Satellite man arrived and did a lot. We got a new dish, new receiver, new remote controls and finally, after having an HD-TV for 2 years we had the service turned on.

The Installer was a nice man, who worked well, and got everything installed in record time. He showed us how to use all the buttons on the new remote (I sure hate to have to relearn things!) and how we will need to switch back and forth between cable and satellite settings on the TV.

The man also raises Labrador dogs for the handicapped. He was telling us that basically he and his wife have the dog for two years while they train them. Needless to say, he fell right in love with our Fritz! Fritz is the sweetest Shepherd known to man.

Once the upgrades were installed, all I could say is “OH MY GOSH”!!! It is amazing to see the picture so crisp and so “real”! Hubby and I watched the tennis, the Weather Channel and we were amazed how magnificent the picture quality was!

Toward the end of the day I was getting ready to call my eye doctor, when my cell phone rang. It was my eye doctor, canceling my appointment tomorrow. He has an emergency surgery and so they were calling to reschedule! I swear it was divine providence!

We managed easy meals from the freezer, and now I am watching the TV (happily), and in a bit I will go to bed and hope my back is better tomorrow!

Fingers Crossed!

1. Americans will celebrate Labor Day this coming weekend. Do you know what we’re actually celebrating? (without consulting your friends Google or wikipedia, ahem) What’s a project you’re currently ‘laboring’ over?

I’ve always thought it was a day to celebrate the workers of our country. I hope that’s right. Although in modern times, it is now the weekend we celebrate the end of the summer. Most people have barbecues (cookouts) with family and friends. Many go to the beaches or the lakes or the mountains. Occasionally there are fireworks, but celebrations are the key!

2. Labor Day also signals the unofficial end of summer for most of us…what summer food will you miss the most? If you’re in the southern hemisphere feel free to substitute winter for summer.

The fresh sweet corn and the tomatoes. Our fresh corn months are usually late July and August. We may get a picking in September, but not for long.

3. A well known proverb states, ‘It’s easier to seek forgiveness than ask permission.’ Your thoughts?

Ha! I’m one of those people who asked for permission because I was always afraid of the consequences! The few times I just did what I wanted as a kid (and got caught), I was in real trouble!

4. Food critic, film critic, book critic, art critic….which hat would you most like to wear?

Food critic. I can usually judge a good meal, or item that has been prepared. I am rather an eclectic art connoisseur. I like different sorts of books, not the ones everyone else likes. I enjoy movies, but my favorites tend to be “chick flicks” and not deep dark or violent movies.

5. When you were a kid, who (besides your parents) was your favorite adult?

Oh that’s tough because I had a wonderful assortment of characters in my family! There was my Uncle George, who really was more like a father to me than my own was. He taught me how to swim and dive, how to bowl, and spent time watching tennis with me on PBS. His wife, jokingly referred to as “Uncle Betty”, who had a magnificent sense of humor! My Grandmother Honey, who was a safe port in many storms in my life and my Papa Fred, who showed me what love was all about. He was devoted to my grandmother, and loved his grand-kids and great grand-kids.

6. The astronaut, Neil Armstrong, passed away last week. He was regarded as a hero by many generations of people all around the world. Do we still have modern day heroes? What makes someone a hero?

Not so much on a National level. I think every man or woman serving in the military, especially on the front lines is a hero. The local police and firemen, too. Unfortunately, there is so much corruption in politics, and our national programs, that I do not see them as heroes at all.

7. I never get tired of holding my granddaughter in my arms! She is such a blessing to her parents and to her grand parents!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I have no plans for this holidays weekend. Perhaps Hubby and I will just hang out and watch the US Open Tennis! You see Uncle George, where ever you are in Heaven, I’m still watching the tennis that you taught me to love!

Our host is Gattina. Come join us and tell us what YOU did this past weekend! After all, you never know when you will need an alibi!

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It was a very busy weekend here for me. Saturday I started a double batch of tomatoes simmering in a pot. Meanwhile, Hubby helped me to dice all sorts of vegetables for the sauce. As my freezer is completely full with chili and spaghetti sauce, I opted to make simple tomato sauce. The kind one uses to make lasagna. You can process this in jars and store it on the shelf.

I came up with 4 large jars of sauce, which I processed and are now resting with the other jars of canned yummy foods.

It did take most of the day, but it will be worth it in the end. We didn’t finish this project until 9 pm Saturday night.

I also attended the Fair on Saturday and on Sunday my calves aches from walking up and down the hills near my home. I better step up my conditioning before ski season, or I will be one very sore girl!

Sunday was a very nice day. It was hot outside, which is good for clothes drying, and I was able to get the laundry done, and to clean the kitchen and baths, so when I looked around, things really looked pretty good!

I gave Arnie a bath in the sink as he had gone out and rolled around in something terribly smelly! He did not like that too much, but waited until I was done and had given him a nice towel drying before he shook hard and raced off to roll in his doggy bed.

Not too much else happening here. Just as I’d hoped, Sunday was a fairly quiet day.

Have a great Monday, Everyone!