Category: Friday Five

Well, welcome to Friday, November 27th. The month is nearly over and we are officially on the Christmas countdown! That’s hard to believe. Soon it will be a full year of Covid-ness, many have died, and our numbers are climbing. But whatever the case may be, here is this week’s Friday Five.

1. I worked pretty hard cooking and baking and planning. As I lay out all the dishes of delectable foods onto our table, I hoped and prayed that everything would be good. I cannot tell you how disappointing it is to work that hard and then have nothing turn out correctly.
2. I needn’t have worried. Each and every item was amazing, most especially the Chestnut Stuffing. But I had another real winner this time, I made Cranberry/Orange sauce and it came out even better than I thought it would. Even my pies were spectacular! Okay, enough bragging!
3. For my Birthday I’d purchased an expensive Champagne. I thought it was really delicious. But today, for Thanksgiving, I bought a bottle that cost 1/3 of what the other cost. And this Champagne I liked twice as much. What can I say? I am a cheap drinker of Bubbly! Scotch is entirely another matter!
4. We let a few hours go by until we had dessert. Both of us had to admit that the Mince Pie came out the best. The Apple Pie was fine, but the Mince was somehow special.
5. The Turkey has been boned, and I have a crockpot full of bones and vegetables, slowly simmering to make a wonderful, rich, broth. Then I will make turkey soup and a turkey pie. Meanwhile, Jack and I are trying to digest all of the above so we can make our Turkey Sandwiches! The best way to end Thanksgiving Day!

So I wish you all a very Happy Weekend!

PS: No pictures were taken of all the food, as it would make me look bad to all my dieting buddies!

Here we are 35 days until Christmas. It sure is feeling like it as our temperatures plunge. But, all in all, the past week although crazy busy has been good and I am so grateful. So without further ado here is this week’s Friday Five!

1. As you know we have been battling doggy illnesses. I think it’s almost to be expected at their age. Arnie and Anneliese (whom I call the twins), will be 14 years old on December 10th. They’re no spring chickens, that’s for sure. Right now Arnie’s back is amazingly better, and Anneliese is comfortable.
2. I needed to give Lili a mini bath. There were parts of her that were just plain gross. Since it was 15 degrees when we got up today, I took a bucket of warm water to our basement garage, bathed her, and then rinsed her off with another bucket of warm water. The best idea Jack had when we built the house was to slope the basement floor to a floor drain. It worked like a charm.
3. I was so happy to see that many of my family and friends have donated to my Birthday Fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where no child is ever turned away, no family is ever billed and St. Jude takes care of the child and the family during treatment. St. Jude, It’s the very best charity I know of where the money actually goes to care for sick children. I am very close to breaking my record for fundraising!
4. On my birthday I was blessed to hear from so many of my much-loved family and dear friends. So many birthday wishes sent so lovingly.  I felt a great deal of love around me.
5. Lastly,  I want to add this. It’s a saying that I repeat whenever I am having a down day. It’s from one of my favorite movies, “It’s A Wonderful Life”.

I remind myself of these words regularly.

Have a safe, wonderful, weekend. It’s my hope that one day the Covid will be gone and life will get back to normal.

Here we are, mid-November, the leaves have now dropped, providing work for Jack each day.

We had warmer than normal temperatures early this week, but here we are on Friday, with more normal, cooler temperatures. So as the week closes, here are my Friday Fives.

1. I have spent this week trying to get my mind in order. I have finally gone through my pots and pans, weeding out the old and replacing with my new Pampered Chef pots.Have I mentioned how much I love these cooking pots? For someone who enjoys cooking like me, these pots are really beautiful!
2. I think after the next few days I will be going back into lockdown. I have two places to go on Friday and Saturday after that, it’s back to restricting my time out. Our numbers have sky-rocked here in New Hampshire, and for the sake of my health and those I love, I know I must do this again. Today we had 323 new cases of Covid in New Hampshire.
3. I listened to the Governor and our State Epidemiologist and they were calm but warned about the climbing numbers.
4. My gathering with my ladies was really good this week. We spoke about the pressures of the holidays with our dieting, and how to enjoy our holidays and then get right back on the wagon. For me, it’s always a bit tricky as I have my birthday, Thanksgiving, and then Christmas. All major food fests! But I know I can do it!
5. Here is my new New Year’s Resolution. I’ve decided to start weeding through my house getting rid of things I do not use and never will. My old pots, which are still very usable, are going to our Recycling Center. I also plan to bring all sorts of old things there. I can hardly wait to keep going. A load a week until it is done!

So that’s this week’s list. I wish you all a wonderful weekend filled with joy, good health, and much happiness!

It’s been a crazy busy week and as I sit here on Thursday night, I see a weekend filled with even more fun and exciting things. Here we go.

1. My sister has given me Ancestry.com’s package for my birthday. I believe this is her last attempt to disinherit me, but we will know in a few weeks. I mailed my spit in today and they will email me the results soon enough.
2. Meanwhile, I have started doing the genealogy on their website. My sister has done a lot and I have linked to her site, but I have also been working with my husband’s family, and while researching I discovered a child that no one ever talked about in Jack’s mother’s family. I imagine this child probably died young.
3. Anneliese seems to have perked up since starting the Gabapentin. I am hopeful that it is helping her.
4. A week ago I ordered 25 spanking new Spice Bottles.I cleaned the entire stove, the shelf in the back, and I took the fan screen down and cleaned that too. Then I filled each container and used the labels provided. Now my stove looks so good!
5. And lastly, my incision is healing very well. I think once the inner stitches dissolve, the area will be less puffy and will lie flat.

So, that’s all for this week. I hope you all have a good weekend!

This week is finally over. I’m glad. It was a somewhat tense week, but it is done and I made it through. So here’s what’s happening.

1. We all know Monday was my surgery. It went so well! I am so fortunate to have found Dr. S. and that he got me in so quickly. Looking back on my surgery, I have to say that I am pleased the doctor did such a great job and that he was really interested in my tumors!
2. I’ve managed to keep myself fairly quiet all week, which has helped with the healing process. Luckily, I never did get a black eye, just a headache between my eyes, like I’d been kicked by a horse. All manageable with Tylenol and Motrin.
3. I used to be scared of so many things. I was not brave at all. But here I am nearly 62, and I am one very brave woman! I feel very strong!!!
4. My dogs have been a great source of comfort to me. They are on my lap. or snuggled next to me, or on my feet (Lili loves to sleep on my feet or near them when she can). How lucky I am!
5. My stitches come out on Tuesday and I am excited about that too! I was looking at my face this morning and I realized that with my tumors gone, and the eyebrow fixed my face is once again balanced!

So that’s it for this week. We are now Past-Peak with our Autumn Leaf colors and now rain and cold seem to have set in. It’s my hope that wherever you are, you can find warmth, happiness, and good health!

Thursday found me attempting to get a handle on all the house-keeping stuff before my surgery on Monday. I was crazy busy, and here I will list it all, so you can see that perhaps I should have slowed down. Thursday’s activities are why I plan to do very little this weekend.

1. I got up on Thursday early. I immediately stripped my bed and started the laundry. I did six loads of laundry, hung out some of it, and folded and actually put away all of it, and remade the beds! Yes, this found me running up and downstairs and back and forth in our home all day long.
2. I decided to make Eggplant Parmesan, and in the middle of removing the cooked eggplant, Jack put a can of soup on the counter. I was reaching for a pot for his soup when I brushed my index finger on the cookie sheet that had just come out of the 450 degrees Fahrenheit oven and burnt it!I mean, really burnt it! I iced it down and after a bit put some burn creme on it. Ugh!
3. We took the last Air-Conditioner out of the Office window. This was going so well until the rain-water began running all over my shoes, down my legs, and soaked me. Worst of all, in the end, Jack lost his grip on the air conditioner and I was left to finish placing it. Oh, my aching back!
4. I poached boneless, skinless chicken thighs for the dachshunds. Since they both are getting older, I like to spoil them a little. They love it and occasionally Lili gets a bit too!
5. Tonight I am doing an easy dinner. Leftovers for Jack and of course, the Eggplant Parmesan for me. I already know that bedtime will be early tonight.

What a beautiful week it has been. Despite a little rain, the leaves are still bright and the skies returned to blue. Yes, a lovely Autumn we are having. So, here we go, this week’s Friday Five.

1. I’ll start with the weather as that has been rather crazy. We’ve had several touches of frost, a lot of rain, and then beautiful warmth with blue skies. Not bad for the middle of October!
2. Because I get bored easily, I decided to crochet another afghan. I let Savannah pick out the yarn and in the end, she will probably get it. I am working on it when I sit to watch the TV and the yarn is soft, chunky, and will make a wonderful, cuddly, blanket.
3. I had a strange week on the diet front. I was doing everything right and managed to gain a small amount.I was upset at first, and I weighed myself several times to be sure it was correct, and it was. Ugh! At first, I was upset, and then I decided to look back in my food journals and then see what I was eating. I have made a few adjustments and I hope to see some movement on Tuesday!
4. I received my small 5-inch cast iron pans. Many people use them to make big chocolate chip cookies, but I have made baked apples in them and they have been great!
5. Thursday I loaded up the car with all the garbage and took a trip to the Recycling Center. Arnie rode along with me and we had a great time! Now that is done, I was able to clean the garbage cans and my garage is also smelling sweet. Well, like bleach, but that’s a vast improvement!

So, my gentle readers, I hope that you can enjoy the weekend. Stay safe, and enjoy the little things in your life. Hopefully, this darn Virus will be over soon!

Well folks, the first week in October has flown by! I cannot believe how quickly time is going right now. In the early days of the Covid Virus, time seemed to almost standstill as we all stressed and tried to hold it together until we knew more about the virus. Now, here we are several months down the road, and we know if we are diligent we can avoid getting sick. Okay, enough of that. Here are this week’s Friday Five.

1. This week I decided to make the most out of each day and although I wasn’t Wonder Woman in my accomplishments, I did get some things done and I feel good about that. Some weeks are better than others.

2. At our Ladies Group Meeting (In a parking Lot in Lawn chairs with blankets as it is getting cold!) one of our gals made us all table runners! Oh, my goodness, they are all beautiful!

R is so talented and each runner looked professionally made. I am thrilled with mine! Isn’t it beautiful?

3. I made the absolute best standing rib roast beef this week! The recipe is easy and the roast was fabulous for two meals and I think I have more meal of it for Jack. Score one for me!

4. Of course, I also had a cooking fail, trying to make Apple Crisp, low-fat, lo-cal. It was a total failure. Back to the drawing board!

5. And for #5 I will leave you with this beautiful thought. Happy Weekend Everyone!

Welcome to October, Ladies, and Gentlemen! Here we are in the rather beautiful month of October, just eighty-four days from Christmas! Now that we are well into Covid, the year is going by rather quickly. So, here is this week’s Friday Five.

1. Since WW (formerly Weight Watchers) has abandoned us up here in the wilds of New Hampshire, there were friends of mine from class who decided that we needed each other. We needed that support. What we have learned is that WW actually doesn’t get it anymore. Covid or not, they have let each and every one of us down.
2. So, I went to my Ladies meeting today and I have to tell you, meeting outside, socially distanced with each other, talking about our wins and losses with the scale have helped us so much. Our little group is about more than just the scale and I feel so blessed to have these twelve women in my life.
3. Tomorrow I am going to see my grandchildren. We are all Socially Distancing and keeping a very small bubble.I will be meeting my new grand-dog, Winter Molly, and of course seeing my wonderful first grand-dog, Freya.
4. So my little  Echo Show 5 arrived and I set it up. It is wonderful! The clock part is just what I wanted. Now I know it will take me a while until I figure it all out, but so far, so good!
5. Well, my Steak Fajitas came out okay. Really, it would have been better if we could have grilled the steak, but it was fine. I think I actually enjoyed the Chicken Fajitas more.

So that’s this week’s list. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, wherever you are!

The summer just packed up and left us about a week ago. It’s been cold and damp and windy! I actually had to turn on the heat! Ugh! Anyway, here we go with this week’s Friday Five!

1. I’ve been eyeing an Echo from Amazon, and this morning I went on to order it and the price was up $20.00! Now, after living with Jack, the cheapest man on the earth, I refused to complete the transaction. I am hoping that Amazon will have a sale before Christmas. Then I will buy this gift for myself.
2. I am on my way today to have my yearly physical. I had my bloodwork done, in hopes that my Cholesterol Levels would be closer to normal. I mean, I’ve lost 57.2 pounds and that should be good for something, right? Unfortunately, it appears my levels have not changed at all. Ugh!
3. I am sick to death of all the hate on Facebook. So, I joined two groups. One for ABBA fans and one for Dackel Lovers.I’ve set up my reader so I am seeing less and less hate and more puppy dogs and ABBA Songs! So much better!
4. For those wondering, I really love my Pampered Chef Air Fryer. It’s perfect!
   
   I’m still learning, but one thing I do very well with is reheating Pizza for Jack. It comes out perfect every time!
5. My young friend’s entire family has Covid-19. She and one of the kids feel pretty lousy, while her husband and their year-old baby, although positive, are fairing better. Please people, wear your masks, isolate and be patient. One day we will look back and this horrible plague will be past us.