Category: This & That

I woke up early today, and it was 60 degrees in my bedroom. As I lay there, I thought about what I should do. I needed to shower, but I also needed to get up and get dressed fast due to the cold. Hmmm!

I opted to jump up, turn on the shower and jump in as soon as the water was hot. That did feel good, and I admit that it woke me up pretty fast.

I dressed quickly upon exiting the shower, and then my day began. Dog walking, coffee making, cleaning up the glasses from last night, and my mini breakfast, so I could take my antibiotic.

I know, exciting stuff, but that is how my life is rolling these days!

Since last I wrote, my kitchen sink sprayer blew and after cleaning up about 3 inches of water under the sink, I called the plumber. He came yesterday and said the entire sprayer and faucet would need to be replaced. We talked money, we talked style and in the end I selected a faucet made by Moen, that has a pull out sprayer built in.

He did not have this in stock, so after we fed the dogs last night, Hubby and I headed out to pick up the faucet at Home Depot. Then we stopped for Chinese on our way home.

They had all my favorites, pea pods, baby bok choy, crab legs and I even splurged and had one crab rangoon. At 3 AM I woke and determined that after being sick for so long, my stomach is not ready for MSG or Chinese Stir Fried food. Ugh!

The plumber returns today to install the new faucet! I am psyched! Right now I have to use a tiny bar sink when I need water for anything. The bright side…at least the dishwasher was not affected!

Yesterday I decided to do something a little different. I got out my sewing machine, and then used a mismatched sheet, and sewed up some seams, and made a slip over cover for my chair. It makes a temporary cover for my love-seat and will be easy for Hubby to clean if it gets messy, after my surgery.

But then I had a great idea. For later of course. I am going to go to a fabric store and buy some cute material and actually make a simple slip cover for the chair. After 5 years, my chair has seen better days, but it still works, you know, despite the duct tape! (Ugh!)

So after the surgery, when I am well, I am going to make a slip cover for my chair, and I will be happy. I am also planning to get a pattern for the apron that I want and sew that.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I am no great seamstress. However, it felt good to get the machine out and work it and have it work for me. I would love to take classes. After all, with a granddaughter, it would be fun to make her cute dresses and matching trousers for my grandson!

Tonight is the Westminster Dog Show. I am saddened to see that it is only available on FS1. Now we get that, but so many people do not. They even have a daytime session at 2 PM. You know me, love my dogs!

• Hey! The New England Patriots are going to the Super Bowl!!! Now I have to tell you, I am not one of those people who watches every moment of every game, but I do catch most of them, and I do enjoy a good win! The Super Bowl should be fun, and I am going to plan something for dinner that night that will be festive.
• I spent part of the weekend cuddled with my heating pad. I have three weeks left until my surgery. I am anxious to get that behind me and to start feeling better. For now, I am in a holding pattern.
• I had a software problem with my laptop being unable to speak to a machine that we store pictures on. I only had an error code to work with, and it gave me a general idea of what was wrong. It took me about an hour, and then I had resolved the problem. Yay me! I love it when I can figure things like this out.
• We went and saw “Manchester By The Sea”, as everyone has been raving about it. I think the acting was good, but the story, and the direction was terrible, It was obvious that the writer /directer had no idea how people react in certain tragic situations. He was also quoted as saying that “New Englanders” are like this. Um, I’m a New England gal, who lost everything, but somehow managed to put her life together again and go on.
• We went out to a Chinese Buffet that we both like and had lunch yesterday. It’s a family business, and we’ve been going there for years. It was a lot of fun.
• Then we went grocery shopping. We heard that an ice/snow storm is due starting Monday night and into Tuesday. Nothing is worse than ice. I’m calling for an oil delivery at 7 AM.
• Greta is better. Last Friday she was up every hour on the hour all night long. I suspected that she had another UTI so I started her back on the antibiotics, and after three doses she was back to normal. But she needs to be on them for another 5 days. I just hate to see my old girl (Greta is 13 years old) getting sick.
• Later today I plan to make stuffed peppers and cranberry bread. Half of each will be frozen for use after surgery.

I hope you have a great week everyone!

I was quite busy yesterday, canning the Bread and Butter Pickles, and then blanching and freezing another 2 pounds of beans. But, last night I was a bit smarter. I started to prepare our dinner before we actually canned the pickles. That way, when we were finally done, we could just sit down and eat! The previous night, I was too tired to even cook our dinner and that led to a quickie spaghetti meal. I was good and only had 1/2 a cup of pasta, but I was so hungry all night.

I’m in the kitchen, once again, doing the first stage of the prep work for Moon Glow Pickles. They need to be prepped today, and then sit overnight before we cook and can them tomorrow.

As we’re preparing for a little down time next week, I am still getting things ready for our live in Doggy Nanny. We are so lucky to have found her, so when we do slip away from the dogs, we know that they are taken care of, as well as our home.

Today is the day I look forward to each month. I go in, get my hair cut, and dipped into the fountain of youth, and for an hour and a half, I am pampered.

Hubby and I are really enjoying “Homeland”. We didn’t start to watch this great show until a week ago. We’ve been watching one episode a day, and last night finished Season #1. What a great show, with superb acting! My daughter told me that I would like it, and she was right.

The weekend came and went incredibly fast. In fact, I am finding that the year 2016 to be going along far too fast. But most pleasantly so.

On Friday my cousin Janet, and her husband Dave, called at the last minute and asked if we were up for Lobster Fest 2016? Well, I will tell you one thing…I am always up for New England boiled Lobsters.

They arrived in the afternoon, and Janet and I did some shopping up town. As it was Friday, and I live in a town well known for a tourist destination in the summer, the traffic was terrible. In fact, while we were in one shop, the fire whistle blew and police and rescue squads arrived. I saw a young policeman directing traffic around the accident.

My friend in the shop said that the police had answered another call a half hour before, in the same place. It was sheer madness, I tell you!

When we left the shop we headed down the road toward the traffic lights. As we pulled up next to the police car, I looked and saw the officer was very sad. I knew he had already responded to two traffic accidents and I could see the stress. I rolled my window down and said to him, “Officer. Thank you so much for your service to our community. Thank you for taking care of us.” He looked at me and he smiled. I hope to God I made him feel appreciated.  After the assassinations of the police officers in Dallas, I felt a kind word would be appreciated.

The Lobsters and Steamers were remarkably good, as was the fresh corn on the cob. I also made my grapenut pudding to serve as a little dessert.

It was so nice and relaxed and we all had a great time. Unfortunately, all too soon they had to hit the road to drive home.

Hubby and I finally purchased an Amazon Fire Stick, so we can stream various things on our smart TV. We used to be able to stream everything, but recently we got a notice from Amazon that they no longer supported our “Old TV”. We bought it in 2011.

So on Saturday we started at the very beginning of the show “Homeland”, with Clare Danes. She is remarkable, as are the other cast members. After two episodes, Hubby and I are hooked!

I hope you all had a great weekend. Enjoy it. Before you know, summer will be over!

So here is a picture of Lili that I put i with HTML code, and then used the HTML adjustment for pictures. So far it is working. Now, lets try another.

Here is Greta’s picture. I hope when I check it will also have been correct. She sure is a sweetie. Currently she is sitting next to me under the covers.  

Me, Mandy and her sister, Ally.

(Yay, got it figured out!)

I started to write my Wednesday Hodgepodge, when it dawned on me that today is Wednesday! I missed the whole thing!

I have a good excuse. My neck, shoulder and arm. All very painful. I did have my MRI yesterday and will see my doctor on Friday.

 This whole neck, shoulder and arm pain has been a real…pain in the neck. Honestly it is one of the most painful things I have gone through. And I think the fact that the pain is not going away, also worries me a lot.

We were due to go away to New York for  a funeral this weekend, but between this neck thing and the fact I can only sit for short periods of time, didn’t sound good. So Hubby and I decided the best thing was to cancel the trip.

So, just one more day and I will learn my fate. Wish me luck!

Our weekend was a good one. I had hoped to sort of vegetate around, as I have been so busy lately, but it turned out that I was incredibly busy, all weekend long.

Besides the usual laundry, meal preparations and dog care, I cleaned and stored some home grown pears, made a double batch of chili, and made a peach crisp.

Mostly I had the US Open Tennis on the TV playing in the background. But I honestly can’t say I have watched much of it, despite the terrific coverage.

I’m enjoying the clear weather, but would enjoy it more if there wasn’t so much humidity. Still, robin’s egg blue skies, with no clouds, is a real gift. I need to reread this post in January when life is bleak, gray, and snowy.

I am quite amazed that I am 56 years old (almost 57), and yet in my mind, I still feel young, and I hope I think young too.

I am enjoying the three dachshunds, and White German Shepherd, Lili. Lili has finally grown up enough that she is settling down, and it makes it easier to love her. You see, when she acted like the “Spawn of Satan”, it made it very hard to relax around her. Now she is growing and is understanding, more and more and best of all, calming down.

I’m reading all sorts of travel guides and preparing for our road trip. I’m glad we are taking two days to drive out and back. Long ago, Hubby and I would drive 500+ miles in a day, but we are both getting a bit old for that now.

Happy Labor Day to all of my USA friends out there. Enjoy your day off!

On Monday I harvested 22 Ichiban Eggplant and made a second eggplant lasagna. It came out really well, but even I get a little tired of it after a few meals!

So, I am cutting it into individual servings and putting it in the freezer for a quick mid-winter meal. I do the same when I break down and make regular lasagna.

Hubby and I watched the Stock Market open and crash this morning, making us very happy that we are in simple Money Markets right now. I feel pretty sad for people whose retirement savings has been affected.

Greta continues to be a little snuggle bug. Imagine that at the age of 11 years old! She sure has mellowed in her golden years!

Arnie and Anneliese, at the age of 8, are both at that perfect age. They love to be out, running around, and their behavior is really good. Most of all, they just adore each other. I guess that is the way it is with Litter-Mates.

It’s been a joy to watch them grow up together!