St. David's Day

Happy St. David's Day!

Brief Break

Hi! It is February 29th! Leap Year! Leap Day! If I had been born two years later I would only be 16 1/2 years old! Golly that sounds great, doesn't it.  Well, I bet I would still be cripping around like the 66 year old I actually am.  It doesn't matter, it is a beautiful day and I feel fantastic and all is well in my world!

My posts, however, are going to be non-existent, sporadic or very short for the next few days.  I am helping my daughter this week and time (and energy) will be at a premium so I might not be able to get back here right away. 

At any rate, it is temporary and I will be back with all sorts of interesting (yeah right) things to say and photos to share!

So, see you later alligator!

Friday Finds

Friday Finds is hosted by Jenn at Books and a Beat (booksanabeat.com).  It is a way to showcase what you have "found" this week.  Here is my "find".  I seem to enjoy reading "series" books and am currently involved in -- well, more than one -- and I have them on rotation. 

My next title in the Elm Creek Series by Jennifer Chiaverini.  I completely enjoy this series and the next in my queue is "The Quilter's Homecoming".  I haven't started it yet but soon.

I also stumbled across "Agatha Raisin and the Perfect Paragon".  It is several down in my list but I snatched it up when I saw it because I know I will get to it eventually.  The next one in my list is "Agatha Raisin and Love from Hell" and I think I am going to check it out from the library via Overdrive.  At any rate, I have quite a bit of reading lined up!

Throwback Thursday

In the words of Sophia Petrillo -- Picture this, San Antonio, Christmas 1979.

Here you have my handsome son, age 4, and my beautiful daughter, age 3.5 months.  That is my mother with them.  It was Christmas Eve and we were at my mother's house for Christmas Eve festivities because that was our tradition. 

Seems like it was yesterday.

Wordless Wednesday

This 'n That and Monkey and Dog

This weekend -- beginning on Thursday -- has been busy and yet not busy.  It was a good mix of the two.

 Bean didn't have school on Friday so we were scheduled to babysit.  However, I had another plan.  I decided we would pick her up from school as usual, take her to her doctor's appointment and then bring her home for the night rather than us getting up at dawn and driving to her house.  She loves to come here because I make her chocolate chip pancakes. 

my assistant reading me the recipe and that is Scout, her Daisy troop Bear that goes on adventures with the girls.

enjoying the fruits of our labor and yes, that is the Christmas village you see in the background -- I can't talk about it

Yum on the griddle

Then, after breakfast was consumed and the kitchen put in order we went to one of the most magical places I know of.  It is an independent bookstore called Monkey and Dog.  It is owned and operated by Shelley Lowe, a friend from church and it is housed in the corner of a catering business called Feastivities owned by Charissa Christopher, also a church friend.

Monkey and Dog is just delightful -- it is a bookstore solely dedicated to children's  books and there is a huge variety of books to be explored --- some even from my childhood days.  We spent a large chunk of the morning there and Bean didn't want to leave -- I can't say I blame her -- I was enjoying the cozy lounge chair and all the books that I would have loved to have taken home with me.

The cozy lounge chair with Gramps trying to stay out of the photo! Gotcha Gramps!

Just look at that assortment of books!

So charming!

Fantastic find!

More for the collection of Magic Tree House books

And for my personal library -- I have started reading it and it is just magical

So, after we finally pried B away from the bookstore we headed to Zeeba's to get her bangs trimmed.  Thanks, sweet Falan for being so accommodating!

B loves to sweep the floor because Falan has this really cool machine that you sweep the cut hair up to it and turn it on and it sucks the hair right in! B loves it and Falan doesn't mind letting her take care of that little business for her!

Then it was home for a nap -- yes, there is a real bed for her to sleep in but nothing quite like improvisation, is there?  Who knows, next trip over she might just sleep here.

And then a quick go at this game.

 It is fun but you really need to be in good light because the cards are so dark.  I have been looking for pick up sticks but there are none to be found so I will have to order them online.  Ugh.

That was all we had time for since Mom and Dad were picking her up after dinner.  They were going on a short road trip yesterday and today so she had to get home to get ready.  After all that activity, I needed to rest a bit but it was such good fun!

This morning I had a look around my house to see what needed tidying up and I realized that I hadn't been outdoors in a few days to see what this lovely spring-like weather is doing to the garden.  So, I decided to share a few snaps with you of the garden and some other things around here.

I have no clue what this is -- a weed I think -- but it has lovely purple flowers on it.

The Redbud tree coming out -- pretty pink blossoms -- more photos when they open up

A lap quilt I made lest you think all I do is read and blog

a really cute bottle I purchased for my homemade deodorant --yes I don't use commercial deodorant

my new obsession -- flavored water -- isn't it pretty?  Cucumbers, lemons, strawberries and mint

Hubs and his latest project -- a second tv antenna for the tv in the bedroom

And this is something I am looking to buy --

It is on sale and it folds up.  I have a Tony Little Gazelle but Hubs uses it and it just about kills my knee so I thought I would buy this and we could exercise together in front of the tv with the new antenna! Sounds like a plan, don't you think?

Starting Over Sunday

Wow, it is Sunday again! The time is really flying by and, since we have opted out of winter this year, it seems like we are just racing toward summer! I can handle summer.  Just not mosquitoes.  But, the mosquitoes haven't gone away anyway so I am not going to let that to deter me from enjoying this really, really early spring.

So, this last week I made an effort to try some new things, tweak some old things and see what worked and what didn't.  So, here is what I learned...

After 43 years of marriage I have finally conquered the laundry.  My new approach has been working well -- washing each and every day and smaller loads.  I am finding that if I do smaller loads I can get them done and put away and it is much preferable to staring into the "face" of a pile of laundry  that consists of everything we own.  So, this approach is a keeper.

I have not conquered emptying the dishwasher at night but I have managed to get it emptied in the morning and just fill it during the day.  I have also learned that a sink full of hot water at the ready makes it very easy to quickly wash things as you use them.  I know it sounds ridiculous to say these things -- a mature woman who has been keeping house for a LONG time but some things are not easily disciplined.  I had a perfectly good role model in my mother.  She never had a dishwasher but she wasn't one to let things sit around either -- those dishes were washed immediately after use and the light turned off in the kitchen -- there was no revolving door like in our house.  But, anyway, I have pretty much conquered the kitchen "issue".  Next I am going to try to cook without using every dish/pot/pan in the kitchen! That sounds like a challenge, doesn't it?


I am loving my Bona floor system (no, not getting paid to say that) and I have also learned that I don't have to mop the entire house at once even though it is a large, flowing expanse of solid flooring.  I can do it in sections and that is fine.  So, that is a new "tweak" and it is working.

These things have made my life easier.  I am the sort that can't play until the chores are done and that breeds lots of contempt for the chores when you can't get them done in a timely manner.  With my new approach, I feel like I am giving myself permission to read or sew or quilt or whatever and I am still getting stuff done.  It is amazing how quickly these chores really take when you just get up and do them.  Duh.

I guess we are never too old to learn!

Happy Birthday, Mama!

Today would have been my mother's 93rd birthday.  I miss her and find it hard to believe she has been gone from us for 20 years already.  Happy Birthday, Mama, wish you were here but I know that you are well and healthy now and that is a comfort.

Throwback Thursday

 Throwback Thursday -- 1977- I Think

My baby boy, circa 1977, with his very first ice cream cone -- EVER -- after seeing a Micky Mouse show at the local mall.

I have been blogging for a long time but I don't think many people know I have a son.  I don't post about him and his family because they don't allow me to include photos.  That makes me sad, though, because he was such a beautiful child who has grown into a handsome man with a lovely family. 

He is the father of my three grandchildren -- Nathan, age 9, Kathryn, age 7 and Emily, age 15 months. 

I remember the day of this photo so well.  I had bought his outfit at Joske's and he absolutely hated it and I think this was the only time he ever wore it! He got so excited at this Micky Mouse show that he was literally hyperventillating! He had such a wonderful time and then......he got his first ice cream cone.  He loved it! And he didn't get it all over my mother's car!

It was such an exciting day and I really like looking back at those "old" photos! I might have to start posting some of him "back in the day" -- I don't think they would have a problem with that.

Anyway, this is my TBT for today!

Wordless Wednesday

This N That

Well, I can already tell it is going to be one of those random, meandering days.  I woke up before 6 a.m with my knee killing me.  I went to bed with both feet and ankles swollen last night -- something that never happens to me and I was concerned but this morning they are better but the knee is giving me grief. I am used to that.  My left knee was diagnosed as useless with I was 34 -- the years haven't made it better, that is for sure.  I have even thought about getting a cane.


As I realized, at 5:45 a.m. that I was not going back to sleep I laid there for a while and took stock of my upcoming day.  I needed to do something but I didn't have a plan. So what else is new -- I never have a plan.

The laundry is going well doing it everyday.  You wouldn't think that just two people could generate enough laundry to wash everyday but you would be surprised.  Also, I am trying to get back to my youthful activity of getting the bedsheets washed every Monday.  When I was a new bride that was my routine -- sheets on Monday.  Well, somewhere in the last 43 years that got put to the bottom of the list of priorities but I am trying to bring it to the surface again.  Routines are good.  I am just not good at them.

I said in a previous post that I was going to try the swiffer again and I did.  I was appalled at the dust I picked up and I had just vacuumed a couple of days ago! So, I guess I will be swiffering more often -- better than dragging Ruby out.

Ruby can be a bit heavy and unwieldy so I try to only bring her out when I absolutely need her. 

I have also started -- AGAIN -- a food journal.  I have a Jawbone activity tracker which I am finding to be so inconvenient because I can't put my hands in water while wearing it.  I am not a neat housekeeper and I will get it wet and that is a no-no.  I have also tried calorie counting using MyFitnessPal.  I even bought a new ipad that would sync all of it together.  Epic Fail.

I am not a novice at food journaling, calorie counting, being completely obsessed over food -- no, not a novice.  I have been doing this since I was about 17 years old and thought I was fat.  I wish I was as fat now as I was when I thought I was fat!  Anyway, I read an article last night about not counting calories, just journaling what you eat, when you eat, how you feel when you eat -- blah, blah, blah -- psychobabble, you know, just to make yourself aware of what you are doing just in case you are one of those people who go to look for the cookies and find them gone and realize that you are the one who ate them and you have no recollection of doing any such thing. Indeed. 

So, at 5:45 this morning as I lay in bed wishing I could go back to sleep I started thinking about the perfect journal to start this amazing journaling in. I decided I needed to jet to my neighborhood half price books and pick up the perfect journal.  Then I realized that I have a whole shelf full of partially used journals that all represent false starts so maybe the prudent thing to do is to pick out one of those and begin.  Beginning is always the hardest thing especially when you need supplies -- like journals and colored pens. 

So, this is the journal I chose -- off my shelf -- with some pages torn out.  It is by Foray and you can actually buy replacement journals to fit inside the cover. 

Mine is the brown one and it is small enough to carry in a purse if I so desire.  I doubt I will desire but who knows. 

In any event, I have no intention of weighing and measuring my food -- I have done that enough to be able to tell what a portion looks like.  Or do I?  So, that took my thoughts to scoops -- like ice cream scoops.  I need a scoop to measure out 1/2 cup of whatever.  That immediately sent me off on an internet search for a #8 (4 oz.) "disher" - available by mail order only.  Of course.  I will never get my charge paid off if I can't go to a store and actually buy something with, you know --  money -- and bring it home without having to pay shipping.

All of this before 7 a.m.  Do you see what I mean about it being a random day?

So, let's take stock -- I have folded the laundry from yesterday that took forever to dry and it is put away.  I have put the sheets in the washer and loaded the dishwasher with my toast plate.  I have gotten dressed, tossed my hair around (I wear a little bob that doesn't require much to fall into place -- I look like something out of the 1930's) and gathered some World War 2 memorabilia together for my daughter's history class on that era.

But, that brings us to the dishwasher.  My goal was run the dishes after dinner and empty it before I retired for the night so the morning would find me with a clean sink and an empty dishwasher -- does anybody remember Flylady?  Shine your sink?  Get dressed to your shoes?  Ok, so no shoes.  Anyway, last night I was so confused because I had three dishes in the dishwasher.  They were dirty.  Should I wash them by hand and have a clean dishwasher this morning?  Should I run the dishwasher with three dishes in it? I think not.  What should I do? Was there a right answer?  I went to bed and left the three dishes in there to be combined with todays dishes.  Don't you just hate major life decisions?  Why can I make huge decisions concerning other things but just completely crumple when trying to figure out what to do with three stupid dishes?  Honestly, sometimes I don't understand me at all. 

So, since I am having a completely random day, I think I will go cook some rice for dinner and defrost some chicken to make some chicken strips tonight.  Maybe a salad would be nice.  I still have some pears to use up so I can toss those in there too. We have Bean this afternoon so I think I should give some thought to dinner early so when I come home complete knackered I won't have to think about it too much.  Plus, if I do it early I can clean up the mess early! Yay! Thinking outside the box! Novel for me.

I will let you know how it goes later.  By the way, I cook my rice in the oven.  It works great.