Sunday, March 17, 2024

Luck Of The Irish!

 Well, I can't say I have the luck of the Irish since no Irish blood flows in my veins but I think it's grand that this day is celebrated with gusto!  I did win $2 on a lottery scratch off.  Does that count?  I also made some corned beef and cabbage today but forgot to take a pic..oh well I still have some pics to share.  Spring is on Tuesday which just happens to be my sister's birthday and I'll be heading out tomorrow for a visit.  I know I'll have some photos to share when I get home.  Speaking of Spring, my yard looks like someone came and put bouquets of daffodils all over!






A few crocus thrown in for variety!  I picked a few today while it was snowing!  I know they don't last long after being cut but I'll enjoy them for the short term.  The other day I was walking Annabelle and our neighbor's alpaca were enjoying the nice day.  The baby, little Beano, and Annabelle had a moment:
When they actually touched noses they scared each other and jumped up a mile!  It was pretty cute to see. Well, not much else going on as I'm packing up and heading out to Chicago tomorrow.  Hopefully the weather will be good.  Annabelle is staying home with Jack because my sister's new pup, Flynn, is a bit too playful for her.  So wish me the luck of the Irish for safe travels and a good week with Midge.
Heading into the sunset!











Thursday, March 7, 2024

Let's March!

 I looked back at my March posts from last year and my title for this month was March madness.  I didn't want the same title but I realized it was posted on the same date as today's..March 7th.  So let's March on and get to the question of the hour:  How's your colon doing?  What? Well, it's national colorectal month and time to celebrate getting those pipes cleaned out and checked.  Colon cancer has gone up in younger folks and now the recommendation is to have a colonoscopy starting at age 45.  That's especially important if you have a family history of colon cancer.  I've been working at our endoscopy lab for the past 2 years and have learned a lot and also have seen a lot of young people with tumors that turn out to be cancer.  If you're a smoker or have been one in the past you have a higher risk for polyps.  Men more than women.  I know getting this done isn't on anyone's fun list but the dreaded prep drink is much easier now and not a whole gallon jug to swallow.  You can also go the little box method if you don't have a family history or had previous polyps.  Done at home and sent off it's a good check and pretty accurate.  That's my soap box for now so let's go on to life here in my neck of the woods.  The weather, like all over the country has been up and down.  We had 72 de on Monday and now snow will hit on Sunday along with the "Spring forward" clock mess.  Now that's March madness!  In a month from tomorrow a solar eclipse is heading our way.  Ohio is in a perfect location and Ashland is one of the towns to see it.  That is if the weather is clear.  A gamble around here!  In anticipation the town is expecting a ton of folks and schools will be closed along with many businesses.  I got a call from my primary Doc's office and they cancelled my appointment for that day too.  It's a Monday and I don't usually work Mondays so I guess I better buy a pair of those special glasses and have a peek!  I could even rent out my yard that day! I'm sure the field across the street will be filled with gawkers so maybe I should set up a lemonade stand and cookies too!  Hmm...interesting.  Well, on to some pics of our weekend.  The kids came over for lunch on Sunday and the weather was amazing! I made some spicy tortellini soup:

It's a recipe Jack found and we all really like it.  I also made some sliders.  I never made any before but it was super simple and simply delish:
I was able to capture the last 2!  We also had Asian salad (no pics..all gone!), some chips and then pie for dessert.  No pic of the pie but it was store bought and not blog worthy.   My oldest son, Jack, came and brought their pupper, Kip:
He's a big boy but such a sweetie! He and Annabelle get along fine and he just loves to run his heart out around the pines.  I bet he slept great Sunday night!  In other news,  I know that my blog friend Cathy from Acorn Hollow is a user of King Arthur flour.  It's made in her neck of the woods but we do have it here.  I decided to see if it made a difference in my cooking and tried in my chocolate chip cookies.
These are the last of the batch.  I took some to work yesterday and they were gone in no time and everyone raved about them.  I must say they were yummy!  Was it the flour? The chocolate? My secret recipe? Was everyone just extra hungry?  I guess I will have to make more and find out! Ha!  Speaking of work, I'll be going there tomorrow and it's a meeting day so we start at 6:30a.  Yikes!  I chose to work 3 days this week and will be happy when I'm done for the week.  In a couple of weeks I'll be heading out to Chicago to visit Midge for her birthday.  I'll have a nice span of time off!  This weekend looks to be a rainy/snowy one so I hope to take a little time out to start the book my daughter-in-law sent me for my birthday:
I'll let you know how I like it.  Well, March is marching on quickly and so am I:
Annabelle has the right idea! Night all!

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Take A Leap!

Happy Birthday to all those who are lucky enough to be born on a day when you only turn an age older every 4 years.  If only that were the case.  We all age when we're lucky enough to survive another trip around the sun.  Yesterday was my day to age.  It sure does beat the alternative.  Many times I'm asked if I  just missed being a leap year baby.  Actually I missed it by a whole year.  1953 is not a leap year.  I was very blessed with happy birthday wishes from family and friends.  Being in my golden years sometimes is lacking in the gold part!  But I'm very happy to be healthy, strong, loved, and enjoying life.  Being older has it's perks besides cheaper prices or belonging to AARP.   Many things just don't bother me any more.  I think I'm more patient while driving...even if I still have a lead foot!  I enjoy working when I want and not on anybody else's schedule.  Work drama makes me sit back, observe, and smile.  I went through all that in my younger working days and now realize some things never change.  Looking back over the years I realize most things turn out the way they are suppose to.  I'm more apt to ask for help with a problem, decision, vacation plans, recipes, or using techie things.  It's better to laugh than to stress out.  So having an extra day every 4 years is an opportunity to take a leap.  Maybe a leap of faith, a leap of caring more, a leap of relaxing more or a leap to start a blog.   I started my blog on February 29, 2008.  The books I have made at the end of every blog year tell of an ordinary life that to me has become extraordinary.  The aging of my children and birth of Grandbabies.  The passing of  loved ones who will never be forgotten but made more precious with the memories.  I hope everyone enjoys this extra day.   On my birthday yesterday Jack and I traveled to Columbus and spent the morning in the Temple.   It's a good time to leave the outside world outside and feel the Spirit and peace the Temple brings.  We had a nice Chinese lunch and a quick stop at Sam's on the way home.  The weather was kind of nasty but getting home safe and sound to a warm home and Annabelle was great.  So I'll share a few pics I remembered to take:

Many bloggers are great at showing delish food very pretty on a plate.  Not me this time!  This was a quick dinner picked up at Sam's Club and the aftermath! Ha!  It was very good.
For my birthday cake we got individual cheesecakes from Sam's.  I was the only one what ate one.  It was great but the rest will end up at work tomorrow to be shared.  (notice the giant bag of chocolate chips!  Gotta love Sam's!)   One tradition I do on occasion...when I remember..is share a pic of me.  How vain is that!?  Just to see the aging process. 
Young me
Today me....Where has the time gone?  Well, around the sun I guess!  Have a lovely freebie day this year.  Take a LEAP!!  Today is the youngest you'll ever be!


Monday, February 26, 2024

The End Is Near

 Don't panic! It's just the end of the month is near.  We've had some really nice weather with cold and surprise snow thrown in for good measure.  Today was sunshine galore and 62de.  Makes me want to get out and dig in the dirt as my sister would say.  I just sat in the sun for a bit instead though!  I have plenty of time for digging in the dirt.  Tomorrow is warmish again but thunderstorms will be there too.  Some folks really like those but I prefer gentle rain and no lightning.   I worked 3 days last week and one was a 10hr day with no lunch or breaks. (we do run to the necessary room if needed!)  I write that so when I look back at my blog in the future I can say I actually did that and lived to tell the tale!  Not bad for a 70yr old gal!  When I think of the end being near I wish it was about the end of high prices of everything.  When I saw the price of eggs last week I was shocked.  I guess there was a bird flu outbreak again.  I'm sure after Easter and the necessity for eggs has lessened, the flu will be gone and the prices will go down.  Gas goes up and down as usual.  I took Annabelle to the Vet twice this month for shots.  As always it's a budget buster!  Throw in insurance time, property tax time and most important....hair appointment time...I need to do a few more 10hr days!  Oh well, you can't take it with you as they say.  So this short post is going to lead into my final post of the month on the 29th.  An extra day for us this year!  Plus it will be year 16 for my blog.  I did my first post on February 29th, 2008.  Seems like a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away! I'm going to end this with the only photo I have to share:

I made real honest to goodness popcorn the other day.  Blog worthy? It's all I got..the end is here!


Thursday, February 15, 2024

Loveuary Brings Valentine's Day!

 I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day yesterday.   I had to work and missed our traditional lunch with friends but Jack went and enjoyed seeing everyone.  We meet every 3 months but I didn't know..or maybe forgot..that we were getting together yesterday.  However, work went well as I was training a new girl at the Endoscopy unit.  Not my favorite thing to do but she did well and we had a light schedule and I was home by 2pm.  Last week on Friday it was 4:30pm and no lunch or break...killer!  But we got it done and I'm just glad I can do those kinds of days and still be alive to tell the tale!  I'm enjoying the lighter morning commute.  I only live about 10min, away from work but I love seeing the early morning sunrise.

Break Room with a view.  I start at 7am so this was taken closer to 7:30.   Sometimes at work we're blessed with free lunches from salesmen/women.   Usually we don't have enough staff for us in the scope room to get lunch until we're done and the food is cold but since our schedule was light yesterday we had food that was actually warmish!
The chicken on the plate was left over from last Friday so it was cold..and  thankfully  the salad cold...and the pop.  The soup was fresh but also not very hot so only a little of everything got eaten.  Except my zero Pepsi.  It was downed quickly!  Don't you just love people who take pics of their food?  When I got home Jack had gotten me a lovely flower arrangement for Valentine's Day.
He always finds the cutest flowers.  He knows I love fresh flowers.  I have all the vases to prove it too! Thanks Babe!  You're my forever Valentine!  On Monday I made some heart cookies.
They turned out pretty good but I had to laugh at Jordan's reaction to them.  He took a bite and looked at me funny.  I said "What?"  He said:  "Are they lemon?"  Me:  "Lemon?  No!  Almond."  Jordan: "Almond? Is almond a flavor?  I thought it was a nut."  Me: "Yes it's a nut but it's a flavor too. There aren't any almonds in there but the flavoring is almond."  For some reason he found that funny and we just laughed over the whole goofy thing.  So I asked Jack to taste them.  He too looked at me funny.  Me: "What?  Don't they taste good?"  Jack: "I don't like sugar cookies."  We've been married almost 50yrs and I just found this out?  Jordan thought that was funny too.  So I took the cookies to work feeling a bit nervous.  I hadn't tried any myself so I just hoped they were OK.  Everyone at work loved them and yes they tasted almond flavor.  But then again, no matter what food is in the break room it always gets eaten!  So I hope you all had a nice Hallmark holiday in Loveuary.  Even Annabelle had a visit from her "friend" next door.
Cooper came with his Valentines scarf on that said " I woof you".
We woof you too Cooper!
A kiss goodbye and off Cooper went to his home!  Happy Valentine's Day...a day late...!


Sunday, February 11, 2024

Hello

Howdy! It's been almost 2 weeks since I've blogged.  Not sure what to even blog about these days.  The weather?  Ok, it's been really warmish for February in Ohio.  Last week we had 50 and 60de days and even saw the sun! It was glorious!  Work?  Yes, I'm still at our Endoscopy lab diving into colons and stomachs.   I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but it does save lives.  Some days it's a 10hr no lunch or break day.  That was my Friday.  Sometimes we do get sales people to bring us a freebie lunch.  So at 4:30 in the afternoon the Chic Filet is nice and cold.  But again it's free so I'm not complaining.  Well, maybe just a little! Ha!  But all in all I still enjoy what I do and who I work with. Plus I can say yes or no to my work week.  Oh, and I do get paid.  Win Win!  My advice to everyone is get that colon checked once you're 45yrs old and older!  Ok what about Church.  I'm still going every week and with Jack we teach 11-13yr olds in Sunday School.  We have about 8 kiddos and they are great!  Last night we went to a Church social that was about family history.  Plus it was a potluck dinner.  Food was great and the folks who told family stories and shared photos and fun items made it pretty enjoyable.  How about our health?  Jack twisted his knee a week ago and will see the Ortho group tomorrow.  Let's hope no surgery is needed.  However, after working in surgery for 50yrs I'm betting it might.  Sorry Jack!  I'm all good for today, thankfully.  Annabelle is also dealing with a sore foot or leg.   She's been limping on and off.   No one is sure what the deal is and the jury is still out on her.  But she still enjoys running on 3 legs around the Pines.  Hopefully she won't need surgery either!  The family all seems good and I'm hoping to see my Sister in March.   So that about sums up my blog world for now.  No blog of mine is complete without pics.  

Those are daffodils peeping up through the ground and dead leaves.  The early birds of Spring! 

My 3 legged gimpy Annabelle just resting under a skinny apple tree.  That's all I've got so have a great Monday tomorrow!  Hugs from the Pines!


Thursday, February 1, 2024

Hallmark Says It's Loveuary!

 Hello February.  We made it through the darker days of January and each day brings a little more light into our neck of the woods.  Today was a gift day.  No, I didn't receive any actual gift wrapped items but God gave us sunshine and blue skies!  We haven't had that in many weeks.

 I just had to snap a pic of the field across from our house when out on my walk with Annabelle.  The sun really felt warm on my face and the temps were 50de.  
Tomorrow is Ground Hog day but Annabelle could see her shadow today.  Could that mean 6 more weeks of winter?  Ummm, I think we'll have 6 more weeks of winter whether the groundhog sees it's shadow or not tomorrow. 
I wasn't the only one enjoying the sunshine.  Our neighbor's alpaca and their horse, Temp, were sunbathing this morning.
I think Temp needs a bath or some grooming! 
We continued our walk up into the Creepy Woods.  They don't look too creepy in the winter when it's all brown and open.
There was a little spig of green among the dry leaves.  I think this fern is a little ahead of schedule.
We took the path back to the house and after lunch I was able to get my car washed and I cleaned the inside too.  That's a good workout! Annabelle loves to be outdoors and enjoys her daily walks.  Jack noticed she was limping last night and then she was limping this afternoon.  I soaked her feet tonight incase there was salt in her paws or maybe it's the longer walks we've been taking.  I think some rest for her is a good idea.  She sees the Vet on Monday and she'll get checked out then.  She's just a delicate flower!  To close this post I had a funny idea hit my brain today.  When I was a kiddo, all of 11 years old, the Beatles were the big thing.  Oh how I loved them!  I had all their records and posters and even got to see them in person.  Highlight of my youth! I also had every teen magazine they were featured in.  I had stacks of them!  Well, you know what they say about "what goes around, comes around"?  I got another magazine yesterday that had one of the Beatles on the front.  Unfortunately, it was AARP..
Oh Ringo, you weren't my fav back then.  Paul had my love but a funny thing happened on the way to adulthood.  You and I grew up and older...you are 80 my friend and look really good.  I'm 70 and what's amazing to me is I married a young man 50 years ago this year who happens to have the same last name as you!  Yep, I'm finally related to a Beatle...Richard Starkey...Peace out Ringo and rock on!


Thursday, January 25, 2024

Why I Blog

People have blogs for many reasons.  They want to connect on a social media site that lets them write about their life and maybe throw in some photos.  My blog buddies are varied and wonderful. A few are writers and photos are not a huge part of their site.  Some are hookers.  Hey, get your mind out of the gutter!  Rug hookers!  I'm not a crafter.  In fact I say my projects are more like arts and crap than craft. But I sure appreciate art in many forms and enjoy reading and seeing what's out there.  Some are music buffs and I enjoy listening to their favorites and sites like my friend Shady from the Shady Dell always takes me back to my youth and teaches me about different artists and life at a special place of his youth.  I love the writers that make me laugh! Cranky Old Man, that would be you!  I know you know my blog is my journal.  I usually have many photos.  At the end of the year it all goes into book form so my kids will have something to fight over when I'm long gone. (I'm being funny here)  I just got book #15 back this week.

Not a great photo of it but you get the picture.  In it are the times I want to remember.  Maybe it's the weather from last year or events with family that are recorded for posterity.  Sometimes I get questions about when a certain thing happened and I go back to my old blog books and get the answer.  What ever your reason for being a blogger I'm grateful you're out there sharing your wisdom, humor, recipes and life stories.  Everyone has a story.  Sometimes it's only a few years worth or other times it's many years of wisdom being shared.   This past week has been one of sadness for a good friend that I will have recorded here for remembrance.  I think I mentioned them in a post last fall.  My friend Bryn and her hubby Terry had been going through a very tough year of his up and down health issues.  He was going into hospice when I mentioned him last year.  However, he decided he wasn't ready for that and struggled to do physical therapy and many other things to improve his health.  He gave it all a valiant try.  We cheered him on when he celebrated his 80th birthday in November.  Bryn gave him a surprise party at the nursing facility and we all gathered to wish him well.  However, his battle ended yesterday afternoon.  I stopped by the day before at the hospital for a final visit with our friend.  He and Bryn were married for 30yrs.  A second marriage for them both and they filled it with love for each other and friends and family.  My hugs and prayers to out to Bryn as she faces these times without him.  He was 10yrs older than her so I'm sure this was something they knew could happen.  Rest in peace Terry.  We'll miss you.

Yesterday was also 20yrs since my nephew passed away in a car accident.  He was 18 and very close to my boys, especially Jordan.  It's hard to imagine him as a 38 year old as he will be forever young to us all.  
Here he is as a young boy with my silly #2 son doing his Dolly Parton imitation!
Here he is with his sister Katie.  He was in his freshman year of college. He wanted to be a police officer like her.  So I will continue to blog to keep family and friends remembered or honored.  Events recorded or weather posted.  This week the weather warmed up, the snow melted.  It was in the 50's these past few days.  I know winter isn't nearly over but I'll cherish a relief from bitter cold even if it leaves us with rain and fog!  So keep on blogging if you have the desire.  There are times I want to just stop and in fact I blog less often than when I first started.  I realized that I repeat many stories but that's my life.  Sometimes new things happen and sometimes I'm in the memory lane.  Whatever lane I'm in this year I hope to get it put down in writing and also many photos.  Night all.


Tuesday, January 16, 2024

JanBRRRRary

 We're pretty darn chilly here at the Pines.  I think it's 8de here this morning with a little snow that fell during the night.  It was cold all weekend but having this:

Sunshine!!!  Yes, even when it's bitter cold if the sun is shining it's a great day.  We had so many gray, cloudy days leading up to this weekend that it was so nice to see blue skies:

Look how pretty that sky is.  Can you see Annabelle's potty path? Ha!  Luckily she loves this weather. Cold, snow, or rain doesn't seem to bother her but throw in wind and she's heading back to the house. The sound of it really bugs her.  But she's up for a walk any time I feel up to a walk.
She gets her warm little coat on and is ready for the day.  When we first got her I always put little booties on her paws to protect them.  If you remember she was a puppy mill mom and spent 7 years in a kennel and when we walked her paws would bleed.  But now she's a seasoned walker and her paws are good to go.  However, if we were going to be out in the snow a long time I would put them back on.  
I must be honest here.  One of her other favorite activities is curling up on the couch with me and having a nap! If it's morning we call it "snooze with the news" time.  I put on the Today show and she and me can be out for a little nap time.  This cold snap has the wood burning furnace up and running and keeping us warm and cozy.  It's a lot of work to heat with wood but you can't beat that warmth and the electric bill is great too.  We also like to make sure our feathered friends have some chow to keep them warm.
I had to de-ice it once but then they realized the Pines cafe was open!
Whoa...this guy might need some help on take off!  Look at his cute chubby belly!  Well, to end this weather & bird post I have a little riddle.  Do you know what this is?
This is one of the Christmas gifts I got from Jordan.  Hmm...It took him explaining it to me.
It's a book marker and a place for a cup of tea or whatever. The little hole on the left is for a pen. You see, I love word search so he also got me a word search book and then I can keep a pen there and under the wood tent area is a spot for my phone! Yes, my son knows me!  I love to read or do word search and a cup of tea or cocoa is great but I'm also leaving my phone everywhere so now I have no excuse for losing it!  Thanks Jord!  So that's about all that's happening here at the Pines.  This month is half over already and soon we'll be into the short month.  I hope we're getting the bad weather now and will be able to sail through February without icicles hanging on our eyelashes!  Brrrrr!

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

Greetings 2024

 January has arrived and the we rang in the new year in our usual quiet way.  We were able to stay up until midnight! Whoo Hoo!  We toasted with some sparkling cider and watched the ball drop.  So much fun I'm not sure everyone could handle it!  January 1st we had our good luck meal of pork and sauerkraut and black eyed peas.  We do the pork in the form of ribs which is good.  The peas are for Jack who always had them in his family on New Year's Day.  In my family I remember Mom having to have pickled herring...not my style then or now! But she believed fish on New Year's Eve brought good luck.  We also usually had ham.  So how ever you eat your luck I hope 2024 is a great year!  One other thing I always do is make my Greek New Year's bread.  Vasilopita bread, or it can be made as a cake, is traditional in Greek households.  Inside the bread or cake is baked a coin.  Everyone gets a chance to slice the bread and if you get the coin good luck is promised for the year.  Jordan was the lucky dude this year!

This bread is so good when made into toast.  Yummy!  I started taking down the Christmas decor after the 1st.  The tree just came down yesterday much to Jack's sadness.  He really enjoys the decorating of Christmas and especially the tree.  We struggled with the lights this year on our pre-lit tree.  Many folks tell me that their pre-lit trees also lose the lights eventually.  So we put lights on it and now I wonder if we should buy a new tree.  Hmm.  Jury is still out on that one. Maybe a great sale will motivate this!  So now most of Christmas is back in the storage room.
Living room is deChristmased..I just made that word up! But you will spy some little bits of it left in other spots.  I still have my wreaths in the windows and I put up all my snowman things with some lights on the kitchen mantle.
You can see the wreaths in the dining room windows and I have my snowman tablecloth that I found a couple of years ago at a vintage shop in Chicago. Fresh flowers that say Spring will arrive one day!  I'm glad I don't suffer with seasonal disorder and struggle with the dark days of winter but I do like to keep lights on here and there for brightening up spaces.  
A blurry pic but you can see I have white lights and snowmen to celebrate winter in Ohio.
Snowflake lights on my kitchen windows help bring in some sparkle. You can see we did get a bit of white flakes for real last night.  Now it's raining because our temps are in the upper 40's.  It's a mixed bag of weather all over the country.  Some of you are being dumped on with snow, others with rain and tornados.  Crazy!  We may be in blizzard conditions by the weekend.  I don't mind snow just not a blizzard please! Everyone will be out in force grabbing milk and toilet paper for sure!  Well, with the first week of January gone and winter moving in I hope everyone is warm and safe. 
I took this photo yesterday of the sun rising.  I just wanted you to know that we do get sunshine now and then and we had a little yesterday and in the past week.  Greetings 2024! I'm hope when I look back on you at the end of the year it will have been one laced with good luck from what ever food was consumed! Happy New Year!