YESTERDAY AT THE DOCTOR'S OFFICE

It's the morning of Halloween.  The day I always think of as the beginning of the holiday season.  When the door closes behind the last little kid this evening, the Thanksgiving/Christmas season begins for me.

Joe and I have the candy ready and it's supposed to get up around 70* here tonight so we will sit outside to see all the little darlings that come by.  I so enjoy this.  We don't get very many kids because we are on a one block street out of the main path, but we get some.  And yes, we even give to the big kids.  There are so many worse things they could do than go trick-or-treating.

I found this on facebook and thought I would share it with you.  What is your Halloween costume?  I'm a beautiful llama.  LOL!

I will tell you all about our evening tomorrow.

Yesterday after Bible Study I headed for the doctor.  I have had headaches most days for about three months now.  I just can't take it anymore.  Plus I am having severe pain in both of my hands and it is difficult to do anything strenuous with them.  On top of everything else, my ear has been bothering me and I thought I must have an ear infection.

I got there on time but had to wait an hour in the waiting room.  I knew when I walked in and almost all of the seats were taken that it would be awhile.  After I got called in I had to wait another hour to see her.  I have never waited two hours in that office.  I've waited a long time, but never that long.

Well...  she wants me to see a neurologist for the headaches after I have my brain MRI on Monday.  My hands both have torn tendons and I am to use them as little as possible for the next two weeks.  I have an NSAID to take the swelling down.  (And this has nothing to do with the injury from a couple of weeks ago.  That has all cleared up.)  As for my ear, I have an infection in my ear, sinuses, my throat is a little swollen and my right gland is swollen.  I have antibiotics for that.  I also was running a slight fever and have a bladder infection.  The antibiotics should work for everything.  When I get sick, I get SICK!  I have so much to do this week, that I don't have time to be sick.

I am getting off of here and starting my day.  I have so much cleaning to do.  It is a MESS.

I will be back tomorrow with a Halloween post for you.  Have a good day everyone.

Kathy

THIS AND THAT

Isn't this beautiful?  I wish I knew where it was.  I can just imagine myself driving down this highway and loving the beautiful scenery.  *sigh*

The trees around here are slowly turning colors.  We don't get the really bright colors for at least another two weeks.  I guess we are too far south to get a lot of color in October.

Joe had to stop at church this afternoon on our way back from the service we had at the local nursing home.  While we were there, I took some pictures to show you.

Do you remember the dogwood tree in front of our church?  I showed you a picture of it a few weeks back.

Well, look at it now.

Here are some other trees on the street.

Some of you asked me how the apple fritters turned out.  It took me awhile to actually make them because things kept happening where we had something else to eat for dinner.  But I finally made them tonight.  They turned out wonderful.  They are more like a Dutch baby than the heavy cake I've been making since I lost the recipe.  Joe said he liked them more than the other way.  And yes, the taste did bring back memories of my childhood.

And now I have to get my lesson for tomorrow typed up.  We are almost at the end of Esther.  Hope you have a great day tomorrow.

Kathy

SUNDAY PRAISE -- A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD

Today is Reformation Sunday.  It is celebrated on the Sunday before October 31st, Reformation Day.  This is the anniversary of the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis to the door of Wittenburg Cathedral beginning the Protestant Reformation.

The hymn we will begin our church service with this morning is Luther's famous hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."  Luther wrote the words and composed the melody sometime between 1527 and 1529.  It is a paraphrase of Psalm 46 except for the last stanza which comes from Luther's own life experiences.  The most commonly used English translation was done in 1857 by Frederick H. Hedge.

Hymnary.org says:
This hymn is often referred to as "the battle hymn" of the Reformation.  Many stories have been relayed about its use.  Albert Bailey tells us that it was sung in the streets and by poor Protestants on their way to exile or going to their death.  Gustavus Adolphus ordered it sung by his army before the battle of Leipzig in 1631 and again at Lutzen in 1632.  It has also had a part in countless celebrations commemorating the men and events of the Reformation.  The first line of this hymn is engraved on the base of Luther's monument at Wittenberg.

This hymn is not polished and artistic but rugged and strong like Luther himself.  It is a hymn close to the hearts of Lutherans and other Protestants as a source of assurance in times of duress and persecution.  Not just actual physical battles, but in any time of need, when we do battle with the forces of evil, God is our fortress to hide us and protect us, and the Word that endures forever will fight for us.

And now let's hear the hymn itself.  I know it will be familiar to all of you.

Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone!

Kathy

RECIPE -- APPLE FRITTERS

It has been a beautiful day here today.  Nice and sunny and sort of warm.  I even turned the stove off because the house was finally warm.

Joe is not feeling well, so we cancelled Bible Study for tonight.  Poor guy, he gets well for a few days and then it starts all over again.  I hope he can eat dinner.

I have one apple left, so I thought I would make apple fritters.  This is something my grandmother would do all the time when I was growing up.  When you don't have lots to eat and no money, you make food s-t-r-e-t-c-h.  And we do and my sister and I still know how to.  I don't want to waste an apple, so that's what's for dinner.

I found my grandmother's cookbook from 1903 online.  Hers has long since gone.  It's so nice to see all the old recipes again.  So here is her recipe for apple fritters.  No, I do not use lard, I cook mine in olive oil.  And they call for yeast powder which today is called baking powder.  But I find old recipes so fascinating.

Apple Fritters

     1 cup flour                          2 eggs 
     1/2 teaspoon salt                1 tablespoon sugar 
     1 level teaspoon Rumford  About 1 cup milk
          Yeast Powder                2 tart apples. 

Sift together the flour, salt and yeast powder; add the eggs, lightly beaten, then the sugar and milk; mix smoothly and beat the batter well; add the apples, pared, cored and cut into thin slices. Have ready in a frying pan a little lard, smoking hot; drop the fritters into it, cook until golden brown on both sides and the fruit is tender. Drain on soft paper, and serve with butter and sugar or with syrup. 

Yum!  I will share some more of the recipes from this book in the future.  There are some really good dishes that no one cooks anymore.

Let me know if you try this.  I'm going to go make mine now.

Kathy

WEDNESDAY MEDLEY QUESTIONS

Good morning everyone!  Hope you are all having an awesome Wednesday.  I am joining Terri D. again today and answering her Wednesday Medley questions.  Click on the link to go to her page.  Hope you enjoy them.

On this day theme...

1.  On this day in 1908, Billy Murray hits the charts with his "Take Me Out to The Ball Game".  Did you watch the MLB playoffs, and are you watching the World Series?

Although I am a baseball fan and have been to many games, for some reason I did not get into it this year.  Too much else going on, I guess.  So I haven't watched the playoffs or plan to watch the World Series.  Well, maybe the World Series if I can find it on TV.  We do not get the sports channels so unless it is on regular broadcast TV, we don't see it.

2.  On this day in 1962, "The Manchurian Candidate" directed by John Frankenheimer, starring Frank Sinatra and Laurence Harvey, was released.  What is your favorite Frank Sinatra song?

I have never been a Sinatra fan.  He was more my mom's generation than mine.  She loved "Franky" as she called him.  He has some good songs like "My Way" and "New York, New York" but I don't think I have a favorite.

3.  On this day in 1968, Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithful were busted for pot and released on 50 British pounds bail.  Has your state approved the sale of medical marijuana?  In a nutshell, what are your thoughts on the subject?

Yes, Pennsylvania has approved medical marijuana.  My thoughts are that all things can be used for good or evil.  If marijuana is used for a good cause, i.e. helping the sick, then it is OK.  I had a friend who just recently passed away that used it for the intense pain he was in from his disease.  In that case it was a good use.  If it is used for recreational uses -- well, I have a problem with that.  I know of people who were hurt or killed by people who were driving while smoking weed.  And a guy I used to date got onto hard drugs because the marijuana didn't give him a big enough high.  Of course that was years before I ever met him.  He was completely off of everything when I knew him.

4.  On this day in 1979, the Guinness Book of Records presented Paul McCartney with a rhodium disc as the all-time best-selling singer-songwriter.  What is your favorite song by Paul McCartney?

I know lots of Beatles songs but don't know which are his.  I know some Wings songs, but none that I would consider a "favorite."  I have problems with a lot of the lyrics.  As a teenager I didn't mainly because I didn't understand them or what they meant.

5.  On this day in 2017, Albert Einstein's "Theory of Happiness" written on a note as a tip for a bellboy in 1922, sold for $1.6 million.  His Theory of Happiness is:  "A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness."  Was Einstein right?

I think he was.  What good is pursuing success if you have no peace and happiness within yourself?

6.  Tell us something random about your week so far...

Time just seems to fly by me.  So much I want (and need) to do doesn't get done.  But I am working hard on it and that counts for something.  Even one table cleaned off or one drawer cleaned out is one less I have to do later.  I need to stop being so hard on myself.

Thanks, Terri!  And I hope you all enjoy these answers.  See you tomorrow.

Kathy

ANOTHER VISIT TO LOWE'S

Hello, friends!  What a day this has been.  It was a beautiful morning.  The sun was shining and it got really warm by afternoon.

This morning was Bible Study.  I picked Debbie up and we got over there to find we were the only two in the class.  We still had it, though.  It was on Esther 6 -- Earning Rewards and we talked about deserving recognition and giving and getting the wrong and right kind of recognition.  Only three more weeks until we take our winter break.  This year has gone so quickly.

We stopped at Salvation Army on the way home and each of us got rid of a bag of items.  Yay, more out of our houses!  I'm hoping to have another bag either next week or the following to get rid of.

For lunch Joe took me on a date to East Coast Wings.  We had such a good meal and the wait staff is always the best.  I've been there with other people, but it's been awhile since Joe and I went together.  I had wings with Apple Harvest sauce.  I didn't know if I would like it but it was really good and I will order it again.  I also had a side salad.  I am not a salad person -- don't really like them that much.  But the salad at East Coast is always so good.  I don't know what they do differently, but I love it.

Then we ran next door to Shop Rite and got the few things we needed for this week.  This month I tried to buy everything I thought we would need for the month when I got paid and then each week just got the few things I needed to fill in -- fruit, veggies, things we ran out of.  It seems to have worked out much better and has saved us a lot of money.  For example, this week we spent less than $20.  I am going to try it again next month and see if it really works or if this was just a fluke.

Joe had to stop in Lowe's to get a couple of things.  While he was looking at tools, I headed to the seasonal department.  I wanted to get some pictures to show you what's on sale around here.  I always expect someone to walk up to me and tell me to stop taking pictures, but no one ever does.  I even had the security guard watching me, but he didn't approach me or ask me to stop, so I guess it's OK.  So here's some of my favorite items.  First let's look at Halloween, Thanksgiving and Fall.  There wasn't much left and everything was 50% off.

I loved this wreath, but I don't need any more wreathes.  I can't use all the ones I have now.

I keep looking at this Thanksgiving tree.  It is a felt tree with removable leaves.  You write things you are thankful for on the leaves and then reattach them to the tree.

Happy Jack-o-Lanterns!

And a little video for you.

Of course the majority of the decorations were for Christmas.  I thought, "This is early" but really it's not.  There's only about 9 weeks until Christmas.

What they had was beautiful.  This is what you saw when you walked through the door.  I'd need a much bigger house and yard to use that 8-foot tall "Joy".  I did like the bench with the Christmas pillows though.  I liked the little penguin too.

Lighted reindeer.

I loved this sign.  But $12 was a little pricy for me.  I'll wait until the price goes down.

And I LOVED this wreath.  I may have to get this.

Skiing nutcrackers.

A lighted rocking horse that rocks.  So cute!

Lots of lighted decorations.  Some of them changed colors.

A very large Frosty!

This large "Joy" would look good in my front window.  It changed color from red to white to green to white to red.

Then I walked through the Christmas tree area.  It was enchanting.  Each was prettier than the last.  Flocked trees, colored lights, white lights, big trees, little trees...  Beautiful!

It was like walking through an enchanted forest.

When we got home I told Joe I was really tired and wanted to take a nap.  I laid down on the sofa and pulled my temperature blanket over me since it was right there.  It is almost big enough to cover me, but not quite.  By the time I knit December it will be just right.  So many of you have mentioned how big it looks, but the pictures are deceiving.  If it covers my feet, it comes up to my armpits.  Once I finish the next two months and put a border on it, it should be fine.  It was nice and warm, though and I fell right to sleep.  I woke up 5 hours later!  I must have been really tired.  I am hungry now since I slept though dinner, but I don't want to eat a lot and then go to bed.  So I am going to get off of here and figure out what to eat.

Hope you enjoyed going through Lowe's with me.  I am planning on showing you the little bit of decorating I have done this weekend.  I have a bit more to do and then I will take pictures.

Have a good evening everyone and I will see you tomorrow.

Kathy

SUNDAY PRAISE -- IMMORTAL INVISIBLE GOD ONLY WISE

Good morning, everyone!  I hope you are all having a blessed Sunday.  This morning we are singing the great hymn "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise" as our opening hymn.  It is one of my favorites.  I looked up a little information on it for you.  It was hard because there is very little on the internet about it.

It was written by Walter C. Smith in 1867.  He based it on I Timothy 1:7 -- "Now to the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God be glory and honor for ever  and ever."  It is a strong text of praise to God who created and sustains the lives of all His creatures.

The tune is St. Denio a traditional Welsh ballad popular in the early 19th century.  It was first published as a hymn tune in 1839.

And here is the hymn for you:

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Kathy

THE TEMPERATURE BLANKET AND OTHER THINGS

It is getting cold here.  Our weather forecasters tell us that it is getting down to 30*F and on Monday down to 20*F.  It's a good time to be working on my blanket.

And here it is.  I'm up to date on it.

You can see it was hot in August with all the 80*F pinks and 90*F reds.  A couple of 70*F yellows snuck in there too.

September had one streak of 90*F weather at the beginning.  A rather long streak of about a week.  And then it was mostly 80*F pink and 70*F yellow with a few days of 60*F light green.

Now it's October.  The weather has turned much colder.  Oh how I miss the warm weather.  There is even some 50*F dark green rows now.

Here's a shot of September and October.  You can see how the temperatures went from 90* to 50*.

A few days ago Joe got a package in the mail.  He said it was for me.  When I opened it, it was a t-shirt that I had been looking at but never expected to get.

What a nice surprise!  I'm going to wear it on the first night of the Hallmark Christmas movies.  Joe knows me so well.

Yesterday Joe had an Elders meeting at church.  I went over to pick him up when they were finished.  When we got home, I had my hands full and was trying to unlock the front door.  The door opened and then swung back and hit my right hand.  It hurt terribly.  Almost immediately it swelled up and turned black and blue.

I put ice on it right away and the picture you see at the top is after some of the swelling went down.  The bottom picture is from today and you can see it is better.  I can type, I was sewing at Crafters today, and I can do just about anything so it is not broken.  The things I have difficulty with is turning doorknobs, jar lids and cutting things like vegetables when I have to use pressure.  I guess it will take a few days for things to get back to normal.  What is bad is that my left hand is pretty crippled with arthritis so I'm left with not much dexterity right now.  Joe is helping out with a lot of things.

And it's already the end of another week.  How did this happen?  We were saying that at church today.  Time just seems to be flying by.

Just Dorothea and I at Crafters today.  Rick, our Ministry Associate, was cutting the grass.  He and Joe came inside to sit down for a few minutes.  Rick offered us a piece of pumpkin bread that he had bought from the local bakery.  It was wonderful!  This is the bakery where I bought Joe's birthday cake and everything there is very good.  When I get paid I am going to go and buy a loaf of the bread for us.

Since I am having trouble with my hands we called out for pizza and chicken wings from Dominos for dinner.  We don't do this very often so it is a real treat for us.  It should be here very soon so I am going to get off of here and set the table.  I hope you all have a wonderful night.

Kathy

WEDNESDAY MEDLEY QUESTIONS

This is a picture I took at the farm four years ago.  I was amazed there were so many different kinds of pumpkins.  It is the perfect picture for today's Wednesday Medley Questions.  I have not done a post like this before but it sounds like fun so let's go!

1.  The Circleville, Ohio, Pumpkin Festival starts today.  All things pumpkin are everywhere.  What is your one very favorite  pumpkin flavored food or drink?  Do you wish it was available all year or do you only want it in the Fall?

My very favorite pumpkin food is my great-grandmother's pumpkin pie.  My grandmother, mother, sister and I all learned how to do it from her.  My sister and I still make it every year.  The recipe was never written down until my sister got it from my great-grandmother and wrote it out.  I am so glad she did since it would have been lost forever.  I don't know if it is true, but I think my great-grandmother got it from her grandmother who got it from her mother who lived in a log cabin on the outskirts of Philly in the 1700s.  Would I want this year round?  Yes, I would.  But having it just in the fall makes it special.

2.  What product would you seriously stockpile if you found out they weren't going to sell it anymore?

This is a hard question to answer.  I don't know that there is anything I like that much.  Hmm....  Maybe my favorite Chobani Flip Almond Coco Loco yogurt?  But yogurt wouldn't really keep so...

3.  What is the most interesting thing you have seen online this week?

Princess Eugenie's wedding.  I loved looking at all the guests and the beauty of the wedding itself.  Her dress was perfect and she looked so happy.  Well, she and Jack Brooksbank both did.  I hope they will both be very happy.

4.  Is it better to be a "big fish in a small pond" or a "small fish in a big pond"?

Definitely the small fish.  Although you have more of a chance of being eaten, there are also more places to hide.

5.  My Joe has become obsessed with playing chess on the computer.  Do you play chess?  Are you good at it?

First of all, this is not MY Joe but the husband of the one asking the question.  I do play chess.  I learned when I was about 13 or 14 years old.  Am I good? Not really.

6.  Tell us something random about your week.

This has not been the best of weeks for me in some ways and has been very good in others.  Tuesday would have been my mom's 87th birthday.  I miss her terribly especially on the special days.  Today Joe and I are going to the funeral of a man from our church who passed away suddenly on Monday morning.  And I've been having terrible headaches.

On the good side, though, I am getting some serious deep cleaning done and clearing things out of my house.  Like a set of dishes that I haven't used in over 10 years.  Make room for the things I do use.  And I found lots of stuff I forgot that I had.  It's just a small dent in the massive amount I have to go through, but it makes me feel so happy.

Thank you to Terri at the "Your Friend from Florida" blog for these questions.  It was fun and I'm sure I'll be doing more of these.  If you don't know Terri, check out her blog.  The link is on my sidebar.  I think you will enjoy reading it.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Kathy

RECIPE -- SWANSON GOLDEN CHICKEN & AUTUMN VEGETABLES

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Hope this week has been good to you.  Today I want to share the recipe I made earlier this week.  I found it in an old Martha Stewart Living magazine.  I looked at it and knew I had all the ingredients in the house.  Besides, it is a one-pot recipe.  So easy.  I thought I would give it a try.

This was delicious!  The only thing I didn't have in the house was the green beans.  I thought I had some, but couldn't find any.  So I used frozen brussels sprouts instead.  I like them better than green beans anyway.  They turned out delicious and I think I will use them again the next time I make this recipe.  (Probably later this week!)  I also used chicken thighs instead of breasts and left the skin on which I browned before adding the broth.  This was so good that I wanted to share it with you.  I will also put it on my recipe blog so that I don't lose it.

GOLDEN CHICKEN & AUTUMN VEGETABLES

Prep time:  5 minutes     Cook time:  30 minutes
Ingredients:
4 chicken breast halves, skin removed
1 cup Swanson chicken broth
1 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary leaves
1/4 tsp. dried thyme leaves, crushed
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 large sweet potato, cut up
1 cup fresh or frozen whole green beans

COOK chicken in nonstick skillet until browned.

ADD broth, parsley, rosemary, thyme, garlic, potato and beans.  Heat to a boil.  Cover and cook over low heat 20 minutes or until done.  Serves 4.

We ate our meal without me giving a thought to taking a picture of it, so I took a picture of the page in the magazine so you can see what it looks like.

If you give it a try, please let me know if you like it.  And now I have to get off of here to make tonight's dinner -- fried eggplant.  Hope you all have a relaxing evening.

Kathy

PICTURES FOUND ON MY BLUE CAMERA -- MEMORIAL DAY 2018

I am in love with this picture.  I would like to be on that train in the beautiful autumn colors traveling somewhere to new adventures.  But that's for another time.  

I thought I would show you pictures from last Memorial Day which is the last thing that I took before I lost my blue camera.  I know it is fall (and cold) so let's look back to warmer times, shall we?

The picnic at my sister Elaine's house is always the beginning of a wonderful summer.  Here are Walt and Carole, friends of ours from church that we call "Ma" and "Pa".  Pa is talking to Elaine's dog Ace.  You can see Ace has a ball in his mouth.  He LOVES his ball.

My brother, Larry, with his dog, Schnitzel.  He and his wife, Kim, were heading for their place at Cape May Courthouse after the cookout so brought their dog with them.

Schnitzel is a cutie.

Here's Joe, Kim and Elaine!

The crowd around the two tables she had set out.  All the food was so good.

Joe, Kim and Larry.

Walt, Carole, Elaine's friend Frank, Elaine and our friend, Marion.

Another cute picture of Schnitzel.  It's very hard to get a picture of him, so when we can, we do.

Elaine and Marion.

Marion, her husband, Rich, and Joe.

I absolutely loved Elaine's red, white and blue wreath.  So pretty!

We celebrated the birthdays of Marion, Joe and Frank.  All of their birthdays are within days of each other.  Elaine got this really pretty cake.

Marion presenting the cake after the candles were blown out.

Joe and Pa Walt.

And who is this man?

Me and my honey.

Before we left, the girls got together to get their picture taken.

It was fun to look back on these "lost" pictures.

This morning I went to the doctor's to get my flu shot.  I was surprised when I saw all new staff at the front desk.  And the messy shelves behind them were all cleaned up.  There was a new filing system there too.  Hmm...  What is going on here?  Jessica has been at the front desk forever and now there is Christine.  Hmm...  Then... at my actual appointment time (how unusual!), I was called in to get my shot by... Jessica!  What is going on?  She said she had been given a promotion to lead tech and her office manager job was given to a new girl (Christine).  Apparently things are going much smoother and the few techs who had been giving people problems with their attitudes are gone.  There were too many complaints about them.  Let's see how this works out.

I know you don't get sick from flu shots, but my arm hurts and I haven't been feeling great all afternoon.  I did rest yesterday.  And I started out strong today, but rested all afternoon.  Now I just want to go back to bed and since it's after 11:00 p.m. I think I will.

Hope you all have a good night.

Kathy