GOODBYE SEPTEMBER

 

Hello, friends!  Here it is the last day of September and I just do not know where the time has gone.  As long as the month of July seemed, that's how short August and September have been.  It is as if I just blinked and it was gone.

Sorry I have not been around much this month.  I am facing a lot of health problems and have been spending my time in doctors' offices and testing sites.  And it continues on.

But let's look at some of the things that happened this month.

I celebrated the first of September with my annual dinner of spare ribs.  They were so good and I have been thinking about them ever since.  I think I will have to buy another package when I go to Shoprite this coming week.

I started to clean up the yard, but didn't get very far.  I did get most of the patio done, so that was something.

I had an eye doctor appointment and fortunately nothing has changed.  My eyes will never get better, but at least they aren't getting worse.

And then Joe bought me a beautiful bouquet.

A

Labor Day was rather low key.  We didn't do much at all.

And then there was the remembrance of 9/11.  Always a somber day.

But then there was the news that my biopsy came back cancer free.  Good news!

Following that was my 14th wedding anniversary with Joe.  We had the best meal from our favorite restaurant Yamato.

So far we have gotten six large tomatoes out of our garden.  This is the most we have had in years.  And there is still more out there.  But they are all green.  I am pulling them off as they get large enough and bringing them in to ripen.  It is not warm enough now for them to ripen on the vine.  There are still new flowers on the vines!

I made a good pumpkin and sweet potato soup.  I will have to do that again.  And to end the month I had a couple of fall shopping trips.

How has your month been?  Tomorrow when we wake up it will be October.  So very hard to believe. 

Hope you all have a great evening.

Kathy

EVERYONE LIKES A CUTE KID -- AND MINE ARE CUTE!

 

Hello, friends!  Well we made it through another week.  It has been another beautiful day.  Here it is the end of September and I am wearing shorts and have the doors open to let in the fresh air.  So warm and nice.  Unlike summer, it is not humid so even though it is warm, it is pleasant.  That humidity really makes a difference.

I have not been feeling all that well today so have been laying around a lot.  I was looking at things on my tablet, put it down to take a nap, and have no idea where it is.  I have torn apart the living room, looked in the kitchen, even went to the bathroom, hallway and bedroom.  No luck.  Now, this thing is big enough to see.  But I can't find it.  It MUST be in the house.  I certainly didn't take it outside.  How do things in my house just disappear?  I am always losing things.  I must have a really bad memory that I don't remember what I do with things.

I watched another Hallmark movie today:  Love, Fall & Order.  It was filmed in Provo, Utah and the scenery was absolutely beautiful!  I would love to visit there someday.  In the movie they had a Fall Festival and it made me feel so nice and cozy.  I have to get working on things so I can decorate!

I wanted to show you something special today but didn't know what to do.  So I got permission to show you the cutest kids in the world -- my great-grandkids.  They live in Tennessee so we don't get to see them, but we send things back and forth.

Can you believe little Hadley is 3 years old already?  And she is quite the character.

And Bipp is 10 months.  Don't you love his hair in the first picture?

I'm already trying to decide what to get them for Christmas.  It will be here before we know it.

And now I am going to go and get some things done before it's bedtime.  Hope you all have a great weekend.

Kathy

Q and A

 Hello, friends!  It has been another beautiful day here.  And the temperatures are going to be in the high 70s to low 80s for the foreseeable future.  It's like summer is still here and I am loving it.

It was another lazy day for me.  I really have so much to do around here and I just can't seem to get the ambition to do anything.  Instead I ended up watching two Hallmark movies today:  Winter in Vail and Christmas at Holly Lodge.  I have so much recorded waiting to be watched and I am trying to whittle some of it down.  Right now as I am typing this I have on Halloween Wars.  I am fascinated with pumpkin carvers.  They put so much work into these amazing pieces knowing that in a few days it will start to rot away.  I don't think I could do that.  Give me something that would last like clay or wood or stone.

The other day Brenda commented on this blog asking me some questions and I thought I would answer her.  Maybe these are things you were wondering about me too.

1.  Have I always lived in Pennsylvania?

     Yes.  I was born in Philadelphia, grew up in Philadelphia, bought my house in Philadelphia, worked in Philadelphia and got married in Philadelphia.  I have traveled many places, but have never wanted to live anywhere else.  I think Philly is a wonderful place to live.

2.  Where did I work?

     For 20 years I worked as a Library Assistant for the Free Library of Philadelphia.  I was fortunate to be assigned to three different libraries all of which were close to home.  The farthest I worked was a half-hour drive away.  Before that, I worked for the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia for 8 years.  I published journals, books and pamphlets.  I loved that job so much but was downsized out of a job.  But one week after I lost that job, I began working for the library.  God has a way of working those things out.  I was also an administrative secretary for a law firm for 13 months, a Church Secretary for Tenth Presbyterian Church for 4 years, and a secretary for the Department of Defense for 4 years.

3.  How did I meet Joe and when?

     In 1988 I broke up with my boyfriend whom I had been dating for 7 years.  The next year my best friend asked me if I was dating anyone.  There was a new guy at her church (my former church) and she thought we would be great together.  His name was Ed and he happened to be exactly 2 weeks older than me.  So we met on a blind date after talking to each other on the phone for about a month.  We hit it off and started going out with each other.  After a few months Ed asked if I wanted to go to Bible Study with him.  I thought about it and even though I had left that particular church, I decided I liked him enough to try it out.  It was much better than I thought it would be and everyone greeted me warmly.  There were some new people there that I didn't know:  John (whom Joe and I are still friends with), Andy and his brother Joe (both with the Lord now), and my Joe.  But I was with Ed and Joe was married.

     Joe and I became friends. As time went on, Ed moved to Michigan for his job and when the pastor passed away, Bible study just sort of fell apart.  But Joe and I stayed friends.  Joe and his wife separated in 2001 and she divorced him because she did not want to be married to a Christian.  Three years later we became engaged and got married in 2006.  We knew each other 16 years before we married and we think that has made a difference in how well we get along.  We weren't marrying a stranger!

If you have time to go back in time with me and read the first couple of months, you will see that I started this blog because I was very sick.  I almost died, in fact.  I was so tired of telling everyone what was going on with me, that I thought if I just wrote it somewhere once it would save me repeating it over and over.  It sometimes amazes me that I am still alive 10 years later.  However, I am now having some of the same problems I did 10 years ago.  My esophagus bangs against my chest wall causing my heart to skip beats and making it hard to breathe.  And now I am having problems swallowing again.  I have a new gastro doctor since the last one was not helping me at all and I am having tests done.  I have hope that he will see what is wrong and be able to help me even if it is having more surgery which I definitely don't want.

I hope this answers your questions, Brenda.  Thanks for asking.  If any of you want to ask me things, feel free.

Hope you all have a great night and a wonderful Friday tomorrow.  Another week down.

Until later,

Kathy

FALL SHOPPING

 

Hello friends and Happy Wednesday!  I hope you have had a good day.  It was so warm today.  Almost 80*F (27*C) this afternoon.  We are supposed to have warm weather all week and I couldn't be happier.

I thought today I would show you the buys that I made this week.  On Monday Joe had to go to Target, so I went with him.  We each got a cart and split up.  I looked in the Dollar Spot -- my favorite place.  There were a lot of people there and I didn't want to pull out my camera and start shooting, so I didn't take any pictures there.  But there were lots of Halloween and fall stuff.  Someone had put a Glade air freshener there and when I saw that I made my way to where I knew they were kept to see just what fragrances they had.  So let me show you what I got.

In the Dollar Spot I got a pack of 8 booklets (16 pages each) with blank pages.  I knew just what I wanted to do with them.  I also got a sticker that says "hello FALL".  The stickers are on clear acetate and I am going to leave them there.  I will be putting it on the front window with tape and then I can use it over and over.  If I peeled the sticker off, I could use it only once.

On the way back to get the air fresheners, I passed a display of candy corn.  I LOVE candy corn so got a bag.  I found that people either love candy corn or hate it.

There were several different fragrances of candles, air spray and air fresheners available.  The one I had seen was called "Fall Night Long" and the description on the candle said it had notes of crisp fall air and smoldering woods.  It sounded wonderful, but when I sniffed it (and I could smell it through my mask) I didn't like it at all.  But I did find two I did like.  "Pumpkin Spice Things Up" smells like a fresh baked pumpkin pie and "Apple Cinnamon" has a very strong cinnamon smell which I like.  I smelled the candles so I could know what they smelled like, then bought the spray to bring home.

And here is what I bought the blank books for.

I am printing out pictures and using it as a scrapbook.  Most of the pictures are coming from this blog.

Yesterday when I dropped Debbie off after Bible Study I went to Dollar Tree.  I was looking for flowers to put in the pot in front of my house.  Nothing grows in that pot, so I put in fake flowers and it always looks nice.  I got mums, marigolds, gerbera daisies and one stem of red sunflowers.  I also couldn't resist a new dishtowel.  As if I needed another one.

This afternoon I put together the flower pot and put my fall wreath on the door.

I am slowly getting fall into the house.  So much more cleaning and decorating to do.  I wish I felt better to do it.  I'm still hurting some from the biopsy.

Have a good evening everyone.  I'll be seeing you again soon.

Kathy

SWEET POTATO PUMPKIN SOUP

 

Hello, friends!  Hope you had a good day.  After all the work I have done the past few days, I decided to take the day off.  And keep off of my foot too.  My toe is still hurting and I am sure it will for a few days until the broken toe begins to mend.  Isn't it strange how a mistake that takes a second of time to make ends up being weeks healing.

Joe even called out for dinner tonight so that I didn't have to stand on my foot to make it.  I had a gyro sandwich and an iced tea.  It was good.

Last night I made the Sweet Potato Pumpkin Soup.  Although it wasn't as good as my pastor's version, it was good enough that we each had two bowls of it.  So I thought I would share the recipe with you.  

1.  Heat 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  I didn't have vegetable oil so I used olive oil.

2. Add 1 cup of chopped onion and saute for 3 minutes.

3. Add 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon curry powder, 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, and 2 cloves garlic, minced or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and cook for 1 minute.

4.  Stir in 2 cups of sweet potato, peeled and cubed.  I cut the pieces too large and had to cook it longer than the recipe called for.  Next time I will make large cubes, but not the huge pieces I did this time.  Also stir in 2 cups of low-sodium non-fat chicken broth or vegetable broth, 1 1/2 cups water and 1 15-ounce can of pumpkin.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are soft, stirring constantly.  (I did not stir constantly, but I stirred often.)

5. Stir in 1 cup nonfat or 1% milk.

6.  Ladle into bowls and top with 1/2 tablespoon low-fat sour cream.  I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, so I got this off of google.  Even though this picture does not have the sour cream on top, this is what it looked like.  (I am lactose intolerant so I used lactose free milk and did not use sour cream.)

7.  Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.

A nice fall soup that was very easy to make.  Pastor put his in a crockpot and cooked it for several hours which may be why his was better.  I think I will try it that way next time.

If you try this, please let me know if you like it.

And now it is off to bed so I can get up for church tomorrow morning.

Until later...

Kathy

CLEANING, GARDENING AND COOKING

 What a couple of days I have had.  Yesterday I woke up at 4:00 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep.  So I took my medicine, fed Jack, made myself breakfast and got ready for the day.  I am trying so hard to get my house under control so I have a huge list of things to do.  I had the energy so I began cleaning.  I did the dishes and a load of laundry.  Then I took my car to the garage for inspection.  Everything was great and it passed with no problem except that I need to get new tires.  I asked if it could wait until I get my pension check and my mechanic said yes.  So I will go back on October 1 to get the tires replaced.

I went on until 9:00 p.m. when I just couldn't do anymore.

Today we are supposed to have a guy from the gas company come to examine our meter.  They do it every three years.  He has not shown up yet.  But I have been up since 7:00 a.m. trying to clean things up.  Besides which it is trash collection day, so I got the trash and recycling out.

I did another load of laundry, cleaned Jack's box, swept down the cellar stairs, and cleaned a path to the gas meter.

Then I went outside to work on the patio.  It still has some things to get done, but it is looking pretty good.  I am decorating for fall.  Only a few days of summer left.  Since I have never decorated my patiio before, I bought a few things from Amazon.

I planted the mum I bought.

The tomato plants are producing like crazy.  We ate one tomato for dinner last night and I have three more in the bowl on the table waiting to ripen.  The tomato was so good.  But then homegrown tomatoes are always better than what you get in the store.

Tonight I am going to make Pumpkin Sweet Potato Soup for dinner.  I was at my pastor's home a couple of years ago and he made this for his guests for dinner.  It is so good.  I asked him for the recipe and he gave it to me.  I had lost it, but when I was cleaning up today I found it.  I have everything I need in the house so thought I would have something different for dinner.  If it turns out for me, I will give you the recipe.

And now I will go back to straightening up before I start the dinner.  Hope you all have a good evening.  Thank you to everyone who has been commenting lately.  I really appreciate that you all like my blog so much.  And welcome to the new followers that I see have joined recently.

Until later....

Kathy

14 YEARS TOGETHER

 Hello, friends and Happy Anniversary to me and Joe!  Yes, 14 years ago today I married my best friend.  Who knew at that moment what a rocky ride it would be?  But we are still together in spite of everything we have been through.

So what did we do to celebrate?  We slept.  Both of us.  A lot.  Until late.  Like afternoon.  I was up earlier and still in a lot of pain so I went back to bed.  I felt so much better when I woke up.

We wanted to go out for dinner for our anniversary but most things were closed or take out only.  We were going to go to Lancaster County, but it was so late by that time that I didn't want to drive home in the dark.  We were going to go to King George II Inn, but I didn't feel like driving even that far.  We went back and forth on several take out places and I even jokingly asked if Joe wanted to go to McDonald's for a Big Mac.  Ha, ha!  Finally we decided on our favorite Japanese restaurant, Yamato.  We couldn't eat in, but we could sure take our favorites home with us.  And that is just what we did. 

I ordered and paid for our meal online and then we got ourselves ready to go.  I gave us 2 hours to get there which was perfect because we didn't have to rush.  The restaurant is right near the hospital I go to for my doctors so I knew it took 15-20 minutes to get there.  We left 30 minutes early which was good because we ran into a lot of traffic.

I stayed in the car while Joe went in to get the food.  You can just see him standing inside the door.  They weren't letting anyone into the restaurant area, just the vestibule.

He waited for about 10 minutes because they were still cooking our food.  When he got into the car my mouth started watering.  It smelled so good!  Even through our masks.

When we got home I spread everything out on the table.  It looked and smelled so good.  We got two orders of Sunshine sushi which is vegan and made with mango and crispy sweet potatoes and one order of hibachi chicken which came with fried rice, veggies and a delicious tamarind and ginger sauce.

We were so happy with our choice.  It was a wonderful meal.  Hopefully next year for our 15th anniversary things will be open and we can actually eat out.

Have a good night everyone.  Taking my car to the garage for inspection tomorrow.  That will force me to stay home and get something done.

Kathy

GOOD NEWS

 Hello, friends.  Hope you are having a great Tuesday.  Yesterday we had weather around 80*F. (26*C.) but it seems like that was the last hurrah for summer.  The temperatures are getting cooler and by this time next week it is predicted to be 20 degrees colder.  I guess it's time to take the air conditioner out of the window and get ready for the fall.

I got a call from my doctor today with the results of my biopsy.  Everything was clear -- no cancer.  I have to have another ultrasound in 6 months to make sure, but then that is it.  God is good!

This afternoon Joe and I went grocery shopping.  It is so much easier and faster to go every week or two instead of once a month.  We really needed water and a few other things.  But that is it for September.  One of the things I got was a mum.  It was on sale for $2.67.  I have been wanting to get some mums for the yard.  I will look next time I go and see if I can get another one.  The flowers look like this.

Do you know there are hundreds of varieties of mums?  And they are each given a woman's name.  This is Marguerite.  I am excited to plant it tomorrow.

I also got my copy of Beverly Lewis' new book "The Stone Wall."  It just came out on the 9th.  I preordered it from Amazon and they shipped it, but lost it.  I was just going to ask for my money back when it showed up yesterday.  Now I want to start reading it.

But...  it's Bible Study this morning.  I am so glad to be teaching again.  Joe bought us a box of apple cider donuts for a treat.  Yum.  We are beginning the first chapter of Titus.  Last week we did an introduction including a map.  I always like to put a map in the introduction for my students.  It helps to put things in perspective as to where the book is being written to.  We got as far as the first verse last week before it was time to end.  I am not rushing the book.  When we are finished, we are finished.  We usually take the winter months off because there is so much to do for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  And then the cold weather comes and no one wants to go out in that.  Ice is nasty.

There is so much coming up this week.  Something every day.  At least I will not be bored!

See you soon.

Kathy

I WILL NEVER FORGET

 Hello, friends.  I meant to post this yesterday, but I still was not feeling well following the biopsy I had the day before.  However, I don't want to let this special day pass without mentioning it.

How well we all remember that awful day in our country's history.  A moment in time that changed our world forever.  All those lives needlessly lost because of the evil of a few people.

I am so glad I was with my sister that day.  I don't know how I would have faced it alone.  The horror of it all.  And then heading straight for NYC and into the craziness of it all.  The trouble trying to find a way home around the city and the relief we felt when we reached Elaine's house.  I was happy to be there even though I wasn't able to get to my own home.  I really didn't want to be alone.

It seemed as if the attack on America brought people together.  Brought out the best in people.  Unlike today where all kind of evil is going on in our country.  No one is united anymore.  So sad.

What wise words these are above.  Life really is short.  If you talk to people who are 100 years old, they will tell you that their life went by in an instant.  And there really is no time for hate.  I pray that our world will find the Lord, that love will return and that all the evil and hate that has pervaded our world lately will end.

A rather somber post today.  I promise tomorrow will be more uplifting.

Kathy