MORE FALL COLOR

 

Hello, friends!  I hope you are having a wonderful Saturday.  It's the beginning of the day for me.  What I plan to do today is go pick up my groceries at Shoprite this morning and then clean and decorate the house.  I also have to bake some cookies because I have the treat at church tomorrow morning.  Several of us bring the treat once a month.  Then it is not a lot on any one of us.  So today I am trying a new recipe that I got from Google news for pumpkin cookies.  It is the season for pumpkin after all.  Joe also wants me to make him a pumpkin pie.

Joe is not feeling well.  He has been sick for almost a week with a sore throat, sinus infection and now he is beginning with an earache.  When it started going down to his chest, he decided enough was enough and called the doctor.  He wasn't able to get an appointment, but she ordered antibiotics for him.  We headed over to Target (there is a CVS in there that he uses) to get his medication.  He went inside while I stayed in the car.  While I was waiting for him, I took a couple of pictures of the trees in the parking lot.  We are starting to get color but there still isn't a lot.  We see the most color on our trees around the middle of November.

I love fall because of the colors and great temperatures.  I don't like fall because I know what is coming next.  Snow and cold temperatures.  *sigh*  But that is the way it is.  And after the winter comes the beautiful spring.

I had to call my GI doctor the other day because I had a question about my medication.  His nurse called me back because he is "out of the country for another week".  Must be nice!  He is a great doctor and he works hard so I am happy for him to have a chance to get away.

I made up another craft kit that I had.  I have so many more to do and will be starting another one today.  But this one was a Spooky Garland.  Not too spooky to me.  It wasn't too hard either.  I hung it on the window in the kitchen.  Looks good.

It's hard to see in this picture, but the beads are black, gray and white with a few wood tones thrown in.  And the metal part at the bottom says "Trick or Treat" although it is hard to see in this picture.  I made a video on it that is on my YouTube channel (Kathy's Happy Home).

What a video that is.  I could not find my camera anywhere.  I had bought a new camera to play around with and I had to use that.  The quality is not good.  But I did put it up because I wanted to get going with it.  Fortunately, I did find my camera, so I am all set to film for Sunday church and for next week.

And now I have to run.  It is time to leave to get our groceries.  Have a good weekend.  Hopefully I will see you tomorrow,

Until later...

Kathy

IT'S STARTING TO LOOK LIKE FALL

 Hello, friends!  Happy Tuesday.  I have to make this short because I am on my way to teach Bible Study.  We are in James chapter 4.  Heading towards the end of the book.  Instead of going on to 1 Peter, I think I am going to do what I did last year and take a break for Christmas.  Last year I concentrated on the story in Luke, so this year I think I will do Matthew.  It should be fun.

The trees really don't change color in this part of Pennsylvania until the beginning of November.  My friends who live in the mountainous part of the state are already in full bloom and the trees are gorgeous.  But around here not so much.  So imagine my surprise when on the way to church this week I saw some beautiful color down the street from where our church is located.  What caught my eye was the bright red of the sugar maple tree.

My next-door neighbors are in the fall spirit.  Kate did a beautiful job decorating the front of their house.

Me?  Because of being sick I haven't done much of anything.  This is the week to at least start.  I'll be showing you pictures soon.

I really have to run, but before I end, I thought I would show you a great picture our local news showed last night.  I paused the program and took a screen shot for you.  It really didn't turn out all that great colorwise, but it does show just how pretty our city is at night.  Liberty Place Two has a pink dome for Breast Cancer month.

And now I really have to get out of here and get ready.  I'm picking up my friend Debbie.  I also have a big bag of clothes to drop off at Salvation Army.  I'm trying hard to get things out of this house.

Hope you all have a great day and I will see you soon.

Until later...

Kathy

MONDAY MAGAZINE

Hello, friends!  Welcome to another week.  And time just flies by, doesn't it?  It's the middle of October already.  Can you believe it?

It's been a long time since I did a Monday Magazine post.  It's been a long time since I was able to get through an entire magazine.  But I did.  And I'm almost done another.  So I thought I would revive this.  Let's see what's in today's magazine.  These are always fun.

Today's magazine is Martha Stewart Living from February 1995.

These old magazines always had a Program Guide.  Looking over it made me remember how good her show was when it first began.  The later Hallmark shows, not so much.

One of my favorite recipes from that show was in this issue.  Fried chicken with Sally.  It looks so good.  Before I get rid of this magazine, I am copying this recipe.

I also liked the segment on scented geraniums.  I never knew there were different scents until this.

The "Good Things" section of the magazine is always a favorite too.  In this one Martha shows how to make Valentine fortune cookies.

The February page shows antique gardening books.  These were so interesting to look at.  But of course you could guess this because of my love of books.

The main story in this issue was about lusterware.  I have always loved lusterware.  The pictures were beautiful.  Too many to show you, of course, but here are a few of the ones I liked best.

The article about making stocks was interesting.  They showed how to make chicken, fish, and roasted vegetable stocks.

Since this was a February magazine there was an article about Chinese New Year.  And lots of recipes.  I guess I'm lazy because making these recipes is a lot of work!  I'll just buy my Chinese food.  They looked good though.

The ranunculses in this porcelain bowl are beautiful.

The article on how a sofa was made was interesting.  No wonder they are so expensive when you see all that goes into making one.

There was a chart showing how sofas have changed over the years.

What's For Dinner is another favorite part of the magazine for me.  Although I seldom make the recipes, it certainly gives me ideas.  This month it was a Warm Pear Salad.

Carrot and Parsnip Puree

Cornish Hens with Kasha Pilaf

And for dessert, Chocolate Kisses.  Two brownie cookies put together with chocolate icing.

The magazine always ends with an article by Martha Stewart called "remembering".  This time she was talking about Valentine's Day.

"Like many of my favorite childhood holidays, Valentine's Day has fallen victim to commercialism and general disinterest in recent years.  Yet when I look back, I can recall so many good times associated with these 'lesser' holidays that I cannot comprehend why they fell out of favor.  By February 1 each year, I had already schemed about who would get a valentine and who would not.  The exchange of cards began in kindergarten at Yantacaw School in Nutley, New Jersey.  Our friends, both boys and girls, were the recipients of silly pop-out penny valentines we purchased at the five and dime store on Franklin Avenue.  I addressed at least twenty cards that year, writing my name upside down, backwards, and in modified pig latin."

I remember getting those penny valentines for my classmates too.

Now that I have finished with this magazine it will leave the house.  I will ask if any of my friends would like it even though it is old.  I was going to try to sell it on ebay, but figured it was more trouble than it was worth.  Because the pages are bent, I probably wouldn't get very much money for it.  And I would have to package it and take it to the post office.  If no one wants it, I will put it in with my Salvation Army donation.  Sometimes teachers will take old magazines to use for projects in their classrooms.

So that is it for today.  Now I will go get some breakfast.  Hopefully I will see you tomorrow.

Have a great day!

Kathy

I'M SICK OF BEING SICK

 

Hello, friends.  I'll bet you thought I fell off the edge of the earth.  If there was an edge.  If the earth were flat.  Uh...

Well, I sort of felt that way.  I've been sick for over a week.  In fact, I haven't been out of the house in over a week even though the weather has been gorgeous.  Let me tell you what happened.

Last Thursday I began to feel slightly sick.  Then my stomach started rumbling and I started belching.  And then I knew.  It was the dreaded STOMACH VIRUS.  I have had a lot of them over the years, so I wasn't fooled.  I also knew that there was nothing I could do about it except let it run its course.  And that's exactly what it did.  I spent the first three days staying close to the bathroom and not eating very much.  In fact, I'm still not eating very much.  My friend asked me if I had lost weight by not eating but my scale broke, so I don't know.  But I would think so.  I just ordered a new scale from Amazon, and it is supposed to come tomorrow, so we'll see.

I haven't been to church, seen any of my friends (although I have talked to them on the phone) or even went into my yard.  I have been sick!

I am so happy that I am finally starting to feel better.  The past two days I have felt back to myself.  But an entire week of feeling sick was not fun.

Joe has been such a trooper.  He has cleaned.  He has cooked.  He has done dishes.  He has done laundry.  And he has taken care of me.  I couldn't ask for a better husband.  But I am so glad to be able to take care of myself again.

I made dinner last night and tonight I am getting ready to put some crab cakes in the air fryer.  I'm trying to decide what to have with them.  I'll find something.

One thing I definitely want to get done this weekend is decorating the house for fall.  I have been too sick to do that.  But when I do you know I will take some pictures to show you.

Since I am just rambling now, I am going to end.  It was so good to talk to you all again.  I have missed you.  Hopefully you will see me more often.  Take care everyone.

Until later...

Kathy

THE SAGA OF JACK

 Hello, friends!  Hope you had a good day today.  Is it cold there?  Although it is warmer than it was yesterday, it was still pretty cool.  We finally gave in and lit the fire in the stove.

Can you believe it is October already?  I sure hope this month goes slower than September.  Yesterday my sister said she blinked, and it was gone and that is exactly how I feel.  But the calendar page has turned and so I guess it really is a new month.

Today I thought I would tell you about my cat Jack.

Jack is a cute, but mischievous, cat.  He is curious and when the front door opens, he looks out.  But in the five years we have had him, he has never tried to go out.  Until ...  Well, I really don't know when he ran out.  No one saw him.  I think it was Saturday night.  But I didn't miss him until Sunday.  When his litter box hadn't been used and his food was uneaten, we knew something was wrong.  We began searching the house -- Joe more than me since my legs are so bad.  No Jack.  Called.  Put out his favorite food.  Nothing.  I started crying and put out on Facebook what was going on.  He was missing all day on Sunday and Monday.  I was crying all the time.  Joe and I searched every nook and cranny in the entire house and no sign of him.

But Jack is afraid of being outside.  To top it off, he has no voice box and can't meow.  He just purrs loudly when he wants something.  Or is happy.  He also has a gag reflex and has trouble eating.  I was so worried.  But at the same time, I thought he must have gotten out because we looked everywhere in the house, and he just wasn't anywhere.

Monday night Joe said he was tired and was going to bed.  I said I wanted to watch the 11 o'clock news and then I would be up.  At 11:30 I turned off the TV and was about to turn off the lights when I heard something outside.  It was like a low gutteral sound.  I had never heard anything like it.  I thought it sounded like cats fighting and went to the door to see if one of them was Jack.

When I opened the door, there was a cat on the top step.  He jumped down and started to run away.  It was dark and I couldn't see if it was Jack or not.  We have a bunch of strays around here.  But I yelled, "Jack" and he stopped and turned around.  Then I opened the storm door and said, "Come here, Jack."  He came up the steps and poked his head into the house.  I saw it was him, but I was afraid to try to pick him up that he would run away again.  I said, "Come on.  Come here, Jack" and opened the door wider.  And he walked in.  It was him!

Jack had been out during the end of the hurricane and when the temperatures had dropped into the 40s.  He was wet and cold.  We took a towel and dried him off.  I fed him, but he wouldn't eat.  Joe gave him some treats, and that he ate.

Since he has been back, Jack is a different cat.  He no longer scratches and tears up our furniture.  He no longer tries to bite and scratch me.  He used to try to eat every piece of plastic he could find.  Bags, packages, etc.  Now, nothing.  In fact, his favorite thing now is to sleep in Joe's recliner.

We still can't figure out how he got out or where he was for two days.  But I am so glad he is back.  I know I will outlive him and someday I will have to say goodbye forever to him.  But not now.

Well, that was an exciting (and sad) way to start the month.  I hope the rest is calmer than that.  And that you have a nice and calm evening.  See you all soon.

Kathy

My dishtowel for this week.